Category: Arts & Crafts

Members of the Ramsbottom History Society visited the church and school rooms this morning and after lunch in the Old Boar’s Head, were conducted on a tour of the Conservation Area and the Edgar Wood properties.

If you would like details of a visit or tour, please get in touch via the web site.

Come and see the restored schools on Heritage Open Days 2018.

Friday and Saturday 7th and 8th Sept. open 10.30am to 4pm and Sunday 9th. 1-4pm.

Friday and Saturday 14th and 15th Sept. open 10.30am-4pm and Sunday 16th 1-4pm

Not quite the same angles but compare the photograph from  Saturday 1st September 2018 above with the early 1900s below. The door canopies have been partly fitted and require their brackets so temporary props are in position. The door plates to match the ones on the left image will then be fitted. Watch this space!

Sibby an Edgar Wood Society committee member led a guided tour of 25 on a city centre Arts and Crafts tour. A sell out with the funds being donated to the EWS.

The start was at the war memorial in the Victoria Station, sculpture by George Wragg then on to the Eric Gill bas relief on the Cathedral 1930’s extension. Moving on to the Boar War memorial in St. Ann’s Square followed by Lutyen’s bank on King St. We also found Edgar Wood’s office on King St. (picture above) and the site of his previous office on Cross St. On route we visited the John Ryland’s Library then on to Albert Square to find a fine example of the work of John Cassidy, who designed and made many sculptures for the city.

The staff at the Midland Hotel kindly allowed us to view a beautiful window by George Wragg, before we crossed the road to Lutyen’s war memorial. The tour concluded at this point although several of the group went on to the Art Gallery to see the Annie Swynnerton exhibition, which is highly recommended.

July saw a flurry of paint brushes as the restoration moved onto the redecoration of the interior.  Colour sampling by David Morris brought to light the original Edgar Wood colours for all but two of the rooms. The image above shows the original scheme for the Ladies Parlour which was painted in a William Morris style grey-green. The School Hall was found to have eleven coats of paint… at one time the walls were painted bright red/orange! Edgar Wood’s colour was pale blue making for a fresh and relaxed interior. See the coloured up photos below… the old colour scheme is on the left and the new one is on the right. Continue reading “Redecoration well under-way – original Edgar Wood colours discovered”

Remember this from February, spot the difference 5 months on! Continue reading “Restoration – What a Difference”

Last night at Lindley Methodist Church, Huddersfield, 80 people attended a fascinating lecture by Nick Baker about the Arts & Crafts Movement in the Pennine areas and the impact of the Northern Art Workers Guild.

Nick identified the principal architects, such as Barry Parker, Edgar Wood and Walter Brierley and the Guild’s artists, like sculptor J. J. Millson, plasterer J. R. Cooper, metal worker George Wragge, painter Frederick Jackson, and sculptor Stirling Lee, who combined their talents to enrich the strucures erected by the architects, both on the outside and in the decoration and furnishing of rooms.

Nick introduced the audience to many new buildings as well as presenting old favourites in a new light. He also highlighted the importance of the northern Arts & Crafts movement to the development of European fin de siecle architecture and how buildings like the grade I listed Banney Royd, Egerton, Huddersfield had international fame.

The site has been a hard hat restricted area for some time and a lot of work is going on behind shuttering and areas difficult to access, in spite of of the Beast from the East and now the Mini Beast form the East. Continue reading “Restoration Update – Windows and Windows”

The premier showing of the ground breaking documentary ‘A Painted Veil’ by film maker Anthony Dolan and written by David Morris took place at the Art Workers Guild in London on Thursday 1st March. Continue reading “Premier Showing at the Art Workers Guild – London”

Stuart the site manager for the contractors (Stone Edge) was welcomed at 7.30am this morning to start the run in for what will be a tight restoration schedule. At the same time there is a lot of preparation needed by the Greater Manchester Building Preservation Trust and the Edgar Wood Society, especially removing items to a safe storage area and journeys to the waste disposal site. Continue reading “The Contractors Move In”