Fear of Increased Prices and Delays. Blown Glass. Zeitgeist Food and Drink

Wednesday 15th November: ‘Don’t mention the B-word’ was a recurrent ironic refrain in today’s talks. But it was there, inevitably turning up when there was any thought about cross-border trade.

Whether it was fear of the increased prices and delays in the transport of supplies from construction to payment, or the thought that maybe it would be sensible to set up a separate company in another EU state, the common buzzword was uncertainty. Politically, the outrage on the Telegraph’s front page at 15 Tory MPs asking for change in the current Brexit bill to be discussed, effectively branding them party traitors, was effectively quashed both by Downing Street and the MPs themselves stating that discussion was a sensible part of the parliamentary process.

Yet the day was actually a very positive one. My role this morning was to chair the talks, with the ambitious objective of timing three 15 minute expert talks, ten 7 minute presentations and two Q and As. On top of this, I was supposed to present three of the talks, with another also done by one of the organisers, for participants not confident in or lacking English. Given a bit of support, the four were able to become either part of a double act, or find that their English was OK. Asking for explanations about their photos of examples of restoration, brought out the experts and engaged the audience.  We got through to lunchtime safely, with the audience awake and feeling informed.

Everyone agreed that the highlight talk was by blown glass makers Lamberts. Their short video captured the audience with its demonstration of gravity assisted glass blowing and there was a commendation from the lead conservator of York Minster, on the restoration of their largest stained-glass window in Europe.

The evening finished with German food and drink as ‘Zeitgeist’, the Autumn Event by the German Embassy at the Jolly Gardeners, on Black Prince Rd, Vauxhall. For two hours, drink and food flowed freely as German taxpayer’ money was returned in comestibles. Some of us returned to the hotel via a walk along the South bank of the River, enjoying the lights of Parliament and Big Ben reflected on the water, then crossing at Westminster to catch the tube.