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The Building Conservation Directory 2005

The Building Conservation Directory 2005 is now available. (The 2006 edition will be available in August 2006.) The Directory is the only source of information in the UK that is specifically designed to meet the needs of historic buildings. Originally established in 1993 by conservation specialists to address the lack of information on suitable products and services, this 235-page A-Z on building preservation has grown to provide details of well over 1,000 conservation organisations, companies and individual craftsmen. Owners of historic buildings can find everything they need in this single publication, from sources of lime putty and horse hair to sources of information and advice, and from specialist structural engineers and historians to traditional timber frame builders.

This year's Directory features over 20 illustrated articles written by leading experts covering the essentials of conservation:

• Rain Penetration, by Douglas Kent, the technical secretary of the SPAB outlines how to keep your building rain-tight and what to do if it isn't ·
• In Insect Damage to Timber, Brian Ridout a leading entomologist covers one of the consequences of damp, and outlines the best ways to tackle the problem ·
• John Ashurst, one of the principal authorities on stone conservation in the UK presents an article on the conservation of flint with Gerry Williams, a specialist flint mason at West Dean College ·
• Protection in Brief by Jonathan Taylor, the Directory's editor summarises what listed buildings and conservation areas are, the permissions needed and how to get them ·

Other articles look at VAT, grants, decorative plasterwork, wrought iron work and the dangers posed by old cast iron beams.

The Directory is praised by Bonnie Burnham, president of the New York-based World Monuments Fund, in her foreword: "The resources listed in the Directory have proved invaluable to WMF in managing its many projects throughout the UK. We salute The Building Conservation Directory for making accessible a network of professionals who can execute work that future generations can admire."

To order the Directory or other Cathedral publication