Last week I was lucky enough to be heading down to Norwich for the annual IHBC (Institute of Historic Building Conservators) Summer School in Norwich, a city I had never visited before, but will definitely be visiting again.  I had a fantastic time, exploring Norwich on two tours organised as part of the School, and being surrounded by architecture so different from Scotland’s was incredibly refreshing.  It was also fascinating to hear about the challenges faced by the custodians of a medieval city like Norwich; we learned about the plans to sensitively restore the castle, and we saw for ourselves the huge amount of regeneration going on on the banks of Norwich’s rivers.  It will be interesting to see how this beautiful city continues to develop from hereon in.   The speakers at the Day School were of an excellent calibre, and a particular highlight was Michael Morrison’s lecture.  He explored some of his incredible architectural and heritage conservation work as one of the Senior Principals of the Purcell partnership in Antarctica and beyond, and all delivered in a very deadpan manner with incredible visuals.  If he ever wrote a biography I would definitely buy it.  The mark of a good lecture is one which made you think and talk about it long after it has finished, and all the speakers achieved that.

Most of all though, it was the attendees and organisers that made the Summer School such a roaring success, I really did have a great deal of fun, everyone was incredibly warm and friendly, and I learnt a lot from my fellow attendees as well as from the lecturers and tour guides about conservation, architecture, and this industry.  There is too much to cover in one blog post, so I thought I would show some of my highlights through the medium of interpretive dance photography, with explanatory captions.

Views, as always, are all my own.

To find out more about the IHBC click here.

To find out more about visiting Norwich, which I definitely recommend, click here.

Rachael