42 C O N T E X T 1 3 7 : N O V E M B E R 2 0 1 4 Vox pop Carole Fry is an architectural historian and heritage consultant with AHC Consultants and, at present, a principal conservation officer with Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council. She is Context’s architectural history columnist (see page 37). Who has been your greatest inspiration? On a personal level it is still my great grandfather, Louis Decrop, who performed acts of outstanding bravery in the second world war against the Nazis. On a professional level I am most inspired by a person who may seem an obvious choice. Edwin Lutyens has been an important figure for me, but this is not for his architectural prowess alone. The sheer force of his personality and his unremitting tenacity meant that his visions (and no one else’s version of these) became a reality. What has been your best idea? Going self-employed and setting up AHC Consultants. It is challenging and amazing all at the same time. What would you like to have been if you had not become a conservationist? Funnily enough I was asked this question very recently by a group of friends.We were all at university together 20 years ago and, sitting round a table, calvados in hand, the conversation turned into a kind of career audit. A few days later I still could not think of anything I would prefer to do and concluded that, since hanging up my ballet shoes and the dream that went with them in my late teens, there has not been anything since that I would have preferred to do. I consider myself very blessed. How do you reply when at a party someone asks what you do? Normally: ‘I work with historic buildings’. That nearly always provokes genuine interest and a good conversation. What would you like to be doing in five years’ time? Still running AHC Consultants but also doing more writing about buildings. I love the quirkiness of architectural history and the way buildings hold a story. For me this is a huge part of the appeal and could be used effectively to interest more people in our heritage. What is your favourite building? What kind of a question is that for someone who loves almost all historic buildings? Just now I would have to say the breathtaking boldness of the Hoover Building, all lit up at night. The lighting scheme (part of the original design) strikes me time and again as a beacon of the confidence felt during the inter-war period: confidence in the future and in modernity. Your favourite place? Apart from an enduring love affair with Winchester Cathedral, I would say the coast around Begur, in north-east Spain. There is a constant smell of pine trees and there are numerous little single-cell churches. My favourite is a 700-year-old church at Madremanya, which can only be reached on foot, along the stone lanes of the medieval village. Your favourite book? Any of John Summerson’s books, opinionated old genius that he was. While he certainly did not always walk the line in conservation terms, he has a way of making me see a building, or period of architectural history, from a different perspective. Reading his books is a bit like taking a look through John Summerson goggles. If pushed I would choose his The Classical Language of Architecture. What do you do in your spare time? I look after my two-and-a-half-year-old, knit, decorate, read architectural history books, drink far too many mochas and ballroom dance. What organisations are you a member of? The Society of Architectural Historians of Great Britain, National Trust, Friends of Winchester Cathedral, Hampshire Wildlife Trust and a Colombian charity called In Ministry to Children. Which one issue would you particularly like the IHBC to campaign on? I always bang this particular drum because I feel it to be of great importance: the erosion of conservation staffing levels in local authorities.We are all losing so much because there is not the capacity (and lately I think there is not the knowledge either) to deal with the heritage properly or to pay attention to the detail.
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