Bradford, my home for the last twenty years, is badly treated by many modem commentators. J. B. Priestley, who was born there, describes it in his English Journey written in the 1930s as "a city entirely without charm, though not altogether ugly and its industry is a black business" BillBryson comments that "Bradford" role in life is to make every place in the world look better in comparison and it does thispretty well." Bryson likes what Priestley wanted to get rid of. He particularly laments the loss of one of the greatest collections of Victorian architecture anywhere which (apart from Kirkgate Market - replaced by an Amdale Centre) Priestley didn't think much of. One can clearly see here the evidence of the change in perception of Victorian architecture which has taken place over the last sixty years. Bill Bryson's comments on specific elements of the architecture in many of the towns he visits are often more 'flamboyant' than those on Bradford. He isparticularly hard on the VictoriaGardens Shopping Centre, Harrogate: "the name is a bit rich because they built it on top of Victoria Gardens, so it really ought to be called the Nice Little Gardens Destroyed Shopping Centre ... "there is now a kind of open air amphitheatre ofsteps where/ suppose it is intended for people to sit on those two or three days a year when Yorkshire is sunny [written before 1995/]andhighabovetheroadthere has been built a truly preposterous covered foot bridge in the same Georgian/ltalianate/F* ** knows style connecting the shopping centre to a multi-storey car park across the way". The description of tl1efootbridge would not go down well in a proof of evidence. Nevertheless, the general public who don't have a deep knowledge of specialist conservation terms, will understand tl1e point very clearly. This article is not an attempt to introduce the equivalent of a Booker prize for conservation, altl1oughtl1ebooks quoted above probably make better reading than most of the contenders, nor isit suggesting that a Sun approach should be adopted in the public presentation of conservation issues - what would appear on page three? Nevertheless, there are a This quarter Brian Morton looks at alternative ways of repairing old walls number of lessons we can learn from the tabloid press and writers, particularly the more modem ones, who comment on conservation in a wider economic and social context. Perhaps the most important is the use of plain English, certainly for documents that are for public consumption. I have quoted from BillBryson as an example of the type of book which does not appear in conservation libraries. Yet it has a lot to say on tl1e subject. Some of the more choice phrases are a bit earthy. Nevertheless more people read about historic buildings in popular books than read, for example, Pevsner or listing descriptions. It is not stealing the Holy Grail and giving away professional secrets if tl1e public understand the arguments about the features which make a building worthy of listing or elements of the character or appearance which lie behind aproposed conservation area designation. The specialist and journalistic approach both have tl1eirplaces. There is,however, more chance of the increased level of public understanding and support necessary for the conservation of the country's historic built environment if the arguments are understood by all and not just a select few. David Morton 'SUPPORTING COLUMNS' The major problems associated witl1 the Figure I repair of old walls relates to the relative softness of the original construction and the need to maintain the flexibility of the structure whilst restraining it. Afew years ago it was quite normal for a conservation engineer to suggest the use of reinforced concrete to stiffen a structure, but Ipersonally always felt that it was wrong to introduce this inflexible material into a lime mortar based wall. I have, in a previous article, (Context 34, June 1992 pp21-22) referred to the brick beam technique that we used as a ring beam around Waxham Great Barn, which was constructed with flint and lime mortar. I am now able to confirm that after being in position for some three years, it is showing no signs of structural distress. The brick beam was constructed with stainless steel ladder reinforcement incorporated in two orthree of the joints, horizontally. The brickwork was built in short lengths incorporating slightlylonger lengths of stainless steel reinforcement. The beam was completed using the underpinning principle, in bays. In recent years various proprietary systems of strengthening or tying walls together have come onto the market and I have illustrated some of these below. Stainless steel The reason, in my opinion, why the wire helical reinforcement reinforcement system works so well is that it gives the necessary tying restraint whilst still allowing some flexibility. Of course these sketches are simplistic, but r-----------------------~~ I CONTEXT49 31
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