C O N T E X T 1 1 7 : N O V E M B E R 2 0 1 0 43 The magnificent west facade ofWells Cathedral, built between 1209 and 1250, with niches for more than 500 sculptures in Building Conservation, English Heritage,Wild Trout Trust, Salisbury Diocesan Advisory Committee, Furniture History Society, Association for the Study of the Conservation of Historic Buildings, Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, Royal Horticultural Society, Garden Organic, the Fountains and Chapels Societies, and the Morris Minor and Saab owners clubs. Which one issue would you particularly like the IHBC to campaign on? UPVC windows. Revive the famous Fidler/Kerr/Parissien/Salmon Framing Opinions Campaign! Vox pop Jill Channer is heritage assets advisor to the Homes and Communities Agency, seconded from The Prince’s Regeneration Trust. Who has been your greatest inspiration? Professor Pat Nuttgens and Dame Jennifer Jenkins. What has been your best idea? To persuade the nascent English Heritage to treat historic stained, painted and plain glass as part of the fabric of the building (rather than as ‘contents’) and thus eligible for major historic building grants. That enabled me to motivate upskilling the conservation professionals involved, generate the establishment of new workshops, and promote national and international collaboration in the sector. What would you like to have been if you had not become a conservationist? An excessively wealthy entrepreneurial philanthropist, patroness and plutocrat. How do you reply when at a party someone asks what you do? Generally I say that I extract the maximum enjoyment from being in an utterly unique position at a time of great change. What is the biggest frustration in your job? At present it is not knowing who to nobble. There are so many people leaving and roles changing in the government departments I am working with – not to mention the government agencies, English Heritage, the Environment Agency, Natural England and the HCA itself. What would you like to be doing in five years time? Opening a bottle of Bruichladdich to read ecstatically complimentary reviews of my latest brilliant disaster novel Heritage Heroes and Harridans and a letter from my literary agent concerning the lucrative film and TV rights. What is your favourite building? Wells Cathedral. Your favourite place? My home, the Notch. Your favourite book? Currently Owen Hatherley’s A Guide to the New Ruins of Great Britain.You simply have to read this passionate and provocative book to understand what has been going on in the politics of architecture in the past 15 years. What do you do in your spare time? Talking, travelling, reading, drinking, cooking, eating, bird watching, fishing the wild brown trout, shooting targets and vermin, planting, blighting, burning and withering in the garden. What organisations are you a member of? IHBC, Ancient Monuments Society, Worshipful Company of Glaziers, Painters and Stainers of the City of London, National Trust, Society of Antiquaries of London, Royal Society of Arts,Wells Cathedral Fabric Advisory Committee, Churches Conservation Trust, Board of Architects Accredited
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