2015 will be the sixth year that I exhibit at the Listed Property Show at Olympia, run by the Listed Property Owner's Club. It will also be my fifth year giving one of the expert talks at the show. The Show takes place on a weekend around the middle of February every year. Usually it means clashing with Valentine's Day, as it does this year. But if historic buildings are your first love, then there's no dilemma whether to choose a romantic weekend away with your other half or immerse yourself in all things lime mortar, lathe and plaster, timber-framed and listed. Some people combine the two!
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| Professional Advice |
Naturally, the core attendees are owners of our country's protected house, looking for ideas and advise to conserve, repair and maintain their precious properties. There are approximately 374,081 listed uildings in England so you can see there is a vast number of people for whom this show would apply! Of course, there are many people who are not owners and come along just because they are interested in old buildings - or they got lost looking for the National Wedding Show next door, and decided to stay!
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| Decorative Plaster Specialists |
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| Stone Carvers |
The show provides a mixture of professional advice, traditional building crafts demonstrations as well as showcasing new technology and products to benefit a historic home. Past years have included; metal, plaster and timber craftsmen giving demonstrations; societies like The Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings (SPAB), The Georgian Group and English Heritage giving technical advice; as well as conservation architects, interiors specialists and garden designers. This is in addition to the Listed Property Owner's Club itself imparting tax, planning and insurance advice to its members and visitors on the day.
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| Specialist Talks |
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| One-To-One |
At the show I offer free house history research and historic/architectural feature advice on my stand and I find the range and rarity of privately-owned historic buildings presented to me quite amazing. It is obvious these people love their historic homes and are keen to do the best they can for them. It is great to be able to help them turn around from a dead end in their own research, whether it's through a one-to-one with me on the stand or as a result of something I said in my Beginner's Guide talk.
The show gets bigger every year, with more specialists exhibiting and demonstrating and more
owners of listed buildings coming along and gaining first hand information. I find it all great fun and
judging by the faces of those who come along, so do they!
If you would like to come to the show click here for details - > http://lpoc.co.uk/property-show/tickets/
