C O N T E X T 1 1 2 : N O V E M B E R 2 0 0 9 49 Vox pop Graham Tite is a senior historic buildings advisor with Essex County Council. He will be moving to Tunbridge Wells Borough Council in January 2010. Who has been your greatest inspiration? The late Colin McWilliam at HeriotWatt, who could make his talks to us genuinely funny as well as informative. What have been the highlights of your career? It is very satisfying being able to act so directly either to save buildings from demolition, or to alter or to extend them creatively and sympathetically. I have been able to overcome the negativity I sensed through the 60s and 70s demolition that I had witnessed. The highlights have been meeting great owners and agents as well as getting into numerous great sites. Almost every week at work brings a really enjoyable and informative site visit. The highlights for me as a conservation officer have been Eton College and Knole House. In research, it was working on London churches, in particular St Martins in the Fields (crypt and churchyard) and Saint Luke’s, Old Street, now successfully re-born as a rehearsal and concert venue. What has been your best idea? Converting from literature to the history of art and architecture, and then doing post-grad in conservation in Edinburgh. I am also proud of the efforts I made to learn Italian, which became vital to my career survival at one stage. What would you like to have been if you had not become a conservationist? Some kind of performer like a pianist, dancer or comedian. How do you reply when at a party someone asks you what you do? I say I work in local government. If they are still interested, I say I help to look after old buildings and get into lots of interesting homes. What is the biggest frustration in your job? Badly-left voicemails and timewasting meetings, fortunately rare. What would you like to be doing in five years time? Going back again to freelance work and spending time on slow journeys in Britain and Europe on trains, buses and ferries. What is your favourite place? I like great European cities. Paris and Naples are the best, in my view. For years I was all for Venice, but I might never go back.When I worked on a ship, I went to dozens of ports, discovering spots like Cadiz and Saint-Malo. There is still a lot more travelling, including the British Isles, I should like to do if I can. I am extremely pleased to have got to Tahiti, the farthest point on earth fromWestern Europe. Our family house is in Midhurst, Sussex. It is an ordinary 1970s construction but right for our needs.We are at the edge of town near to commons, woods and agriculture, and at the centre of the new South Downs andWesternWeald National Park. The surroundings of Midhurst are fabulous. Your favourite book? I read mainly non-fiction now, but I do keep by my bedside Rabelais, Petronius and the comedy sketches of Peter Cook. What do you do in your spare time? Gardening, cooking and enjoying the meals, listening to the radio, strolling around town. What organisations are you a member of? British Red Cross, Automobile Association, friends group of an old library. Cathedral Communications has recently released the 17th annual edition of The Building Conservation Directory (autumn 2009) and has sent a copy to each IHBC member who has asked to receive relevant promotional mailings. As usual, this year’s directory offers a wealth of useful information for the historic built environment professional including technical articles, extensive listings of specialist contractors and suppliers, relevant courses and events and sources of further information. The directory is also supported by Cathedral’s website www.buildingconservation. com which certainly does merit a visit and should probably find its way on to your Google favourites list if it’s not already included. Members who have asked not to receive promotional material, but who would like to receive future Cathedral Communications publications on the historic built environment (including the annual Historic Churches and in 2010 the next BCD special report on Historic Gardens) should email Devon DeCelles at membershipservices@ ihbc.org.uk. She will change the status of their mailing preference on the IHBC membership database The Building Conservation Directory 2009
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