David Blackburn

David retired in 2016, latterly as British Waterways’ Conservation Manager in northern England, IHBC Yorkshire Council representative, and expert adviser to the Heritage Lottery Fund. Since retirement he has given his time and expertise free of charge to civic, community and amenity works, conservation and regeneration. David has committed his time to Ilkley Civic Society, demonstrating his wealth of community conservation activity. He has developed applications for Assets of Community Value to local lists, created heritage walks, provided guidance for residents, commented on local planning, and he developed the annual Awards Scheme for Conservation and Design projects in Ilkley. David has worked with local councils to identify and campaign to get certain buildings listed through evidence based proposals. David has worked with the Bradford Building Preservation Trust to run a new project that aims to conserve and find a reuse for a cemetery chapel. He was also a volunteer national assessor and judge for the Waterway Renaissance Awards that recognise and reward canal and river-based projects. David is a volunteer for the Leeds and Liverpool Canal shortboat ‘Kennet’ where he assists with crewing the vessel and provides education about its history and heritage to the public. Throughout his career and in retirement, David has lived and breathed for the conservation of built heritage.

Graham Arnold and Stewart Ramsdale

Graham Arnold

Graham was initially involved in the restoration of Birkenhead Park on behalf of Wirral Borough Council and has continued to be involved in the conservation of the area since his retirement in a voluntary capacity, taking on hands-on landscape maintenance as well as sharing his specialist knowledge. He has acted as Secretary of the Friends of Birkenhead Park, and took on the role as planning specialist, commenting on applications that would affect the park. He has attended every meeting of the Friends Group and is heavily involved in the park’s application to become a World Heritage Site. Graham has also acted as Chair of the Friends Group and has inspired and led them on a range of projects, including installing a blue plaque to commemorate the founder of the park. In 2022, Graham spent over 500 hours working in a voluntary capacity for the park. He has committed all of his professional life and much of his retirement and personal time to heritage conservation.

Stewart Ramsdale

Stewart is a long-serving and dependable member of the IHBC North Branch, including in the role of Chair for ten years, and has continued to contribute his time and expertise to heritage conservation through his retirement. He has combined a home-grown love of a local resident with the knowledge of a skilled building conservation professional to make himself a real asset to the IHBC. Stewart has a robust knowledge and a thorough grasp of details, but has always been happiest working on the ground with people and buildings to direct positive change. Since his retirement in 2013 he has remained heavily involved with the Tees Heritage Trust, focusing their work with local community groups to help them achieve their ambitions to repair and restore cherished local heritage sites and buildings. Stewart also shares his knowledge and love of built heritage through guided walks with the general public, passing on his local knowledge and an appreciation of the industrial and architectural heritage of the neighbourhoods he knows so well.

John Duncan

John has been involved in the promotion of the conservation of the built heritage of the Highlands for over forty years, and since his retirement, more specifically Inverness. He is passionate about the protection and promotion of the built environment in this part of Scotland. John is extremely skilled and knowledgeable and his advice on the importance of historic buildings is a valuable resource. He has worked tirelessly to try to save buildings and aided in the delivery of a series of Architectural Conservation Master Classes. John was a founding Trustee of the Highland Historic Building Trust and has returned as a Trustee and Chairman since his retirement. He was also instrumental in setting up the Inverness City Heritage Trust, where he also became a Trustee following his retirement. John is a member of the Inverness Architectural Association, Scotland’s Churches Trust, a Fellow of the Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland and an Honorary Fellow of the Architectural Heritage Society of Scotland.

John Gerrard

John joined the Scottish Civic Trust (SCT) as Technical Director in 1968 after working in the local government architect’s department and a year of urban studies in the USA. After an outstanding career supporting local amenity societies and dealing with national heritage and planning issues, John retired from SCT in 2000. Since 2000, John has continued to be a Trustee of the Scottish Historic Buildings Trust; where he restored over 30 buildings and raised an excess of £25 million, the Scottish Churches Architectural Heritage Trust; where he helped to develop their website, and the Church Buildings Renewal Trust; where he contributed at the forefront of conserving Scotland’s heritage. John is also an assessor for the Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland Conservation Accreditation Scheme. He has taken an active role in the Association for the Protection of Rural Scotland and is an active member of his local Community Council. John is currently a member of a number of other heritage bodies and, despite being retired for over 20 years, remains a key player in the maintenance and promotion of the historic buildings in Scotland. 

David Lovie

David Lovie became semi-retired in 2003 and gave up his final role in 2016. David spent his retirement focussing his extensive experience on place-making and local heritage for the benefit of the community. He became the Acting Chair of the Alnwick Society in 2019, where he worked to conserve the towns special character and pressed for higher standards in new development. He is well-known for the Society’s walks, talks and annual debates, and an enthusiastic contributor to surveys, consultations and other activities of the town centre working group and has represented the Society both locally and nationally. David helped lead the work to create a new public square at the heart of Gosforth Conservation Area in Newcastle upon Tyne. As a member of the Church Council, he chaired a community-based committee to open Trinity Church to the community, transforming the grounds to become welcoming and accessible. David has been a founding board member of Civic Voice and was involved in national management for Heritage Open Days. He promoted the value of volunteering and was addicted to building the capacity of communities.

Bill Brogden

Bill has been an active and popular member of the Architectural Heritage Society of Scotland for many years, including a spell as highly respected Chairman of the Society. More recently, he has headed up the Society’s Cases Panel which he has helped become more active in overseeing planning applications in the city of Aberdeen and the surrounding areas.

Bill maintains and shares an optimistic outlook on modern design, as well as supporting appropriate conservation projects. His strategic, wide-ranging outlook on buildings, their settings and wider landscapes is well represented in his many books on architecture and gardens of the North East. He is a lecturer at the Scott Sutherland School of Architecture, where he has tutored many young students who have become successful and innovative architects and landscape designers.

Bill still gives lectures and will be involved in the organisation of the 2021 Annual School which will be taking place in Aberdeen. He is passionate about the architectural heritage of Scotland and will take on many and varied projects, whether he is able to raise funds for them or not.

Dr Jane Grenville

Dr Jane Grenville has made an invaluable contribution to the civic life of the city of York through her student planning club, drawing in volunteers from the student community to monitor the impact of planning proposals on York heritage. The club scans the weekly planning lists to make a first sift of significant cases for further comment by the more experienced York Civic Trust Planning Committee to the local authority. Jane’s club is making a big contribution to the York Civic Trust’s effectiveness as a society and it’s influence on the future of the historic environment of the city by working in collaboration with the volunteer student community.

The club is also of benefit to the students involved and has helped many of them on their way to successful employment in the heritage sector, thanks to the experience they have gained under Jane’s guidance.

Ken Burley

Ken Burley is a keen member of the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI) and the IHBC. He has been involved with the South Yorkshire Buildings Preservation Trust (SYBPT) for over 20 years, and has chaired it since his retirement in 2004.

In 2005, the SYBPT bought a Georgian townhouse in the small market town of Thorne near Doncaster, an area with serious economic problems which became a priority for many regeneration grants. The property was bought with a view to helping with the overall regeneration of Thorne and to conserve an important example of the town’s architectural heritage. The SYBPT also has an educational remit, with the aim of promoting the history of the building to the local community. An exhibition about Thorne, in particular the property bought by the SYBPT, was erected in 2005 by students of Sheffield University on a market day and proved to be a huge success in terms of local people becoming interested in their town.

Ken’s planning experience, management skills, high standards, persistence and dedication have been crucial in holding the SYBPT together and enabling it to work to its full potential. He maintains a long record of volunteer involvement with the RTPI and the Yorkshire Branch of the IHBC, often in roles which hold responsibility.

An Award for Special Commendation was presented to Edith Gollnast

Since retiring in 2009, Edith has devoted much of her time to the meticulous drawing of Oxford’s buildings to illustrate a series of books on heritage work. Her work has become an accessible tool for tourists wanting to learn more about the heritage buildings in Oxford, particularly aspects of the historic environment which people might otherwise overlook. Her impressive knowledge of Oxford and the buildings which tell the bigger story of the city’s history, come as a result of working in conservation for Oxford City Council for over 30 years.

The illustrations delight as well as inform and go a long way to making the publications hugely successful. The books are published by the Oxford Preservation Trust (of which Edith is a life member) and provide a valuable and well-used planning tool for both the public and private sector. Apart from a very modest honorarium, Edith has completed her illustrations in a voluntary capacity and all proceeds from the sales of the books go to the Oxford Preservation Trust.

Chris Hall

Chris has, and continues to make considerable contributions to countless heritage projects in the Scarborough area. He is Director of two not-for-profit building restoration projects, The Old Parcels Office at Scarborough Railway Station and Dean Road Chapel. Chris is also a Voluntary Ranger and Heritage Volunteer for the North York Moors National Park Authority.

Chris has been a Field Officer for the Scarborough Archaeological Society for over eleven years and is also a committee member of the Friends of Ayton Castle. He consistently goes the extra mile, helping out at Heritage Open Days, giving talks to local groups, reviewing the factual accuracy of heritage publications and getting involved in practical work. The impact of Chris’s contribution is clear – the Old Parcels Office is no longer an at-risk building and in October 2015, Scarborough was placed third in a national Heritage Index by the RSA.