IHBCAND ACO BUSINESS ■ BOOKS members whose mail is sent back. If you know anything about them, please don't assume somebody else will let me know. Contact me. Two of them are still paying a subscription by banker's order but receiving no maiJI Here is the current list of lost members (last recorded location in brackets): Andrew G Farrall (London) Sandra Scott (Maldon) Joanne Tyler (Staines) At the time of writing, I have not sent out subscription reminder letters. We are still waiting for the agreement and printing of the new IHBC logo and headed notepaper. I hope to be sending out reminders soon. Following last year's change Bookreviews Damage limitation exercise Historic cities & sustainable tourism: the protection & promotion of the world's heritage. Conference Papers. ICOMOS UK. 1996. 80pp. A4 size. Softback. ISBN O 9517677 08 X. £40.00. The conference, .held in Bath between 4 and 6 October 1995, was intended to build on the Seven Principles of Sustainable Tourism developed at an earlier conference held in Canterbury in 1990 on the similar theme of Historic Cities and Tourism. Over the intervening five years there has been further exploration of this issue within the context of the Rio environmental summit and Agenda 21. The need for sustainability in man-made and natural environments is clear and there is a serious risk to historic cities from cultural tourism and the erosion of fabric from traffic and visitor numbers. There are lessons to be learned from careful consideration of case studies and the political context of future action. While there is widespread acceptance of the principles, there is little in the way of positive national integrated action. It is pointed out that by the year 2005 tourism will be the world's largest indust1y with 325 million jobs, 11% of world GDP and with 900 million total visits, but 44 of subscription rates and change of bank, I am waiting with interest to see whether the banks pay the correct subscriptions to the new Lloyds Bank account in Witney. Early statements for the old National Westminster account in Chelmsford are ve1y worrying. I will have to write to a considerable number of members. If you pay by banker's order please check that your bank has done as you asked it to1 This year's subscriptions are the same as last year (the forthcoming change to Institute status will have no effecton subscriptions). Full and Associate Members pay £20, Corporate Members pay £75, Concessiona1yMembers pay £10 and Overmerely to identify the problems is to make no constructive contribution to the debate. The papers, though wide ranging, include pleas for consultation with locals on policy; identification of the carrying capacity and saturation/overcrowding of sites; the need for more pro-activity; practical visitor management; and a political climate less geared to shorttermism (some hope!). Another theme explored was the dilemma that, in the economies of eastern Europe, the political and cultural priorities will be different from those in the west. In the case study of Bath, the classic 'day-visit' city where conservation practitioners will find most directly relevant experience, Prof. Brian Bayliss emphasises the importance of there being an economic critical mass sufficient for interrelated specialisms that make for a healthy economic base. This is essential for sustainability to be maintained. The question is posed as to whether tourism can compensate for the decline in other forms of economic activity? Local authorities have a key role to play and that the planning for historic cities must be founded on clear analysis of tourism demand. Although there were contributions from the Director General of the National Trust, the Secretary General of ICOMOS and experts on tourism from Krakow and Bruges and on seas Members (non UK) pay £25. Send your cheques (payable to the Association of Conservation Officers until you hear from me otherwise) to my address (see page 3). Please do not pay by bank giro direct into your bank. If you do, I will have no record of your payment and you will receive chasing letters from me. As I said last year, I know you are all as busy as I am, but spare a thought for your Membership Secretary - I don't get paid for all the trouble you put me to! I know it is difficult to remember to pay subscriptions so I would remind you again that paying by banker's order can be of great benefit. New forms of management from Bath, it seems a pity that there was no representative from Chester and seemingly no reference in Bath to the important 76 page report on Environmental capacity - a methodology for historic cities. This was published by Chester City, Cheshire County, the DoE and English Heritage (aided by Arup and BDP) in February 1995. The content of the Bath conference makes interesting comparison with the Chester report. It must be said that the latter contains considerably more meat. When the blank pages and tables are taken into account, the ICOMOS report is more like 53 pages than 80. This certainly does not make its price sustainable. Bob Kindred Scottishquirksand delights The Buildings of Scotland - Dumphries & Galloway. John Gifford. Founding editors: Nikolaus Pevsner, Colin McWilliam, consultant editor: John Newman. Penguin/Buildings of Scotland Trust. 1996. 622pp. 127 b+w photos+ drwgs, engravings & maps. 12 X 20 cm. Hardback. ISBN O 14 071067 1. £30.00. The beauty of buying 'a Pevsner' (as the Buildings of England, and, I assume Scotland, series have become widely know), is that it will be comprehensive, well researched, and consistent banker's order can be obtained from me (address on page 3). It was confirmed at the AGM in Canterbury that the ACO will officially become the Institute of Historic Building Conservation once the final accounts of the ACO have been audited and the assets of the ACO have been passed to the IHBC. At that stage you will all automatically become affiliate members of the new Institute. Paperwork will be sent to all affiliate members to enable them to apply, through a streamlined system initially, for full membership of the Institute. More details will follow as soon as possible. Gus Astley, Membership Secretary with the other volumes in the series. The surprises always come with the buildings themselves, and a fair part of the delight with the forthright, sometimes complimentary and sometimes charmingly rude opinions expressed by the authors. John Gifford does the tradition proud in this sixth volume of the 'Buildings of Scotland' series, begun by Pevsner in the 1970s, and edited by Colin McWilliam until his untimely death in 1989. Interestingly, the travelling and research costs for this series were for many years found by the National Trust for Scotland. Recently this burden has been borne by the Buildings of Scotland Trust, a charity set up in 1991 to carry forward research documents of this nature. The 'Dumfries and Galloway' volume (for those whose geography is slightly hazy it's the far south-western corner of Scotland) is written in the same format as the English series, and begins with a fascinating introduction to the area's buildings and history. Particularly strong is the section on 'Romans', written by David Breeze, which gives a fascinating insight into the daily life and work of Agricola's army. A later section provides useful information about how changes in worship and liturgical practices after the reformation affected the design of late Georgian and Victorian churches of the area. Context54 June1997
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