Patron Peter Osborne MBE
Published Web version Minutes Jan 23rd 2020 in York
David
Bruce Secretary and Convener (minutes)
Jane Hebblewhite
Mark Lusby
Vicky
MacDonald
Margaret
Shaw Treasurer
Bernard
Shaw
Trevor
Hallett
Also present and participating (as members after
item 6 below)
Bill Hill
Louisa
Hood
Quorum of five being achieved, Vicky Macdonald was
invited to chair the meeting.
A special message of condolence (appended) was to
be sent to Ethel Price in Memory of John Price, MBE, who had died in December
2019. He was Walled Towns Friendship
Circle Vice President from 1991 and President 2000-2009. Vicky MacDonald had
been able to attend the funeral as had a number of WTFC colleagues.
1) Minutes of meeting in Chester January 2019 were
agreed as a true record
2) Matters arising
Thought
be given to creating network of member towns with resources to fund future
meetings.
It was however,
recognised that Walled Towns Heritage
itself is essentially a fund to offer grants within the Objective as specified
in opening our bank account in 2018:
"to support heritage education and
activity with young people through schools and other youth organisations in
walled towns in Ireland and Britain".
This is always to
be seen in the context of the two Walled Towns Friendship Circle Declarations –
Piran and Canterbury and thirdly the ‘In the Shelter of the Walls’ Intent.” (see Annex 2 below).
Item 7a The teacher
training and has now been shelved.
Item 8 Of the
£500 assigned to website development £30 had been spent
3) Hon Sec/convenor's short report of 2019
(circulated in advance but also attached Annex 3) was noted and thanks were given to Margaret and
CAAG for the October 2019 Meet-up in Berwick-Upon-Tweed. The meet-up papers and
reports form helped to inspire the proposals discussed in the Workshop session.
4) Treasurer's report
circulated at the meeting was noted. Treasurer
Margaret was thanked. The main expenditure had been the meet-up and seminar in Berwick-upon-Tweed
in October. £8954.48 was the balance on the WTH account before this meeting.
At this point the formal meeting was adjourned for a Workshop session on
specific proposals
See Annex 4 for the report
Reconvening as Wall Towns Heritage
5) Membership of Walled Towns Heritage
We
proposed to offer Bill Hill a place in the group. After some discussion on
roles and representation, we agreed that like the founder members – David,
Margaret, Bernard, Vicky, Mark and Trevor, membership for Bill would be
personal although associated with their home towns (in his case York and the
Friends of York Walls).
Louisa
Hood was
also invited to join but like Jane, as an Officer and therefore a representative
of Chester’s Council, Louisa would be a representative of the York City
Council.
For
purposes of quorum and In the rare occasion of votes, York, like Berwick would
have one member only.
We
welcomed Louisa’s and Bill’s acceptance
and
continued the meeting with them as members.
6) Decisions from the workshop
a) The
Diary Project:
It was
agreed that Tweedmouth West School be awarded a significant grant to pursue the
project and would be supported by Margaret Shaw, and CAAG for any back up
research.
Both
Berwick-upon-Tweed and York would be expected to contribute to a more widely usable
Teachers’ Pack and to produce a 500 word report to Walled Towns Heritage.
The
cheque to Tweedmouth West School was to be signed and issued by David Bruce as
Convener and Secretary, and Margaret Shaw as Treasurer.
b) other
proposals
It was
agreed to ringfence a sum for similar grants for comparable projects in Tenby,
Derry, Chester and Conwy to be proposed for the school year 2020-2021. In the
case of Chester this might involve their ‘SEEN’ based ideas. For Conwy a small
contribution to Welsh language translation was agreed.
The
Portcullis Project was to be discussed with the Stirling based ’Engine Shed’ for
a collaborative project.
7) Plans for a York seminar in the autumn.
Following
up earlier correspondence, David asked Bill and Louise to confirm that York was
prepared to hold a ‘Walled Towns Heritage’ symposium later in the year. The
merits of holding it in August to coincide with the York Walls Festival or in
October when professional delegates and speakers were more likely to be
available were discussed. It was noted that in September, there
is a York Archaeological Forum
It was
agreed that Louisa would seek a meeting space in York in October [subsequent to this meeting, Louisa has secured the
George Hudson meeting room,, which has a capacity of 120 for Wednesday 28 October 12h30 – 17h and Thursday 29 October
8h30 – 17h. This room is in City of York
Council’s West Offices, a five minute walk from York Railway Station, in fact,
in the Old York Railway Station and just inside York’s City Walls].
One speaker was initially suggested by Bill Hill – Barry
Crump, an archaeologist on “the meaning of walled towns” Others would be
proposed as a theme for the symposium was developed, a programme agreed (by
correspondence).
No financial commitment from Walled Towns Heritage beyond the
use of some of the previously agreed marketing budget was agreed.
8) Next
Meeting and Thanks
There being no
other business, Vicky was thanked for chairing the meeting and Bill and the
Friends of York Walls for providing the space and excellent buffet.
Meeting
ended at 4pm. The next meeting would be at the York Symposium in October. Any
intermediate meetings, if required would be by email
DMB 20-Feb-2020
List of Annexes
5. Diary
Proposal from Bill Hill, Friends of York Walls (not included in published minutes)
6 Portcullis
Project by Bill Hill, Friends of York Walls(not included in published
minutes)
ANNEXES
Dear Ethel,
We have heard with deepest regret that John Price has died. Some of us
have already written to you and /or attended his funeral but as a group
dedicated to carrying on his Walled Towns work, particularly as expressed in
his 2006 forward to the “The
Young in the Shelter of Town Walls” whose intent is to give the cultural
heritage of each Walled Town “a continuum
beyond our own lifetimes” as John rather poignantly put it. With the
patronage of Peter Osborne, we are delighted to be able to support schools and
young people in walled towns – initially Berwick-upon-Tweed, Chester, Conwy,
Derry, Tenby and York.
In doing so we remember John’s great contribution to the heritage and
promotion of Walled Towns and as his friends, we wish you well at this
difficult time.
Yours Sincerely
for
Walled
Towns Heritage
David Bruce, Trevor Hallett, Jane
Hebblewhite, Mark Lusby,
Vicky Macdonald, Margaret and Bernard Shaw
Patron – Peter Osborne OBE
[Vicky please
amend as appropriate and send on to Ethel (if you have Ethel’s address)]
2.
Walled Towns Friendship Circle
Declarations – Piran and Canterbury and the
‘Shelter’ objective from 2017 WTH Proposal:
PIRAN/PIRANO 1998
Walled Towns are unique inheritances from times
long past
and should be treasured,
maintained and safeguarded
from neglect and destruction
and passed into perpetuity as irreplaceable
'Timestones of History‘
Peter Osborne MBE
Developing the
declaration we can say that each
walled town is a unique inheritance[ ]
from times long past. Emphasising the importance of conservation and
heritage interpretation to treasure,
maintain and safeguard from neglect and destruction each walled town needs
plans and programmes to pass on that heritage into perpetuity as irreplaceable 'Timestones of History’.
Similarly we can incorporate the Canterbury Accord, agreed by the WTFC
Symposium in 2008,
Walled Towns in the Friendship Circle are expected
to evolve as sanctuaries of Conciliation and Peace
Peter Osborne MBE
This will help ensure that different heritages, present or potentially
present in a walled town are fully and fairly included. To quote UNESCO’s NARA
Declaration (1996) “the heritage of one is the heritage of all” [but there remains
a] risk that local heritage can just encourage a chauvinism, inimical to
outsiders, migrants and refugees.
Some years ago,
UNESCO performed the role of the catalyst for the town in Piran/Pirano which led
on to the WTFC 2006 project, “The Young
in the Shelter of Town Walls” (2006). The invaluable experience of working
with schools in the walled towns of the project including Chester (which incorporated
the SEEN project) was shared with five other European towns and can be built on
…. As the then President of WTFC, put it
“The Young in the Shelter of Town Walls” Intent
is to give
the cultural heritage of each Walled Town
“a
continuum beyond our own lifetimes”.
John Price MBE
Scrolls of the Piran
Declaration, Canterbury Accord and “The
Young in the Shelter of the Walls” Intent, adapted to the individual walled
town might be awarded to school children or others associated with this
project.
3 Walled Towns Heritage Secretary and
Convenor's Report 2019.
After a frustrating year in 2018 when
only the bank account was arranged, 2019 began with a useful meeting in Chester
in January. (see attached minutes for formal noting).
While a number of the proposals from
that meeting have not to date borne fruit, the agreement to support the
Berwick-upon-Tweed "Opening Minds … Meet-up” resulted in a small but
productive event in October.
In the spring, Chair Anne Scicluna,
who had not been able to attend meetings, felt it right to resign her role due
to other commitments. She is thanked for her help in establishing the group.
Since that time, the Secretary has taken on the role of Convenor and Vicky
Macdonald has kindly agreed to chair meetings of the group.
Margaret Shaw and the
Berwick-upon-Tweed conservation Areas Advisory Group (CAAG) hosted the meet-up
admirably and the Secretary of WTH
helped to identify and invite a range of speakers and discussants as
well as, with assistance from Mark Lusby, to produce a flyer and printed
programme documents. But the vital spark was lit by the children of Tweedmouth
school with their head teacher-Mrs Anne Robertson. As well as WTH members
- Vicky as chair, Jane & David as
presenters - a UNESCO adviser,
Stirling's Building Consecration centre and the York Walls Festival made for a
varied and stimulating two days http://www.walledtownsresearch.org or @walledtowns.
From the Meet up, Bill Hill of
Friends of York Walls has generated well thought out proposals for stimulating
selected schools to take on the heritage of walled towns as part of their
curriculum.
DMB 21-01-2020
4. Report of Workshop session on schools proposals
Centring
around proposals for bursaries
to free-up teachers' time:
a)
the Twins Diary Project “Hannah and Josiah” and proposals based on Bill Hill’s
paper circulated after the Berwick meet-up as suitable for First or Junior
schools (see appended paper 5 but not
included in published minutes).
b) a
Portcullis project modelling proposal, based on a Bill Hill paper (6 but not
included in published minutes)
c) other
proposals including the 2019 teacher training project for Chester and North
Wales – now shelved.
were
discussed with Bill relating the projects to Key Stage teaching objectives in
the National Curriculum.
a) Bill
reported the plan for a York (RC primary) school which volunteered to create a
multi-disciplinary modules fortnight with five teachers with Art, RE, Science,
English and Music expertise Funding of £1000 is from the existing Lottery Award
and would be basing the project on the “Hannah and Josiah”
Twins Diary (but not included in published minutes)
In
discussion, the general era of the 18th Century was thought to be appropriate
for most walled towns and appropriate historic maps could be related to the
project. The project is primarily an exercise in imagination.
With Tweedmouth
West School enthusiastic to take up the Twins Diary, there is the prospect of
two worked examples being complete by the summer of 2020.
Each was
expected to contribute to a more widely usable Teachers’ Pack and to produce a
500 word report.
b) A Portcullis re-creation project.
Bill introduced this CDT heritage idea, more likely
to be applicable to Middle or Secondary Schools, again with National Curriculum
criteria in mind. It is appended to these minutes (Annex 6 but not
included in published minutes) and it
was agreed that Bill would see what scope there was to develop this with Brian
Wilkinson in Stirling.
c) ‘SEEN’
Jane,
for Chester, would look to developing an 8-18 revival of an earlier project
involving pupils in local democratic decision making ‘SEEN’, which had been
related to the 2006 ‘In the Shelter of
the Walls’ trans-European report -
David would [and subsequently has] send her a copy
of that report.
d) other proposals including the 2019 teacher
training project for Chester and North Wales were now to be shelved.
With these as a basis, Chester, Conwy, Derry and
Tenby were confident of generating further exercises in the subsequent school
year.
EARLIER FOLLOW UP MEETING 22ND JANUARY 2019 IN CHESTER.
Please follow us on @walledtowns
Chester 1568 in Braun and Hogenberg 1572-1617 |
a proposal to develop local Walled Town
‘Advocates’.
In July 2017, Peter Osborne MBE, Life President of Walled Towns Friendship Circle, founded in 1989 in Tenby (now European Walled Towns) proposed funding what he has called a ‘Walled Town Heritage Commission’. Contact point is David Bruce.
Further co-options may be made in due course.
Developing the declaration we can say that each walled town is a unique inheritance[ ] from times long past. Emphasising the importance of conservation and heritage interpretation to treasure, maintain and safeguard from neglect and destruction each walled town needs plans and programmes to pass on that heritage into perpetuity as irreplaceable 'Timestones of History’.
The Proposal for 2018
An individual commissioned to fulfill this brief will be given the title of ‘’Walled Towns Commissioner’ and will be paid for successful intermediate outcomes and for the Teaching Pack/App itself within a specified time limit.
Time schedule
Peter Osborne’s vision is for each walled town to keep their heritage alive through the generations by getting the children of the town to inspire their parents and elders. But who will inspire the children? Working with or selected from among primary and middle school heads and teachers, or perhaps more specialist secondary teachers, local walled towns heritage ‘Advocates’ will be charged with this role.
To generate this series of essentially local initiatives, David Bruce on behalf of Peter Osborne has invited a small group of Walled Town heritage specialists, all active and/or former members of European Walled Towns or associated with member/former member towns to form a Walled Towns Heritage Commission to appoint a roving ‘Commissioner’ who will prepare guidance for and visit walled towns to promote the initiation of the local advocates as well as developing longer term funding proposals to extend the initiative. Based on earlier versions of this paper a meeting was convened in Berwick-upon-Tweed on 18th October 2017, at which the Walled Towns Heritage Commission was established.
The purpose of the Commission has been specified as:
To generate a series of local initiatives, within the isles of Ireland and Britain[1] for identifying local advocates of the heritage of the walled town, particularly for local schools, as well as developing longer term funding proposals to sustain the activity.
This purpose is to be achieved in the light of and building on the three foundations of the Piran Declaration, the Canterbury Accord and the objective “to have a continuum beyond our own lifetimes” (John Price MBE) of ‘The Young in the Shelter of the Walls’.
To achieve this purpose, these invitees, as individual Members of the Commission (not normally as representatives of their towns) are making arrangements to fund and manage the work of the roving Walled Towns Commissioner (WTC).
The Founder Members of the Commission are
Peter Osborne, MBE
|
Founder and Life President of Walled Towns Friendship Circle (now European Walled Towns) has been appointed
|
Patron and Honorary Member
|
Anne Scicluna
|
Chair and Member
| |
Margaret and Bernard Shaw
|
Associated with Berwick-upon-Tweed; nominated and elected as
|
Treasurer and Member
|
David Bruce
|
Associated with walled towns research and academic adviser to EWT; nominated and elected as
|
Hon Sec and Member
|
Jane Hebblewhite
|
Associated with Chester Museum and as an Officer implicitly representing Cheshire West and Chester (CWaC)
|
Member
|
Trevor Hallett
|
Associated with Tenby and origins of Walled Towns Friendship Circle
|
Member
|
Mark Lusby
|
Associated with Friends of Derry Walls and PhD student of walled towns heritage
|
Member
|
Vicky Macdonald
|
Associated with Conwy and Associate Members of EWT
|
Member
|
Medwyn Jones
|
(apologies for absence) Associated with North Wales Walled Towns
|
To be re-invited
|
Eamonn McEneaney
|
Associated with Waterford Museum, Ireland
|
To be invited
|
Trevor, Vicky, Jane and Mark - four members of the WTHC |
Should any one of the Members taking on paid work for the Commission, he or she will need first to resign their Membership of the Commission. Membership of the Commission is limited to twelve.
The Commission’s plans are grounded in the work of Walled Towns Friendship Circle (now European Walled Towns) starting with the Piran Declaration (1998)
and should be treasured, maintained and safeguarded
from neglect and destruction
and passed into perpetuity as irreplaceable
Developing the declaration we can say that each walled town is a unique inheritance[ ] from times long past. Emphasising the importance of conservation and heritage interpretation to treasure, maintain and safeguard from neglect and destruction each walled town needs plans and programmes to pass on that heritage into perpetuity as irreplaceable 'Timestones of History’.
This will help ensure that different heritages, present or potentially present in a walled town are fully and fairly included. To quote UNESCO’s NARA Declaration (1996) “the heritage of one is the heritage of all”. There is risk that local heritage can just encourage a chauvinism, inimical to outsiders, migrants and refugees.
Some years ago, UNESCO performed the role of the catalyst for the town in Piran/Pirano which led on to the WTFC 2006 project “The Young in the Shelter of Town Walls” (2006). The invaluable experience of working with schools in the walled towns of the project including Chester (which incorporated the SEEN project) was shared with five other European towns and can be built on for the current proposal. As the then President of WTFC, put it
“The Young in the Shelter of Town Walls” Intent
is to give
the cultural heritage of each Walled Town
“a continuum beyond our own lifetimes”. John Price MBE
Scrolls of the Piran Declaration, Canterbury Accord and “The Young in the Shelter of the Walls” Intent, adapted to the individual walled town might be awarded to school children or others associated with this project.
In England, each Walled Towns Heritage Advocate will in many cases be able to work with a local councillor ‘Heritage Champion’ as promoted by English heritage[2] but will be distinguished from that role as (1) independent of the local authority and not time limited by the electoral cycle and (2) focussed on the walled town or walled town centre itself and the associated gates and towns walls.
Similar relations with local authorities and national heritage bodies are expected to be built up in Ireland, Wales and Scotland. CADW in Wales is understood to favour a similar approach.
Recognising that every walled town will be at a different level of heritage awareness and have different patterns of schools and colleges, the work of the roving Walled Towns Commissioner (WTC) will be expected to adopt appropriate approaches, using existing and developing local walled town contacts. The aim will be to identify the local advocate and support him or her carrying on the work of promoting walled towns conservation to future generations. The WTC’s work might be rather like that of the Education Officer of a Museum.
The Proposal for 2018
The Commission is setting a brief to develop and realise the work of the roving ‘Walled Town Commissioner' (WTC). This work of researching and generating the Teaching Pack/App for the use of the local ‘Advocate’ of walled town heritage, will initially be funded from a small fund managed by the Walled Towns Heritage Commission. The work will include developing the concept, making personal contact with relevant and useful people in each walled town and bidding for continuation funding.
A proposal for a tightly drawn brief to be drafted by Members to commission such a Teaching Pack/App is being discussed and agreed by the Members of the WTHC
A Teaching pack / App
for (final) year of Primary/ Middle Schools close to or within walled towns.
Each walled town will be encouraged to appoint a local Walled Town Heritage Advocate
In consultation with ‘Advocates’ set up in at least four walled towns in Ireland and UK working with say (or at least) six primary or middle schools, the Teaching Pack/App will be local but must also be more broadly applicable and capable of being replicated and developed year by year into the future.
The Teaching Pack/App will have physical - card, picture, verbal, modelling even origami or edible elements for children to work with and create
AS WELL AS
digital elements and virtual tours etc. perhaps giving substance to the phrase ‘artificial inheritage’[3] coined at the Berwick symposium.
|
An individual commissioned to fulfill this brief will be given the title of ‘’Walled Towns Commissioner’ and will be paid for successful intermediate outcomes and for the Teaching Pack/App itself within a specified time limit.
The work throughout will be guided by and reported to the Walled Towns Heritage Commission (WTHC).
The Walled Towns Heritage Commission will thus mark, in Ireland and Great Britain, the 20th Anniversary of the Piran/Pirano Declaration by promoting and conserving the walled town heritage and passing it ‘on into perpetuity'. Supported by the work of the Walled towns Commissioner, the ’Advocates’ appointed will explore the history and heritage of their own specific walled town with their own young people - generation by generation. Local schools, particularly primary and middle schools will be the key to transmitting that walled town heritage, in effect making it a localised part of the 'national' curriculum.
Time schedule
2017
Jul Peter Osborne MBE, Life President of Walled Towns Friendship Circle (now European Walled Towns) expresses the idea.
· Aug/Sept David Bruce develops the proposal and responds to Peter 0.
· Sep Invitations to steering group to respond with comments.
· Oct Publically announced proposal at Berwick Heritage Days 18th-19th October.
o initial discussion among those present and keeping others touch, officers elected and minutes produced
· Nov Dec 2017 Propose and develop brief and procedures for WTHC by email
o set up 'constitution' and bank account
2018
The Twentieth Anniversary of the Piran Declaration and Tenth of the Canterbury Accord.
- a speculative programme which could be accelerated with WTHC in place earlier
· Jan agree Budget the funds available
· Feb agree patterns and procedure for the work of the Walled Towns Commissioner WTC. Begin establishment of Website and social media
2nd Meeting of WTHC
· Mar-Final agreement of Brief for work of WTC.
· April-. WTC begins work , with funds to be made available
· May - Prepare for and plan for WTC visiting selected Walled Towns in UK & Ireland
· Jun, July WTC visits to a small number of towns
· Aug-[pause]
· Sept - Draft applications to funding trusts etc.
· Sept - First report and presentation to the European Walled Towns symposium.
· Oct - Report to Berwick-Upon-Tweed Heritage Days, which will include draft or even published Teachers’ Pack/App for their local walled town heritage with trial implementation at selected schools local in or close to a Walled Town.
(Future programme to be developed)
DMB/PO 30th October 2017
[1] In the light of expected BREXIT in 2019, we feel that an ‘all islands’ approach including both the UK and the Irish Republic is best as it will retain an overlap with both the European Union and the UK, which is very important to certain of the walled towns and important to all of them in these islands.
[2] https://historicengland.org.uk/advice/planning/local-heritage/heritage-champions/what-is-a-heritage-champion/ for details of this role and a wealth of advice on general heritage promotion.
[3] This phrase seems to be original but ‘inHeritage’ (sic) is used as the name of a heritage interpretation consultancy www.inheritage.co.uk and @inheritage.eu on Twitter. As a word OED lists ‘inheritage’ as a rare synonym for heritage and/or inheritance. An arcade game from Tinker games is called INheritage:BOE (sic), based on a music album of 2012
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