13 minute read
t 98~ A~ CHAI~N' S REPORT t e ome ma e lens. ta AGM & Conference report JW
k .. v,J-,r.l ,3,,b' I C)Z,2!:>- - 62.-~'([ T.ABLE OF CONTENTS MEET JHE NEW COMMITTEE for 1986.
1 MEET THE COM'-1ITTEE. 2 t 98~ A~ CHAI~N' S REPORT t e ome ma e lens. ta AGM & Conference report JW 9 Bubble Trouble JB. 10 GROUP TRIP to stereo pair. BRISTOL & 11 A DAY IN FIESOLE A.S. 12 II II 13 GROUP TRIP to OOi/N HOUSE 15 CHERNOBLE & THE SCRIPTURES. & facts. 16 150,000 PIECES of PORCLAIN. 17-19 GROUP TRIP to WALTHAM AEBEY 20 WITCH DOCTOR & the CHIP. 21-22 GO FOR THE DISTINCTIONS. 23 CHAIRMAN'S REPORT pa rt II B11 • 24 HIGH!TE REMEMBERED. 25-26 OUR HERITAGE IN THE MAKING, 27 CHAIRMANS REPORT part 11C11 28 CHAIRMANS REPORT part 11 D11 • 29 30 31 LETTERS .RECEIVED. 32LETTERS RECIEVED. 33 GROUP VISIT TO WINDSOR CASTLE. 34 -35 A&H Group PROGRAMME • VICTOR.J.Heppelthwaite ARPS. Chairman & H.c&B.W. and in dire need of extra ~lp.
WALDEN LRPS. prolififc writer your Prog
Sec:
past President V.Harrison Hon FRPS.
Jim Brown LRPS retiring Hon SEc:
Blll'lling Iuue
WITH immaculate timing the Buildillc Conservation Trust has chosen to hold an exhibition. on "The Care of Buildings" at Hampton Court.
Their brochure promises ''Special Daya at Hampton Court" which will highlight ".the ,PIOblems and faults that can develop in buildincs." It helpfully adds: "If neglected these can rapidly become more serious and expensive to cure."
The exhibition shows "processes, materials and products that are used today to bring faulty structures back to useful life . . . it also shows ways in which to protect bo~ses by a little care and fores1cht from the ravages of time and weather." And fire? Exhibit ion Sec: Johti Spence LRPS.
Arthur Paar :RPS. Other members will be introduced when they can be oictu red
1986 AGM & SUMMER CONFERENCE NEWS ..
ARCHAEOLOGY & HERITAGE GROUP.ROYAL PHOTOGRAPHIC Soc: "Chairmans rep-ott". 12th April 1986.
Looking back on 1985, I have to report it has been a very busy year, The Group have probably since the very begining.
that for the Chair had more meetingi, Members have been considered even to the extent of having meetings arranged in the Midlands, albeit even with good publicity, very poorly attended, even by our standards. So, what we must do is look, not for the reasons our members don't make good mixers, but to our own resources, the strengths and weaknesess of any Society lie in its ordinary membership, as well as the Executive Officers. We few members at this gathering, probably represent almost exclusively the sum total of realiY interested members, so far as meetings are concerned. For we have arranged Museu"'. trips, Site visits, Historic, Archaeological and National Trust days, without exception the most popular feature of any meeting just has to be the prospect of a good tuck-in,a glass or two of decent wine and a chat. Which probably explains one mystery to me, the popularity of the "DINNER CLUB".
Appalled at the high cost of a good enlargina hano ar hlens, ome 1the ens Edi.tor. grinoing. trd·es nly his 1t not that simple. The good old "South-Bend" lathe is ~M16asis lha~'·Viabe t ~arcf.l' 5 r le~~rnef~H to . fhe Etasi in 4iana wt naven •\ anv oerioa1.r:. cyclic rancfi~ variation to the m.)ti.on ror star rs.so ..lll.e. are hardlv. aocut to put ssrs l\'U~S out ot business are we.
HOME LENS GRINDHJG. ------
~o-ruJ.~ a~&_ awa~ofuf~so~t,~laf~gotmhsomoHg~ an Tl.n->expert oe t t llc" o e wrist would eliminate the rather alannintg circular trench 11Ke ,.!i[Ooveo. toa g1° 0 arBe~{eof 1 .Of\: -re~ thea~~~~ i t~ 15c~ va}ue~ o1 'Han~/1 Ira tmansh1p art: va 10 to-dav. Bul now .mv wo en tormer was anytning ut rad1a1,loo mg more likeAthe shaoe.forhoroducina a.saua sheo egg, high po11sn as bee~ ach1eveo and looks fine. If anvona [eauires a lens that puts a nice flarey HA u·rouno every thina-lve aot one. Now I will have to search hare at the next meeting 0t the I Collectors Club of Great Brita1n,when it meets at SWANLEY KENT next November 14th.See you there? Victor.
-1986A & B Group Conference leport.
The Archaeology & Heritage Group 1986 Conference took place over the weekend of 11th to 13th April 1986 at the Crystal Palace Sports & Conference Centre in South-East London. Things got under vay with a Sherry reception, & after Dinner, Bernard Brandham presented a lecture illustrated by transparancies explaining the origins of the Horniman Museuia, & of some 0£ the work commissioned by the Musewa recently, Horniman vas a tea importer vho made a fortune by selling tea in "pre-packed" packages that were of guaranteed weight. He vas a great collector, &assembled 111AJ1Y items of interest from all over the World to display at his home "Surrey House" in Forest Hill. Soon the Collection grew to such an extent that he decided to build a proper IIUSewa which vas designed by the architect Harrison Towsend, & opened to the public in 1902. Bernard Brandham shoved a variety of photographs of the Musewa•s beginings; pictures of posters, & various other doccmients ~the turn 0£ the Century. We were then told about so111e of the 1110re recent work 0£ the Husewa. In the 1970's, the remains of several up-draught kilns dating the 1st or 2nd Century A,D. were found in Highgate Woods. In conjunction with the I.L,E,A,, it vas decided to carry out an experi•nt to construct a .l'axsimily kiln, to to re-create a Roman pottery using only materials & equip•nt that vould have been available to the original potters. The project vas a great success, & it vu found that the kiln worked effectively, & pots were made as they would have been some 1800 years ago. A selection of transparancies of artifacts nov at the Museum were then shown, These included photo~raphs of an Egyptian Neolithic tomb, llll.llllllly-form granite figures & a burial mask. It vu pointed out that JRUCh be obtained the study of such artifacts. We were then shown photographs of cera111ics around the World; a Greek black figure vase, a Peruvian doll, a Mexican Myan urn & a South American stirup vase. We also sav pictures of various masks & shadow puppets both ancient & 110dern. The traditional fol'lll of such iteias has not chuged tor hundreds of years, although the 11aterials used uy have altered. The Horniman bas a fine collection ot musical instruMents, & ve were shown photographs of a selection of thesef followed by images 0£ a variety of ethnic dolls & figures. Bernard Brandhu also let us see illustrations ot 19th Century Slavic Bee-Houses & their painted decorations, together with photographs 0£ Navahoe Aaerican Indian horse blankets. Although the traditional 0£ these blankets has reuined constant £or centurys, recent reflect Western cultural contact, & include scenes shoving motor-cars, le even pictures of Snoopyr, Following the A~V show, Bernard Brandhu discussed the possibility of creating an u-c:hive of "the high street to~" u being a vay of preserving a heritage ot history in the u.king.
Continuing Friday evening's progra.ae, Clive Tmner preseted a triple projector A-V shov. This vas most iapressive, & vu not the "light entertaimaent to put you to sleep" that Clive said it would bel First sequence vas "I've got a thing about trains", This vas photographed at the Bluebell Line in Sussex, & expertly put together to 111Usic by_ Johnny Cash. We vere then treated to a selection oE pictures oE Cathedrals oE England, & the shov vas concluded vith "A hoae oE my Own". This vas a sequence shoving house building today, courtesy oE Barratts Ltd. Altogether a 110st enjoyable evenings entertainment. On Saturday 110rning, the ConEerence continued with a talk by Higel Neil, the Greater Manchester Archaeological Unit. This is probably the largest archaeological unit in the country, about 175 people on a regular basis. We were told about soae oE the projects the G.M,A.U. is involved in. There are interesting archaeological sites in the Manchester area, & a selection oE colour slides vere_projected illustrating some ot the G.M.A.U.'s vork.
Projects include excavations at Castleshav Pennine Fort, the Blackstone Edge project, the Castletield Project, the Greater
Manchester Hill Survey, & excavations at the s_i te ot the "Bulls Head
Inn", SalEord.
A shot in the dark,Nigel NEIL from Manchester Museum Service,delivered a superb lecture on that City's heritage
( L) Berna ·d Brandon ,Curator of "HORNIMANS-~USEUM" S.E.24.Who gave the fine talk -.;;1 the museums history,and its founder of "TEA-TIME"fame. (R) Clive T,Who attempted to persuade British Rail to go back to "STEAM"• /
It is particularly tascinating the way that Industrial Archaeology takes over Archaeology within the Manchester area. It is hoped that an Archaeology & Heritage Group Conterence be arranged that will take place in Hancb~ster, perhaps in 1988. Further details in due course. Following on Nigel Neil; an expert in Coins, Peter Horris talked to WI about British Crovns; that is the live-shilling pieces. Re explained three main reasons tor the photographing ot coins, tor security, tor display, & tor study. We were then show a series of transparancies illwitrating Crovn coins dating from 1551, minted during the Reign of Iing Edward V1, through to a Crovn iainted in 1981, depicting the Royal Wedding of Prince Charles & Lady Diana Spencer. The value of coins to collectors varies considerably. Probably the 110st valuable Crovn coin at present is inscribed Shaw hWllbly petitions" minted in 1663 during the ieign of Charles 11. These coins, of which only about a dozen survive, are nov worth about £40,000 each. Peter Horris gave us a most interesting talk, on a subject vhich vas un-tallliliar to of those present. On Saturday afternoon the Annual General Meeting ot the Archaology & Heritage Group vas held, & following this we vere treated to an intoJ'll&l talk fro11 John Bardsley, Hon. F.R.P.S., a past President of the Royal Photographic Society. For John Bardsley, photography started in 1919 with a 6d cardboard c&111era; however this never worked properly & in 1921 he bought his first "proper" camera, a lodak Box Brovnie. It is now 65 years sine he got that ca111era, & he has just been bitten by tbe Photography Bugl
Days money took a real hammering
DESPITE their name, hammered coins are not "beaten-up.. old coins, but the description refers to the way they were made: a round piece of silver or gold was placed between two coin dies, and struck by a hammer.
The illustration. done by Hans Burgkmair in about 1500. shows how coins were minted in medieval times: silver was bought in by weight (top); melted and rolled into sheets which were beaten into the correct thickness (centre); then. once cut into roughly round shapes (left) they were "hammered'" between carefully prepared coin dies (right).
This was tht: way dll coins were minted. from the Greek and Roman coins to our own coinaie, until 1662 when new machinery was installed at the Mint in the Tower or London. and mass production of coins began.
British coins did not have a date until Queen Elizabeth the First introduced them on sixpences and lower value coins, but dates were not introduced properly until 1662.
The way to date early hammered coins is to look at the mint-dark, which is usually at 12 o'clock on both sides. A careful look at the Elizabeth 20shillings coin will reveal a small woolpack (as found in the House of Commons): this mark was used on coins minted between 1594 and 1596.
Similarly. the half-groat (or twopence) of Henry the Eigth has the mint-mark WS on the tails, which indicates it was produced between 15471549. It portrays the King just
as most of us imagine hiin. fat and evil-looking - ifs just as well this coin was issued posthumously, as the mint-masters might otherwise have
An evil practice ~arrie~ out by traders in medieval times was to clip a sliver off the coins that passed thr?ugh their hands; they claimed they did this to check the fineness of the coins and also to protect against forgery; but in truth they hoarded these clippin~s until they had amassed a mce pile of silver. - t_he kings. to safeguard their C?tn· age. intmduccd a ra1~cd• wording on the edge of thick· er coins. which read "De~u~ et Tutamen" - a decoration
ROYAL ROLL CALL
Checklist of British Monarchs from Henry the Eight to Elizabeth the Second: Henry VIII, 1509-47 ......... . Edward vr. 1547-53 .......... .. Mar)·· 1553-54 ................. .. Phihp and Mary. 15."4-58 .... . Elizabeth I. 15.58-1603 ....... . James I. 1603-25 ............... . Charles I. 1625-49 ............. . and a safeguard. . The Commonwealth. 1649-6(
Look at the pound coins m Charles II. 1660-85 ............ . your pocket - do you se~ th_e James II. 1685, 1685-88 ....... . same legend? You wont .. if WilliamandMary.1688-94 ... it's a '-cottish or Welsh com. · WilliamlII.1694-1702 ........ . Anne. 1702-14 .................. , George I. 1714-27 ............. . George II. 1727-60 ............ . George III. 1760-1820 ........ . I George IV. 1820-30 ..... .. William IV. 1830-37 .... . Victoria. 1837-1901 .. EdwardVII.1901-J(I George V. 19!0-36 Edward VIII. I 936 George VI. 193t>-5 • Elizabeth. accede,
Just as the Romans used L __ .:._ ______ ..:...=======:.;;;_.:..:::_..1
mainly one silver coin (ths· . denarius) in the early Empire. so too only one coin was common in Britain until ahout 1279 - the silv.:r penny. Interestingly. the din £sd came from denanus.
To convert it into a halfpenny or fourth ling (sorry. farthing). you simply had to cut the com in half or four. And, usefully. the reve_r~ of the penny coin was d1v1ded into four sections by a cross.
The penny illustrated is of Edward I, who was King from 1272 until 1307, and ~as minted in London - Civitas London - the city of London.' Past PRESIDENT & irrepreswie~ Committee worker,John was full of enthusiasm for his hobby,
Simplicity ot aessage is one ot the hall-aarks ot good photography, & self discipline could be considered to be the proper way to produce Art. Ask yourself "Why do you take photographs?" "Is photography Art?" Think about illustration rather than record, & above all think about the pho• that you take. To SWll up, Gvill held up a plastic cup in his hand, & suggested that as an exercise one could "Define a plastic cup tor the purpose of photography", & that it would be interesting to photograph a plastic cup in variou.s vays as a test of one's photographic technique. Alter Gvill Oven's thought provoking talk, Veronica & Ji• Brown showed us soae colour slides ot Ibiza. Following lunch, Martin Reed, fro• Silverprint brought along a selection of items from Silverprint's stock of quality monochrome papers, chemicals, & accesories. He also de110nstrated hov to 110unt photographs, & hov to cut a "vin40v" in J110unting board using a Dexter-type ~t cutter. First measure the iniag~ size ot the pictu~e to be 110unted. Mark tbe area to be cut vith a pencil, on the board.Should you aount the photo exactly in the middle of the mount, it vill not look right, so mount the picture just a fev M.M.s above the centre. Then cut the window vith a Dexter tool, or instrument. Align the "windov" over the actual bo&rd the picture is to be afixed to before sticking down the photo to aake sure of correct allignment, & that is it- a perfectly photograph.
Dr Mike APTED left lectured on tr,e "TtNl;MOUTHovn Batteries' a sub.1e~t of n1s most recent invest1gat1ons.
Martin Re~d rillt, represent1no SI v~Wrrint the Landon oes 1m rter vnusual bromide pa rs & 1nterest1ng items. Cot o other
the cheerful enJoy1ng that Saturday BOOK NOW FOR 19R7. faces DINNER •
