42 C O N T E X T 1 4 4 : M A Y 2 0 1 6 New member When I was studying ancient history and archaeology at the University of Birmingham, a module on heritage protection piqued my interest. I went on to study for an MA in heritage management at the Ironbridge Institute. The first module included lectures and site visits with a contagiously enthusiastic JohnYates. My first conservation job was in 2003 as conservation assistant at South Northamptonshire Council, where I carried out a buildings-at-risk survey. Having grown up as a city dweller, I remember being on site in a village full of wonderful thatched cottages, sitting by the duck pond on the green and wondering how I came to be being paid to do such an amazing job. From there I moved toWalsall Council, where I spent a fascinating, if challenging, few years. During my time there I completed a postgraduate diploma in historic conservation at Oxford Brookes, and I progressed from assistant conservation officer to principal regeneration officer. In 2008 I moved to Lichfield Council as a conservation officer. In 2015, following the departure of both other team members (they assure me it was nothing personal), I was appointed as principal conservation and design officer. Claire Hines has been elected a full member of the IHBC. Despite becoming an affiliate member of the IHBC in 2003, it took me until 2015 to apply for full membership. Life in general, and in particular young children, got in the way. I was spurred into action by a seminar for affiliates that the IHBC ran in May 2015. Given my local authority background, it is no surprise that I am very concerned at the continuing loss of historic environment specialists in local government. I am grateful to the IHBC for monitoring and raising awareness of this trend. Our historic environment must be allowed to evolve to ensure that it remains relevant, but that evolution must be managed and carried out by a knowledgeable, experienced body of professionals. ways. It was built under the Bourbon dynasty in the early 19th century, before Italy’s unification. Your favourite place? The small town of Urbino, in the Marche region, Italy. It is not only fabulous from the architectural point of view, designated by Unesco as a world heritage site, but it also represents a very special period of my life when I was at university studying for my BA for three years. Your favourite book? One that has touched me deeply is One, No One and One Hundred Thousand by Luigi Pirandello. Authenticity represents a predominant theme of Pirandellian narrative writing and when I was a teenager that book inspired me. I am also passionate about psychological reading: one of my favourite books on this subject is Art and Brain by Lamberto Maffei and Adriana Fiorentini. What do you do in your spare time? Living in London means that I discover a new place every single moment. I enjoy walking in different areas of the city, discovering new parks, and visiting museums and old bookshops. I love reading. I enjoy dancing, pilates and yoga classes, but my favourite sport will always be horse riding. What organisations are you a member of? Having a background in object and preventive conservation in Italy, I joined ICOM at international level, following particularly the Triennial ICOM-CC conferences, and Icon here in the UK because I wanted to find out more about the conservation sector in this country. Which one issue would you particularly like the IHBC to campaign on? The IHBC should campaign more on both the technical challenges affecting historic environment, such as risk assessment and climate change, and communication to a wider non-specialist public. Lichfield House (the Tudor Café) in Bore Street, Lichfield, built in 1510 (Photo: iStock)
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