IHBC Marsh Awards 2023 winners announced

Judges in the eighth year of the IHBC Marsh Charitable Trust Awards are delighted to announce the 2023 Awards, with a joint award for ‘Community Contribution by a Retired Member of the IHBC’ to Graham Arnold (Northwest Branch) and Stewart Ramsdale (North Branch), and the ‘Successful Learning in Heritage Skills’ going to Jessica Eyre of Triglyph Masonry.

Each award winner is to receive £500 and a free place at the upcoming Annual School in Swansea in June 2023.

IHBC Marsh Award judges were especially impressed with Graham Arnold’s dedication to the cause of heritage conservation in retirement through his efforts on the Friends of Birkenhead Park Committee.

Graham said: ‘This award is dedicated to the Friends of Birkenhead Park who, working as a team, have persuaded and assisted Wirral Council in obtaining the inclusion of the Park on the UK Tentative List for World Heritage Sites in April this year. The Friends, through the Edward Kemp Community Garden and Growing Area, help provide a haven for local residents of a deprived community to enjoy the pleasures of growing vegetables, healthy eating and appreciation of nature. Through walks they also promote the Park as a pioneer of democratic public parks. In its design Sir Joseph Paxton provided the eye catchers of the Swiss Bridge, Roman Boathouse, Grand Entrance and Alpine Rockfall. Such features had previously been central to private parks but were now able to be appreciated by anyone, regardless of wealth and status, as they wandered through the landscape.’

The judges were no less impressed by Stewart Ramsdale’s multitude of volunteering and community engagement activities from the time of his retirement – as well as before – including sharing his knowledge and skills with the public and local community groups in the Tees Valley and the North East more widely.

Stewart said ‘I am truly honoured to be recognised by IHBC and the Marsh Charitable Trust in being selected for this award. In retirement my work with these organisations continues, particularly Tees Heritage Trust where we focus on helping community groups realise their dreams to restore cherished local heritage. Outreach to the broader community through heritage walks and talks, sharing the store of a knowledge acquired over many years has also been ongoing. Unshackled by timescales, fees and other hinderances, the freedom of volunteering permits building issues to be addressed in full, whether it’s historical research or painstaking assessment and analysis of fabric. Results are consequently richer and more satisfying than might normally be obtained in practice or public service. I strongly recommend it as a model for retirement. I was touched and delighted to be nominated by IHBC North Branch for this award and I am grateful to all past and present members of branch committee for their support and friendship over many years.’

Judges admired the submission on Jessica Eyre especially for her detailed and thoughtful approach to stonemasonry, dedication to high standards and understanding of conservation philosophy, and commitment to expanding the accessibility into the sector by sharing her knowledge with the wider community.

Jessica said: ‘Working on and learning more about our built heritage combines so many of my interests, including art, social history, craft, and sustainability, and having my efforts recognised by simply being nominated for the Marsh Award is wonderful. To win is rather overwhelming.’

An ‘in-person’ Award presentation is planned for the Annual Dinner of the IHBC Swansea School 2023, on the evening of the IHBC’s Swansea Day School on 23 June.

For more information on the Annual School see HERE.

For more on the IHBC Marsh Awards for Community Contribution (Retired Member) and Successful Learning in Heritage Skills see HERE.

This article originally appeared on the IHBC Newsblog on 19 May 2023.

--Institute of Historic Building Conservation