The news in the last 6 months that steps have been taken to rescue two major country houses in England is very welcome indeed, and has no doubt done much to bolster the public profile (and the public’s confidence in) the two bodies that are the prime movers in the field of conservation, at least in terms of manpower and resources. These two organisations, The National Trust and English Heritage, appear fit and fighting, and these two buildings - Tyntesfield and Apethorpe Hall, seem to have secure futures. But what about the rest, buildings and organisations? Preliminary research on the state of country houses by SAVE shows that there is still a problem of country houses at risk across the nation. In Scotland there have been several high profile cases of recent, one of which has resulted in the demolition of Lanrick Castle, while the owner of the another complains of not being able to either repair or demolish. Poor poppet - why not sell?

There are still thousands of other listed buildings at risk, yet there is a lack of clear Government policy to guide local authorities on this, one of the major challenges in conservation. Indeed, is there a clear vision at Government level about what needs to be done in the realm of the historic environment? Wise words are spoken by Ministers at Westminster on regeneration, sustainable communities and social inclusion in the historic environment, yet these skirt the main point. In Scotland, the executive seems to have put the historic environment firmly on the backburner with its bonfire of quangos (while the culture Minister admitted to being unable to name a living Scottish architect). It is in this atmosphere that Historic Scotland fights on. Likewise in Wales Cadw carries on, despite the historic environment being very low on the list of priorities of Welsh politicians at all levels. The dire situation in Northern Ireland has been well reported by us of recent, although at least there is at least some sign of light at the end of that particular tunnel.

So, in the corridors of power, not much has changed in recent years. However there is one part of the conservation world which seems fit, healthy and raring to go: the grass roots voluntary sector. In Britain, the many and varied organisations which make up the voluntary sector in the world of heritage are to come together under the banner of the soon to be launched ‘Heritage Link’. This new organisation will be able to dedicate time and energy to putting effective messages across to all levels of government on behalf of its members more forcefully than any of them might do alone. This is a great challenge: despite the historic environment playing a role in the everyday life of the nation, net expenditure on the historic environment by local planning authorities over the last few years has been on a downward path. The Heritage Link could be the tonic the government needs for its conservation hangover, blundering oblivious to the outside world, and the springboard the heritage sector needs to help the rest of the world realise the historic environment is a broader part of everyday life. We remain eternally optimistic.