C O N T E X T 1 2 2 : N O V E M B E R 2 0 1 1 41 Vox pop John Hinchliffe is world heritage officer with Liverpool City Council. Who has been your greatest inspiration? I suppose I should say someone like William Morris, who was such a talented designer that his wallpaper still adorns our living room, and provides inspiration at the beginning and end of each day. I also admire him for bringing the ethics of socialism to the early days of the conservation movement. I could say someone like whispering Dan Cruickshank, a seasoned conservation campaigner who has saved buildings through direct action and brought understanding of architectural history to the masses. However, it is the great Bill Shankly that has been my greatest personal inspiration. First, he paved the way for me to follow from Huddersfield to Liverpool. More important, he rose from being an unemployed miner in a tiny Scottish town to become the King of Europe. He exercised his influence over his players and his fans with great integrity and modesty. He earned respect from everyone by showing respect to all. He knew the power of wise words and recognised that some things are more important than life and death. The spirit of Shankly lives on! What has been your best idea? To submit the successful application for Liverpool to exhibit at theWorld Expo in Shanghai 2010 under the theme of ‘Protection and utilisation of historical heritages’ in the Urban Best Practice Area. Liverpool was the only city from the UK to have a pavilion. It attracted over 700,000 visitors, much investment, many students and more tourists to Liverpool. What would you like to have been if you had not become a conservationist? My father had his own plumbing business, so I would have been a plumber. I went from hardware to heritage. How do you reply when at a party someone asks what you do? I am always proud to say that I look after “t’ th’ heritage”. What is the biggest frustration in your job? It is a mostly fulfilling job but the biggest frustration at present is the lack of recognition in certain quarters of the social and economic value of culture and heritage. Culture and heritage are what makes places unique and special. They are not the enemies of enterprise and need not be an impediment to growth. What would you like to be doing in five years time? Standing in a fully restored Stanley Dock. At present it is a remarkably impressive and wholly authentic dockland landscape, but it is disused and slowly decaying. It has the potential to be a transformational project for north Liverpool, as the Albert Dock was for the city centre. What is your favourite building? Locally: Herbert Rowse’s George’s Dock Tunnel Ventilation Station and Offices – the perfect fusion of art and technology, in an unusual building type. To me, it is the architectural equal of the trio of more lauded buildings at Liverpool’s Pier Head. Further afield: The Alhambra in Granada – more of an ensemble of gardens and buildings, exquisitely fusing intricate Moorish designs, tiles, planting, water, light and shade into the ultimate cultural landscape. Your favourite place? The Yorkshire Dales – a cultural landscape of remote exposed moors, sheltered dales, stone walls and barns, clints and grykes, unspoilt villages, fine ale and proper folk: an enduring appeal. A place to scatter my ashes! Your favourite book? I am currently obsessed with Ian Rankin’s Rebus novels. I admire Rebus’s anti-establishment attitude, which actually succeeds in getting the job done, and the way that the stories show the dark underbelly of Edinburgh. But I am a traditionalist at heart and love the classics like Dickens and the Brontes. My favourite has to be Wuthering Heights – deeply romantic and disturbing, capturing the wildness of the moors and a hint of the other world. After all, Heathcliff was found as an urchin on the streets of Liverpool before being taken to Yorkshire, where he caused such damage and destruction to the established society! What do you do in your spare time? Seek authentic cultural experiences around the world before it is too late (globalisation, corporatisation and clone towns are ruining the world’s local distinctiveness); watch Liverpool FC; walk, cycle and ride motorbikes; go to car boot sales in search of that unrecognised piece of Della Robbia (Birkenhead’s finest arts and crafts pottery). What organisations are you a member of? RTPI, IHBC, Georgian Group, Victorian Society, Merseyside Civic Society, National Trust, Lathom Park Trust, Spirit of Shankly, Panther Owners Club, Morris Minor Owners Club. Which one issue would you particularly like the IHBC to campaign on? The removal of VAT from the cost of repairs to listed buildings. Owners of historic listed buildings are expected to pay additional costs to maintain them in the public interest with no assistance from the public purse. It makes no sense at all to zero-rate alterations, which are usually optional, and yet charge the full rate for repairs. John Hinchcliffe
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MjgyMjA=