The Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings

Still (just) time to enter a project for the 2012 SPAB John Betjeman Award, celebrating excellent repair and outstanding craftsmanship to the fabric of a building in use as place of worship in England or Wales. Closes March 2

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SPAB's classic week-long course: The Repair of Old Buildings, runs again in autumn (September 26 - October 1). The course provides a mixture of expert seminars and presentations on subjects including conservation, philosophy, stonework, lime, historic structures and timber repairs. It is ideal for those who already work with buildings and want to extend their skills into the built conservation field.

To help us take the SPAB message of conservative repair to the widest possible audience we are working to embed new / social media activities into our range of advocacy work. We certainly won't stop trying to publicise SPAB through traditional channels and methods, but we are beginning to use new methods and ideas to extend our 'reach'.

Three stonemasons and a plasterer have been chosen as SPAB's 2011 William Morris Craft Fellows. Since 1987 The Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings has organised a unique training scheme, The William Morris Craft Fellowship, to foster a new generation of outstanding craftsmen and women with the knowledge and expertise to pass on the skills that are essential when working with historic fabric.

The newest recruits to a unique training scheme for young architectural and building professionals have set off on a journey of discovery that will take them the length and breadth of the country as they gain first-hand experience of conservation skills and building crafts.

Hundreds of historic buildings are likely to be at risk in the coming years as public authorities rush to sell off or abandon properties to save money. Writing in the Spring 2011 edition of Cornerstone, the members’ magazine of SPAB (The Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings) SPAB Secretary, Philip Venning warns that a wave of heritage buildings could flood the market as local councils and other public bodies struggle to slice their budgets.

Described by Dame Liz Forgan, former chair of the Heritage Lottery Fund, as “the best course” she’d been on, SPAB’s classic week-long programme of lectures and visits: ‘The Repair of Old Buildings’ provides a mixture of expert seminars and presentations on subjects such as conservation philosophy, stonework, lime, historic structures and timber repairs. The course, which also includes invaluable site visits to conservation work in progress, runs twice in 2011 in May (16 – 21) and September/October (26 – 1).

Results from the first stage of SPAB's (The Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings) research on the energy efficiency performance of old buildings suggest that standard U-value calculations used across the construction industry underestimate the thermal performance of traditional walls. In some instances, it now appears that heat loss through vernacular materials can be up to three times lower than expected.

National Mills Weekend is a celebration of the UK's milling heritage, traditionally held each year over the second weekend of May. This year the event, organised by the Mills Section of SPAB (Society for the protection of Ancient Buildings), will take place on May 14th and 15th.