Heritage Now

2   HISTORIC BUILDINGS & PLACES WELCOME My colleagues, trustees and I are delighted to be able to share with you this first issue of Heritage Now , the new membership magazine of Histor- ic Buildings & Places. The finished product you see today is the fruit of a five month creative and collaborative process with our designers – rbl – and our publishers – Cathedral Communications. My thanks go to our editorial board for agreeing the contents of this first issue and to our brilliant new editor Paul Holden for bringing it all togeth- er. After many months of hard work and careful planning, it is a pleasure to be able to reveal the finished product. We hope you will be pleased with the new format, which has been designed both to meet the needs of existing members and to broaden our appeal amongst new audiences. We especially look forward to hearing your feedback on the new look and will listen carefully to any suggestions you may have for themes and features to be included in future issues. When it was announced in the autumn of 2020 that the Ancient Monuments Society and the Friends of Friendless Churches were to become fully independent of each other, AMS trustees de- cided that the time had come to take a fresh look at the society’s remit and purpose and to address XXX From the director Lucie Carayon welcomes you to a brand new look society and explains how the split from Friends of Friendless Churches provided an opportunity to re-invent ourselves head-on the complex issue of its somewhat con- fusing name (see my piece on pages 4-7 regarding the history of the name). The separation with the Friends gave trustees the opportunity to redefine our Mission, Values and Vision, which I shared with you in the last joint newsletter (and which can also be found in full on our new website at hbap.org.uk ). OUR VISION We will work for the benefit of communities to secure a sustainable future for historic places and built environments, celebrating heritage in all its richness and diversity. The name Historic Buildings & Places was chosen to reflect the fact that the society concerns itself not only with historic buildings of all types and all ages, but also with the landscape and settings they are associated with. This can be designated world heritage sites and conservation areas, but not only. It is the unsung hamlets, villages, towns and cities across England and Wales which need our support most, and we are committed to championing not only the ‘special’ but the everyday, our treasured ‘humble heritage’. However, places do not have much of a purpose without people . We do our job of protecting historic buildings and places not just for our own gratifica- tion (although this is of course important), but also because it matters to the people and communities who benefit from living and working in pleasant and lively built environments. Nothing is more rewarding than seeing a community discover its built heritage for the first time – perhaps explor- ing the history of a local landmark or looking up to discover the ornate parapet of a building on a high street. The society has always admired the work of local amenity societies and we would like to do Lucie Carayon RIGHT: We have been working over the past year to develop an exciting new vision and visual identity for the society. Please visit www.hbap.org.uk to discover our refreshed look and to keep abreast of the latest news and events. The name Historic Buildings & Places was chosen to reflect the fact that the society concerns itself not only with historic buildings of all types and all ages, but also with the landscape and settings they are associated with