ORGANISERS have hailed the success of the 11th Edinburgh Traditional Building Festival.
Held as part of the Edinburgh Fringe, the event offered members of the public the chance to attend a range of demonstrations, talks and tours designed to celebrate Scotland’s traditional buildings.
Based at the offices of Edinburgh World Heritage Trust, the aim was to help and empower homeowners to make informed decisions to repair and maintain their homes.
John McKinney, coordinator of the Scottish Traditional Building Forum, said he was ‘delighted’ with the festival, which attracted over 400 people to various events from demonstrations on sash and case windows and lime rendering to talks on energy efficiency in traditional buildings.
There was also a chance to watch expert-led demonstrations on roof slating and leadwork and a walking tour of some completed Edinburgh World Heritage Trust grant-aided projects.
Wendy MacAdie and Silke Schneider gave a talk on the 12 Closes project, which made improvements to the closes of Edinburgh to encourage exploration of the Old Town of the city beyond the main streets. Edinburgh World Heritage Trust also provided guidance on grants and funding available to owners of older buildings in the world heritage site and neighbouring conservation areas.
Scott Miller, chairman NFRC Scotland, said, “It is essential we raise the profile of the need to repair and maintain our homes. All to often I am called to a job which has resulted from basic maintenance not being undertaken with would have saved the homeowner considerable money and inconvenience. The Edinburgh Traditional Building Festival is a great way of getting this message out to the public and give them the knowledge how best repair and maintain their homes.”
An extended interview with Scott Miller will appear in the September issue of Project Scotland magazine.
