2 C O N T E X T 1 0 8 : M A R C H 2 0 0 9 Context Briefing Copy deadlines Context is published five times a year, in March, May, July, September and November.The copy deadlines in 2009 are: Issue Deadline May, Issue 109 16 March July, Issue 110 18 May September, Issue 111 20 July November, Issue 112 21 September Editor Rob Cowan Editorial Coordinator Fiona Newton 21 George Street, Louth, Lincolnshire LN11 9JU Tel 01507 602567 email editorial@ihbc.org.uk Editorial Board Fiona Newton (chair) Susan Brook (regular contributors) Nigel Crowe (main features) Peter de Figueiredo (book reviews) Michael Taylor (main features) Cartoons by Rob Cowan Context is distributed to all members of the Institute of Historic Building Conservation. © Institute of Historic Building Conservation 2009 ISSN 0958-2746 Publisher Published for the Institute of Historic Building Conservation by Cathedral Communications Limited, High Street, Tisbury,Wiltshire, England SP3 6HA Tel 01747 871717 Fax 01747 871718 email context@cathcomm.co.uk www.buildingconservation.com Non-member subscriptions to Context Context is available to non-members of the IHBC at an annual subscription rate, including postage, of: United Kingdom £50.00 Elsewhere £75.00 Subscription orders, together with remittances payable to Institute of Historic Building Conservation, should be sent to the IHBC Business Office at Jubilee House, High Street, Tisbury, Wiltshire SP3 6HA. The views expressed in Context are not necessarily held by the IHBC or the publisher. Neither the publisher nor the IHBC shall be under any liability whatsoever in respect of contributed articles. We gratefully acknowledge the support of firms whose advertisements appear throughout this publication.While every effort has been made to ensure that the information contained in this issue of Context is current and correct, neither the IHBC nor the publisher can be held responsible for any errors or omissions which may occur. Reflecting Wales’ uncomfortable heritage that we tell a more rounded and more locally rooted story of our past. Heritage should reflect the true story of our people, even if that is sometimes provocative and uncomfortable. ‘The great Welsh journalist and raconteur,Wynford Vaughan Thomas once said ‘‘your history is too cosy, too comfortable’’ and we have to be careful not to go down that path in Wales. I have occasionally visited heritage sites and exhibitions which skate over anything contentious or likely to cause offence.We have to be careful that we do not present Welsh heritage in a cosy, anodyne way. History is dynamic and involves conflict, and sometimes plenty of it. This must be acknowledged in the way we present our rich historic environment inWales.’ The minister was due to publish his strategic statement on theWelsh historic environment in March. He has announced an investment of £2 million in conservation and access improvements to sites associated withWelsh nationhood, such as sites associated with the fight for independence under Llywelyn Fawr and Llywelyn ap Gruffydd in the 13th century and Owain Glyn Dŵr in the 15th century. Conwy Castle, one of Edward I’s castles built to conquer northWales in the 1280s (Photo: Cadw,Welsh Assembly Government, Crown Copyright) Deganwy Castle: little remains of the castle of Llywelyn, Prince of Gwynedd, which lies across the estuary from Conwy Castle. (Photo: Cadw,Welsh Assembly Government, Crown Copyright) Alun Ffred Jones, minister for heritage in theWelsh Assembly Government, delivered the keynote address at the Treftadaeth 08 (Heritage 08) conference in Llandudno in October 2008. Jones took up his post in August 2008: his speech is an early indicator of his vision for the historic environment inWales. ‘I would like to offer some thoughts on the word “heritage”,’ Jones said. ‘It seems to me that, in English, this word too often carries associations with palaces, kings and other élites. Sometimes these connotations can be a barrier to wider appreciation of the built “heritage”. InWelsh, the words we use carry the meaning of “inheritance” rather than the more remote “heritage”. ‘Etifeddiaeth and treftadaeth are very close in meaning. Etifeddiaeth refers to a cultural legacy as much as to a physical one; treftadaeth implies our inheritance in a way which associates it etymologically with towns (dref), with home (cartref) and with our parents (tad meaning father). InWelsh, therefore, when we talk of heritage we are talking about something personal, a possession or legacy handed down to us and held in trust. ‘For theWelsh, heritage and history sometimes appear to be the story of others rather than our own, that of an élite separate fromWelsh society. Some of the major heritage sites inWales, the castles of Edward I and the great houses built by industrial entrepreneurs and magnates, could be said to represent an élite rather than those who lived and worked in their shadow. ‘Sometimes Cadw, theWelsh Assembly Government’s historic environment service and other key heritage bodies have been seen to be associated with this perspective in the past – a view that Cadw represents someone else, not the people of Wales.We need to overcome this perception and ensure Alun Ffred Jones addressing the Treftadaeth conference, October 2008 (Photo: Cadw,Welsh Assembly Government, Crown Copyright)
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