C O N T E X T 1 7 3 : S E P T E M B E R 2 0 2 2 5 Obituary Ian Lucas, historic building conservationist Crispin Edwards writes: We are sorry to report that the secretary of the IHBC north-west branch, Ian Lucas, died suddenly on 7 January. Ian was born in Claverley, Shropshire, one of five siblings. The family moved around the country before settling in Malvern. Malvern and its hills remained a place of peace and beauty for Ian. He continued to visit home regularly, increasingly so in recent years to support his own parents. He also had a great love for Cornwall, where his mother was from and which was the destination for many family holidays. He began his working life as an architect in Newcastle, after training in architecture there. While at university he had learnt to love hill walking and made many lasting friendships, as well as deepening his Christian faith with his involvement with the Navigators. As a result of one of these friendships and a fortuitous car accident he met his future wife Anne, whom he married in 1991. In 1997 a move to Manchester for work brought Ian to the north west to live, working with Byrom Clark Roberts. He greatly appreciated the firm’s flexibility to his caring for his second son’s additional needs, and he remained with them through a takeover by Smithers Purslow. He enjoyed problem solving as a team and mentoring younger architects at the start of their careers. Some of the many contractors he worked with over the years also helped with home adaptations, and he was tremendously grateful for this support network in his professional life. His work gave Ian the opportunity to further his passion for historic buildings, and after post-graduate studies this became his specialism. I remember spending time with him on scaffolding early in my career, learning about building defects. He was a great advocate for Port Sunlight and started the 21st-century best practice heritage site management for the village with his work on the conservation management plan. Like many heritage enthusiasts, for Ian historic architecture was much more than a job. Many family outings involved a ‘site visit’ or trip to see ‘something interesting’ (from a complete medieval castle to a hole in the ground and several bricks). Ian first joined the north-west branch’s executive committee in 2009, coordinating responses on consultations. He later became the branch secretary, committed to developing stronger links within the regional membership. He actively supported the development of the branch’s awards scheme, which for a number of years was run jointly with the RTPI, and he designed the award plaques. He was a great fan of the Isle of Man, and enjoyed visiting its heritage when the branch committee held meetings there to strengthen ties with this part of our region. Selfless and quietly spoken, whenever things were difficult Ian’s dry sense of humour and pragmatic approach to life would always help. In his work as well as at home he was a man of integrity who was unfailingly calm, courteous, compassionate, practical and diligent. He treated all as equals and lived his faith through his life. He will be missed terribly. He is survived by his wife, three sons and two grandchildren. Crispin Edwards, IHBC north-west branch vice-chair Letter How effective is listing? From Richard Griffith RIBA RIAS 2022 is the 50th anniversary of an ill-fated moment in listed building history.Wayland Young (Lord Kennet) had been a junior minister in charge of historic buildings in the Labour government of 1966–70; and in 1972 he published a memoir of his time in office. It included the following observation: ‘I marvelled at the willingness of parliament to set up and the civil service to operate a system designed to have a certain effect without ever checking whether it was having that effect or another or none.’ More recently, in 2009, the secretary of the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings, Philip Venning, made the same point: ‘None of the players in this elaborate and costly system of consultation actually knows how effective any of us are. It is quite extraordinary that there are no figures and little, if any, research.’ There is still no routine system for checking the control’s performance and effectiveness. Of course, there are numerous documents, both official and professional, that dilate on what the control is intended to do. But what is the point of any of them if they are not routinely focused by a description of what the control is actually doing? After 50 years, isn’t the introduction of proper governance long overdue? Richard Griffith
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