NHIGNHIG’s ‘Tradition & Innovation’ Confernece at Hampton Court
James Spedding of Holkham Forge shares his experience of the day
Perhaps the secret to it all is listening…
I’d never been to an NHIG event, despite being a blacksmith for approaching 20 years. Recent questions regarding heritage ironwork projects had brought me into contact with the amazing NHIG co-ordinator Jessica Renison, and she invited me to the conference with the promise that she thought ‘ I’d find it interesting’. It is certainly a spectacular venue and the Historic Royal Palaces (HRP) staff were incredibly friendly and accommodating hosts. However, it was with some trepidation that I made the journey from deepest, darkest Norfolk to west London. I needn’t have worried.
The programme was packed, as was the Garden Room, with experts, students and practitioners of all sorts mingling and sharing experiences. There were plenty of blacksmiths, along with architects, conservators, representatives from the building, charity and statutory heritage sectors, as well as project managers, historians, archaeologists and administrators from far and near. Finding yourself in the midst of such a throng, it may be tempting to fill any awkward silences with speech, but it was soon apparent that to get the most from the day I should be listening.
Although ‘Tradition and Innovation’ was the day’s theme I’d say listening was the connecting thread that wove the day together. Whether that’s listening to specialists, listening to each other, listening to the stories of makers past told by the history of an object, or listening to the object itself.
I was inspired by the knowledge of the specialists that spoke and the stories they had come to share, whether that was David James, Daniel Jackson, and Andrew Harris talking about deciphering the history of, and efforts to maintain, Tijou’s astonishing contribution to Hampton Court Palace, or Jane Sidell’s ambivalence about the value of the term ‘traditional’, her obvious love of bollards and their connection to the inspection and preservation of ancient monuments.
Faye Davies spoke with incredible passion (and brevity) on the complex 150-year history of Gt. Yarmouth’s winter gardens (she was one of the 10-minute heroes) and left me in awe of her commitment to seek out and cherish the historic connections between the local community and the fabulous building and attempt to chart a new course in order to safeguard its future. To my mind, it’s easy to get wrapped up in the details and practicalities of how to fix something and forget to listen to why and to whom it’s important.
Amongst other things Ali Davey and Reed Hudson from Historic Environment Scotland (also 10 minute heroes) wanted to listen to us all share our experiences of ferrous surface finishes, the good and the bad, to add our learning to their research which also aims to draw together the decades of research by others to create a community resource we can all benefit from. I thought the theme of ‘stopping to listen’ also pervaded the section by Rowan Taylor and Ben Fitchford as they used a case-study to explore the structural problems of a set of gates at a reservoir entrance, investigate its causes, decipher the reasons behind the historic repairs (and the unintended consequences of previous good intentions) and compare possible outcomes from various potential solutions. This complexity of decision making inherent in protecting and restoring heritage ironwork was beautifully articulated throughout their self-styled ‘Waldorf and Statler’ session.
The most mind-blowing session for me was the 10 minute presentation by PhD student Kutsi Akcicek. The current phase of his research project is capturing and analysing the acoustic emissions from 4 samples of wrought iron subject to accelerated weathering. That’s right: he’s listening to iron rust and attempting to interpret what the material is saying in order to understand and infer the amount of stress it’s experiencing. The aim is to develop a passive, non invasive method of analysing the condition of iron within the fabric of a building in order to intervene before catastrophic rust-jacking failures occur. He’s listening to the metal and learning it’s language so it can tell him how it’s doing inside the building without having to look! I have to add that he gets my top marks for data visualisation!
This process seemed revolutionary to me, but during a tea-break conversation with Robyn McPherson, a conservator from the National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne, she told me how they are using the same equipment to study whether wooden artefacts are adversely affected by relaxing the environmental constraints in her museum in order to be more energy efficient.
Almost all the other sessions consisted of two or more speakers in a conversation which was an unusual (to me) and engaging style and allowed the listeners to compare and contrast ideas, techniques and experiences. Being open and free-flowing by design, including taking and answering questions from the audience, meant that even with unfamiliar subjects you were swept along by the speakers’ enthusiasm and passion for a lifetime of learning. In the unlikely event that you had specific knowledge of the topic, the speakers added depth by offering nuggets of hard-won wisdom which were generously shared and contributed to the inclusive and nurturing atmosphere of the whole event.
Thanks to Bethan Griffiths, Jessica and all the NHIG volunteers for bringing us all together and keeping the talks on schedule. Thanks also to the HRP staff who braved the elements to show us the magnificence of Tijou’s work throughout the Palace and its grounds. I’m very grateful for Jessica’s invitation and that I made the effort to attend – it was a really ear-opening experience, which is still resonating with me weeks afterwards.
