2010 CONFERENCE AND GATHERING

Heriot-Watt University, by Edinburgh
10-12 September 2010

This year's conference and gathering will be held at Heriot-Watt University, Riccarton, by Edinburgh, from Friday 10 to Sunday 12 September. The general theme will be 'Make-do and Mend' with sessions on specifying and using lime in building and more technical sessions on current research. The organising committee of Alan Forster of Heriot-Watt, Roz Artis-Young of the Scottish Lime Centre Trust and Craig Frew of Laing Traditional Masonry cover all aspects of lime from the academic to the practical and the programme reflects this. Generous support from Historic Scotland has allowed the organising committee to invite speakers at the forefront of knowledge about lime. The conference will demonstrate why using lime is not a luxury in these stringent times, but a necessity for the future of our built heritage, sustainability, energy conservation and our well-being.

The Friday evening takes us to Linlithgow with its massive 15th century palace, fine late-medieval burgh kirk and 17th/19th century Burgh Halls. We shall see the restored fountain in the palace courtyard and have dinner in the Burgh Halls, recently refurbished by Malcolm Fraser Architects. This year's Baker Memorial Lecture will be given by Ingval Maxwell OBE, former head of Technical Conservation, Research and Education at Historic Scotland and a key figure in the lime revival in Scotland.

As well as informative lectures, the practical side is not forgotten. Saturday afternoon will be spent at Penicuik House, an influential Palladian mansion in a designed landscape of the early 18th century. A fire in 1899 left the house a roofless ruin which is now being consolidated by the Penicuik House Preservation Trust in partnership with the Scottish Lime Centre Trust. The SLCT will be our hosts for the afternoon and a programme of hands-on activities is planned, including a competition amongst delegates to construct, fill and fire a three-minute kiln.

We relax on Saturday evening with a supper cruise on The Maid of the Forth, far from any lime, though with a close view of the Forth Bridge, one of the engineering wonders of the world. For those of you who can't or won't go on a boat there will be an alternative of an evening walk through the Royal Burgh of Queensferry and dinner at the Hawes Inn.

Sunday morning is for contributions from members and the annual general meeting.

We end on Sunday afternoon with tours to places of interest and relevance. Rosslyn Chapel provides an interesting conundrum: not the Knights Templar, Ark of the Covenant, Holy Grail, Freemasons, Green Men, pre-Columbian maize or musical notation, but how to dry out a building that can't dry inwards. In the 1950s, with the best of intentions but the worst of understanding, the interior was coated with a concrete slurry. Not only did this blur the wonderful 15th century carving, it prevented the building breathing, with very soggy consequences that are now being addressed.

Or visit Grandison's Plaster Museum. The family firm of L Grandison and Son of Peebles was founded in 1886. Not only has the firm kept examples of the plasterwork they have worked on, but they have augmented this with examples of original plaster from all over Scotland and the North of England. We shall have the privilege of a personal tour from Leonard Grandison, grandson of the firm's founder.

Or come on a tour of Edinburgh's New Town. See the stunning murals by Phoebe Anna Traquair at the former Mansfield Traquair Centre where, following water ingress, decayed plaster had to be replaced behind paint layers. Then there are the monuments on Calton Hill which gave Edinburgh its name of the Athens of the North: National Monument (some of the best stonework in Scotland), Nelson Monument (repair of time-ball), Burns Monument, etc. Paul McAuley of Edinburgh City Museums will explain their conservation.

Partners are welcome to join in all the social events and tours; suggestions of things to do to suit all tastes will be provided.

Bed and breakfast accommodation at a very reasonable price has been reserved at Heriot-Watt University (not student rooms, but dedicated accommodation for conference delegates). All you need to do is get yourself to Edinburgh which is well connected by air, train and bus.

The full price of £270 is good value for three days of conference and gathering. BLF members are offered an early booking discount: book before the start of August and pay only £240, £30 off the full price. Click here for the booking form.

For the best value, get your booking in soon!