Current Issue
Stop churches from suffering the effects of lightning
Direct Strike Ltd are a business that specialises in safeguarding people and properties against lightning. As a result, they feel that it is their duty to do whatever they can for their customers. One thing they do for them is supply the most effective lightning protection testing Carlisle has to offer. The team carries out comprehensive checks and leaves nothing out.
Read more: Stop churches from suffering the effects of lightning
First choice for restoration of Historic England's York HQ
CG Building and Restoration Ltd is a trusted and highly skilled building contractor with a strong track record in the delivery of residential, commercial and restoration projects.
Founded by Vernon Carter in 2013, they have grown to become a leading building contractor with a professional and experienced team equipped with the perfect combination of skills. With offices based both in York and Ryedale, they are able to provide services throughout Yorkshire. CG were recently the first choice to restore Historic England's Headquarters in York.
Read more: First choice for restoration of Historic England's York HQ
Niche clerical shirt company for sale - the way to independence
Due to retirement, Alan Buckwell is looking to sell his online clerical shirt and collar business and describes the opportunity available to potential buyers.
B&H Shirts and Collars was established in 1999 and has gained over the years a very good reputation, it is a niche business selling clergy shirts and collars globally. B&H Shirts and Collars is expandable. It sells on it’s own online platform, on Amazon and eBay. It is an online company that would start earning money from day one.
Read more: Niche clerical shirt company for sale - the way to independence
‘You gotta move..!’ New dates for CRE South West are 23-24 June 2021
The Bible brims over with people told to move. Abraham was sent out, not knowing where he was going. Moses led an entire nation on that long and winding road out of Egypt. Jonah, via a rather large fish, reluctantly returned to Nineveh. Not forgetting the apostles of the New Testament. Or, as Revd Gary Davis sang in his classic \African-American spiritual: ‘When God get ready… you gotta move.’
Read more: ‘You gotta move..!’ New dates for CRE South West are 23-24 June 2021
Giving old books a new lease of life
York Bookbinding owner Philip Winskill has been binding books from the day he started his apprenticeship 44 years ago.
He started at York University on 2nd September 1975 and bound, mostly periodicals, for the next 25 years. In January 2000 he was made redundant from the university but had already had his own bindery built by the side of his house in York.
London’s Heritage
Historic England has published its annual Heritage at Risk Register for 2022. The Register is the yearly health-check of England’s most valued historic places and those most at risk of being lost forever as a result of neglect, decay or inappropriate development.
To find out more click here
London is one of the world’s most famous cities. It’s a centre for everything from fashion to finance, politics to pop music, and monarchy to the media – and it’s been at the heart of English history for thousands of years.
Our next issue sees a focus on some of the current restoration projects taking place in the capital.
We will be looking at the restoration work taking place in our UK Parliament and spotlight work carried out under the guidance and supervision of the Heritage of London Trust. There will also be a focus on projects listed by Historic England as being at risk.
The Palace of Westminster, or the Houses of Parliament as it is also known, has changed dramatically over the course of nearly a thousand years of history. Transformed from royal residence to the home of a modern democracy, the architecture and cultural collections of the Palace and the wider Parliamentary Estate have continually evolved, sometimes by design, sometimes through accident or attack.
We will be looking at some of the restoration projects and here are just a couple of examples.
Historic St Stephen’s Hall ceiling shines again as Parliament concludes major repair and cleaning work
A major piece of work to clean and repair the ceiling of the historic St Stephen’s Hall, right in the heart of Parliament, has now come to an end.
The intricate and specialist work involved is part of a wider programme of works that focuses on the repair and replacement of stonework, as well as mechanical and electrical systems in the Palace of Westminster.
Click here for further information.
Conservation of Elizabeth Tower and Big Ben
Affectionately known around the world as Big Ben and shrouded in scaffolding since 2017, the Elizabeth Tower is being repaired from the gilt cross and orb at its tip, to the bottom of its 334-step staircase.
This is the largest and most complex conservation project in the Tower’s history.
Click here for further information.
Heritage of London Trust is London’s independent heritage charity, set up in 1980 by the Greater London Council to rescue historic buildings and monuments. They work in every London borough, supporting local communities who most need their help.
The Trust identifies projects, commissions condition surveys, gives grants and guides the restoration of each site from beginning to end, focusing on heritage at risk. They encourage local authorities to get behind them and work with specialist conservators to bring every building back to life. All the projects involve young people through their Proud Places programme.
London’s lost histories inspire and delight. The Trust research the amazing stories behind every project and use them to brighten our surroundings and our lives.
As a charity Heritage of London Trust is 100% independently funded – if you can help support them, please do at www.heritageoflondon.org/donate-today
They share interesting restoration stories with schools and young people as part of the Proud Places programme. Over the last four decades the Trust has restored over 700 historic sites, helping keep the city’s heritage safe and accessible to all. For more information visit www.heritageoflondon.org
Here are a couple of projects showing what they do.
Restoration of the portico steps at Caroline Gardens Chapel
The chapel of the Licensed Victuallers’ Asylum, now known as Caroline Gardens Chapel, was built as part of a large set of almshouses for the support of publicans ‘advanced in age and suffering from infirmity... and no longer capable of supporting themselves’. Construction began in 1827 on a large plot of land in Camberwell, and continued until 1850 when the chapel was built in the centre of the almshouse crescent.
Click here for further information.
We will be looking for further projects of interest to be included so feel free to contact Richard at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
ISCVE announces revised dates for ISCVEx 2021
Having considered the impact of Covid-19 on businesses in the UK and particularly exhibitions and events, the Institute of Sound, Communications and Visual Engineers has announced it is to reschedule dates for its annual seminar and exhibition event ISCVEx in 2021, now scheduled to take place on 28-29th September 2021 rather than 9-10th March 2021.
Mammon ousts God in Liverpool event contest
The organisers of Christian Resources Exhibition have been forced to scrap plans for next year’s event in Liverpool, after it was decided that Eurovision 2023 would take place there next May.
Steve Goddard, co-owner and managing director of CRE said the BBC’s Host City Selection Committee and the European Broadcasting Union showed no concern about the devastating effect the bidding process would have on his business, after months of hesitation from the event’s organisers.
CRE North was originally scheduled from 3-4 May at ACC Liverpool – the same month as Eurovision 2023 – but Goddard is now in talks for compensation.
“They wanted us to reschedule it close to the original date, but that is not satisfactory for us, so we’re having to completely abandon plans to run the exhibition in 2023. We’re going to have to postpone it to 2024,” he commented.
Fire door safety questions - answered by Acuity Compliance
So we thought it might be helpful to run through some fire door safety questions. These are the most common questions that we get asked. If you are unsure about fire door safety compliance please contact us and we will be happy to answer any questions you may have.
Read more: Fire door safety questions - answered by Acuity Compliance
Churches extend a warm welcome to their communities
As more and more churches undertake projects to extend their facilities to the wider communities and to parishioners with disabilities, so the need to upgrade and extend their heating systems becomes apparent.
One such church is St Margaret’s in Wrenbury, Cheshire. The church, a Grade Two*-listed 15th century sandstone building with unique box pews, is benefitting from an extension to allow it to better serve the local community.
Read more: Churches extend a warm welcome to their communities
These Aces help combat theft and vandalism at churches
Churches sit at the centre of many communities and theft of lead from the roof or vandalism to the fabric of the building or churchyard causes more than physical damage. The intrusion into the community – and the cost of remedying the resulting harm – can be costly. The cost of making repairs to a church roof can be high and may well have an adverse effect on the general maintenance budget, as well as increasing insurance premiums.
Read more: These Aces help combat theft and vandalism at churches
Ark Stained Glass complete Titanic memorial window and Queens Jubilee Tower
In April last year, members of the British Titanic Society and visitors to their 30th annual convention were the first to view the design for a memorial window, to be installed in St Mary’s Church in Southampton.
Designed by stained glass artist Louise Hemmings of Hereford-based Ark Stained Glass Ltd, the design was originally part of the Worshipful Company of Glaziers’ Stevens Competition for 2016. The brief was to design a window for St Mary’s to commemorate the crew of The Titanic, most of who came from Southampton.
The church was the venue for a memorial service for those who died in the disaster, held shortly after the sinking. Louise Hemmings’s design was chosen by the church for the window. The installation has been funded by a special fundraising campaign led by John Creamer of the British Titanic Society.
Read more: Ark Stained Glass complete Titanic memorial window and Queens Jubilee Tower
Memorial gun restored as tribute to VC’s valour
In the centre of Chepstow in Monmouthshire, sited next to the town’s War Memorial, is a second memorial that commemorates the bravery of local seaman William Charles Williams at the Battle of Gallipoli during World War One. The memorial is a captured gun from the German U-boat UB91 and was donated to the town by King George V in Williams’s memory.
William Charles Williams VC was born in September 1880 in Shropshire and raised in Chepstow. He became an Able Seaman in 1901 and was commended for bravery during the Second Boer War whilst serving on board HMS Terrible off the coast of South Africa, and later during the Boxer Uprising in China.
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