32 The one and only official report on the 1991 ACO Annual School, by John Davey and colleagues. HOVE ACTUALLY 120 delegates arrived on an extremely wet and windy Wednesday in Brighton to attend this year's Annual School. Some people had taken advantage of the opportunity tO visit the Keymer tile works at Burgess Hill en route, and were treated to a tour of the works and demonstrations of hand-made tile production. The remainder of the first day revolved around visits to the Royal Pavilion followed by an evening reception provided by Brighton Borough Council, and hosted by the Mayor. Bob Fraser from Brighton has written the following account of the visit. VISIT TO THE ROYAL PAVILION A bracing Brighton drizzle prevented the morning tour group from inspecting the roof areas of the Pavilion. This was a fortunate turn of events since any abbreviation of the tour inspecting the internal restoration would have been unthinkable (and it also allowed the several late arrivals to catch us up). We are in any case all familiar with leadwork, shaped slates and Dehl's mastic over sheet iron, aren't we? (Dehl's what?) The t0ur started in the Music Room where we were presented with some impressive numbers of the restoration: 22,000 hand water gilded scallop shells to the ceiling, 5,000,000 hand stitches in the · carpet, .(10,000,000 spent, and ten years of restoration. I have been in that room many times over the past few years and I still find it breathtaking. Almost as impressive is the purist zeal and application of the resroration, even to the extent of two years' carving going into a single mirror frame. A quick summary of the inherent problems of the building was followed by a tour of the rest0ration in progress. Rooms were being papered or painted to original patterns found behind more recent work, and replica furniture made where origjnals could not be borrowed or found. These included "Queen Victoria's Khazi", a rather spacious water closet that many would have considered a generous second bedroom were it not for the cistern and chain. A lightning rour of one of the country's most desirable uninhabitable flats (thanks co the fire regs), in one of the onion domes, was followed by a tour of some of the rest0ration workshops. A few delegates thought that their legs had been pulled when a carpenter explained that he had experimented with all sorts of disgusting original glue recipes but had settled on using pva adhesive. I was impressed by the amount of experimentation with glues, washes, graining etc which precedes any item being restored so that the colour, texture and patina of the finished article are correct. Strangely at odds with this time consuming approach is the sourcing of some of the materials. In order t0 get suitably seasoned wood, the rescorers will piece together a single length from small salvaged items. The source is the diy conservationist favourite - the skip. However cranky, Heath Robinson or time consuming the solutions, the most impressive part of this rescoration is the search for correctness and originality, and the range of skills amassed in one place. A real shame we could not get everyone on this tour. On day two, coachesarrived tO transport delegates to Singlecon Open Air Museum and West Dean College in West Sussex. Chezyl Bird of English Heritage had the unenviable task of organising the day and reports as follows. SINGLETON OPEN AIR MUSEUM AND WEST DEAN COLLEGE Fortunately, our day out in the fresh air turned out tO be sunny and bright, and we managed to leave Sussex University on time, arriving at Singlecon co be welcomed by the direcror, Chris Zeuner. After coffee and cake, we were divided inco three groups to be taken around the museum, led by Chris, Richard Harris (who has long been associated with the museum) and the chief carpenter, Mr Champion. Each leader had a different copic tO concentrate on, and later discussions revealed some interesting differences of opinion on the philosophy of repair and 'restoration'. After an excellent lunch at West Dean (of which delegates were only given a short, tantalising glimpse!) we reconvened back at Singleton, and were then allowed to walk around at our own pace, sampling some of the demonstrations of traditional crafts on show. Flint knapping and leadwork were particularly fascinating, although the dangers of lime slaking soon drew a crowd. Hutton and Rostron, a firm which specialises in the eradication of dry rot, was on site, and its dry-rot sniffing collie was a great success. Whilst all this went on, Gordon Pearson struggled valiantly tO give two identical lectures in quick succession on the intricacies of cob repair - whilst the provision of yet more refreshment helped, a certain Conservation Officer from a Sussex coastal town STILL fell asleep! By five o'clock people were definitely flagging, but there was much more still to come, as we returned to West Dean for a tour of the house led very ably by the architect responsible for the recent extensions and alterations, John Warren. A delicious supper was quickly over, and finally at 7.30 pm we settled in the library for a rousing (it had to be!) lecture by Richard Harris on the traditional instruments used in timber frame construction, returning t0 Sussex University in time for a late-night drink .. or two. By day three, most people were glad t0 stay in one place for the whole day.Just as well, because Richard Morrice of English Heritage had arranged the Day School, where another 60 delegates added to our numbers for an intensive series of talks at the University. Richard has prepared the following account of the day's proceedings. THE DAY SCHOOL* The intention behind the Friday School this year was to provide some form of introduction to architectural hist0ry for Conservation Officers who arc most often recruited with their skills as architects and planners in mind. However, local planning authorities have the power t0 determine planning applications for consent concerning Grade II listed buildings and it was felt that it might be useful tO provide a concentrated introduction to the architectural history of these only. *Nigel Barker from Surrey County Council is preparing a transcript of the talks. He will be seeking the agreement of the speakers before making the transcipt available, but if members are interested in obtaining a copy they should contact Nigel on 081-541 9417. CONTEXT 31
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