Autumn Newsletter 2009

 

The first summer year in the reopened house has been most successful for the Friends in so many ways, not least the programme of monthly Thursday concerts – which recommences on October 22nd – See the programme on the back page.  Our achievements are listed below – but please pay attention to the new challenges surrounding the Stable Block and Swiss Wing, reported on our inner pages.

 

A C H I E V E M E N T S:

 

We are now four months into our 12-month project and whilst there remain many of the targets promised to HLF still to hit, we can report substantial progress to date:-

Welcomers on Duty: We have recruited and trained an enthusiastic band of Welcomer/ Guides who have already escorted 15 Heritage Tour Groups around the Court over the course of the three Summer Open Days, which accompanied the Sunday Picnics.    These received very complimentary feedback from all the visitors.  From October these guides will be “on duty “at the Court 2-4pm most weekday afternoons to show casual visitors around and tell the story of the house. 

Information: We have started to develop information leaflets and can offer publications, DVD presentations and ‘walk and talk’ tours around the Court. Why not come along bring some friends, learn more about the heritage of this    very special asset and enjoy a nice freshly made cup of tea in the pantry or the  Mary Ann Lounge?    

Limits to access: The Court is a busy and functioning community centre and we cannot guarantee access to all rooms unless formal pre-booking has been arranged.

Schools: Lucy Williams our Development Officer is now busy engaging with the local schools to develop this important facet of the project. Llandaff City youngsters have already visited once in the summer and the Cathedral school are planning a visit in October.

Victorian Tea: As added interest for visitors we are planning to make a DVD of a Victorian Tea at the Court, in full costume of course. Have you got skills or media experience, which could help our small project team in this new venture? If so please contact Yvonne Apsitis yvonneapsitis@btinternet.com

 

 We only have the services of our Development Officer for 12 months – after which we need to be self-sufficient in the heritage services we provide – so while we can be satisfied with progress so far, we have no room for complacency.  There is much to do.

 

We have mounted a programme of guided walks on the third Wednesday of each month from April to December.  These have at last featured The Court on a City-wide Council brochure and attracted a total of 104 people so far - with the October, November and December walks yet to come.  Those taking part have come from all corners of the City to enjoy what we have to offer and give them a taste of the beauty and history of Llandaff. 

Thanks to John Isaacs for his leadership of this project – which we have been asked to repeat next year”.  The stimulus of preparing leaders for the walks has led us to produce a handy A5 Heritage Pamphlet entitled “A Walk Around Llandaff from Insole Court”  which people can buy from us for 75p and follow the walk themselves if they so wish.

 

OUR 50+ GROUP   -  ON WEDNESDAY MORNINGS at 10.00 am

This has been hugely stimulating, not only as a friendly social gathering but also as a source of inspiration for those wanting to delve into the life and times of The Insoles.  

The autumn programme is printed below - all are welcome. – Admission just £1.00 

23 Sept  10.00am	Rosemary Scadden          – ‘I was Sir Harry Secombe’s Stand-in!’
30 Sept  10.00am	Cymmer Colliery Disaster 1839 – Inquest re-enactment
7 Oct   10.00am	Pat Aithie                         –       ‘From Tiger Bay to Steamer Point’
14 Oct   10.00am	Dr. Glenn Jordan             –         ‘Butetown History & Arts Centre’
21 Oct    10.00am	Dennis Morgan                  –              ‘Cardiff since 1800 to Present’
28 Oct    10.00am	Visit of Insole family members from East Anglia:
4 Nov  10.00am	Vanessa Cunningham – ‘The Insole family’ Beginning to fill the gaps
11 Nov   11.00am	Armistice Service – on the Cathedral Green with Llandaff Society
18 Nov 10.00am	Elaine Davey             –                        ‘Saving Ruppera Castle’
25 Nov 10.00am	Richard Berry & Gilly Adams   –   Gathering & telling people’s stories
2 Dec   10.00am	Friends, Christmas Bring and Buy Sale
9 Dec   10.00am	Charlotte Hodgeson – The Treasures of Glamorgan Record Office
16 Dec time TBA	50+ Christmas Lunch                     Venue under discussion.

These picnics remain a delightful focus for the community at the height of the holiday season.  They bring us music and professional storytellers which would not otherwise be provided within the Council’s programme.  We did receive grant support from Cardiff Council (which just covered the cost of the indemnity insurance they required) and from Academi (50% of the Storytellers), but we would not have been able to book the bands without the substantial sponsorship we received from the following Llandaff traders:

Please thank them if you get the chance.

 

A very successful and enjoyable “Gardeners’ Question Time” was held in the spring and this gave birth to the thought that a worthwhile project would be the restoration of the kitchen garden situated to the east of the house.  A meeting was held in July, attended by 14 residents and Peter Hamlyn, the local authority officer responsible for Parks and Gardens in this area of Cardiff.

The first tentative steps have been taken and the vague outline of a plan drawn up.  At present the intention is to create a hybrid creature, part community garden and part allotments.  The first step is to organise the felling of more of the self-sown sycamores and then a general tidy of the area.  The Friends are grateful for a £1,300 grant from Voluntary Action Cardiff for the purchase of tools which have been purchased from “Tools for Self-Reliance Cymru” – a charity which recycles tools mainly for the benefit of African farmers.      

At the time of writing we await confirmation of a date from Peter when we can get our hands dirty and in partnership with the Council start to bring some order to what is at present a bit of an unsightly mess.

Once a date is fixed, probably a Saturday morning before Christmas, we shall be calling for volunteers to lend a hand.

 

N E W   C H A L L E N G E S

 

We reported in the Spring our delight that funds were available to restore the ground floor of the Swiss Wing – and we also stressed the need for vigilance to ensure that its heritage assets were not sacrificed in the rush to install more toilets.   These assets are: The Butler’s (or Housekeeper’s) pantry, with its secure silver store, safe, Belfast sink, with  original cupboards and tiled floor, and the room in the ‘Octagonal Tower’ (where we used to house our library).  From the 1870s gothic transformation until the Edwardian makeover in 1905-10, this passage constituted the mainspring service centre of the house. 

Just as our appreciation of these heritage assets was coming into focus, we saw the detailed plans which revealed that the assets would be fatally compromised.   We have made alternative proposals for the location of toilets that could preserve this historic Servants’ Passage as an entity and we have made the strongest possible representations that these be adopted.  We await the council’s response.

 

We were hugely delighted when, following the lead we gave in the Public Consultation, the Council reversed its intention to sell off the Grade II Listed Stable-Block for housing, and undertook instead to investigate ways of keeping it in public ownership for the heritage and economic benefit of the whole site.

However, as we write, we learn of a new challenge as neighbours in Hardwicke Court, justifiably fearful of further arson attacks and the spread of vermin from this long-neglected structure, are appealing to the Council to have it demolished.

Whilst we understand the anxieties of the neighbours, we believe this only goes to underline the need for the Council to take the most urgent action possible both to make the structure safe and to accelerate the search for a viable future for it that was argued for so convincingly in the Public consultation.

 

          Amidst all our other cares, the wretched state of the stone balustrade to the south of the sunken lawns has taken a back seat in recent times, but we must not forget it.   Many of you will remember that it was smashed when a limb of the great Cedar fell on it in the storms of 2004.   Unaccountably it was – we were told – uninsured, and the Herras fencing around it has been a protective eyesore now for five years.

We shall continue to place this on the agenda of all our future discussions with the Council

 

 

MEMBERSHIP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . We’re still recruiting.  You can help.

Please remember that a strong and growing membership is still important to us to demonstrate the community’s determination that this precious asset be kept up properly.   If each of our more than 600 members introduced a friend, we would double our membership ! And it only costs £3 a year.  Membership can be bought in 1, 3 or 5 year batches – or life membership costs a mere £30.

You can even give membership as a gift.  Ask us and we’ll gift-wrap it!

 

Please ask potential new members to email friendsmembsec@insolecourt.org.uk or phone Alun Salisbury on 02920 566083