Guardians are volunteers who offer their time, expertise and advice to help the charity do the best work it possibly can. With applications now open for 2025, we caught up with some of our current Guardians to find out why they first got involved.
It's Volunteer Week! Meet one of our incredible volunteers, Mark Murthwaite-Price, who keeps the lime kiln at our Old House Project burning all year round.
Ellie Jae Dobson, bricklayer and 2024 Fellow, shares a snapshot of her journey so far.
Ahead of National Mills Weekend, we caught up with Daniel Cheetham, carpenter and 2023 SPAB Millwright Fellow, to hear about the next steps in his journey with this endangered craft.
What have you been up to since you finished the Fellowship in December?
At the end of 2023, minor revisions to the consent for the Old House Project (OHP) were approved by Maidstone Council. This cleared the way for the remainder of work to proceed in 2024. Still left to complete are an opening and ancillary structures at the east end, new services including solar panels and a heat pump, internal works including insulation and secondary glazing, and landscaping and boundary work to fulfil a planning condition. The last phase of repair to the exterior, at the end of 2023, involved the installation of windows.
Georjie Adams on the life changing confidence that comes from working with your hands.
Carolyn Simons uncovers the layers of Biddulph Old Hall on a Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire Group visit.
Rachel Stoplar, Communications Manager, explores the many guises of this historic site – from resting place to rubbish tip – and why it has the internet to thank for its survival.
Our Old House Project is rescuing and repairing a Grade II* building ‘at risk’, but it is the education and training, and the opportunity to demonstrate the SPAB Approach to building conservation, that give it added value for us. The skilful work carried out by the many craftspeople involved in the project so far has exemplified SPAB principles. That most recently undertaken by Owlsworth IJP and their subcontractors adds to the range of materials and techniques on show.
Stonemason and SPAB Fellow Jack Buchanan describes a visit to Pluscarden Abbey, where reverence for the past, coupled with a willingness to adapt and repurpose, creates a harmonious coexistence between the ancient ruins and a vibrant, living community.
