On Conservation

Having spent much of my working life trying to reconcile the triangle of innovation, traditional craftsmanship and conservation (and trying to make a living within the constraints) it's been clear to me that there are many idiotic aspects to 'Conservation'.

There is an assumption that craftsmanship died sometime in the past. So timber-frame buildings in the custody of such as English Heritage are ugly patchworks of old and new, as if they had never been repaired before EH came along. It seems to me that a piece of oak patched in by a craftsman today is no different to one patched in in, say 1880. So why not blend it and stain it (traditional materials, of course) as any craftsman would do. Craftsmanship is still very much alive if you look for it, and should be celebrated. Personally, as a craftsman working in oak, I would be offended if I were required to leave such unsightly blotches behind for future generations to scoff at.

It's the same with windows. I have spent a working lifetime developing technically efficient and architecturally sympathetic glazing to bring old housing stock into the twenty-first Century while preserving the visual aspect, and find the assumption by many Conservation Officers that the inhabitants of our green and pleasant land are expected to live in museums - expensive ones at that - quite offensive.

Certainly there is a place for true "conservation". In the 1960s I saw the old timber-framed and jettied 14thC Silhill Hall pulled over and burned (by an idiot contractor who could have dismantled it and sold it for re-erection on a new site if he'd had any brains) to make room for three detached modern boxes. On the other hand, once the fire-officer had won the battle over fire-doors in a private Cotswold hotel I was working on, why was the CO insisting on choosing the style of doors? There was nothing left to conserve, and I was astonished the owner didn't tell her to get lost. It's as if the rest of us have no good taste and historical perspective of our own.

No one would suggest that a beautiful crown-glazed window in the Crescents of Bath or Tunbridge Wells should be torn out and thrown away, but there are millions of windows in less sensitive areas where substituting modern, technically superior versions - virtually indistingishable from the originals - shouldn't be used to upgrade what is substandard accomodation by the standards of today. I would like to think that in 100 years time, others will look at my work and approve. Who knows, it might even get listed.

There's a new thread on the subject started on Philip Rougier's site. Why not join in the fun.
Here's the link: http://forum.expertexpert.com/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=55

More on the history of the rising sash window

Sliders of one sort or another have been with us since the dawn of time. Unglazed openings were shuttered with wood boards, and a sliding version survives to the present day as the horizontal Yorkshire Slider. As glass became available, solid boards were simply replaced with frames, and further improved over time. Simple, economical, and uncomplicated.
The invention of the rising sash will almost certainly have been prompted by the fashion among the wealthy for Palladian-style buildings where window openings are taller than they are wide. This style was introduced in the late sixteenth century but was not widely adopted. It became fashionable in the late seventeenth century, during Robert Hooke's lifetime. But whether he, or some unknown but enterprising joiner conceived the idea of counter-balancing the sashes with weights concealed in cased boxes, we may never know. The story is further confused by the fashion, from time to time, to give houses complete make-overs, throwing out the old and replacing with new. (So what's changed?)

There are clues, though, when dating a particular window, as styles and construction techniques changed over the years. This is not an exact science, however, as alterations, copies and even the possibility of downright fakes all have to be taken into consideration.

In general terms, the early sash windows were constructed with solid, plain glazing bars, perhaps relieved by a slight bevel, glazed with hand-made 'cylinder' glass. It is these imperfect panes, with their inevitable undulations, pits, and reams, that give old windows a sparkle when seen from afar, as the light is caught and scattered.

Initially the window frames were generally inserted directly into the structural opening to leave the cased box completely visible from outside. This feature on its own is not a sure sign of antiquity, as an old-ish window may be inserted in a new-ish building in just the same way. However, the cased box hiding the weights is a bulky item and it must have soon occurred to a builder that concealing the box in a rebate built into inside face of the (solid) brick or stone wall would greatly increase the amount of light for a given structural opening (and, also, solar gain on a sunny winter's day in an era without central heating).

Over the years, architects and their joiners competed to improve their designs over those of the neighbours. Frames became lighter, and glazing bars became elegantly moulded and ever slimmer, culminating in the slender lambs-tongue profile which is the ultimate development of the ovolo mould. (Many modern replacements, of course, can be instantly spotted from the far side of the room by the rounded moulding at the junctions, where the ovolo was applied by a power-router after the frame was assembled. Ugh!)

As technology produced ever-larger panes of glass, glazing bars became fewer in number, (except where they were used for purely decorative purposes) shown by the proliferation of Victorian houses with but a single vertical glazing bar. By the turn of the century glass was available in large rolled or drawn sheets, and many elegant sash windows of the early 1900s have no glazing bars at all, relying on delightful proportion for their merit, and decoration, if any, being provided by arches and
curves in the main structural components. The chief driver of this process being, as always, first-cost, bringing a fine product to the mass market.

The aim of the designer is generally to achieve the most pleasing balance of proportion and economy. Ostentatious display may be recognised in the inappropriate proliferation of glazing-bars and arched rails used simply to demonstrate the wealth of the client. Wherever you look, you should be able to recognise these features. In general, the rising sash window forms a major part of our British architectural heritage, and deserves every effort to preserve and improve it for the benefit of future generations.

Useful links:
www.supasash.com
www.rugbysash.co.uk
http://forum.expertexpert.com
www.roberthooke.org.uk

The History of the Rising Sash Window

The origins of the rising sash window are obscure. Most commentators place its origin in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, but there is good evidence to place it rather earlier. Carol Davidson Cragoe, in "How to Read Buildings" (Herbert Press, London) suggests the invention might be attributed to Robert Hooke (1635-1703). There is certainly a good case to be made (of which, more anon) and he was certainly an inventive and creative mechanic, engineer, designer, and architect with the capability of doing so. As curator of the Royal Society and, simultaneously, laboratory technician to the eminent physicist Robert Boyle, he demonstrated a prodigious ability to design and build mechanical and scientific apparatus of all sorts. He later became an assistant to the great architect Christopher Wren, and, as Chief Surveyor to the City of London, was responsible for overseeing more than 50% of the rebuilding of London following the Great Fire of 1666.

An architect in his own right, few of his buildings survive today, but a drawing in 1858 of his Royal College of Physicians (completed 1678) shows rising sashes in every visible elevation.

A diary entry dated Feb 2nd 1680 refers to sash windows in Montagu House.
This is the earliest known reference to sash windows.

Copyright KJN 2011
www.supasash.com

Fire safety at home

Twenty years ago we bought a Victorian attic-farmhouse, and within minutes of visiting it for the first time, our young daughter had 'bagged' the large attic bedroom for herself. This gave me a real headache: With no fire doors anywhere in the house, the two-storey stairwell would become a 'chimney' in the event of a fire, and escape for someone on the attic floor would be impossible. The answer proved to be a Davey Descender - a braked reel that allows a body of any weight to descend from a high place at a steady speed. It sits tidily and unobtrusively on the wall above the window until it's needed. In that sad event, you slip the harness over your shoulders and under the armpits, throw the other end out of the window, then follow it down yourself. As you go down, the other end comes back up, ready for the next escapee. A brilliant answer to allay my fears.
The main concern was whether it might become the main attraction at some wild party, one day - a sort of drunken bungey-jumping. (If it ever did, I never found out about it).
I found it here - http://www.lymore.com
Highly recommended.

Theo's second bite

For his second bite of the cherry on You and Yours (see previous post) Theo Paphitis talked about running a small business. As usual, full of great common sense. He reminded us that the great majority of new businesses fail within two years. (My first business lasted twenty five years, failing after an abortive dash-for-growth. My current business is now in its fourth year, with great prospects for a franchised future. (The pilot is doing just fine, thanks).
Theo didn't suggest it, but, surely, unless you have a great idea and the confidence to follow it up, buying a franchise - joining a successful business with a track record and support - has to be a good route into business for the novice. I did it the hard (slow) way, making mistakes and learning from them. Probably not the best route, but thirty years ago there was not much choice.

For a while, back in the early eighties, I gave woodwork instruction at night school. One of the class told me he had just bought a busy post office (for £60k, a vast sum at that time). "Crikey!" says I. "That's a lot of money. I'm building my business up for myself." "Maybe," came the reply, "but I'm making money NOW!". Hmmm! That shut me up.

If I were setting out today, joining a franchise would quite possibly be my preferred option..

Theo P on Radio 4

"You and Yours" Radio 4, Monday 11th April 11. Theo Paphitis was given two bites of the cherry, both worth a listen if you missed it. (http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b0105vtw)

Either he's been reading my blog, or Great Minds Think Alike :-) The reality is, the obvious stares you in the face when you are in business, but our Lords and Masters can't see the truth even when you stick it under their noses.

Theo's first point was that Government has done almost nothing worthwhile to encourage businesses to employ more. See MY letter to my MP in my blog below (22nd October 2010, item 2). Theo suggests Tax incentives. For me, they would have to be generous.

Onward and upward

New Twitter for i-Phone solved the clogging-up, but I still have to work out how to update this blog from the phone. More investigation required, I guess. Its quite likely that my website platform (BlueVoda) has a blog facility. Must check it out today. Any suggestions?

Catching up.

I've just been reminded that my I-phone won't allow me to post in this blog. It only allows me to enter the title. If anyone can explain this, please explain. # It does explain why I got out of the habit of blogging, as I have become addicted to my i-Phone. It does have a few down-sides, tho', such as this. It's become a real pain to have to boot up the computer just to blog. To make things worse, from a Social Media Management view, my i-Phone has become very slow on Twitter. I have tried re-booting, but I suspect that the i-Phone might be clogged up with photographs and old mail. I shall have to go and plug in to I-Tunes (another pain) and sort it out. I read that Android is now outselling Apple. Maybe time to trade in and move on. Any advice is welcome. Otherwise, busy, busy. Two new patents filed; lots of new business for my new partner (Keith James at Rugby Sash - kj@rugbysash.co.uk ) who's picked up the business and is running with it. Promising business prospects in several other directions, also. (Something must be wrong: It all seems to be going right!) Starting to brush up properly on Social Media. Determined to get to the bottom of it and do it right. Suspect that finding a better platform than this will be crucial as part of the over-all plan. Nuff for now.