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I recruited photographer Thais Verhasselt to photograph the artefacts and paintings chosen for the Farmiloe history. This is to mark the 200th anniversary of the company. Thais is based in Portsmouth and specialises in arts and heritage photography. A scaffold was erected so that she could shoot two portraits hanging at high level.As she worked I logged the catalogue number and brief description. Thais then used the catalogue number to identify each file. Author Malcolm Noble and publisher Carnegie now have an easy to use collection of photographs and scans that can easily be found using their file names.

This was something a bit different and took Sue out of her comfort zone! A few years ago her partner, Nick Scudamore wrote about the (surprisingly interesting) time he worked as a cinema manager in London and briefly in Oxford in the 1970s and 1980s. Sort & Survive took on the job of tracking down suitable photographs and finding a publisher. Sue has lots of experience of preparing catalogues and monographs through her work in the museums sector. However, publishing a full scale book is a step beyond and there was a lot to learn. It is a great pleasure to announce its publication in softcover and e-book form. Both are available direct from the publisher Troubador at £12.99 and £5.99 respectively. The book can be ordered from any bookseller.

Inspired by the Church of England's 2020 report 'From Lament to Action', Hampstead Parish Church's Racial Justice Group has set up a working group to look in more detail at the financing of the building of the church in the 1740s. Research by Camden History Society and Hampstead Museum has already shown links between Hampstead residents and the transatlantic trade in enslaved Africans. Some of those members of the congregation memorialised in the church or in the burial ground had links to colonies such as Virginia and the West Indies. The businesses in these colonies relied on the labour of enslaved Africans. Five posters displayed in the church record what is already known about Hampstead's links to slavery (and to its abolition) and look forward to the new research project investigating the sources of the wealth of those subscribers to the church building fund.

Following research online and at London Metropolitan Archives and at Camden Local Studies Library and Archive by Sue Kirby and a member of the Farmiloe family, Sue organised a tour of most of the homes occupied by various families from both branches of the Farmiloe clan at dates ranging from the 1880s and to the 1950s. The party began the tour at Upper Terrace in Hampstead village and, after a detour to Templewood Gardens, proceeded downhill via Frognal to look at four properties on Fitzjohn's Avenue and College Terrace. The party was made very welcome at the home of George Farmiloe Junior, a son of the founder of the company, in Maresfield Road. This is now the London Danish Youth Hostel. Its original stained glass windows have been preserved and it is quite possible that these was supplied by the company itself as it originally specialised in lead and glass.

Happy to continue our work with Sussex Conservation Consortium. As well as conserving some individual deeds and documents, the conservators have cleaned and boxed the historically very valuable trade catalogues which represent both parts of the Farmiloe companies, George Farmiloe & Sons and Thomas & William Farmiloe. Family lore recorded some rivalry between the two firms but it appears that there was plenty of business for both companies as London expanded in the 19th century. One was based in Clerkenwell and one in Westminster. The catalogues are now mould free and have protective card housing. In one case a missing page has been inserted. They are important as they document the range of goods sold by the companies from the 1880s to the 1950s at a time when the Farmiloe companies supplied the full range of builders' supplies including glass, lead and paint plus public house equipment and sanitary ware. Today catalogues are more usually published on the internet.

St John-at-Hampstead, also known as Hampstead Parish Church, attracted 133 adult visitors, a number of children and one dog by taking part in London Open House on 4th and 5th September. A display of archive material by Sort & Survive, including some colourful plans and drawings not normally on view, picked out some key elements in the history of the building. One curiosity explained is the reason the church faces west rather than east. As the population of the village expanded the church building needed to be expanded but it was not possible to build at the eastern end as the ground fell away. So the new building work was on the western side and in the late 1870s the whole church was re-orientated and the altar is at the west, not the east end of the nave.

Three days sorting toys, household items and clothing for a family in a mansion flat. Working from home and home schooling during lockdown did not leave much time for keeping everything neat and tidy. Many people find it difficult to part with items that have sentimental associations but it is very liberating when items can be given a new home elsewhere. An interesting project for me personally as my father and mother lived in this part of London from when I was an infant until I was ready to start school.

George Farmiloe and Sons Ltd were famous for their calendars reproducing watercolours of various birds in their natural habitat. These were produced by the company from 1946 to the early 1980s and distributed to clients and suppliers. The company has retained a complete set but nine duplicates have been transferred to Nottingham Museums as they were all printed by local company Forman.

Ruth Stevens and Ian Watson from the Sussex Conservation Consortium spent two days in May assessing the Farmiloe business archive as a whole in order to work out what hands-on restoration might be required and to advise on the best ways to look after the collection longterm. They also took a very close look at the oldest manuscripts and documents in the deeds boxes, one of which dates to the late 17th century. Happily, only one item, a bundle of papers about the 1937 extension in St John Street, Camberwell had to be quarantined. The building was demolished recently so it was important for these papers to be saved even though they had got very wet at some stage and there is a danger of active mould.

There is only so much that can be achieved by a desktop study so I was very pleased to be able to travel to Newbury in April to meet Curator Janine Fox and other members of museum staff in person and to take a private tour of the museum and a good look at the services' two storage buildings. Having completed my audit of them both, I was then able to complete my report on future storage options for the service.

Sort & Survive have been commissioned to research and write a storage options report for West Berkshire Museum. Established in 1904, the museum is housed in two of the most historic buildings in Newbury. The work will have to be done remotely to start with but once the health emergency lockdown is eased it will be possible to see the buildings and meet the staff at first hand.

Sue of Sort & Survive worked with a small team to create an exhibition of archive materials tracing the history of the site and the building (from its erection in the 1740s to the rebuilding in the 1840s and 1870s) displayed in the Church. In addition, the first stained glass window by Arts and Crafts artist Joan Fulleylove, produced to commemorate a parishioner who died in the First World War, was on view. It is not normally visible as it is located in the Clergy Vestry. There were half a dozen or so stewards to welcome the 75 visitors and answer their questions. There were also excellent home made cakes, tea and coffee on sale in aid of Traidcraft.

I have just started work on a business archive from a building supplies company, now specialising in bathroom fittings and based in Surrey, but originally situated in Clerkenwell, Westminster and Limehouse in London. It is still a family-run firm with the current Managing Director being from the sixth generation. The collections consist of some office equipment such as this office postbox and platform weighing scales and some furniture including a number of Edwardian swivelling cane-seated typist's chairs. There are also some portraits of family members and photographs dating from the Victorian era. But most of my work will consist of sorting through a very large quantity of ledgers (at least 50) and other paperwork (some 40 boxes or bags). I have examined the collection so the next step is to come up with some recommendations as to how it could be catalogued, stored and/or displayed in the future. It is very likely that I will discard or re-home some material such as duplicates or day-to-day financial records such as petty cash receipts that are too detailed for longterm historical interest. Of course the client will make the final decision in every case.

Women's Pioneer Housing launched a new exhibition, 'Pioneering Courage: Housing and the Working Woman 1919-1939' at Mary Smith Court, a sheltered housing scheme in Earl's Court, on Monday 8th March. Over 50 residents, staff and special guests attended the private view held to mark International Women's Day. Four volunteer researchers and several WPH staff worked together to write and design the display. It was to tour to the London Metropolitan Archives and several London libraries but the health emergency has meant that this has been postponed. However, work has started to add the exhibition content and additional research to the Women's Pioneer website.

In 2019, Women's Pioneer Housing celebrated Founders' Day on 1st October 2019. The venue was The Tabernacle in Notting Hill. The afternoon started with talks from Denise Fowler, the CEO, and some Board members and continued with presentations on the history of Women's Pioneer Housing from three of the volunteer researchers who have been using WPH records and family history websites to piece together the story of WPH, its staff and residents. The evening finished with refreshments and dancing to the steel pans of local band Mangrove.

My client wanted to reclaim his sideboard for serving food. I reframed the photographs where necessary to ensure they were in matching, good quality frames. We managed to purchase two ladder shelving units from Futon on sale at £40 and £50 each. They are white-painted wood but natural wood finishes are also available. They required self-assembly but the result is very worthwhile and this solution is far more flexible than wall mounting.

The National Lottery funded Women's Pioneer Housing Heritage Project has allowed the WPH archive to be deposited at London Metropolitan Archives. Sally Bevan has catalogued the records (dating back to the 1920s) plans and photographs so they can be made available to the public. A number of the older records and architectural plans have been digitised and some will eventually be available on the WPH website.

Promoting the Women's Pioneer Housing history project at London Metropolitan Archives in Clerkenwell on 31 May 2019.

Four early to mid 20th century paintings, two by Turkish artist Abidin Dino (1913 – 1993), were sold at the Design at Home auction at The Pure Evil Gallery, London. The client was very pleased with the sales, especially as the Dino pictures are going home to Turkey.

The very last transfer from Newham Heritage! Dr Moya Fadzean, Senior Curator, Museums Victoria was delighted to receive this plate at the Immigration Museum in Melbourne. Anyone got a matching cup or mug?

Sue Kirby has just started work in White City for the Housing Association, Women’s Pioneer Housing Ltd. It was established by women who had campaigned for votes for women. Sue is Project Lead for the heritage aspects of its centenary celebrations.

Women’s Pioneer Housing Ltd has now launched a short introductory film covering its early history and featuring a number of research volunteers and residents. The film can be viewed on the Women’s Pioneer Ltd website www.womenspioneer.co.uk and on Royal Holloway College’s online learning resource on Citizenship.

Five interesting paintings acquired by the parents of one of my clients are to go to auction in London. Two of them, goache on paper, were bought in Paris from the Turkish artist Abidin Dino. The others are oils on canvas and striking abstracts, one showing the influence of Kandinsky or Miro probably also from artists based in Paris.

Sort & Survive recently transferred three fancy dress costumes to the Museum of London. They belonged to Phyllis Champion-Jones and her sister Joan. The Little Dutch Girl, female Harlequin and Pierrot costumes were made by their mother in the 1920s and 1930s and are complete with headresses although missing the footwear. The family lived in Kilburn but Phyllis got the bus every day to work at the Rowley Gallery in Kensington Church Street. Every Christmas the company held a fancy dress ball. There are a number of photographs of these parties also donated to the museum.

A number of items from various places worldwide belonging to a private client were identified with the help of appropriate experts in these fields.

A staff of seven paid curators and ten part-time volunteers spent a long period of sorting, cataloguing and transferring items. The project concluded with an intensive period of packing, boxing, barcoding and supervising removal starting in June and ending on 29th September 2017.

The first couple of months involved liaising with other museums that have undertaken similar projects, working out a schedule of work and appointing paid staff and volunteers. There has been quite a lot of work involved in ensuring that the building is suitable for the work, including resolving connectivity and internet access issues. The specialised database had to be adapted for the major inventory work too.

Let cataloguing commence!

The textile and dress collections have been the first priority as they need to be catalogued and properly packed prior to going off for freezing, a process which will ensure any insect infestation is neutralised. This work has been ably co-ordinated by Deb, a qualified conservator. Meanwhile my colleague Ed has had a good sort of the archaeology collections. Some of the non-local material will be transferred to more appropriate museums.

I have been putting a collection of Wedgwood Jasperware on sale on behalf of an elderly lady who has moved to a nursing home. Some has gone to private buyers, some to museums.

Time for the annual conference of the Association of Professional Declutterers and Organisers (APDO), a very supportive and well organised(!) body. This year I particularly appreciated Carl Honore’s keynote speech on the Slow Movement. Juliet Landau-Pope also gave an informative seminar on working with clients from diverse backgrounds.

Transfer of some VHS tapes of films relating to Black British history and film-making to a London-based academic.

Found a new home for a run of the UK’s film journal of record, Sight & Sound, 1977–2015.

Monday 7 November - Friday 13 November was National Organising Week.

Helped with the Art Fair, raising funds for Keats Community Library in Hampstead. I also delivered a lecture on Women and the First World War to students from Fordham University in New York who were based in London for the semester.

I have managed to realise over £400 selling mid-20th century film posters for a client. I have arranged a small selection of the ones he did not want to sell on the walls of the entrance hall of his home.

A successful month selling some antique furniture for a client including a Regency mahogany sarcophagus-style cellarette used in the dining room to keep wines chilled, an early twentieth century library ladder used in an Earls Court bookshop until about 1980 and a portable Bedouin brass table on an ingenious folding wooden stand.

I have been working in Chelsea down by the river, an area connected with artists for over 100 years. Here is Tite Street where John Singer Sargent had his studio from 1885. Oscar Wilde was also a resident there.

The week got off to a good start with the sale of a collection of 1960s and 1970s long playing albums to Nick Brown who has a website and who also operates from a shop in Cecil Court in London’s West End.

Acting on the instructions of a client, I arranged for a monumental Minton majolica cistern to be auctioned at Sotheby’s.