Charles Brooking Editorial

 

Charles Brooking is one of Britain’s leading authorities on traditional buildings, particularly the history of sash windows. He is without doubt a man on a mission. He started collecting sash windows and sections of them when he was 6 years old and since then his passion has led him to accumulate a vast collection of over 100,000 items rescued from buildings that were being demolished. His collection is now on display at various museums in the South of England including the University of Greenwich. Charles is regularly consulted by TV and film producers who want to get the architectural details just right in their historical dramas. The Charles Brooking Consultancy has also been involved in work at 10 Downing Street, The Treasury and Hampton Court Palace as well as many other less famous buildings. He has spent a lifetime studying architectural details and is determined to preserve the cultural richness that they represent.

 

Now Charles is widening the scope of his research and looking into the unique detailing of Scottish sash windows. It was only natural that his first port of call in Scotland was at Ventrolla Scotland in Lockerbie, who are widely recognised as the market leaders in sash window renovation, repair and upgrading. As well as solving sash window problems for thousands of home owners they have carried out work on many of Scotland’s most important buildings. Their reputation is such that they were chosen to renovate the windows of the clubhouse of the Royal and Ancient in St Andrews and have recently been awarded the contract to carry out work on over 100 windows in Fettes College in Edinburgh.  

 

The Ventrolla Scotland office in Lockerbie is the Head Office for the whole of Scotland and it recently hosted a visit from Charles Brooking who presented a fascinating seminar to a specially invited audience including local Architects, Conservation Officers, The Architectural Heritage Society of Scotland and members of the Ventrolla Scotland team. Everyone agreed it was a wonderful opportunity to share knowledge and make useful connections in the quest to preserve the national heritage.

 

Managing Director of Ventrolla Scotland, Vin Harris, said “We were delighted that Charles chose Ventrolla to be involved in his tour of Scotland, it’s so important to realise the significance of original, period features and we were thrilled to be able to give Charles many items to add to his collection”. Charles was also pleased to see that traditional craftsmanship is still very much alive and that joiners are able to reproduce the quality of the past.

 

Charles is very keen to maintain this working relationship with the Ventrolla Scotland team and intends to visit again later in the year when he hopes to gather more Scottish material for his collections and give further master classes in sash windows. Anyone with an interest in sash windows who would like to be kept informed of developments in this exciting project is welcome to contact Hazel Dunbar, Sales and Marketing Manager at Ventrolla Scotland Head Office in Lockerbie (01576 202402)