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The Hall of Destruction at the V&A's seminal Destruction of the Country House exhibition, 1974
SAVE Britain’s Heritage at 50 - three conversations with pioneers in conservation
Tickets from
£45
27th May 2025
This year the conservation campaign group SAVE Britain’s Heritage celebrates its 50th anniversary. Ever since it was set up at the height of the 1970s, SAVE has been a fearless, untiring champion of endangered historic buildings. In celebration, Martin Randall Travel has arranged this series in partnership with SAVE and will be sharing proceeds with the charity.
Established by a group of journalists, planners and architectural historians, SAVE fights to save properties which are threatened with imminent demolition, collapse or simply left callously to fall into irreversible decay in the hope of obtaining a lucrative planning permission.
Its determination and persistence has led to the successful rescue of mighty Wentworth Woodhouse in South Yorkshire, one of the finest and grandest Palladian houses in England, as well as a reprieve for 400 terraced houses in Liverpool condemned to demolition but now repaired as family homes thanks to a hard fought public inquiry which it won.
The three ‘in conversation’ illustrated talks are led by SAVE’s director Henrietta Billings and will focus on Marcus Binney, SAVE’s founder and president and five ‘Big SAVES’ that define the organisation’s history; writer and commentator Simon Jenkins on the seminal 1974 ‘Destruction of the Country House Exhibition’ at the V&A, and the early days of SAVE; and Emma Bridgewater founder of the world renowned ceramic company and brand on the adventures of bringing the potteries back to life in 1980s Stoke on Trent.
They take place every Tuesday from 27th May to 10th June 2025 at 4.30pm (London) and, including Q&A, will last just under an hour. They are available for viewing for eight weeks after the last episode is streamed (5th August 2025).
Talks
The landmark 1974 V&A exhibition, ‘The Destruction of the County House’ sent shockwaves through Britain and sparked the creation of SAVE Britain’s Heritage. Join Henrietta Billings as she talks to writer and broadcaster Simon Jenkins about its lasting impact, the 1970s conservation movement and the early days of SAVE, and how this nascent conservation action group of journalists, planners and architectural historians grabbed the attention of the British media establishment.
SAVE has built a formidable reputation as an independent charity that punches far above its weight, ready to fight its cases at public inquiries, and bring together architects, engineers, planners investors to offer alternative proposals. In this talk, Henrietta Billings, director of SAVE talks to Marcus Binney the founder and president who picks his top Big SAVEs over the last 50 years involving the rescue and adaptation of great buildings into beautiful homes – from grand country houses and terraced homes to converted mills.
By the age of 23, Emma Bridgewater was a fearless entrepreneur – embarking on a vision to reinvigorate Staffordshire’s pottery industry and to bring an old Victorian factory back to life. This illustrated talk ‘in conversation’ with SAVE’s director Henrietta Billings will discover why Emma Bridgewater chose Stoke-on-Trent as the home of her now world famous pottery business, the adventures of re-building a traditional industry in a 1980s post-industrial city, and how she used a traditional craft to build a hugely successful ‘heritage brand’.
Expert speakers
Ms Henrietta Billings
Henrietta Billings has been director of SAVE since 2016 where she leads on major campaigns such as M&S Oxford Street, Anglia Square in Norwich and the historic Grimsby Docks. A chartered town planner with a background in journalism, she worked previously for Twentieth Century Society and for a national planning consultancy.
More tours led by Ms Henrietta Billings
Mr Marcus Binney CBE
Marcus Binney CBE, architectural historian and conservationist. Founder and president of SAVE Britain’s Heritage he has been recognised as one of Europe’s most effective heritage activists. Last year he was honoured with by European heritage body Europa Nostra for his lifetime’s achievement in conservation. He is an author and former editor of Country Life magazine.
More tours led by Mr Marcus Binney CBE
Sir Simon Jenkins
Sir Simon Jenkins, author, commentator, campaigner, was editor of the Evening Standard from 1976 to 1978 and of The Times from 1990 to 1992. Jenkins chaired the National Trust from 2008 to 2014. His books include England's Thousand Best Churches and England's Thousand Best Houses. He currently writes regular columns for The Guardian.
More tours led by Sir Simon Jenkins
Ms Emma Bridgewater
Emma Bridgewater CBE founded her eponymous ceramics company in 1985 specialising in earthenware made using traditional techniques of manufacture and decoration. The company subsequently purchased a former Victorian factory site in Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent and converted the site. Emma is a former President of the Campaign to Protect Rural England and a Patron of the Heritage Crafts Association.
More tours led by Ms Emma Bridgewater
Dates & prices
2025
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