Period Living featured architectural salvage dealer, The Old Yard, based in Shropshire, UK. Owners, Elaine and Andy Jennings became attracted to salvage finds after running antique shops since the 1990s. Andy is a trained gilder and they used to sell traditional furniture and antiques. Andy then began to sell traditional cast iron gutters. Then after a while he got the 'salvage bug' and became attracted to industrial salvage and repurposing pieces from reclaimed materials. Initially they just sold these at fairs but then decided to open a salvage showroom from their home near Oswestry. In the article Elaine gives a useful tip, 'to always buy something because you love it'. The Old Yard is the latest member of the Salvo Code. See the full article with fab images of their yard and stock in the October 2019 issue of Period Living.
 
HRH the Duchess of Cambridge opened her own 'Back to Nature' garden now based at the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) Garden, Wisley in Surrey. Reclaimed sustainable timber from Salvo Code member, Ashwells was a feature of the original garden design at the 2019 RHS Chelsea Flower Show. The reclaimed timber featured in the Back to Nature garden included a central woodland walkway made from wood reclaimed from Southend-on-Sea’s historic pier. The garden was designed by Davies and White in collaboration with The Duchess herself. Janine and Deb from Ashwells Reclaimed Timber are especially passionate about what they do: saving tropical timber from landfill plus trees of all types from being cut down unnecessarily. It is also interesting to know that 2,400t of reusable timber is skipped daily in the UK and of this 240 tonnes is reusable tropical hardwood, which equals ten square miles of rainforest a year. Ashwells have also been one of the first to join in with the FCRBE European project aiming to increase reuse in construction in northwest Europe by fifty percent, of which Salvo is one of the British partners. Increasing the reuse of reclaimed building materials would make a huge contribute to the future of the planet for all children. Plus the lucky few can now enjoy the Back to Nature Garden in its new location. See the Mirror article for more details and images at the link below.
 
Natural Stone Specialist, September 2019 reported on the Scottish campaign to encourage greater use of local stone. The Scottish Stone Group made up of quarry operators Tradstocks, Hutton Stone and Defend have met with Scottish Parliament Ministers to argue for Scottish stone. Tradstocks is a Salvo Code member stocking both new and reclaimed natural stone. Fyfe Memorials has also joined the fight and wants Scottish granite to be used for memorial headstones. Up to now most memorials have been made with imported granite from India or China. Fyfe Memorials is part of Fyfe Glenrock which has a long history of using local natural stone for crafting stone products. The reason could be that imported stone is cheaper but as the article highlights the environmental and carbon footprint costs are much higher. A more recent example of Caithness stone from Scotland being used was for the Stephen Hawking memorial in Westminster Abbey.
 
In September 2019 during London Fashion Week Extinction Rebellion demonstrated to encourage everyone to think more about slow fashion. And they are right we all need to think more about what we buy and whether it is designed to last. However Manalo Blahnik's shoe designs, many of which were inspired by antiques in the Wallace Collection demonstrate how fashion is also art. Harpers Bazaar reported that the Wallace Collection has welcomed around thirty percent more visitors due to their Manalo Blahnik shoe exhibition. His designs will definitely stand the test of time. This is an exhibition not to miss which closes on 27th October. Find it in the Wallace Collection, London surrounded by art and antiques.
 
Meanwhile an ex-policeman featured in the Daily Mail with his collection of 3,500 bricks. Mark Cranston has devoted his retirement to collecting historical bricks. He has also started the Scottish Brick history database. Mark became interested in old bricks when he went looking for a shed doorstop. Then he found an old colliery brick and the rest is history. He seeks out old bricks from old buildings and old brickwork sites. Historical bricks can also be found for sale in architectural salvage yards such as the brick shown from Salvo code member, Dorset Reclamation. See the link to the full Daily Mail article below.
 
Aesop, the plant based Australian skincare brand, has a passion for reclaimed bricks too. It has used them in many their store designs worldwide. A recent example is the new store in Seoul, South Korea which opened in August 2019. It was designed by Mlkk Studio, Hong Kong who used the reclaimed red bricks to create a warm inviting interior with a sense of history. Aesop themselves state that in seeking new locations they like to 'tread lightly with respect for the past, present and future.' The architectural design practice, Norman Kelley famously used ten thousand reclaimed Chicago Common bricks in a pinwheel design for the Aesop store based in Chicago. It is interesting to note know that every twelve bricks embodies the energy of a gallon of petrol. So if designers and renovators embrace reuse we will help to save the planet one brick at a time. See reclaimed brick designs from the Aesop stores and other reclaimed design ideas on the salvowebpins Pinterest page.
 
Rock Your Rental, is a new book with interior design tips for rental homes coming soon from Joanne Palmisano of Salvage Secrets fame. It is currently in the layout stage at the publishers (W.W. Norton/Countryman Press, New York. London) and will be available in early 2020. Designer and author, Joanne Palmisano believes that 'something discarded is simply something not yet found' and she uses salvage in her interior designs to create stunning one-of-a-kind interiors. Joanne is based in Vermont but has designed interiors throughout the U.SA. The image shows Mad River Barn Inn, a Vermont bed and breakfast, with a fab salvage interior which is just one example of Joanne's design projects. For more images of her designs see Joanne Palmisano's website: www.joannepalmisano.com
 
Finally auctioneers, TW Gaze has featured in a book too. This book is a fictional one though. Best selling author, Jenni Keer set her latest novel, 'The Unlikely Life of Maisie Meadows' (Harper Collins), in an auction house and TW Gaze inspired the plot. One of the questions she asked was, 'Can dealing with other people’s treasures help Maisie to let go of the past, and teach her who she ought to treasure the most?' There is an opportunity to see Jenni at an interview, Q&A and book signing with Elizabeth Talbot, BBC antiques valuer and auctioneer. The event on 10th October, at 6pm, is free to attend but donations are welcome for the East Anglian Air Ambulance. TW Gaze hold regular antique and salvage auctions. The next Bygones Auction is 12th October 2019. See the Salvo Event Calendar for more auction dates.
 
Find all the architectural salvage dealers, auctioneers, designers plus must see places to visit such as the Wallace Collection mentioned in this story in the SalvoWEB online directory.