C O N T E X T 9 0 : J U LY 2 0 0 5 3 COHT gets practical The COHT (Conservation of Historic Thatch) committee, inaugurated at a meeting at Reading University in 1999, has always recognised that tangible results would have to be delivered if it was not to be seen as just another talking shop in the conservation world. COHT’s aims are to promote the identification of buildings with surviving historic thatch; to promote educational initiatives for owners, thatchers, specifiers, conservation officers and any other relevant individuals or organisations; to identify and promote appropriate research projects; and to provide practical advice. The committee has been steadily expanding its membership to encompass all the disciplines required to achieve its goals, while exploring sources of possible designed, is intended as the first port of call for all matters relating to thatch. Jack Lewis Heritage Open Days Thousands of buildings and places across England will be throwing their doors open free of charge for Heritage Open Days 2005, Thursday 8 to Sunday 11 September. Coordinated by the Civic Trust and supported by English Heritage, highlights of this annual celebration of architecture, history and culture include: • Murdoch House in Redruth, Cornwall, home of William Murdoch, which the inventor first lit with coal gas in 1792 and where replicas of William Murdoch’s original steam engine will be on display. • Chatham Memorial Synagogue in Rochester, built in 1861 by Simon Magnus in memory of his son Lazarus on the site of a even older synagogue. • Watford Palace Theatre in Hertfordshire, one of the most elegant Edwardian theatres in Britain, which has just reopened following a £8.7 million refurbishment. • The Hermon Chapel in Oswestry, Shropshire, a magnificent Grade II* listedWelsh chapel from 1862 with original pulpit, pew boxes and galleries. For further information, visit www.heritageopendays.org or call 020 7539 7924. Lime in a cold climate The Annual Conference and Gathering of the Building Limes Forum on ‘Lime in a Cold Climate’ is to be held in Bergen, Norway from 30 September to 2 October 2005. The venue is the Bryggen Museum, part of the BryggenWorld Heritage Site on the north side of Vågen, the old harbour of Bergen. Stretching to the east are the historic timber wharves and warehouses which form the most famous part of the site, while two blocks to the west is Bergenhus Castle. Over the four days prior to the conference a training course is to be held for masons, based on practical works at a range of different historic sites in Bergen. Masons from Scotland originally led the building of Haakonshallen, the Great Hall at Bergenhus castle in the late 13th century, and had a major influence on the masonry traditions in western Norway. Details at www.buildinglimesforum.org.uk ‘WHY ARE they knocking them down? If it is economically viable, they should do them up. Are they going to knock out the centre of Liverpool again? That’s what they did before. They moved everybody to high-rise apartments outside the city and forgot to rebuild.’ Former Beatle Ringo Starr on the proposed demolition (under the government’s Pathfinder scheme) of the Liverpool terrace where he used to live. It has since been reprieved. ‘STARVED of support, imprisoned by political correctness, bullied into acquiescence, the people tasked to preserve Britain’s historic sites are fighting a losing battle against the deputy prime minister’s wrecking ball. Why should we trust Two Jags with our heritage?… In October 2004, when the Conservative MP Andrew Rosindell asked how many English Heritage sites the secretary of state had visited in the previous 12 months, he received the answer “none”. She “has not had an opportunity”, explained the sports minister Richard Caborn… The sense of being undervalued and under-rewarded trickles down through [English Heritage] like oil into sand. Staff salaries used to be linked to civil-service pay grades, but have been decoupled and have fallen far behind. Some staff with managerial responsibilities are working for as little as £17,000 a year.’ Richard Girling writing in the Sunday Times. ‘PEOPLE sometimes have wanted to portray us as a beleaguered organisation, but don’t believe a word of it…We still have the largest historic environment research capability in Europe… Last year our visitor business grew by 8.5 per cent gross. That’s as much as Tesco. If we were a PLC I would buy shares in us… Like that unlikely heritage hero Baldrick, English Heritage can now say with confidence that we “have a cunning plan”.’ Chief executive Simon Thurley launching the English Heritage Strategy 2005-10. funding for projects and publications. It sees the imminent launch of its first publication (jointly with the IHBC) Growing Straw for Thatching as the first of many useful additions to available conservation literature. Possible topics for future publications include advice on fire prevention in thatch buildings, guidance on the thatching of traditional farm buildings, and a national list of thatchers and straw growers. Current initiatives include discussions with the British Reed Growers Association on promoting the responsible use of indigenous water reed, and continuing dialogue with DEFRA and NIAB (National Institute of Agricultural Botany) to find a practical way of legally obtaining seed of, and growing, unlicensed wheat varieties. Experience has shown that older varieties of wheat provided better-quality straw, which consistently performed well as thatch. The survival of a viable straw thatching tradition in England is considered to be of international significance, and the committee sees the availability of older wheat varieties as one of the most important current issues. A COHT website, currently being
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