Latest news with #preservation
BBC News
5 hours ago
- General
- BBC News
Campaigners offer to run under-threat Preston pub building
A heritage campaign group fighting to save a derelict pub thought to be about 300 years old from demolition have offered to take over the management of the Tithebarn in Preston, Lancashire, called last orders in 2016 and the building is now "beyond viable repair", the city's council has said. The authority, which owns the building close to Preston bus station, has deemed it unsafe and recommended it for Glenn Cookson of Preserving Preston's Heritage (PPH) said the building had "rich history" and was exploring the viability of turning it into a museum. Councillor Martyn Rawlinson said the council "would be happy to work with the group if the project was feasible". Council deputy leader Martyn Rawlinson said the authority "would be happy to work with the group if the project is feasible". 'Passionate' Mr Cookson, director of marketing and communications at PPH, said he would be "really saddened" if the city was to lose the building, which is attached to Grade II-listed mill building next door, formerly known as Aladdin's Cove said it is was one of the first things passengers see when they arrive at the bus station and the group were "passionate" about protecting Cookson said the group was looking at setting up a community interest company and was in the early stages of exploring taking over the site, with an idea to use it as a heritage centre or people's history the Labour councillor for Fishwick and Frenchwood, who is the main spokesman for the Tithebarn site, said the council welcomed the offer and it would be part of the considerations when making a decision on its future at a cabinet meeting on 18 demolition is approved, bulldozers would move in over summer and, under another plan being considered, the site could make way for a new public green featuring trees, shrubs, grassed areas and seating. Listen to the best of BBC Radio Lancashire on Sounds and follow BBC Lancashire on Facebook, X and Instagram. You can also send story ideas via Whatsapp to 0808 100 2230.
Khaleej Times
6 days ago
- General
- Khaleej Times
UAE: 15-year-old pilot among participants who joined workshop to preserve heirlooms
At a quiet table in Abu Dhabi, 15-year-old Fjord Enzo Bertrand-Helmgens gently brushed an old Chinese coin with a cotton swab — a small act of care that reflects a much larger mission. The young pilot, who is also an aspiring AI engineer, was one of many participants learning the delicate craft of preservation at the Zayed National Museum's 'Preserving Our Heritage Symposium.' Held on May 28–29 at Saadiyat Rotana Resort, the two-day event welcomed people from all walks of life — students, artists, museum professionals, and families — to learn how to care for personal heirlooms and, in doing so, help protect the cultural memory they carry. For Fjord, restoring coins — from dynasties in China to historical pieces from the UAE, Ukraine, and Czech Republic — sparked a new appreciation. 'I'm not into coins,' he said, 'but the restoration process lets you hold history in your hands.' His mother, anthropologist Marina Bertrand-Helmgens, joined him at the workshop. 'Fjord was born in the UAE and embraced the Emirati culture from a young age,' she said. 'The more rooted you are in your heritage, the further you can grow." Organised in partnership with UK-based West Dean College and Plowden & Smith, the symposium offered practical sessions on restoring everything from paper and photographs to textiles, metals, and ceramics. Shaima Al Ameri, a master's student in art history and museum studies at Sorbonne University Abu Dhabi was also at the workshop. She joined last year's pilot version of the programme and came back for the expanded edition. 'These types of workshops don't just train you, they connect you with people from different backgrounds who share the same love and passion for conservation,' said the 35-year-old Emirati. One session that stood out focused on the unexpected vulnerability of modern plastics. 'People assume plastic lasts forever. But there are many kinds, and depending on the material and environment, it can deteriorate just like anything else.' During the symposioum, one mother brought her two daughters to learn how to preserve a traditional wedding dress, while another participant attended with her two-year-old, who sat in on coloring sessions to better understand how conservationists match original pigments. Empowering everyday people Conservation experts from the UAE and abroad guided participants through the science and techniques of preservation — covering how to handle fragile items, understand environmental threats like humidity, heat, and light, and use modern tools like X-ray fluorescence scanners. While conservation training is often reserved for professionals, this symposium was designed to be different. It aimed to empower everyday people with the skills to protect the items that matter most to them. 'This kind of hands-on conservation training is the first of its kind in the UAE tailored to the general public,' said Fatima Mansoor Al Tamimi, Head of the Conservation Unit at Zayed National Museum. 'We want the public, artists, collectors, even students to understand how to preserve the things they care about." Tools like polarising microscopes and X-ray fluoresce scanners and 3D printers, were brought in to examine material composition. 'When I placed my necklace under the XRF scanner, I found out it was 88 percent 22-karat gold — but it also contained copper,' said Al Tamimi. 'Interestingly, some inks used in old manuscripts also contain copper, which explains why certain parchments deteriorate faster than others.' Textile conservation also proved particularly relevant to participants with traditional Emirati clothing. One demonstration involved carefully folding a thoub using 'snake rolls' of acid-free paper to prevent permanent creases. 'The way you fold, store, and box these items makes a huge difference,' the museum official explained. 'Humidity here is a major challenge — unlike Europe, we have to tailor our methods to this climate.' The museum plans to develop deeper, more specialised workshops in future editions of the symposium, as part of its broader mission to extend heritage preservation beyond institutional walls. 'As conservators, we're not trying to make old objects look new,' pointed Al Tamimi. 'We want people to see the effects of time, to understand the journey of a piece. It's like vintage jewels. The beauty is in its story.' For Marina, the experience was deeply personal. 'The entire symposium felt like a gift,' she said. 'It reminded us that tangible heritage is fragile. And that caring for it, whether it's a coin or a book or a dress, is a way of carrying our history forward.'
Yahoo
27-05-2025
- Yahoo
Ancient town and its manuscripts face ravages of the Sahara
From his roof, Sidi Mohamed Lemine Sidiya scans the mediaeval town of Oualata, a treasure that is disappearing under the sands of the Mauritanian desert. "It's a magnificent, extraordinary town," said Sidiya, who is battling to preserve the place known as the "Shore of Eternity". Oualata is one of a UNESCO-listed quartet of ancient, fortified towns or "ksour", which in their heyday were trading and religious centres and now hold jewels dating back to the Middle Ages. Doors crafted from acacia wood and adorned with traditional motifs painted by local women still dot the town. Centuries-old manuscripts, a rich source of cultural and literary heritage handed down through the generations, are also held in family libraries. But the southeastern town near the border with Mali is vulnerable to the ravages of the Sahara's extreme conditions. In the punishing heat, piles of stone and walls that are ripped open bear witness to the impact of the latest, especially heavy, rainy season. "Many houses have collapsed because of the rains," Khady said, standing by her crumbling home, which she inherited from her grandparents. An exodus of people leaving Oualata only compounds the problem. "The houses became ruins because their owners left them," said Sidiya, a member of a national foundation dedicated to preserving the region's ancient towns. - Encroaching sands - For decades, Oualata's population has been dwindling as residents move away in search of jobs, leaving nobody to maintain the historic buildings. Its traditional constructions are covered in a reddish mudbrick coating called banco and were designed to adapt to the conditions. But once the rains have stopped, the buildings need maintenance work. Much of the old town is now empty, with only around a third of the buildings inhabited. "Our biggest problem is desertification. Oualata is covered in sand everywhere," Sidiya said. Around 80 percent of Mauritania is affected by desertification -- an extreme form of land degradation -- caused by "climate change (and) inappropriate operating practices", according to the environment ministry. More plants and trees used to grow in the desert, Boubacar Diop, head of the ministry's Protection of Nature department, said. "The desert experienced a green period before the great desertification of the 1970s caused the installation of sand dunes," Diop said. By the 1980s, Oualata's mosque was so covered in sand that "people were praying on top of the mosque" rather than inside it, Bechir Barick, who teaches geography at Nouakchott University, said. Despite being battered by the wind and sand, Oualata has preserved relics attesting to its past glory as a city on the trans-Saharan caravan trade route and centre of Islamic learning. "We inherited this library from our ancestors, founders of the town," Mohamed Ben Baty said, turning the pages of a 300-year-old manuscript in a banco-covered building that remains cool despite the outside temperature. Like his forebears, the imam is the repository of almost 1,000 years of knowledge, descending from a long line of scholars of the Koran. - 'Valuable' for researchers - The family library has 223 manuscripts, the oldest of which dates to the 14th century, Ben Baty said. In a tiny, cluttered room, he half-opened a cupboard to reveal its precious content: centuries-old writings whose survival might once have seemed in doubt. "These books, at one time, were very poorly maintained and exposed to destruction," Ben Baty said, pointing to water stains on sheets slipped into plastic sleeves. Books in the past were stored in trunks "but when it rains, the water seeps in and can spoil the books," he said. Part of the roof collapsed eight years ago during the rainy season. In the 1990s, Spain helped to fund the setting up of a library in Oualata which holds more than 2,000 books that were restored and digitally copied. But lack of financing now means their continued preservation depends on the goodwill of a few enthusiasts, like Ben Baty, who does not even live in Oualata all year round. "The library needs a qualified expert to ensure its management and sustainability because it contains a wealth of valuable documentation for researchers in various fields: languages, Koranic sciences, history, astronomy," he added. Oualata has no real tourism to rely on -- it has no hotel and the nearest town is two hours away travelling on just a track. It is also in an area where many countries advise against travelling to due to the threat of jihadist violence. Faced with the encroaching desert, trees were planted around the town three decades ago but it was not enough, Sidiya said. Several initiatives have sought to save Oualata and the three other ancient towns, which were inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1996. An annual festival takes place in one of the four to raise money for renovations and investment to develop the towns and encourage people to stay. Once the sun drops behind the Dhaar mountains and the air cools, hundreds of children venture out into the streets and Oualata comes to life. els/lp/kjm/phz
Fast Company
23-05-2025
- Fast Company
Need to relax? The Internet Archive is livestreaming microfiche scans to a lo-fi beats soundtrack
Want to watch history being preserved in real-time? The Internet Archive, the digital library of Internet sites and other cultural artifacts, has started live streaming on YouTube from its scanning center in California for anyone to watch. Monday through Friday, from 10:30 a.m. ET to 6:30 p.m. ET, viewers can tune in and watch live as fragile film cards are turned into searchable public documents, soundtracked to relaxing lo-fi beats. This work is part of Democracy's Library, a global initiative to digitize and make publicly available millions of government records. 'This livestream shines a light on the unsung work of preserving the public record, and the critical infrastructure that makes democracy searchable,' said Brewster Kahle, founder of the Internet Archive. 'Transparency can't be passive—it must be built, maintained, and seen. That's what this live stream is all about.' If you're confused about what exactly you're watching on the livestream, scanning operators are specifically working with documents on microfiche, a flat piece of film containing microphotographs of the pages of documents. This format dates all the way back to the 20th century, and has been used to archive newspapers, court documents, government records, and more. 'The livestream features five active microfiche digitization stations, with a close-up view of one in action,' Chris Freeland, the Internet Archive's director of library services, explains in a blog post on the site. 'Operators feed microfiche cards beneath a high-resolution camera, which captures multiple detailed images of each sheet. Software stitches these images together, after which other team members use automated tools to identify and crop up to 100 individual pages per card.' 'Each page is then processed, made fully text-searchable, and added to the Internet Archive's public collections—completed with metadata—so that researchers, journalists, and the general public can explore and download them freely,' the blog post adds. This livestream was brought to life by Sophia Tung, a software engineer and app developer. She is also behind the 24/7 livestream of a Waymo parking lot that went viral last year. In off hours, the Internet Archive livestream turns into a stream of silent films and historical images from NASA to keep viewers entertained. There is also a live chat. 'This is such a good vibe to work on research,' one viewer commented. 'I hope your work is as mysterious and important as this,' Tung replied.
Yahoo
22-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
'Decaying' cemetery chapel added to endangered list
A Victorian cemetery chapel built during a mortality crisis has been classed as "at risk" by a preservation charity. The building at Edgerton Cemetery in Huddersfield appears in the Victorian Society's list of the top 10 most endangered buildings in the country. Dating back to 1855, the Grade II-listed chapel's condition has deteriorated in recent years. Tom Ollivier of the Victorian Society, said: "Without preservation we risk losing part of our history." The town's public cemetery was laid out during a period when burials in urban areas were increasing. It was designed by James Pritchett, the architect behind Huddersfield Station. He included two chapels, one Anglican and one Non-conformist, which adjoined each other. The chapel has suffered repeated arson attacks. "The roof has caved in, it really is in a sorry state," Mr Ollivier continued. "If we can see that this building is either restored or preserved then it is a phenomenal feature of the landscape." The Victorian Society advocates for the protection of Victorian and Edwardian heritage, and hopes the addition of the chapel to the list will raise awareness of its plight. Geoff Hughes, a member of the West Yorkshire branch of the society, said the chapel "tells the story" of Huddersfield. "It is our history and how people have grown and how things have changed to become what they are today. "It has basically gone to rack and ruin over the last 20 years." Mr Hughes added that his vision for the Kirklees Council-owned site would be for it to become a park. "These were designed as cemeteries that, when full, would be turned into parks," he said. Chris Marsden, an architectural historian who lives in Huddersfield, said he would like to see more done to save the "magnificent building". "I think it would be a heritage crime to let it fall down or get demolished." He added that heritage sites like Edgerton Chapel gave people an insight into the past and act as a "history of the town in one acre". Both chapels narrowly escaped demolition in 1985 and were derelict and fenced-off by 2008, when ideas for new uses were explored. The Victorian Society's list of endangered sites is based on public nominations from across England and Wales. The buildings selected represent industrial, religious, domestic, and civic architecture from across the nation with unique historical and community significance and value. Mr Ollivier added that without the list, the country was at risk of "losing part of our history, part of our identity, we are losing something that makes that specific part of the world special". Listen to highlights from West Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North. New promotion push for city's former textile hub Restored Victorian bear pit officially reopens Plans to revamp 140-year-old uni building approved Victorian Society
