IHBC’s members’ journal Context from June 2025 – No. 184 – focussed on ‘Leaders of conservation thought’, and featured in our Vox Pop Mike Brown, Immediate Past President (IPP) of the IHBC.
Vox Pop writes:
Who has been your greatest inspiration?
Jerry Garcia. As recognised by Eric Clapton, he was by far the most melodic and imaginative electric guitarist of his time. Not bad for someone who began as a banjo player.
What has been your best idea?
Never worrying about what my best idea was! What would you like to have been if you had not become a conservationist? Rich. How do you reply at a party when someone asks what you do? ‘I fix listed buildings’. Only if there is a follow-up question do I provide more details: it’s a party – don’t be boring!
What is the biggest frustration in your job?
Progress on projects can seem very slow. Once strategies are agreed it is important to maintain momentum if focus and morale are not to drift. Plan. Write a Gantt chart.
What would you like to be doing in five years’ time?
Contemplating what I would like to be doing in five years’ time. I’m currently open to offers! What is your favourite building? The Taj Mahal, which I visited for the first time in January. It was at dawn, shrouded in mist which the sun gradually burnt off as it emerged into a clear blue sky…
…
Which one issue would you particularly like the IHBC to campaign on?
The IHBC is not really a campaigning organisation, But I continue to be exercised by the gap between public sentiment about what our members do for society… and the reality, for many, of poor pay, high workloads and diminishing capacity. Time to change the system!
See HERE for the full Vox Pop in Context 184
Context 184: CONTENTS
Themed Articles
- Editorial: Making sense of it all
- Inclusive, values-based conservation to 2008, Kate Clark
- John Ashurst: practitioner, writer and educator, Chris Wood
- SAVE at 50: celebrating half a century of campaigning Eve Blain
- Lord Kennet: making government work, Rebecca Madgin
- Discovering Jane Jacobs, Joe Holyoak
- Nineteenth-century conservation, thinking from Ruskin onwards, Duncan McCallum
Feature Articles
- Replacing Brighton Museum’s roof lantern, Edward Lewis and Olivia Stitson
- The world of generative AI, Sammy Woodford
- Old buildings and oligarchs, Ian Wray
Regular & Occasional features
- Briefing
- Letter
- Periodically, Bob Kindred MBE
- Out of Context
- The writer’s voice
- Law and policy update, Alexandra Fairclough
- Inter alia, James Caird
- Vox pop
- Reviews, Peter de Figueiredo, Reviews Editor,
IHBC Updates
- Notes from the Chair
- Director’s Cut
- New member profile
- New members
Commercial
- Products and services
- Specialist suppliers index
Reading Context helps IHBC members develop their skills across all of the IHBC’s Areas of Competence, and so is a critical baseline in addressing priorities in Continuing Professional Development (CPD)
Access the online archive and see the issue online
See more IHBC background and guidance on IHBC CPD and on how you might use past, current and future issues of Context
See the formal guidance paper on IHBC CPD (scheduled for update)
See more on the IHBC Competences and Areas of Competence
