C O N T E X T 1 4 2 : N O V E M B E R 2 0 1 5 33 St Michael’s Church, Union Square, Cluj, is the second largest and the tallest in Transylvania.The church was built between 1442 and 1447, and the tower in 1862. The president Poetry in place ‘The slopes were striped with vines and scattered with sheaves and ricks, and chaff from threshing mingled with the dust. Flocks and herds were beginning to throw longer shadows when we reached a high point with an entire town spread below; and, getting out under the walls of a vigilant 18th-century citadel, we gazed across an untidy fall of roofs.’ 1 That was the description of his journey towards the Romanian city of Cluj by traveller and writer Patrick Leigh Fermor in the late 1930s, just before the outbreak of the second world war. My recent arrival at the city by budget airline could not have been more different, yet from the air it was easy to appreciate the historic character of the place. I was there on one of my first official duties as IHBC president on the invitation of the Transylvania Trust to an international conference on building crafts skills, which was funded by the European Union. Seán O’Reilly describes the conference in detail and what it means for the IHBC in his column on page 36. We were based in a hotel in Cluj and taken by coach to the conference some miles outside the city at Banffy Castle, a partly ruined baroque palace at which the Transylvania Trust runs courses. The trust, with which the IHBC has had long connections, as many of you will be aware, is gradually bringing the castle back to life by using its students to hone their skills in essential conservation work to its fabric. The castle was almost destroyed during the second world war. Today it presents a rather different picture to that painted by Leigh Fermor: ‘we had a quick look at the baroque arcades and books and treasures in the splendid Banffy Palace’. It was the perfect venue for the conference. Not only were we inspired by the work carried on there by director and IHBC member David Baxter and his team, but it gave us the opportunity to discuss a number of issues around how to maintain building craft skills. For me it was an excellent opportunity not only as a public relations exercise for the IHBC, but also to make contact and learn from other European conservation practitioners. In taking on the role of president of the IHBC, I am very conscious that one of my most important responsibilities will be to represent the institute at a variety different events and locations. Presenting the IHBC in a positive light will be one of my priorities. However,
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