Burgess and Sons have relocated

Burgess and Sons Reclamation have relocated to;
Souldern Gate, Banbury road, Souldern, Bicester, Oxon, OX277HT
New number 01869 346347

just off junction 10 of the M40.

re-thinking the box

Container prefab housing made from old containers is modern and innovative and it's modular design is compact and environmentally friendly.

Companies such as 'ecopods' hand craft these buildings from recycled materials so that you can enjoy the natural environment responsibly without contributing to the construction industry's ongoing wastage of our natural resources. It's a building which adapts with your own individual needs - you can transport it from site to site, add more units as your family or budget expands or re-orientate the units to suite the topography and best views your site has to offer.

Built from recycling steel shipping containers, ecopods are 1280 cubic foot (8x20) steel storage container transformed into a living, working and high end display spaces. The Ecopod is a transformed, designed built, multiple use, eco-friendly, building that promotes the best use of portability, off grid power supply capabilities and low environmental foot print. Powered 'off grid', with an 80 watt solar panel, can also be powered by conventional electrical tie-in. It is an excellent example of the three R’s, Reduce, Reuse and Recycle.





ecopods

Famous baroque church bits come to Salvo Fair 2009

Handmade 19thC Italian marble black and white cabochon floor coming to Salvo Fair 2009


THE Architectural Forum of Islington London will be bringing items from one of Nicholas Hawksmoor's six London churches to this year's Salvo Fair at Knebworth. Jason Davies said, 'We were lucky to have been chosen to dispose of items resulting from the recent refurbishment of St Anne's Church, Limehouse. Among the items we plan to bring this year will be 20sqm of handmade 19thC Italian marble black and white cabochon floor, black marble altar steps, stone flags and six early Georgian six panelled pine doors, probably dating from Hawksmoor's original church.' The church was completed in 1725.
Nicholas Hawksmoor worked on St Pauls cathedral under the tutelage of Sir Christopher Wren.

Jason Davies is a long-established London dealer who has been involved in architectural salvage clearance from a number of London's landmark buildings. These include the Baltic Exchange, Bishopsgate, the largest complete building salvage in London since London Bridge, which was displaced to allow the Gherkin to be built, and which was sold to Estonia.

Architectural Forum website

Chelsea flower show

RHS Chelsea flower show, 19 - 23 May 2009

GARDENS with recycle/reclaim themes
Hot topics are of course reclaim/recycling, eco-friendly and some of the gardens have this theme, such as The Overdrawn Artists Garden which is a light-hearted look at a garden designed and built by Sarah Eberle. Sarah has used her imagination with materials sourced from the local scrap yard where the paving is constructed from steel grids over which she has ‘drawn’ an abstract urban rooftop scene, using gravels, sands and crushed CDs - the free ones from newspapers!


The Ace of Spades is another, using old motorbike parts as supports for the stunning, dark planting scheme using old tyres feature as containers. Alien-like tables and chairs have been formed from bike parts with a unusual backdrop, a wall of old spade heads!

The Key garden, created by the Eden Project working with homeless people and those who have been in prison, and symbolises a journey from darkness into light in which old keys are used as mulch on the paths.

Giles Landscapes garden portrays the lifestyle of a Fenland dweller and has been created using reclaimed, recycled and discarded materials whilst promoting native plants in a domestic landscape.


The central idea to the Future Nature garden is water and its preservation in the changing climate. It incorporates storage of excess rainwater via storm water planters where the planting will tolerate also drier conditions, the use of green roofs to act like a sponge in absorbing rainfall and vertical tower to maximum space and provide shelter using reclaimed building items as homes for insects and wildlife.

Finally, the most unusual of all the gardens has to be the Paradise in Plasticine created by James May with help from the likes of a Teletubbies designer and some of the brains behind Wallace and Gromit.

Whilst many of the gardens use minimum colour, this garden operates at the other end of the spectrum! Like it or not, so much work has been put into it - by schoolchildren who made the daffodils, Chelsea pensioners who, of course, made the poppies, some sunflowers and the cake for the picnic by Jane Asher. The overall scene is highly colourful, if not garish, but also intriguing and attracted a huge amount of attention from the public. The garden will feature in the upcoming BBC Two series, James May’s Toy Stories.



Salvo at Chelsea


Salvo code dealers Architectural Heritage’s stand generated much interest and picture-taking with the striking Horse of the Moon contemporary piece by Nic Fiddian-Green, made from beaten lead over a resin carcass and alluding to the facade from the Parthenon which is now in the British Museum. Whilst early days in the show, Alex Puddy reported lively interest.


Triton UK Limited, Salvo code dealers also, again had a striking marker to their space with the one of the striking gryphons from a recent commission for Castle Oliver in Ireland carved out of Portland Stone. Also launched at the show is the new Commemorative Bench reproduced from 1860’s bench ends from a hotel, recovered from a reclaim yard. The seat uses reclaimed oak beams.


Chi-Africa imports from South Africa recycled metal sculptures from steel factory waste remnants and other reclaimed metal. The butterflies originated as oil drums and some even have the code number stamp as part of the design! The small birds were once fuel cans (the spout is the underbelly!) and have you ever wondered what happens to the centre cut-out when making washers?? An owl of course!

RHS and show waste
The RHS has introduced a new waste disposal policy at the show aiming to achieve a recycling rate of over 80% in its first year. Construction/general/co-mingled recyclable/non-recyclable waste will be removed from site and locally processed and sorted. Non-recyclable waste will be chipped and turned into a fuel for waste to energy.

The RHS encourages the gardens to live on after the shows and some gardens are relocated in their entirety - these include ‘The Marshalls Living Street’ which is to be donated to the Living Streets campaigning charity aiming to improve streetscapes across Britain

Ranelagh School ‘Learning to Grow’ garden will be relocated to the grounds of the school, whilst Birmingham City Council’s ‘Credit Munch’ will sell off perishable plants at the end of the show and remaining plants and materials will be rebuilt at the Horticultural Training Centre in Birmingham.

During the run-up to the show, materials not needed for exhibits were placed in the ‘Materials Swap Shop’ for use by other exhibitors if needed.

During the break-down of the show at the end of this week, the RHS is working with the London Community Recycling Network (LCRN) offering a re-use scheme for unwanted materials from the show. One participant of the scheme is to be the Tutu Peace Garden to be built in Chinbrook Meadows Park, Grove Park, Lewisham, London.

A series of designers at the show have agreed to donate parts of their gardens to be used in the Desmond Tutu Peace Garden which is being created by Chris Beardshaw and involves five schools in the local area along with design students from Hadlow College. Suzannah Clarke lives in the house in Lewisham that Archbishop Desmond Tutu, the South African archbishop who played a major role in the end of apartheid. lived in in the 70s. She has secured funding to commemorate Tutu with a peace garden with plants from the RHS Chelsea Flower Show. Funding has been received from The National Lottery towards its creation in time for the Nobel Peace Prize winner’s return to the area in July.

Show statistics
- It takes 800 people just over 3 weeks to build the show
- It takes 3 weeks to build a show garden
- 10 days to build a small garden - but both come apart in 5 days!
- the Great Pavilion is 12000m sq - the size of two football pitches
In 2008:
- 5564 bottles of champagne were drunk (mmm..)
- 53,680 glasses/1,160 jugs of Pimms were served (lovely!!)
The show recycled
- 12.8 tonnes of glass,
- 17.4 tonnes of plastic bottles/cardboard


Chelsea flower show

Full details of the show gardens and awards

Architectural Heritage

Triton

Where the gardens go after the show

Desmond Tutu garden

Artist Jennifer Marsh's Wrapped Gas Station

New York, USA In this video interview, Jennifer Marsh explains the World Reclamation Art Project's mission to cover this New York gas station at the corner of Nottingham Rd and East Colvin St in order to bring attention to the world's oil dependence.

Jennifer Marsh has received fabric pieces from all over the world for the wrapping. This art installation was unveiled on May 5th and has succeeded in gaining attention and sparking debate over the world's oil dependence.

Sotheby's Garden Sale

Sotheby's Amsterdam, Garden Statuary, 2 June 2009


Above: A carved white marble allegorical group representing the genius of Michelangelo 19th century, 102cm. high, 92cm. wide, 64cm. deep. modelled as a winged putto sculpting the head of Moses, surrounded by pallet and brushes, hammer and chisel, goniometer and angle. Estimate 20,000—30,000 EUR.


Above: Lot 235 A French carved white and vert d'Estour marble group representing Leda and the swan, 150cm. high. Art Nouveau, first quarter 20th century. Estimate 100,000—150,000 EUR.


Above: Lot 229 A carved sandstone bust of Mercury on baluster shaped pedestal, 186cm high overall; the pedestal 116cm high, 43cm wide, 43cm, deep 17th century. Estimate 15,000 – 25,000 EUR.


Above: Lot 199 A set of four terracotta groups of putti representing the Four Seasons, approximately 120cm. high, 90cm. wide, 80cm. deep each, 18th century. Estimate 150,000—250,000 EUR.


Above: Lot 169 An unusual zinc en painted wood birds' house, shaped as a cupola, incorporating a wrought-iron belfry, 580cm. high, 180cm. wide, 180cm. deep. Estimate 7,000—10,000 EUR.


Above: Lot 168 A pair of wrought-iron gates in Rococo Style, 19th Century, 320cm. high, 260cm. wide each. Estimate 10,000—15,000 EUR.


Above: Lot 101 A carved limestone bench on paw shaped supports, 105cm. high, 254cm. wide, 55cm. deep. Estimate 4,000—6,000 EUR.


Above: Lot 11 A carved limestone trough, 72cm. high, 170cm. wide, 88cm. deep. Estimate 4,000—6,000 EUR.

Sotheby's

Repousse demonstation at Salvo 09

Black Dragon Forge are specialists in hand wrought ironwork based in Derbyshire in the North Midlands. Although they have exhibited at Salvo Fair before, this year is the first that Dan and Nicky will be demonstrating some of their skills. There is a small amount of equpiment needed to show how Repousse is carried out, making it ideal for the Salvo Fair field. Repousse is often the most striking feature of ironwork that includes it, and can lend visual weight to a composition with minimal physical weight, as it significantly increases the silhouette.

Black Dragon Forge use only traditional blacksmithing techniques, including fire welding, mortise and tenon joints and riveting and produce contemporary and traditional designs. The bulk of the work consists of architectural ironwork, including gates and railings, as well as the restoration, renovation and replication of historic work. Black Dragon Forge are happy to undertake commissions for hand forged metalwork in either puddled wrought iron or mild steel and offer a full service, from design to installation.



Above: Acanthus leaves are a motif from the classical world. They have been used to decorate ironwork from the 17th century. They are made by cutting and beating out iron or steel sheet, using skills derived from armoury.



Above: The same techniques, known as repousse, can (and were traditionally) also used on copper, to create detailed figures and masks. The most famous are those by Tijou as part of his Hampton Court Palace screens.



Above: These repousse dragon motifs are the main decorative element of a set of gates made for a private client in Surrey.

Black Dragon Forge website

The importance of provenance at Summers Place Auctions

Summers Place Auction, 19 May 2009 Billingshurst

Sale Results: Garden Statuary and Fossil Decoration
Auction at The Walled Garden, Billingshurst, West Sussex
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
GRAND TOTAL: £723,850
LOTS OFFERED: 141
% OF LOTS SOLD: 57%

James Rylands and Rupert van der Werff, commented: “The importance of provenance and rarity were paramount in this sale with the two top lots demonstrating this. The top 10 lots, which were good fresh to the market examples, were all bought by private clients and seven of them being international. This showed the importance of buying solid assets in this current economic climate.”


Above: A wrought and cast iron bridge, 19th century, 277cm.; 109ins long by 156cm.; 59½ ins wide. Estimated Price: £10,000-15,000, Hammer Price: £18000.00, Buyer: Private Europe


Above: The Wrest Park Finials: A pair of extremely rare and fine lead lidded finials attributed to John van Nost, circa 1700. Estimated Price: £30,000-50,000, Hammer Price: £55000.00, Buyer: Private UK


Above: Louis Hottot: A rare zinc figure of ‘The girl on the moon’, late 19th century, 178cm.; 70ins high on square panelled composition stone pedestal 75cm.; 29ins high. Estimated Price: £30,000-50,000, Hammer Price: £30000.00 Buyer: Private US


Above: A rare and monumental Georgian carved Portland stone neo-classical tazza, late 18th/ early 19th century, 106cm.; 42ins high by 230cm.; 91ins to extremities of handles, bowl diameter 200cm.; 79ins. Estimated Price: £15,000-25,000, Hammer Price: £52000.00, Private Middle East.


Above: A pair of painted and parcel gilt cast iron Egyptian figural lamps, French, circa 1860, 115cm.; 45ins high. Estimated Price: £5000-8000, Hammer Price: £21000.00, Buyer: Private Russian


Summers Place Auctions

ReIY: Building Material Reuse Centers for the UK

A conference was held on 12 May, organised by BioRegional, to bring together people interested in helping to create social enterprise building material reuse centres. The UK government are ear marking millions for projects which encourage reuse and have a social element.

Walk past your nearest construction site, and chances are you will see piles of materials that may or may not make it into the final building. As with many industries, the level of waste is often quite staggering.

The notion of Building Material Reuse Centers, is where construction waste is sorted and resold, rather than sent to landfill. The idea started in America but it is now coming to the UK with help from the Bioregional Development Group.

Cara Whelan, ReIY Project Manager at BioRegional said, ”We have found that there’s fantastic support for ReIY Centres. They will save contractors money as it will be cheaper to send waste to a ReIY Centre than taking it to land fill. They will create jobs and what’s also really important is that they will save natural resources – a shocking 13% of construction materials never get used and end up in land fill sites."

Bad storage, over ordering and a lack of organisation means that we are 15 percent worse off than we were seven years ago. Bioregional propose that ReIY centers can divert 5-15 percent of materials from landfill. These centers will not only focus on reducing carbon emissions by reusing materials but they also have social benefits. ReIY centers will create a number of new jobs and it is hoped that government back to work training schemes and NVQ training can be explored as part of the project.

Further information from Cara Whelan at BioRegional
ReIY

Online trading survey

While consumer confidence is gradually improving, overall levels are still too low for the market to reach its full potential. Even for those who do shop using the internet, which were roughly half the people interviewed, 72 per cent say they still have concerns over doing so and 38 per cent are at best only slightly aware of their online consumer rights.

The 2009 figures indicate that despite concerns, there have been some positive changes. Among the people who do shop online 54 per cent feel it is as safe as shopping in store compared to 26 per cent in 2006.

John Fingleton, OFT Chief Executive, said, 'Online retailing is the future for many businesses and increasingly important to the economy. If consumers are not confident online, demand will grow at a slower rate. So, we must tackle these concerns right now if the online market is to grow at its full potential. The OFT looks forward to building on its previous work with both consumers and businesses to help make this happen.'

'It is encouraging that the OFT's survey shows increasing consumer confidence when buying online - but people still have concerns. That's why we will be setting out proposals in our forthcoming consumer White Paper to better protect people from fraudsters and increase their consumer knowledge when shopping on-line.'

OFT survey

Paris Ceramics now has a new owner

Paris Ceramics luxury antique stone and tile flooring dealer has been bought by luxury wall and floor specialist De Ferranti. ‘Of course, I’ll be refining the collection,’ says Alvaro de Ferranti, ‘but without taking away those very classic qualities of product that designers loved from the heyday of Paris Ceramics’. De Ferranti have already moved into the Paris Ceramics showroom at 583 King’s Road, London SW6, 020 7371 7778.


De Ferranti

Paris Ceramics

Love what belongs to you

Young British designer Zoe Murphey, creates imagery inspired by her seaside home town of Margate, and uses it to print on the recycled interior products. Her work was short listed for the BBC New Designer of the Year Award and promotes; 'Loving what belongs to you,' by reusing furniture and textiles in an ethical and up beat fashion, providing an alternative to the 'throw away' fashion.





Zoe Murphy

Push the green message

Letter taken from ATG, 16 May 2009

SIR - I fully agree with the issues raised regarding reuse within the antiques industry, as mentioned in Henry Sandon and Iain Brunt's letter of ATG No 1886.

I feel these points should be continually raised and promoted to increase public awareness to effectively reduce landfill and actively encourage participation in providing a second life for otherwise discarded chattels.

How many times do we hear of a "skip find" or of a worthless item that was being thrown away only to find it has a value. Ecologically, reuse is far more effective than recycling. Reuse provides no extra energy use, no extra production, a reduction of disposal costs and facilities.

As a family company involved in the antiques industry for over 30 years promoting antique and collectable events in the North of England, we estimate that throughout last year our efforts diverted in the region of 700 metric tonnes of goods form the potential waste stream to a sustainable second life.

We introduced a Re-Use-It-Sale to our series of events in 2008. Our event at the Sipton Livestock Auction Mart (reuse it facilities) is introducing both public and trade to the concept of reuse in all its fundamental glory, encouraging the public at large to participate in the buying and selling of antiques and collectables and good secondhand reusable items.

The antiques trade has to move forward and keep pace with changing perceptions, economic downturns and stigma reversal.

I say bring on reuse, it's the future.

Re-Use-It-Sale

Garden Ornament and Furniture at Mallams

Mallams, Oxford, Saturday 16 May, 2009
Garden Ornament and Furniture, Statuary, Architectural Elements, Fire Furniture, Marble and Leadwork


Above: A pair of old carved stone garden statues of putti representing Sculpture and Music, on composite stone rusticated plinth bases, 54" high overall. Sold for £800


Above: An antique lead figure of girl with a scarf, on plinth, 37" high. Sold for £1,350


Above: A pair of terracotta rhubarb forcers of globe form with covers, 18" high. Sold for £130


Above: A pair of Victorian wrought iron rectangular garden benches with horizontal slat tops and turned and hooped supports, 58" long. Sold for £450


Above: An embossed brass planter with metal liner and ring handles, decorated dancing cherubs, 22" wide. Sold for £40


Mallams

The Shambles Museum Sale

Simon Chorley Art & Antiques, Gloucestershire
18th May 2009 to 21st May 2009

Fixtures and fittings from The Shambles, a delightful museum of Victorian life, will be sold by Simon Chorley Art & Antiques on site/in situ at The Shambles, Church Street, Newent, and Gloucestershire in a five-day sale from Monday 18 to Friday 21 May 2009.

The Shambles is set in over an acre, and imaginatively laid out as a small country town of cobbled streets, alleyways, cottages, houses, shops and workshops, all of which are stocked with items of the period. The museum uniquely recreates the feel of Victorian life of the 1890s and everything from the original shop facades and their shelf-stacked interiors to agricultural corn merchants and the Police station manned by its Bobby will be offered in the 4,000 lot sale. Estimates range from £10- £1,000

The Shambles houses one of the largest collections of everyday Victoriana in the country encompassing the 'lived-in' feel of a bygone age.



Above: Lot 1516 A baker's cart painted 'F A Paul, Westam Bakery, Tiverton', fitted cupboard doors over a sprung frame and rubber rimmed wheels. Estimate: £ 200 - 300.



Above: Lot 551 A green enamel sign, Cadbury's Chocolates made at Bournville, 35.5cm x 61cm (14" x 24") and another similar in blue, Bournville Cocoa. Estimate: £ 80 - 120



Above: Lot 1074 Sundry brass lockplates, door handles, keyhole covers, escutcheons and door knockers etc. Estimate: £ 40 - 60


Simon Chorley

Loony Tune

Above: A drinker is bold as brass as he spends a penny - into a tenor horn. The unusual urinals at a pub in Freiburg, south Germany, were put in by landlord Martin Hartman who said, 'Most people see the funny side but we have had a few complaints from musicians.' [photo from London Metro]

Greenhouse From Old Windows

The instructables blog gives a step by step guide of how to make a greenhouse from old disused windows. The size of the greenhouse in the picture is 7ft high x 10ft deep x 6ft wide, but the size of your greenhouse will depend on your windows and the time you want to put into project.


instructables

Protest at the British Museum

Above: Students from Kefalonia stage peaceful protest at the British Museum [photo from The British Committee for the Restitution of the Parthenon Marbles]

British Museum, London

Forty five secondary school students and five teachers from the 2nd General Lyceum in Argostoli (Kefalonia), visited London in order to stage a peaceful protest for the return of the Parthenon Sculptures to Athens at the British Museum on Sunday 03 May 2009.

This protest was supported by Marbles Reunited a British campaigning organisation and Friends of the British Committee for the Reunification of the Parthenon Marbles.

The Parthenon Sculptures were removed from the Parthenon in Athens between 1801-1812. They were subsequently bought by the British Government in 1816 and placed in the British Museum's Duveen Gallery, where they have remained.

The first recorded request for their return was made by Greece in 1833. The British Museum has long argued why these sculptures should remain in London. One such argument was that Greece had nowhere to display the sculptures. However, this argument is no longer valid as the New Acropolis Museum, designed by Swiss architect, Bernard Tschumi will officially open on 20 June 2009. It will hold around 4,000 artefacts and will have an exhibition space of 14,000 square metres.

At present the British Museum's policy remains the same, that the Parthenon Marbles the largest collection of Parthenon sculptures outside of Greece, will remain in London. Greece has however received fragments from Heidelberg, Palermo and the Vatican.


The British Committee for the Restitution of the Parthenon Marbles

Shepton Mallet, Somerset - Morris Country Interiors is run by Mark and Kim Morris, and situated on the site of an imposing Victorian factory building. Inside is a big, bright and airy room full of colour and stuffed to the brim with dressers, plan chests, boxes, bowls, tables and shelves. The room is divided by a wall covered in Mark's own paintings, scenes of old French street also full of colour and life. Through a doorway is the workshop where Mark and Kim add their magical finishing touches to curtain poles, finials, holdbacks, and rings. One part of the business is to provide a bespoke service making up curtain fittings to match any fabric or colour. Mark has a plenty of tales to tell of the many buying trips in England and France they have been on over the years. Morris Interiors have exhibited at the Salvo Fair for many years. Their stand this year is sure to be one of the most colourful as always.

Morris Interiors website





Above: Antique curtain poles of brass and mahogany, 1-2m long, tend to be short as French windows are tall and thin. £30 - £100 each



Left: A dresser made by Mark in the days when they handcrafted reproduction furniture from reclaimed timber with antique fittings. Covered now in antique curtain pulls. £10 each






Left: Another dresser with antique finials £20 - £60 pair.



















Above: Antique French brass curtain rings in sets of all sizes £2-£5 each






Left: Antique French curtain hold backs £50 - £100 a pair. Normally made from turned fruitwood, apple, pear and cherry. Mark thinks its because there are not many knots and not so much grain, and therefore easier to turn.