The Victorian Society in Manchester Registered Charity No. 1081435 Summer Newsletter 2010 Introducing David Harwood to start looking at the man-made civilisations, Mediaeval Europe, Chair of the Manchester Group world around me. As a result I the Renaissance and on to our became engaged in an untutored friends the Hanoverians. Perhaps, Through my life I have migrated sense with buildings and architecture. too, the Victorians were the last to North: born in the illustrious town of understand this historical context. Watford (actually once an ordinary One of our book recommendations We must not lose sight of the fact but pleasant place before developers, at school aimed at us Philistine that the most satisfactory towns planners, and councils dismembered scientists was Pevsner’s -’An Outline and cities are those that have a it in the Sixties), lived in Oxford as of European Architecture’. That delicious mix of all or most of these student and research assistant, helped, and I still have it. The sense historical, and hence architectural, and thence to Manchester where I of Victorian times has always been periods. I believe that the work of the Society, by saving and conserving our Victorian and Edwardian fabric, inevitably aids the preservation of older buildings. In thinking along these lines, I feel that the Society, where appropriate, should more frequently join forces with other conservation bodies to preserve the collective historical fabric. Why not assist the Georgian Society in saving a Georgian building - there is sure to be a Victorian one nearby? I am pleased to take the reins of your local group, and I would like to point out that you have an able and committed group of volunteers on your committee. Each person brings their own strengths to the table and collectively we are a strong group. We will continue to provide what we hope is an interesting and congenial programme of talks and visits, and, naturally, we welcome suggestions from you, the members. David Harwood March 2010 Editorial There have been many changes to the committee of the Victorian Society in Manchester. As many of you know, Sue Dawson has retired from the Group board after twenty years of sterling service, during which time she served on the Pub Working Group and the Programme was appointed to a Lectureship in with me because my parents were Committee and as Conservation Zoology at the Victoria University of essentially Victorian in many of their Secretary from 1993, Chair from Manchester in 1967. attitudes to life. 1999 to 2002 and, from then, as Secretary. And so to the Victorian Society- From the time I was a student I have trained from an early age to look at always lived in Victorian houses. Her thoroughness, eye for detail shape and form in animals requires However, I also take great pleasure and systematic planning skills will observational skills so it was natural in the artistic achievements of ancient be missed. As well as thanking her 1 for all her hard work for the Society, Manchester Group to increase the middle of all these activities I we are aware of the great debt all our relatively healthy membership received what was to prove a very members owe her. Her partner, David numbers. Recruitment can take interesting email from a complete also supported her in this work. place at events and it is hoped that stranger. It came from Jenny Balfour The work of Newsletter Editor was approaches to the student population Paul, a renowned expert on Indigo undertaken by Liz Dobson who is in Manchester will be successful. dye; while I knew of Jenny’s research also Group Leader, Design and Perhaps the best way of encouraging we had never met. Jenny had learnt Heritage, Sustainable Regeneration membership is with associates that thousands of dye samples, Directorate at Salford City Council. who attend our events and being produced by Wardle in Stafford- Previously, Liz ran The Architecture impressed by what the Society does. shire, had turned up in Kolkata. Bookshop, specialising in new, Please bring your friends. She realised that I, as curator of the scarce and out of print books on Wardle exhibitions, just might be architecture and design. It is 150 years since the birth of interested in this news. How right Edgar Wood on 17 May 1860. He she was. I had searched for these The new committee realising the was a remarkable architect and the dye samples for over ten years and complex nature of the secretary’s Middleton Heritage and Conservation given up hope of ever finding them. responsibilities has divided some Group, Link4Life and Rochdale I knew a set had been sent to India of them into more manageable MBC has produced a summer long but thought they would never have tasks. Beryl Patten is responsible programme of exhibitions, talks, survived the extremes of India’s for designing and publishing the guided walks and band concerts. The climate. newsletter and hopes that you enjoy programme with contact details can the change in style and content. Thomas Wardle began research on be found on page 7 of this newsletter. Hilary Poole arranges its distribution India’s wild silks in the 1860s and John Archer is giving the first talk on amongst the membership and Mark Indian dyestuffs in the early 1870s. 13 May at the Long Street Methodist Watson has compiled the programme He swiftly earned a reputation as Church, Middleton. The committee for another year with a rich variety an expert and in 1873 received a would also like to apologise to John of speakers and tours. All of the request from the Secretary of State for wrongly attributing the obituary to Manchester Group committee hope for India. He was asked to examine Edward Livesey on the front page of that you will support as many items India’s dyestuffs and assess their our Spring Newsletter to him. It was, on the programme as you can. They suitability for dyeing wild silks. Wardle in fact, written by Steve Roman. are entirely self-financing. agreed on condition that he would only study indigenous dyes and not Following the lead from our Chair, The change of venue for our talks to aniline dyes, which were increasingly David Harwood we would like to the YHA at Castlefield has been a hit used in the sub-continent. He was encourage members to become more with most of our regular attendees concerned, as was William Morris involved in the Society. This could but there have been some problems and many others, that India’s mean suggesting visits or speakers serving hot drinks due to the physical dyeing expertise was in danger for our future programme. We are layout of the building. We therefore of vanishing. Subsequently vast also hoping to develop cooperation wish to ask members to arrive earlier quantities of dyestuffs were shipped with other society’s events and than usual to buy their drinks at the to Leek, where Wardle had his dye listing them in future newsletters and café downstairs. No tea or coffee works. Over a period of eight years, programmes. will be served at the entrance to the with one assistant, he analytically upstairs room. This will also enable examined more than 181 different Articles or book reviews about an easier flow of people to pass the dyes and mordants; each was tested relevant subjects could also be reception table and into the lecture on different cloth samples. While submitted for possible inclusion in room. the newsletter. We have a regular this huge project was on-going display at our talks and we would be Contact details: Morris worked in collaboration with delighted to have member contribu- Wardle to produce his first fourteen [email protected] tions, such as photographs or printed textiles. Wardle also supplied drawings of buildings or events. We Victorian Society A. L. Liberty with vast amounts of are also happy to include appropriate Manchester Group dyed and printed textiles. It was an press cuttings or advance flyers of c/o Portico Library astonishing time. relevant events. Deadline for the next 57 Mosley Street Wardle produced 3,500 dye samples, issue in September will be 23 August Manchester M2 3HY mounted onto 360 sheets. Three 2010 and should be sent in the first Diana Terry April 2010 duplicate sets were produced; instance to Diana Terry, newsletter one was sent to India. I never editor. WARDLE CENTENARY UPDATE succeeded in finding any trace of The membership subscription goes Thomas Wardle’s dye samples these remarkable specimens and entirely to fund casework at Head found in India. never knew what they looked like. Office. This means that all our The centenary of Thomas Wardle’s In February this year I was able to activities have to be self funded death was celebrated in 2009 with view them in Kolkata, where they and we would like to promote the four exhibitions and a book. In were discovered along with other 2 interesting documents. It was a revelation. Each of the 14 volumes is huge; approximately 90 cm by 38 cm hard-bound in dark green covers. Each textile specimen, roughly the size of a post card, is carefully mounted; there are also examples of dyed yarns. The samples are annotated indicating the dyestuff used along with other brief notes. The authorities in India are taking this find very seriously indeed. Already there has been a well-attended symposium, and funding has been released for conservation and digitalization of the samples. They are seen as a valuable resource for those 84 Plymouth Grove in the Early Twentieth Century.