Student politics, teaching politics, black politics: an interview with Ansel Wong

Ansel Wong is the quiet man of British black politics, rarely in the limelight and never seeking political office. And yet his ‘career’ here – from Black Power firebrand to managing a multimillion budget as head of the Greater London Council’s Ethnic Minority Unit in the 1980s – spells out some of the most important developments in black educational and cultural projects. In this interview, he discusses his identification with Pan-Africanism, his involvement in student politics, his role in the establishment of youth projects and supplementary schools in the late 1960s and 1970s, and his involvement in black radical politics in London in the same period, all of which took place against the background of revolutionary ferment in the Third World and the world of ideas, and were not without their own internal class and ethnic conflicts

Dendrochronology Database

This resource consists of the tree-ring dates for over 4700 buildings in the United Kingdom, ranging from cathedrals to cottages and barns and is a Vernacular Architecture Group project. The database holds period, location and reference information for each record. It also includes some buildings that have been dated by high precision radiocarbon dating, and the names of buildings for which dating was attempted but not successful

Cruck Database

This database was originally created (as 80 column cards) by N W Alcock as a Vernacular Architecture Group project, with the collaboration of many members of the group. It was used to generate the published catalogues of cruck buildings in Cruck Construction: an Introduction and Catalogue CBA Research Report 42 (1981) and its predecessor, A Catalogue of Cruck Buildings (Phillimore for Vernacular Architecture Group, 1973). The database now has a total of 7,683 entries (4,477 true and 2,232 jointed crucks)

Wealden Houses Database

This database has been compiled using earlier lists and information from contributors, to provide a gazetteer of Wealden (or 'recessed-hall') houses. These are a distinctive medieval house type, characterised by having an open hall flanked by either one or two floored, jettied end bays, all under a single roof. Because the wall plate is aligned with the front walls of the end bay(s), it 'flies' over the hall, where it is usually braced from the corner posts of the end bays, giving the distinctive 'recessed' hall appearance. The term 'Wealden' apparently came into use among members of the Vernacular Architecture Group in the 1950s, reflecting the concentration of examples in the Kentish Weald. In all, almost 800 examples are known at present. The database provides information on the address, grid reference, state of preservation and source reference(s) for every entry, together with partial information about topographical setting and some structural features

Vernacular Architecture Group (VAG) Collections and Map

The Vernacular Architecture Group was formed in 1952 to further the study of lesser traditional buildings. The Group has over 700 members, including some 50 overseas members, and a number of affiliated groups and exchanging societies. Membership is open to anyone interested in vernacular architecture. Members are involved in all aspects of the recording and study of vernacular buildings including detailed local or regional surveys, studies of particular types of buildings, building materials and techniques, documentary evidence and principles of development. The Vernacular Architecture Group collections include: The Cruck Database; The Dendrochronology Database; The Wealden Houses Database; Bibliography of the Vernacular Architecture Group. The first three can be searched by location and features, and can also be displayed using the Map interface

Bibliography of the Vernacular Architecture Group

The on-line version of the Bibliography of the Vernacular Architecture Group contains almost 12,500 references. Of these, 7,400 are taken from Volumes I through IV of the printed bibliographies, covering sources published up to 1994. Added to these are 3,200 covering the period up to the end of 2006 (identified as Volume 5; downloadable in pdf format from the VAG website), another 800 up to 2012 (volume 6), and 1,000 up to 2020 (volume 7); volumes 6 and 7 are only available via this on-line searchable database. Entries are of three main types: Papers in journals; Papers in edited volumes [e.g. conference proceedings]; Books. A very few theses were listed in the first published volume and we have retained these, but more recent theses have not been searched for or included. The Bibliography may be browsed by subject area or searched by keyword, author, geographic region and journal or any combination of these

Syllabary of the Shanghai vernacular. Prepared and published by the Shanghai Christian vernacular society.

Interleaved with blank pages.Mode of access: Internet

Rural architecture in the north of the Isle of Man

SIGLEAvailable from British Library Document Supply Centre-DSC:7336.5719(6) / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreGBUnited Kingdo