Shining brightly together: church embraces eco-friendly lighting upgrade

St Francis Xavier Roman Catholic Church (SFX) is a Grade Two*-listed building designed by Charles Day of Worcester and built initially for the Jesuits. It sits in Broad Street, Hereford in the shadow of the cathedral.

The laying of the foundation stone was on 19 September 1837 when Queen Victoria sent her representative the High Sheriff of Herefordshire to represent her. This was the first time in 300 years that a reigning monarch and head of the Anglican Church had a representative at a Catholic ceremony.

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CRE National postponed for 12 months

With large-scale indoor events unlikely to be permitted in the autumn, CRE National at Sandown Park, Esher has been postponed for 12 months – until 12-14 October 2021.

‘Though October is still four months away, we thought it best to make this difficult decision sooner than later,’ said event director Brett Pitchfork. ‘Even if Government restrictions are lifted, we doubt enough people will feel confident about attending an event of this kind in the autumn. We have taken the decision with a heavy heart but feel it is the responsible thing to do and appreciate the thoughts and prayers of our visitors and exhibitors as we plot our way through these difficult times.’

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Sensitive adaptation maintains the beauty of Grade One medieval treasure

A beautiful piece of precious history, such as a church building, is so much better when it can be used today. Its colours and textures can be felt, evoking a sense of history so much richer than just walking through it as a monument.

The lovely Grade One-listed St Mary’s Church in Purton, Wiltshire, is built in Cotswold stone and dates from the 13th century. Its twisted ribbed roof structure and medieval paintings reflect the soft colours of its ancient lime plaster and its crooked pillars and limestone arches tell of the hands that crafted them.

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Trees - A Church Guidance Note by Ecclesiastical

Many churchyards contain a large number of beautiful trees. They form a natural part of the overall landscape, bringing wide and many varied benefits as well as contributing to the overall aesthetic appeal of your church premises.

However, trees, if not properly managed, can cause serious damage. In windy conditions, they may fall onto or lash against the church building itself, neighbouring property or cars. Root movement can cause the collapse of boundary walls. Roots can also absorb soil moisture causing foundations to move and walls to crack. They can also encroach upon the foundations of neighbouring buildings, causing subsidence or damage to drains.

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Natural Zinc – now in stock – for next day delivery

Rainclear Systems, the UK’s leading stockist and online retailer of metal rainwater systems, has once again responded to the demand for its Natural Zinc Rainwater System by adding it to the huge ranges it stocks in its two warehouses in Swindon, for next day delivery to mainland UK addresses.

The Natural Zinc was only added to website, originally with a 15day leadtime, in April. The response has been such a success that they recognised the value to customer of having a shorter leadtime and so will begin stocking the range, in 115mm half-round profile gutter and 80mm diameter round downpipe, from the 5th July 2020.

Read more: Natural Zinc – now in stock – for next day delivery

Antenna reinforcement installation

Antenna reinforcement installation - The design will not only provide the ability to operate their radio microphones from the main West Door location, but also improve the coverage throughout key points of the cathedral, including the Lady Chapel and will replace their somewhat temporary existing antenna installation, not only improving performance, but also aesthetics (less equipment visible). Coverage is also required in the Lady Chapel area, not only so the radio microphones can work through the main PA system, but also, a future requirement where these existing radio microphones can be routed to the stand-alone Lady Chapel PA system.  This will maximise their return on investment, since there will not be a need to purchase another set of radio microphones just for the occasional use in this area [Lady Chapel]

Radio frequencies in the 600-700Mhz range are highly directional and are easily attenuated by large objects such as pillars and other building structures.  It is very important that antennas have a clear line-of-sight to the radio microphone transmitter, therefore satisfactory coverage of such a building with a single antenna array is rarely possible.  In addition, as the frequency goes up, so do losses in the coax cable connecting the antennas to the receiver.  The type of antenna, location and distance from receiver, are a careful balancing act to ensure losses in the system are kept to a minimum.  Simply extending the coax cabling 100 meters to an antenna right besides the West Door say, will result in large losses and also not provide seamless coverage in the main areas as detailed in this document.  A very high quality low-loss coax cable (expensive!) such as LMR 400 will still be required due to the distances involved.

Each antennas specified work on the mixed polarisation diversity principle, therefore will require 2 feeds of coax back to the main system rack.

• For coverage down to the West Door and up the main isle, an RF Venue Diversity Fin antenna will be positioned at [photo_1,jpg] location.  This antenna will have a pickup area detailed in [photo_2.jpg].  A custom-made bracket will facilitate this antenna being discreetly mounted so it has a clear line-of-sight to the areas of interest.  There will be approximately a 2x 50m run of coax needed and a pair of RF Venue In-Line Amplifiers will be required to take into account cable losses.     
• For coverage in the area ahead of the above antenna and in front of the steps area, an RF Venue Diversity Architectural Antenna will provide an 180 deg omnidirectional coverage of the area, as the distance from microphone transmitter to antenna is a lot less. [photo_4.jpg]
• For coverage around the alter and choir stalls area, another RF Venue Diversity Architectural Antenna will provide an 180 deg omnidirectional coverage of the area, as the distance from microphone transmitter to antenna is a lot less.[photo_3.jpg].  A custom metal mounting bracket and plate will be fabricated so that the antenna can be supported from the wooden floor and "look over" the marble rail, since we are not allowed to mount anything directly to this marble rail! [photo_6.jpg]
• For coverage in the Lady Chapel area, another RF Venue Diversity Architectural Antenna mounted high up next to the loudspeaker. [photo_5.jpg]

These four diversity antenna systems will be combined into a single diversity output by an RF Venue 4 Zone and the output fed into the Cathedrals existing RF distribution amplifier.  The RF Venue 4 Zone will be mounted in the main PA rack up at the balcony besides the exiting radio microphone equipment. Carry out a detailed RF analysis involving a spectrum analyser once the system is installed, to ensure that it meets the coverage requirements in the areas detailed.

The Cathedral installation was carried out, tested performance with team on site which they were very happy with, Radio mic signals are now rock solid throughout the Cathedral - including in areas where coverage requirement was not originally specified. Mics can even now be taken outside the West Door onto the steps where the receiver still registers a full signal strength. The signal picked up by antenna 4 (the fin firing down the Cathedral) was so strong that we have had to program in a few dBs of attenuation on the 4Zone combiner so as not to overload the receiver. Also attended Easter service on Friday to witness performance, which was solid for the whole system throughout.  Took around 10 signal and 19 RF spectrum measurements around the Cathedral alongside Chris to demonstrate wholeness of performance from the system. Also to note that audio distortion from Radio Mics appears to have disappeared suspect due to weak signals and digital receivers struggling to error correct.

With regards to the 6 monthly maintenance, this is what is involved:

Description of Services:

• Carry out planned audio system maintenance on mutually convenient dates/times, first visit prior to Palm Sunday and second before the First Sunday of Advent.
• Inspect all items of equipment within the equipment rack and test for correct operation and functionality
• Check the interior of the equipment rack for cleanliness, taking high levels of dust accumulation in the cathedral into account – dismantle and clean where necessary
• Inspect each of the installed loudspeakers for condition and functionality. Periodically test intelligibility (Sti) using calibrated test equipment
• Inspect and test the radio microphone receivers for condition and functionality
• Inspect the wired microphones and cables for condition and functionality
• Inspect the beltpack radio transmitters for condition and functionality
• Test all aspects of the overall system as required by the Cathedral custodians including electrical safety of the system
• Check the settings of the microphone mixer and digital signal processor
• Test the induction loop system for the hard of hearing for correct functionality and accordance with prevailing requirements in respect of the Disability Discrimination Act
• Using Computerised Smart real time analyser test system equalization and other crucial parameters to ensure maximum gain before feedback etc where necessary
• Consult with staff and clergy to ensure that all is in order
• Respond to reports of suspected faults and to be available by telephone and email
• Two emergency attendances provided within the contract period during working hours (Monday – Friday, 08:30 – 17:30 excluding bank holidays).

Finding professional help from conservation specialists, including architects

There are a number of professions that can help you plan and carry out work to an old building. Going it alone without the help of experienced and qualified professionals in order to save money often proves to be a false economy. It's worth thinking about what help will benefit your project early on.

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Integration of ancient and modern is the aspiration

Low carbon consultancy MTA is a practice that specialises in the sympathetic conservation of culturally significant buildings during the integration of modern services.

With over 20 years of experience, the team at MTA have a comprehensive understanding of the complex rivalry between historical architecture and modern comfort. With an aspiration to ‘repair rather than replace’ they aim to preserve the historic fabric of these important structures.

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Time to start the clock!

To coincide with shops, towns and cities re-opening, Smith of Derby are offering communities a free guide (Restarting Mechanical Tower Clocks) to help start the thousands of local mechanical public clocks, up and down the country, which may have stopped or purposefully stopped for safety reasons, during lock-down.

Over the last few months many mechanical clocks in our communities have stopped due to restrictions preventing regular clock windings and the BST time change taking place. As we look forward to our communities return to a new normal, a working public clock will be an important sign of wellbeing to everyone.

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Stained glass repairs at St. Martin on-the-Hill, Scarborough

J Goodwin Stained Glass carried out repairs to the windows at the church of St. Martin on-the-Hill, Scarborough after a painstaking period producing what was described as ‘a stunning piece of work’.

St. Martin’s is the perfect High Victorian Church and was built in response to the rapid urban development of the South Cliff that had taken place since 1845.

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Leading leadworker tells the story of giant planter installation

Further details have come to light of the magnificent lead planter produced by Brian Turner of Turners Ornamental Leadwork for a private client in Norfolk, as featured in Ecclesiastical and Heritage World last autumn.

The trellis tree planter is three metres in diameter and 560mm high. Each of the individual cast panels is 1,710mm in length, giving a circumference of 9.426 metres. Each panel is decorated with motifs designed by the client, depicting items of significance to the family.

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Traditional windows - their care, repair and upgrading

The loss of traditional windows from our older buildings poses one of the major threats to our heritage. Traditional windows and their glazing make an important contribution to the significance of historic areas.

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