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We work closely with a number of organizations which either help us to fulfil orders or share common interests and values (see Associates). We have less formal links with a much more numerous body of companies, charities and individuals. These include suppliers, museums and associations listed in The Victorian House Book, for example, and tour guides, tourist information offices, hostels, guest houses and camp-sites recommended in the Wild Guides, along with many bodies connected with the subject matter of other books. Here are a few you might find helpful, grouped in broad categories: Many of the companies we recommend have been trading since Victorian times or earlier, in which case their foundation date is prominently displayed. ACQUISITIONS LTD Acquisitions were founded in 1974, specializing in the restoration of original antique fireplaces. They now offer a complete design-to-installation service and any of their fireplaces can be bespoke-made to customers’ individual requirements. Acquisitions are proud to have been chosen to provide fireplaces at 10 and 11 Downing Street, Buckingham Palace and the White House in Washington. www.acquisitions.co.uk ALBION DESIGN OF CAMBRIDGE Albion Design manufacture cast-iron, mild-steel and timber-treaded spiral staircases and associated stairwell balustrading. They offer a complete service from initial design and survey to installation. Their technical team are on hand to guide customers through the Building Regulations and can assist with computing the geometry for a bespoke spiral staircase. www.albionspirals.co.uk ANNIE SLOAN PAINTS Annie Sloan have more than 40 stockists around the country selling their very special paint, which is good for buildings without damp-proof courses, as it allows the walls to breathe, is good for painting furniture with wax as a finish and is good for achieving a traditional matt finish. The paints are based on historical colours for interiors. www.anniesloan.com ARCHITECTURAL HERITAGE Architectural Heritage, established 35 years, have an international reputation for providing antique and reproduction chimneypieces, wood panelling, summer-houses and garden ornaments including benches, urns, fountains, statues and sundials. They offer a bespoke service to professional and private clients and aim to recreate the very best of 18th- and 19th-century design. www.architectural-heritage.co.uk ARCHITECTURAL AND INDUSTRIAL GRP Architectural and Industrial GRP manufacture architectural mouldings in GRC (glass-reinforced concrete) and GRP (glass-reinforced polyester). Their projects include a reproduction of Alexander Pugin’s tomb for the Victoria and Albert Museum. A. & I. also design, build and install kitchens and bathrooms, which can be custom-built to a client’s personal specifications. www.boschkitchens.co.uk BALLANTINE BO’NESS IRON COMPANY Incorporated 1856, trading since 1820 Ballantine’s are creative iron founders and engineers, both producing original metalwork and restoring and repairing existing metalwork worldwide. Their range of over 250,000 patterns includes fencing, monuments, post boxes, lamp posts, manhole covers and large ornamental structures. www.creativeironworks.co.uk BARBER WILSONS & CO. LTD Established 1898 Barber Wilsons are manufacturers of traditional Victorian-style taps, mixers and thermostatic showers. They also offer a bespoke service, making and supplying fittings to architects’ and designers’ specifications. www.barwil.co.uk BRITANNIA ARCHITECTURAL METALWORK Britannia Architectural Metalwork specialize in the conservation and restoration of cast- and wrought-iron gates, railings, balustrades, newel posts, roof finials, benches and bollards. They have a large collection of Georgian and Victorian cast-iron patterns from which replica castings can be made. They also make cast-iron straight and spiral staircases to ornate Victorian patterns. www.britannia.uk.com BURLINGTON SLATE CO. Incorporated 1843, trading since 16th century Manufacturers of prestigious natural stone, quarried for over 400 years from the heart of the English Lake District, Burlington Slate can meet individual clients’ needs for roofing slate, flooring, cladding, interiors and landscapes. www.burlingtonslate.co.uk CHAPEL HOUSE FIREPLACES Chapel House Fireplaces is a family business established more than 30 years ago. They specialize in the restoration and sale of good-quality antique fireplaces and mantelpieces, of which they have a large stock, and are proud of their reputation for helpful, friendly service. www.chapelhousefireplaces.co.uk COLE AND SON WALLPAPERS LTD Established 1873 Cole and Son own more than 2,000 print designs and drawings. They have provided wallpapers for many historic houses, including Buckingham Palace and the White House. www.cole-and-son.com DANICO BRASS LTD Danico are an independent, family-owned company established in 1979 with three generations of experience in architectural ironmongery, door hardware, electrical accessories, decorative grilles and bathroom fittings. www.danico.co.uk DELABOLE SLATE CO. LTD Incorporated 1841, trading since 17th century Slate from Delabole, Cornwall, has been used as a building material for well over 600 years, and in the mid-19th century approximately 1,000 men were employed at five quarries, raising an average of 120 tonnes of slate per day. In 1841 the five quarries formed themselves into a single unit, the Old Delabole Slate Company, which became the present limited liability company in 1898. Today, by combining modern mining techniques with the skill and experience of the traditional Cornish craftsmen, an average of 120 tonnes of slate block is still quarried each day. www.delaboleslate.co.uk DENNIS RUABON LTD Established 1878 This is the only remaining quarry tile manufacturer in the UK. Most Victorian tiles to be found in historic buildings were manufactured by Dennis Ruabon, which became a limited company in 2001. Maintaining its early traditions, the company still visually inspects every tile before it is packaged. www.dennisruabon.co.uk ELITE SPIRAL STAIRS Elite have been manufacturing and distributing high-quality bespoke spiral staircases for private and commercial customers since 1987. They make each staircase by hand in a range of materials including cast iron, hardwoods and steel. www.elitespiralstairs.co.uk FILEMAN ANTIQUES Established 1890 Fileman Antiques are a well-established, family-run business supplying fine 18th- and 19th-century chandeliers, candelabra, wall lights, table glass, wine glasses and French paperweights. With their many years of experience, they can offer a comprehensive service, to include the restoration of antique lighting. www.filemanantiques.co.uk FLORIAN STUDIOS  A family-run company, Florian Studios produce hand-decorated ceramic wall tiles for kitchens and bathrooms. They have a standard range in a wide variety of designs, including illustrations from Alice in Wonderland and The Owl and the Pussy Cat. Plain glazed tiles are also available. The pictorial tiles can be made into table mats, cheeseboards and clocks. Florian Studios will also create designs to a customer’s individual requirements. www.floriantiles.co.uk FRITZ FRYER ANTIQUE LIGHTING Fritz Fryer Antique Lighting offer a specialist lighting service, including chandelier restoration, sale and repair of antique light fittings and lighting consultancy. As well as supplying fittings to private houses, Fritz Fryer have worked on many prestigious public projects, including work for museums, The National Trust and listed municipal buildings. www.fritzfryer.co.uk GBS JOINERY Based in Cheshire, GBS Joinery offer a bespoke service, making replica Georgian and Victorian timber windows and doors for residential and commercial properties. GBS Joinery can give advice on listed buildings, and have supplied windows and doors for National Trust properties and homes in conservation areas. All the company’s products are made using sustainably-sourced timber. www.gbsjoinery.co.uk HADDONSTONE LTD  Haddonstone is the leading manufacturer of cast-stone building materials and garden ornaments in both Britain and the United States. They specialize in custom-made designs for restoration projects, yet also make products to standard designs, including planters, fountains, statues, balustrading, porticos, window surrounds and fireplaces. All Haddonstone’s designs are hand-made using moulds created within the company’s studios.www.haddonstone.com HAMILTON WESTON WALLPAPERS LTD Hamilton Weston, with an archive of designs dating back to 1690, specialize in the recreation of historic wallpapers for the renovation of Georgian, Victorian and Edwardian properties. They can reproduce a building’s original wallpaper or customize their archive designs in colours to suit individual projects. They provide wallpapers not only for country houses and family homes but also corporate buildings and film sets. http://hamiltonweston.com HERITAGE TILE CONSERVATION LTD  Heritage Tile Conservation specialize in the restoration of pictorial tile panels, geometric, encaustic and mosaic pavements and wall mosaic, tiling and faience façades. Working in situ or at their well-equipped workshop, they can clean and restore architectural ceramics and either mount and frame them for display or reinstate them. They can supply replacements to match the originals. www.heritagetile.co.uk E. A. HIGGINSON & CO. LTD  Higginson specialize in the manufacture of curved, open-riser and cut- and closed-string timber staircases with wood or glass balustrades. They make staircases to order, combining the latest technology with traditional skills to create designs that complement a building yet incorporate the customer’s individual ideas. In conversions an existing stair can be copied, for example for access to a basement or loft. www.higginson.co.uk HSP GARDEN BUILDINGS HSP Garden Buildings design, manufacture and install arbours, stores, gazebos and summerhouses. They offer customers a choice of colours and roof styles within the standard range, and can also provide a bespoke service. All their buildings are produced at their Suffolk workshops, combining modern technology with traditional construction methods. www.hspgardenbuildings.com JUNCKERS LTD Junckers is Europe’s leading producer of solid, pre-finished hardwood floors. Since its foundation in Denmark in 1930, it has supplied over 100 million square metres of flooring for both private houses and public buildings, including art galleries, museums and concert halls. Junckers has a rich and varied range of timbers available, which now includes parquet. www.junckers.co.uk KERSHAWS DOORS LTD Based in Yorkshire but delivering throughout the UK, Kershaws Doors sell exterior and interior timber doors. Their standard range includes doors in traditional styles. They will provide bespoke internal and external doors where needed. They also stock door hardware and accessories such as knobs, handles, locks, escutcheons, letter plates, numbers and coat hooks. www.doorwarehouse.co.uk LICHEN GARDEN ANTIQUES  Lichen Garden Antiques specialize in garden antiques and decorative garden ornaments, including urns and planters, staddle stones, stone troughs, benches and statues. They also sell a range of architectural antiques, including gates and fountains, and paving, including cobble setts and reclaimed York flagstones. Their clients include private buyers as well as landscape designers and they export worldwide.www.lichengardenantiques.com LONDON ARCHITECTURAL SALVAGE AND SUPPLY CO. LTD Lassco is England’s prime resource for architectural antiques, salvage and curiosities. www.lassco.co.uk THE LONDON STAINED GLASS COMPANY  The London Stained Glass Company prides itself on providing the very best in commissioned stained glass, combining contemporary design and technology with traditional techniques and materials. They create designs to suit their clients’ individual tastes and will restore and repair old and damaged stained glass panels.www.londonstainedglass.co.uk THE LUMEN ROOFLIGHT Established 1893 Lumen has a history of working with metal that dates back to 1893. During both world wars it was contracted to manufacture goods for the War Department. Today, the Lumen Rooflight has been specially made to replicate a traditional Victorian design. www.lumenrooflight.co.uk MALVERN STUDIOS  Malvern Studios sell antique and reproduction furniture and lighting from their shop in Worcestershire. Their stock includes dining tables, desks, bookcases, sideboards, lamps and lampshades. They offer a colour matching service to ensure that their reproduction items blend in with a customer’s existing pieces. They will also restore and repair antique furniture. www.malvernstudios.co.uk MAW & CO. LTD Established 1850 Maw & Co. began producing ceramic floor and wall tiles in 1850. By the 1880s, the company had become the world's largest producer of ceramic tiles, supplying in excess of 20 million pieces per year. Today it manufactures encaustic and geometric tiles, re-supplying many of the buildings it originally fitted, and produces faithful replicas of tiles manufactured by others during the Victorian era. www.mawandco.com MR JONES A soft furnishing company based in a beautiful Muswell Hill studio, Mr Jones specializes in bespoke curtain making, made-to-measure blinds and traditional upholstery. With an in-depth knowledge built up over more than 25 years, and a showroom containing the largest selection of designer fabrics and wallpapers in North London, they can save clients many frustrating hours of shopping around. www.mrjones1.co.uk NOSTALGIA UK  Nostalgia was formed 35 years ago and specializes in the supply of high-quality antique fireplaces in marble, stone, cast iron, slate and wood. They stock over 2,500 reclaimed fireplaces and accessories dating from 1580 to 1920, and deliver nationwide.www.nostalgia-uk.com OLD FASHIONED BATHROOMS LTD Old Fashioned Bathrooms Ltd specialize in antique, reproduction and bespoke period bathroom ware and fittings. www.oldfashionedbathrooms.co.uk ORIGINAL ARCHITECTURAL ANTIQUES Based in the Cotswolds, The Original Architectural Antiques Co. Ltd has been trading for more than 25 years, supplying high-quality reclaimed, steady-state and finished oak beams, antique oak doors, new and old oak flooring as well as fine limestone troughs, pond surrounds and planters. www.originaluk.com ORIGINAL FEATURES Original Features specialize in supplying products and services for the restoration and enhancement of period properties, especially Victorian. Founded more than 15 years ago, they are the largest outlet in the UK for geometric and encaustic Victorian floor tiles, and also stock original and reproduction fireplaces and accessories from the 19th and early-20th centuries. www.originalfeatures.co.uk J. H. PORTER & SON LTD Established in 1920, J. H. Porter & Son manufacture, restore, reproduce and repair iron gates, railings, balustrades, grilles, staircases, balconies and furniture. They have an extensive collection of drawings, photographs and patterns to assist with project design. They generally work within the London area. www.jhporter.co.uk J. PREEDY AND SONS LTD Preedy Glass is a family-owned business established in 1913. Preedy Glass has gained a reputation for specializing in antique mirrors and etched glass panels that complement period homes, from small one-off pieces to large contracts. www.preedyglass.com RYE TILES LTD Established 1869 Rye Tiles are hand-painted using the traditional Delft technique. These tiles are not pastiche copies of Dutch tiles but instead have their own distinctive individual flower, bug or fruit designs using a wide palette of gentle colours. Colour matching to fabrics and wallpapers is a particular speciality. Rye Tiles are painted to order only. www.ryepottery.co.uk A. SANDERSON & SON Established 1860 The company owns an unmatched archive of historic fabric documents and wallpapers including original wooden wallpaper printing blocks for some 600 designs. It is still able to print, by hand, papers dating from c. 1860, including many by William Morris, Walter Crane and C. F. A. Voysey. www.sanderson-uk.com SIMPLY MOULDINGS Simply Mouldings manufacture decorative plasterwork including cornices, corbels, ceiling roses, arches, columns and dado rails. They can recreate plain or elaborate mouldings to match existing plasterwork. Their in-house craftsmen will fit mouldings into a room. They hold large stocks of all their mouldings for collection or delivery. Smaller items can be sent by courier for next-day delivery. www.simplymouldings.co.uk SIMPLY RADIATORS Simply Radiators sell and deliver radiators in a variety of styles, including a range of reproduction cast-iron Victorian and Edwardian models intended to complement a period property. They also stock traditional bathroom radiators in tubular brass and offer a bespoke towel rail service. www.simplyradiators.co.uk W. SITCH & CO. LTD Established 1776 Working in the trade since 1776, the Sitch family moved to their current premises in the 1870s from where they continue to specialize in the renovation and reproduction of antique lighting, be it the repair, rewiring or renovation of your own light fitting, or offering you one from their selection of thousands of antiques or one of their reproductions which are made on site following traditional techniques. www.wsitch.co.uk STEVE SHERRIFF STAINED AND LEADED GLASS. This family-run company founded in 1994 specializes in providing window solutions sympathetic to each building. They design, manufacture and repair leaded lights, stained glass and windows fitted into wood, stone or metal. They will restore metal frames or make new frames to match originals. They offer bespoke secondary glazing that is virtually invisible and often exceeds the thermal requirements of Part L of the Building Regulations. www.lead-windows.co.uk THOMAS CRAPPER AND CO. LTD Established 1861  Thomas Crapper and Co. Ltd was established in 1861. Today it produces exact, hand-made replicas of the firm’s products from the late-Victorian and Edwardian periods. These loos, basins, taps, W. C. seats, etc., are ‘ultra-authentic’ – not the usual ‘vaguely Victorian’ sanitary ware that is generally available – and all are made in Great Britain. www.thomas-crapper.com TURN ON LIGHTING The company stocks antique lighting dating from c.1850 to c. 1950 and counts interior decorators, stylists and museums among its clients. www.camdenpassageislington.co.uk WILLIAM ANELAY LTD Established 1747 William Anelay are one of the UK’s leading and longest-established specialists in the conservation and restoration of historic buildings, operating in the UK, Ireland and overseas. They were chosen as principal contractors for the first phase of restoration works to the Victoria Baths in Manchester, which caught the nation’s attention through being the first winner of the BBC’s Restoration programme. www.williamanelay.co.uk WILSONS ANTIQUES  Established in 1936, Wilsons Antiques specialize in British antique furniture, fine art and home accessories from the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries. Their stock includes furniture in the styles of Chippendale, Sheraton and Hepplewhite. They exhibit in the Summer Antique and Fine Art Fair at Olympia, London, and also at Goodwood House, Sussex, and Wilton House, Wiltshire. They sometimes offer complimentary tickets to these events.www.wilsons-antiques.com WILSON’S YARD CONSERVATION BUILDING PRODUCTS Based in Northern Ireland but supplying products throughout Europe, Wilson’s Yard is a family-owned architectural salvage and design company, specializing in the supply of items for renovating period houses or recreating period features in new properties. Their products include antique lighting, cast-iron radiators and baths, fireplaces, reclaimed roofing slate, wooden flooring, architectural and garden features, doors and fittings, period gates, reclaimed brick, bespoke kitchens, period bathroom fixtures and fittings. www.wilsonsyard.com |
| Wild Escapades |
 In our Wild Escape Competition, Liz Cleere described a trek in the eastern Himalayas to visit a slice of wild India that people rarely see and Helen Moat recounted the magical night she and her young son Jamie spent in the company of glow worms in Britain’s Peak District. Liz Cleere is the winner. |
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| Ruthless Rhyme Competition Result |
 The judges have announced the 12 poems short-listed in the Ruthless Rhyme competition. All are now published, along with audio readings, profiles of the writers and judges and a selection of rhymes that deserve mention for being creative or ridiculous. |
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Quote of the Week
Cottage with Rooms to Hire
‘They had to share a five-foot bed, both of them over six foot, with their feet sticking out of the window... In the morning hens were roosting on their toes.’ – Wild Ireland by Brendan Lehane
‘They had to share a five-foot bed, both of them over six foot, with their feet sticking out of the window... In the morning hens were roosting on their toes.’ – Wild Ireland by Brendan Lehane
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