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Above: Pat Mars, Pauline Ogram, Denise Thompson, Mary Jones and Pat GambleBelow: Hall chairsThe heights of successThe secrets of a mansion attic, a pig on a motorbike, and the screening of an innovative short fi lm feature in some of the exciting projects funded by Societies across the UK T he Constable family have lived at Burton Constable Hall for 700 years. An imposing Elizabethan mansion, the hall stands in extensive parkland in the south-east corner of Yorkshire, a few miles from the Humber estuary. Over the centuries,the interiors of the Hall have been ‘modernised’ in line with the latest fashions of the day. On each occasion, no expense was spared.In 1992, in order to secure the long-term future of the hall and its historic collections, the Burton Constable Foundation was established as a charitable trust. Only then did the attics, which were full to overfl owing, reveal a colourful wealth of items that had become ‘surplus to requirements’ – simply unfashionable.Enter the Holderness DFAS Heritage Volunteers! Over the past 23 years, some 25 volunteers have helped with the sorting, recording, cleaning, conserving and repairing of books, music scores, furnishings, scientifi c equipment and much else besides. “Since 1993, the Holderness DFAS group has played a signifi cant part in the history of the band of heroes which contributed so much to the survival of Burton Constable, and it is thanks to the work and devotion of the volunteers that so many of the unaffordable restoration projects have been achieved,” comments Rodrica Straker, family Trustee of the foundation.Books were dusted, repaired and conserved, with the work carried out on each book being carefully recorded for future reference. Victorian theatrical costumes were sorted and cleaned. Dozens of tassels, discovered in a very dusty state in the attics, were treated, matched to their rightful chairs and reattached. Meanwhile, the 19th-century music scores, including some rare survivals, were conserved and boxed by two specialist volunteers.Over the years, the team has worked painstakingly to repair and halt the damage that centuries of light, smoke and use has caused to the furnishings. The 19th-century silk satin curtains in the dining room, for example, were in a fragile state after 150 years of exposure to sunlight. Following a gentle clean, the team set about stabilising and supporting the fabric – a labour of love that began in 2007 and is not yet fi nished. Equally challenging were the buttoned seats of fi ve Louis XVI-style chairs, where tweezers and a dentist’s tool were deployed to straighten loose threads – one by one! In order to help fi lter daylight coming into the rooms, the team has made, by hand, special sun curtains, using nuns’ veiling fabric. The seat furniture too is being given a complete set of replica case covers that can be used throughout the year to prevent further deterioration of the fragile fabrics. Each set is carefully colour-coded using bias-binding, according to the room to which they belong, thus helping make for easier identifi cation in the future. A tour of Burton Constable Hall today bears witness to the incredible contribution that the Heritage Volunteers of Holderness DFAS have made. And although the team is now reduced to six ladies, the work continues, to ensure the survival of a historic collection.“There isn’t a room that I go through where we haven’t made a difference. We have loved our work and feel we are conserving the past for the future.” PAT GAMBLE, HOLDERNESS DFAS HERITAGE VOLUNTEERS66 NADFAS REVIEW / WINTER 2016 www.nadfas.org.ukVOLUNTEERING