LANCASTER CIVIC SOCIETY
NEWSLETTER
No. 91 May 2008
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Dates for your Diary
Until 30th May
Art of Japan exhibition
Peter Scott Gallery, Lancaster University
(see page 2 for more details).
Third Sunday in the month
until September
Cemetery Walks led by Roger Frankland
(see the bottom of this page for details).
Saturday 7th June, 1pm
Tour of Brian Hodgson’s exhibition:
Seeing and perceiving: the line and curve in architecture
Meet at 1pm in the foyer of Lancaster University’s Chaplaincy Centre.
Wednesday 18th June, 7.30pm
Annual General Meeting, at
St John’s Church, North Road
(see note opposite).
Wednesday 25th June, 7pm
Evening Walk in the Thurnham area.
Meet at 7pm outside Thurnham Church
(see page 2 for more details).
Saturday 12th July
Visit to Hellifield Peel
(booking form enclosed).
Saturday & Sunday
13-14 September
Heritage Open Days
(see page 2 for more information ).
Annual General Meeting,
18th June
The speaker at this year’s AGM will be Andrew Dobson, Head of Planning Services at the City Council. He has agreed to update us on developments.
Enclosed with this newsletter is the Notice for the Annual General Meeting (including nomination form) plus the Minutes of the 2007 AGM and the Accounts and Treasurer’s Report for the current year.
The current Committee members are all willing to serve another term, although Jim Johnson, who has undertaken the role of Honorary Treasurer for the past three years, wishes to stand down at the end of the financial year (April 2009). We will therefore be seeking a new Treasurer. We hope that a volunteer will come forward who could work in tandem with Jim towards the end of the financial year, before taking over in April 2009. Anyone wishing to know more about the duties of Treasurer can contact Jim (tel. 01524 63689 or email him at ) for more details.
Cemetery Tours
On the third Sunday of each month during the summer, Roger Frankland provides guided tours of the “top” cemetery where there are many interesting memorials. The tours start from the Cemetery Lodge on Quernmore Road at 2pm on 15th June, 20th July, 17th August and 21st September. There is no charge for the tour.
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Report on April Meeting
Elaine Charlton, Manager of Williamson Park, was scheduled to speak to members at the April meeting but unfortunately was unable to do so because of a family bereavement. In her absence an alternative programme was devised comprising a short briefing on Williamson Park by Gordon Clark and an illustrated talk on local pubs by Jenny Greenhalgh. The evening concluded with a quiz featuring pubs and churches. We hope to reschedule Elaine’s talk on “Williamson Park, past present and future” at a future date.
Summer Outing
On Saturday 17th May about 50 members visited Ripon and Markenfield Hall. After a very scenic journey, culminating in a slow crawl into the centre of Ripon (the town suffers from traffic congestion on a par with Lancaster) we were met by members of Ripon Civic Society and given a tour of the cathedral and parts of the town. After lunch we proceeded to Markenfield Hall, a beautifully restored medieval, moated, fortified manor house. We are indebted to Roger Frankland for organising such an interesting day out.
Summer Walk, 25th June, 7pm
This year we are visiting Thurnham Church where John Regan will give us a tour and tell us of its history. We will then drive to the farm adjacent to Cockersands Abbey. English Heritage is about to begin restoration work on the Abbey so a tour of the building is not possible. However Robert Parkinson will show us round the vicinity and give us a talk on the history of the area.
Please meet at 7pm outside Thurnham Church. To find the church, follow the signs for Thurnham Hall then fork right and follow the lane to the church. Any queries please contact Anne Stelfox (01524 823299 or email ).
Catch it if you can:
Art of Japan exhibition at the Peter Scott Gallery, Lancaster University.
Prints and paintings on loan from Blackburn Museum and Art Gallery plus material from the Peter Scott Gallery Trust Collection.
Runs until 30 May, Monday-Friday 11am-4pm (9pm Thursdays). Free admission.
Seeing and Perceiving: the line and curve in architecture
Brain Hodgson’s exhibition will run in the lounge of the Chaplaincy Centre, Lancaster University until 21st June. The Centre is open throughout the day and evening, seven days per week. Brian will provide a guided tour for Civic Society members on 7th June, starting 1pm. Please meet in the main foyer area of the Chaplaincy Centre.
Heritage Open Days, 13-14 September
The buildings the Society will open for Heritage Days are still under negotiation. Details will appear on the Society’s website (www.lancastercivicsociety.org) as soon as these are available , or phone Roger Frankland (63537) or Winnie Clark (33411) nearer the time. Full details of all local buildings open for Heritage Days will also be available nearer the time, in the local press and from the Tourist Information Office, Castle Hill.
Ruth Winterbottom
We were very saddened to learn of the death from cancer, of Ruth Winterbottom.
Mrs Winterbottom was High Sheriff of Lancashire from April 2007 and was very supportive at the 2007 Heritage Days. She visited both the buildings opened by the Society and unveiled the plaque to Paley and Austin at Castle Park. We offer our sincere sympathy to her family.
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Planning Matters
The Society recently submitted the following comments to the Council’s Planning Department.
Application No. 08/00421/FUL
Grand Theatre, St Leonard’s Gate, Lancaster
Proposed two-storey side extension to provide additional foyer accommodation
The Civic Society considers the proposed side extension to be a well designed scheme that will complement the listed Grand Theatre. The suitably restrained scheme has been carefully designed and will not only be a successful and much needed extension to the theatre but also, together with the planned adjoining open space, a sensitive addition to the streetscape of St Leonard’s Gate. The architects of the scheme are commended for their considered and complementary design.
Application No. 08/00427/CU
54 Church Street, Lancaster
This application is for an amendment to planning permission 07/01510/FUL and does not propose any change to the external appearance of the building already permitted [and on which we submitted comments]. The Civic Society therefore has no further comment to make on the proposed development’s effect on the townscape of Lancaster.
The proposal has been accepted by the Council as a proposed change of use. The Society would like to point out that permission cannot be granted for the change of use of a building that does not yet exist.
Centros proposals for the Canal Corridor North site
Centros recently released revised proposals for the Canal Corridor North development following the consultation exercise last summer. There are a number of changes, the most significant of which are: the reduction in the overall height of buildings in sensitive areas; more public space including the re-orientation and enlargement of the central square; more housing; the reduction in size and relocation of the Debenham’s store; more, smaller shops suitable for independent retailers and the possibility of a foodstore and changes in the road layout. The bridge link from St Nicholas Arcade to Stonewell remains (despite opposition from English Heritage) though there
will be more open space around Stonewell. Details of the revised proposals can be viewed on the Castle View website (www.castle-view.info) and there are links to the most relevant documents on the Society’s website.
The application is scheduled to be presented in June and it is likely that it will be discussed at a special Planning Committee in September. We understand that two days are to be devoted to the proposals and that the Planning and Regulatory Committee will meet in Lancaster Town Hall and consider the applications separately from any other business.
When the first application was presented last year, the Society was broadly supportive of the outline scheme though we expressed reservations about the scale and massing of the two detailed applications which were presented at that time. After considering the revised proposals, the Committee’s view remains that, on balance, the development appears to augur well for Lancaster and hopefully will regenerate a currently very neglected part of the town. The devil however will be in the detail and we will scrutinise very carefully all the applications as they are presented. The bridge, with the need to demolish some much-loved buildings on Stonewell, remains a controversial element. However this does seem to be the most viable way to link the existing town centre with the new development and a bridge link would undoubtedly be welcomed by the less mobile members of the community, along with parents with buggies and young children. As we stated earlier, the design of the bridge will be critical.
We encourage all members to study the proposals and post comments on the Society’s website (www.lancastercivicsociety.org). The proposals for this site have proved divisive (as witnessed by letters to the local press) and it is likely that these divisions will be reflected within the Society with some members for and others against the proposals. The website will provide a forum for opinion and of course anyone can submit comments in a personal capacity directly to the Planning Office and speak at the planning meeting should they wish to do so. For details of public speaking at Committees see the council booklet (available in printed form from Palatine Hall or the Town Hall) and on the Council’s website.
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Malcolm Taylor writes:
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Off-site Fabrication
The insert included with the February 2008 Newsletter [on Modern Methods of Construction] attempts to re-awaken interest in prefabrication. One would have expected the construction industry to embrace with enthusiasm any way of avoiding the trauma of building on wet, cold sites with the resulting health and safety risks. It hasn’t happened, and the paper adds nothing new to the arguments for constructing most of a building in nice dry, warm factories. Systems have come and they have gone. Why? The reasons are complex, including the need for long production runs to make economic sense of the process. Lack of political courage usually sees that possibility off. But, I feel that the major reason must be that British society dislikes repetition (although, perversely, it tolerates Tudorbethan houses). However good the design quality of a prefabricated building, it is very difficult to disguise a building system. Government will have to try harder on this one.
However, Lancaster does have an example of prefabrication which seemed to me to be very successful. Several bedrooms were added to the Holiday Inn Hotel on Caton Road. They came complete with all the plumbing, were erected in no time and you have to look hard to see the join. So, perhaps, ground for some optimism?
Malcolm Taylor
28 February 2008
Brian Hodgson writes:
I have recently starting walking on the easily accessible fells in and around the Forest of Bowland. My love of all stone structures caused me to study the dry stone walling, and, while doing this, my attention was drawn by Luke, a local farmer, to a peculiar style of stone walling. Most stone walls are double battered, that is, they lean towards the centre from both sides and they are so constructed that all voids are closed up by smaller stones and ballast; but those on the fells around Tarnbrook are built with a single vertical stack, with little coursing, and voids left to give a network effect. Beams of sunlight can come through the walls giving the effect of many small multicolour shafts of light shining onto the fells. Luke assures me that the walls
have been like this all the time he has lived there. I have taken about 70 digital photographs of the stone walling in the area, both dry and filled. This includes some interesting photographs of the farm buildings and cottages. I would like to know more about the history of this area and nearby Abbeystead, especially about the implied Abbey.
Incidentally, my exhibition, 'Seeing and Perceiving; the Line and Curve in Architecture' is up and running in the Lounge, The Chaplaincy
Centre, Lancaster University, until at least the end of summer term, 21st June, and may stay up longer. All are welcome daytime or evenings and guided talks can be arranged for groups. Please contact me; Brian K Hodgson, on my
private number 01524 542652, or email .
Brian Hodgson
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Copy for inclusion in the Newsletter such as letters, items of local interest, book reviews or notices of forthcoming events which would be of interest are always welcomed from members.
Please send any copy to Winnie Clark, 35 Windsor Avenue, Lancaster LA1 4BE, or email:
This Newsletter is published by Lancaster Civic Society, 35 Windsor Avenue, Lancaster LA1 4BE
Members are advised that the membership list is held in electronic form in accordance with the Data Protection Act.
Lancaster Civic Society is registered with the Civic Trust and is a Registered Charity No 258434
Website: www.lancastercivicsociety.org
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