56 C O N T E X T 1 7 3 : S E P T E M B E R 2 0 2 2 Vox pop Alice Ullathorne Who has been your greatest inspiration? My first boss when I worked at the Peak District National Park Authority, Ken Smith, has been a consistent inspiration of how you should work and collaborate. Julian Holder is an enduring inspiration from my time at Historic England (and I am sure anyone who met him would agree). The inspiration who has most influence on what I want to do and achieve in my career has been Kate Dickson of Creative Heritage Consultants.When I was a trainee at English Heritage, Julian Holder introduced me to Kate and the team at Heritage Works Buildings Preservation Trust at Ancoats in Manchester, where she was then director. It was incredible to see how funding had been brought in to save the most important mill at the birthplace of mechanised industry in Manchester. I found the concept incredibly inspirational. Nearly 15 years later I am working for a building preservation trust and am a trustee at the Heritage Trust Network, hoping that I can emulate just a part of what Kate has and continues to achieve. What has been your best idea? I love to bring creativity into my work, especially when working with people. I was given pretty free rein to do that at Nottingham City Council and I think that really helped engage people with heritage. One example: I was working on securing a grant for a Grade II* listed building at risk in Nottingham, and we wanted to put on an event for the Nottingham City of Caves festival. The cave beneath the town house was rumoured to have been used previously as a skittle alley when the building was a public hall. Taking this idea, we ran Cave Petanque (a bowling sport) matches for a couple of days through the festival. These were incredibly popular and brought entirely different audiences into the building for an evocative and enjoyable experience. Ravenshead Petanque Club gave people lessons in the sport before they played. What would you like to have been if you had not become a conservationist? As a kid I wanted to be a wildlife photographer or a football goalkeeper. It was relatively obvious at 52 I was not going to be able to do the latter but I think being a photographer would have been cool. How do you reply when at a party someone asks what you do? At the moment I say project manager, as people understand what that is. It used to be trickier when I was a heritage strategy officer at Nottingham City Council. I often just say I like to save old buildings. What is the biggest frustration in your job? Heritage is a long game and sometimes that is frustrating. The more I have been involved in delivering projects, the more I have realised that you need a Plan B… and C, D and E. If you get there in the end it has all been worthwhile. What would you like to be doing in five years’ time? Being the best I can at my role, supporting better outcomes for heritage. What is your favourite building? I have different buildings for different moods. It was incredible getting dressed up in a hazmat suit to explore Chalfont Nuclear Bunker in Nottingham, which is full of asbestos. I love all of the Boots campus in Nottingham. My favourite country house is Castle Howard. I remember a really evocative trip to the Grade II* St Aidan’s Church, Chalfont Nuclear Bunker: health hazard
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MjgyMjA=