Our programme of events for the year came to an end with our ever popular Blenheim Lecture last month. Sir Anthony Seldon showed how a gifted teacher can enliven an important but potentially rather dry theme. He argued that the most effective incumbents at No 10 Downing Street have been those who used the Civil Service and the Cabinet system rather than seeking to bypass them. To prove it he engaged us in an extended general knowledge quiz about the UK’s political history over the last century (and teased us as a bunch of diehard Corbynistas!).

We have already started to plan our programme for 2017. There will be an option to book all our events online. Some newsletters will be continue to be via email only, but there will still be the traditional two hard copy newsletters a year sent in early March and early June with paper booking forms for our events. Incidentally the Annual Review which will come with the June newsletter will probably feature ornamental stonework. Please send me good quality pictures of your favourite Oxfordshire gargoyles and corbels.

If your church is considering works which are more than just routine repairs, please tell those concerned to save Saturday 18 March 2017 for an enjoyable day of shared learning on how to realise a church project. We will meet amidst the recently restored splendour of St Mary’s Chalgrove.  Ticketing and other details will be on the website in the New Year. This event is not exclusive to members; indeed we are organising this in partnership with the DAC, and colleagues from Buckinghamshire and Berkshire will be encouraged to attend. So keep a beady eye on the website; places will be limited.

Another date for your diary is Saturday 24 June when Sarah Brown will be giving us a seminar in Balliol in the morning followed by lunch and a study tour of some the Oxford stained glass on which she has worked. Sarah is the Director of the York Glaziers Trust and one of the world’s leading experts on stained glass conservation. You will recall that she wrote an article for our last Annual Review. This had to be abridged but the full article is available here