Latest news with #YorkMinster
The Independent
2 days ago
- General
- The Independent
Craftspeople review Rose Window repairs carried out after 1984 York Minster fire
Conservation experts are reviewing repairs to York Minster's famous Rose Window, which were carried out after a devastating fire in 1984, as part of a new restoration project. The stained glass masterpiece stayed in place despite the fire raging around it, but its 73 panels, containing 7,000 pieces of stained glass, were subjected to 450C heat and cracked in 40,000 places. The painstaking renovation carried out on the window, a symbol of the union between the Yorkist and Lancastrian houses that had looked out over the city for 500 years, will now be reviewed by a team of heritage craftspeople. It took four years to rebuild and restore York Minster after the 1984 fire. The new scaffolding, which has been erected inside and outside the South Transept, will allow members of the minster team to access the Rose Window and review the repair works undertaken in this period. The analysis will reveal how the restoration methods and materials have stood the test of time and whether the window needs further repairs. The new project will see the minster's stonemasons working alongside experts from the York Glaziers Trust to conserve three huge lancet windows in the cathedral's South Transept which depict Saints Peter, Paul, Wilfred, and William of York. Due to their positioning, the lancets were not subjected to the same extreme thermal stress as the Rose Window. However, centuries of exposure to the elements have rendered the medieval glass vulnerable to corrosion and paint loss. Revolutionary protective glazing will be added to the windows to help safeguard the precious works of art well into the next century and beyond. Professor Sarah Brown, director of the York Glaziers Trust, said: 'These windows have a history stretching back many hundreds of years. 'They can be attributed to the workshop of Robert Petty in the late 15th century and have undergone a variety of restorations and additions, as well as being completely removed during the Second World War. 'It was Peter Gibson OBE, former superintendent of the York Glaziers Trust, who insisted that the Rose Window could be saved after the 1984 fire. 'At the time, some people saw its perilous condition as an opportunity for a completely new stained glass commission. 'Thankfully, his advice was heeded and the glaziers worked tirelessly to restore the artwork.'
The Guardian
6 days ago
- General
- The Guardian
Sir Brian Clarke obituary
In later life, the artist Brian Clarke, who has died aged 71 of cancer, liked to recall an epiphany. As a child, on a school trip from his native Oldham to York Minster, and being shown its Great East Window, he had, he said, 'ceased to be aware of his friends, even of location, because something beyond location had replaced it'. He passed out cold. This experience, which he described on the online arts platform Heni in 2023, attached him to what he called the 'unbroken line to a glorious, complex and majestic past' represented by stained glass. When the Minster's east window had been finished in the first decade of the 15th century, most of the people who saw it would have been peasants living in poverty. Clarke's awe was their awe. The son of Edward, a coalminer, and Lilian (nee Whitehead), a cotton spinner at a local mill, Clarke had had a financially hard childhood. 'I am working class by birth and by inclination,' he would later say. 'My art is for the working class.' It was also largely made in stained glass. His family having an interest in spiritualism, Clarke was sent to a spiritualist school before, at 13, winning a scholarship to Oldham School of Art and moving on to the Burnley College of Art two years later. At 17, he enrolled in the architectural stained glass course at North Devon College of Art and Design, graduating, in 1970, with a diploma in design. At the Devon art school he had met a fellow student, Liz Finch, whom he married in 1972. Finch's father, a clergyman, encouraged his new son-in-law to make a career in ecclesiastical glass. Like many art students of his day, however, Clarke had been won over by the snappy imagery of Pop artists such as Peter Blake. When he sent off his portfolio to traditional ecclesiastical glass makers, it was returned with horror. It was only in 1975 that he found a patron willing to commission him. The resulting window, at All Saints Church in Habergham Eaves, Lancashire, retold the creation story in blocks of saturated colour. This was later described by one art historian as 'the great dissonant masterpiece of English ecclesiastical stained glass of the 20th century'. Even so, its maker's life was hardly one of Anglican decorum. A 1983 photograph of Clarke by John Swannell in the National Portrait Gallery shows a faintly Bowie-esque artist apparently mid-crucifixion. By now, he had been the subject of an hour-long BBC Omnibus programme called Brian Clarke: The Story So Far (1978-79). This, and a Vogue Homme cover shot by Robert Mapplethorpe, propelled him into the London limelight. He was taken up by the gallerist Robert Fraser, known as Groovy Bob, who introduced him to the capital's creative beau monde: Paul and Linda McCartney, Vivienne Westwood, Malcolm McLaren and, fatefully, Francis Bacon. Bacon's response to the question put to him by Clarke at their first meeting hinted at a problem in the younger artist's future career. When Clarke asked Bacon whether he had ever made work in stained glass, the painter sneered, 'No, and I've never done any macrame either, dear.' Although Clarke also made paintings and works on paper, his fame, then as now, rested on his work as a maker of stained glass; and stained glass making was a craft, not an art. This stigma would continue to haunt him. Nevertheless, developing a technique by which he could work directly on float glass – 'You couldn't do a leaded window on a skyscraper,' Clarke reasonably remarked – he became internationally successful, particularly in architectural glass. In 1980, he was commissioned to design a decorative programme for the mosque at King Khalid airport at Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, studying the aniconic traditions of Islamic art at Qur'an school in Fez for the purpose. This was followed by other high-profile commissions, notably for the New York headquarters of the drug giant Pfizer (1995), and the architect Will Alsop's Hôtel du Département des Bouches du Rhône (1994), known locally as Le Grand Bleu for Clarke's wrap-around blue glass skin. He added backlit panels and pillars to Norman Foster's design for Stansted Airport (1991), and worked with Zaha Hadid on an unrealised housing project in Austria. (Clarke dubbed the material he had made for this Zaha-Glass.) He turned Queen Victoria Street in Leeds into an arcade by covering it over with a glazed roof (1990). His non-architectural glass works were shown in the bluest of blue-chip commercial venues, including the Gagosian and Pace galleries in London, and, most recently, at Damien Hirst's Newport Street gallery, in an exhibition held to mark the artist's 70th birthday. And yet the art establishment largely looked away. Although the Tate owns a suite of Clarke's works on paper, it has none of them on glass. No major public gallery has ever given him a show; he was never made a Royal Academician. In part, this was because of a lingering snobbery about what was seen as craft, although there was also a sense that the mass appeal of Clarke's work made it just too easy to be serious. 'People haven't always liked my art,' he said in an interview at the time of his 2023 show. 'People have been downright fucking rude about it, in fact. But it's all I've ever done.' His habit of falling out with museum directors did not help. 'I used to say it doesn't matter because they'll retire or die, then there'll be a new generation of them,' Clarke said. 'But now I've had rows with all the new ones too. British museums have made a point of ignoring me my entire career.' His capacity for belligerence was not confined to his own work. On Bacon's death in 1992, his companion, John Edwards, made Clarke an executor of the artist's estate. In 1998, he became its sole executor, launching a lawsuit against Bacon's former gallery, the Marlborough, for breach of duty over the painter, which was eventually dismissed and a settlement reached out of court, on terms that remain unknown. History repeated itself when Clarke became chairman of the Zaha Hadid Foundation following the architect's untimely death in 2016. A series of disputes between the foundation and Hadid's architectural firm followed, described in the press as toxic. Clarke was knighted in 2024. He and Liz were divorced in 1996, before remarrying in 2013. She and their son, Dan, survive him. Brian Clarke, artist, born 2 July 1953; died 1 July 2025
The Guardian
11-06-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
TV tonight: a staggering film about the flight held hostage by Saddam Hussein
9pm, Sky Documentaries'I'm on a British Airways passenger flight, where's the champagne? Then there's this moment when you think: 'Fuck, they're bombing the aeroplane.'' That's the account of one of the survivors of the hostages captured by Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein's forces when a civilian flight landed in Kuwait in 1990. This startling documentary hears such testimonies as the survivors prepare to take the British government and BA to court to seek 'justice and the truth'. Hollie Richardson 8pm, BBC OneThis week's collection of road trips includes a jaunt to York Minster, where stonemasons work diligently to restore the cathedral to its gothic glory. Over in the village of Cawthorne, near Barnsley, a marching drum from 1873 needs some TLC. Lovely, as always. Hannah J Davies 8pm, BBC ThreeAs next week's final looms, the four remaining hopefuls must work their magic on the admirably up-for-it celebrities Amber Davies, Danny Beard, Henrie Kwushue and Zeze Millz, ahead of a flashy red-carpet appearance. Then it's back to Glow Up HQ to create some wild looks inspired by their dream artistic collaborations. Graeme Virtue 9pm, BBC OneThere are only 1,200km to go until the finish line, at India's southernmost tip in Kanyakumari, and the remaining four teams are 17 hours apart – but also, somehow, neck and neck. Leaders Caroline and Tom soon regret choosing the scenic coastal route, while trailers Brian and Melvyn splash out on an overnight taxi. Ellen E Jones 9pm, Channel 4Jilly Johnson is looking to downsize, but can't decide between a £10m high-tech mansion or the slightly cheaper £7.5m property down the road. What is a millionaire retired model to do? Find out in this property series that deals with eye-wateringly exclusive price tags. HR 9pm, Channel 5There are nail-biting medical decisions to be made as Ruth, a former cancer patient, is in A&E with severe stomach pains. Elsewhere, a septuagenarian may have had a heart attack and a young girl comes in with a twisted ankle after a hazardous game of musical bumps. HR Snow White (Mark Webb, 2025), Disney+ An apple-barrelful of controversy surrounds this amiable live-action version of Disney's animated fairytale. There's a revised plot that gives the sleeping princess more agency; the casting of Rachel Zegler, an outspoken advocate for Palestinian rights, as the lead alongside the Israeli actor Gal Gadot as the evil queen; and those seven dwarves. Instead of casting actors, the dwarves are CGI versions of the originals, and the songs from 1937 are still wonderfully whistle-worthy. Simon Wardell
BBC News
05-06-2025
- Lifestyle
- BBC News
Women's role in story of York Minster window highlighted
A stained glass window which serves as a memorial to the 1,514 servicewomen of the British Empire who died in World War One is the focus of a new exhibition at York Five Sisters Window, originally dating back to the 13th Century, was rededicated to the servicewomen who lost their lives in the 1914-18 conflict after a campaign by York residents Helen Little and Almyra Jennie England, from the Minster, said she hoped the exhibition would highlight the window's history and the role women played in the war effort."I think it tells a remarkable story of women getting together and finding a way to commemorate those other women who lost their lives," she said. Dr England, research coordinator at York Minster, said: "It's incredibly moving. Having this sisterhood coming together to remember sisters is a really key part of the story." The Visions, Voices, Vocations exhibition chronologically follows the efforts of the two women to bring their vision to reality in the early that time, the Five Sisters Window was in need of repair and Helen Little and Almyra Gray saw an opportunity not only to raise the £3,000 needed to restore it to its former glory, but also to create a lasting memorial to all the servicewomen of the British Empire who had died less than a decade with 32,000 other women, they raised the necessary money in just nine weeks, which paid for the restoration of the window and for the roll of honour, located on oak panel screens beneath the names of each of the 1,514 servicewomen from across the British Empire who died in the war are inscribed on the wooden Mitchell, curator of York Minster's collections and interpretation team, explained that the memorial still had historical significance as it reached its centenary year."It's the only national memorial in the country, and it's here because of Helen Little and Almyra Gray," Ms Mitchell explained."Really, the exhibition is a culmination of research to that point, but the research and our understanding of the screens will continue beyond this." Alongside the Five Sisters Window exhibition, artist-in-residence Olivia Hemingway has produced a photography showcase of contemporary contributions women working at the Minster have made in the present in the medieval Chapter House, Ms Hemingway's work is displayed on digital screens, and captures the daily working life of police officers, musicians, stonemasons and conservators at the England said: "It's really exciting to have the exhibition opened and ready to be viewed."We're really hoping it sheds light on the window and its history - both its medieval and recent history."We're also hoping people will be able to understand and engage with the memorial screens in a new way." Listen to highlights from North Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North.
South China Morning Post
13-05-2025
- General
- South China Morning Post
From radio dog's body to a big mover and shaker in Hong Kong disco
I WAS BORN IN Tidworth Military Hospital (in southern England) in 1956. My father was a medical orderly during the 1956 Suez Crisis and I was conceived on a rooftop in Benghazi (Libya) and flown back to England to be born. My father was doing his National Service. He later went to London Bible College. My maternal grandparents had a wonderful little house in Flitwick, Bedfordshire, where my brother and younger sister were born. Much later, in 1974, my youngest sister was born. My father graduated around 1963 and became a vicar. He was ordained in York Minster and we moved to York, where he became a curate. He wanted his family to see the world so he joined as a chaplain in the British Army. The Reverend Ian Henry Bull, chaplain to the forces. Ian Bull with his children, a young Andrew (centre), Rosemary and Simon, in 1961. Photo: courtesy Andrew Bull WE WENT TO GERMANY and he had his own plane and he would fly off to various parts of Westphalia. After various postings in Germany we got sent to British Guiana, which was the most magical experience when you're eight or nine years old. My brother and I were at boarding school in Yorkshire and we were unaccompanied minors. I had to take my brother to South America from England three times a year. And the and he had his own plane and he would fly off to various parts of Westphalia. After various postings in Germany we got sent to British Guiana, which was the most magical experience when you're eight or nine years old. My brother and I were at boarding school in Yorkshire and we were unaccompanied minors. I had to take my brother to South America from England three times a year. And the BOAC Junior Jet Club 707 used to stop at seven places including Bermuda, Barbados, Antigua and Trinidad before we got to Atkinson Field in British Guiana. I WAS ABOUT NINE when we lived on a sugar-cane plantation. We had a wonderful white house on legs and in the evening we would be allowed to stand at the window and watch the bats before going to sleep under a mosquito net. Next door we could hear the West Indian families listening to steel band music and dancing. There was a lot of calypso in those days. I could hear them making this happy noise, and that affected me. It stayed with me, that I would always like to be responsible for making that noise. Andrew (far left) and his family at St Martin's Church, Shek Kong, welcoming his youngest sister, in 1974. Photo: courtesy Andrew Bull IN 1971, MY FATHER was posted to Hong Kong for two years. I was 14 and I just remember the smell as you came in the early evening. The aroma of dai pai dong food, the honking and the strange vibe – it made an immediate impression. My parents lived in was posted to Hong Kong for two years. I was 14 and I just remember the smell as you came in the early evening. The aroma of dai pai dong food, the honking and the strange vibe – it made an immediate impression. My parents lived in Shek Kong , in the New Territories, in a garden-fringed mini-villa. My father was the chaplain at St Martin's Church, Shek Kong, and he was responsible for the 48th Gurkha Infantry Brigade . They had something called BFBS, which was the British Forces Broadcasting Service . It was on the air three hours a day, from 7pm to 10pm, and it was only in Nepalese. I WORKED THERE as an intern, doing all sorts of odd jobs. Every evening for the broadcast there would be a concrete bunker with a transmitter in it, in a field. There was no air conditioning and the transmitter used to overheat all the time. So someone had to sit on one of those Chinese folding chairs, and then throw the switch on the transmitter every time it tripped. That was my job, which I did while listening to Hindi film tunes. Andrew Bull, aged 19, in the Radio Hong Kong studio in Kowloon Tong. Photo: courtesy Andrew Bull
