www.nadfas.org.ukNADFAS REVIEW / SPRING 2010 61A grant of £2,000 has allowedmore historic costumes to bedisplayed at Southside House,Wimbledon, London.The story starts in 2006, whenRichard Kendall, the administratorof Southside House, discoveredtwo unopened trunks hidden in itsdepths. He called NADFAS in andthey sent textile conservatorZenzie Tinker to examine thecontents. The trunks had beenpacked away in the 1930s and thecontents were still wrapped in thenewspapers of the day. The firstcontained household linens and ateam of volunteers catalogued andpacked the items for conservation.The second trunk revealed ahoard of the finest gowns, fancydress costumes and accessories.The gowns have been dated tothe turn of the 20th century, andconsist of approximately 19 Worthcostumes (a silk day dress ispictured) and others from fashionhouses in Paris.NADFAS decided that a seriousapproach to restoring thecostumes was necessary. A£5,000 grant from the Patricia FayMemorial Fund was awarded tothe team. This, in turn, wasmatched by Adam Munthe onbehalf of The Pennington-Mellor-Munthe Charitable Trust whichadministers Southside House. Atotal of £10,000 was put intoconserving and mounting sixdresses, a jacket and severalblouses. In April last year, thespecially designed new CostumeRoom on the ground floor of thehouse was opened. However, the WIDFAS team ofHeritage Volunteers wanted moreof the wonderful costumes to berestored and displayed. Theirefforts resulted in the grant of£2,000 from the Greater LondonGrants Committee. WIDFAS hopes to create arotating display in the CostumeRoom for visitors to see. If furtherfunds are raised, conservation canprogress and more gowns will beadded to the display. The House is open for guidedtours on Wednesdays andSaturdays, Sundays and BankHolidays from Easter Saturday tothe end of September. Groupvisits are always welcome byappointment. NADFAS groups areespecially warmly welcomed.For details contactwww.southsidehouse.com ortelephone 020 8946 7643.Wimbledon raises more for coutureSOCIETIES NEWSObituaryALAN TAIT  1934-2009Alan Tait, Chairman ofSandwich Evening DFAS, diedon 19 October 2009. Hissuccessful career included aperiod as Professor of Moneyand Finance at the University ofStrathclyde and as Director ofthe International MonetaryFund's Geneva office. After retiring in 1999, he wasappointed an Honorary Fellowof Trinity College, Dublin, andan Honorary Professor of theUniversity of Kent. In the sameyear, he moved to Sandwich,Kent, with his wife Susan.As Chairman of SEDFAS forthe last three years, heorganised popular tours acrossEurope. He was also a talentedamateur painter and in Octoberhe oversaw the hanging of alarge triptych, Views ofCanterbury Cathedralin King'sSchool Canterbury. Sadly, lastJuly he was diagnosed with arare form of untreatable cancer.We apologise to Societieswho have sent in stories thatdo not appear on thesepages. We welcome allsubmissions but due to anoverwhelming amount ofentries we are not always ableto publish all of them. For abetter chance of seeing yourstory in print, photographicquality is key. Ideally, photosshould be emailed as jpeg ortiff files at print-quality highresolution (300dpi).To celebrate the 35th anniversary of the partnershipbetween Dulwich DFAS and the Horniman Museum inForest Hill, London, a lunch party was held inOctober. Heritage Volunteers past and present werethanked for their outstanding contribution to themuseum's work.Dulwich DFAS Heritage Volunteers started work atthe Horniman in 1974, making them one of the firstHeritage Volunteer groups in NADFAS. Thursdaymornings are always DDFAS mornings at themuseum. Having regular volunteers means that thefull-time conservators have had invaluable support forroutine tasks, enabling them to focus on theirspecialist skills. Recent volunteer projects haveincluded cleaning 200 figures depicting Londontrades made by local craftsman Cyril Cole (picturedbelow), and preparing silver jewellery for a display ofTuareg textiles opening in March. Dulwich DFAS toasts successful partnership

62NADFAS REVIEW / SPRING 2010www.nadfas.org.ukSOCIETIES NEWSGuildford Evening DFAS organised a concert by the 15-pieceFarnborough Winds Ensemble at Onslow Village Hall, Guildford inOctober, conducted by Lyn Hopkin (who retired that evening).Members were joined by the Mayor of Guildford, Councillor PaulineSearle. Other invited guests included Caryl Morley, from NADFASSocieties Support Team, West Surrey Area Chairman Denise Topolski andCarol Hewitt, West Surrey Area Training.The audience were entertained with a superb programme of musicranging from Mozart's Gran Partitato Handel's Arrival of The Queen ofSheba. The concert was a first for GEDFAS.After the concert, the Mayor was presented with a cheque to theMayor's Distress Fund by GEDFAS Chairman Gwynth Pickering.Fine music for Guildford DFAS?SOUTH SUFFOLK DFAS South Suffolk DFAS enjoyedlunch in the 14th-centurySwan Hotel, Lavenham, tomark its 25th anniversary inNovember. National ChairmanGri Harrison and SocietyChairman Jayne Blackwoodjoined the celebrations alongwith four founding membersof the Society.?STIRLING DFASStirling DFAS celebrated its20th Anniversary with a lunchin the Albert Hall, Stirling. ThePresident, the Countess ofMoray, Chairman RosemaryLeckie, and Vice Presidentand Founder ChairmanIsabella Strang all attended.After lunch, the festivitiescontinued with a poetryreading and music.?WEST SUSSEX DFASWest Sussex DFAS marked its40th anniversary withchampagne and canapés inthe gardens at Champs HillMusic Room. Members andguests enjoyed a talk byDavid Bowerman about his artcollection and were treated toa concert given by sopranoEmily Ward and pianist RobinDavies. Chairman BethDugan, National Chairman GriHarrison and ex-AreaChairman Jill Richardsonjoined the celebrations.ANNIVERSARIES£6k bursaryfor Northweststudent ofFine Arts Thanks to the generosity of theBrian Mercer Charitable Trust, theNADFAS Northwest Area is able tooffer a three-year Young Artsbursary to a promising local FineArts student.The bursary is open to Fine Artsundergraduates up to the age of26 who are studying at a universityin Cheshire, Lancashire,Merseyside or Greater Manchester(including associated colleges) andwho are progressing to an MA inFine Art in the Northwest with theintention of becoming a practisingartist. Participating universities willbe asked to nominate students forthe bursary by 31 March 2010.The successful student will receive£6,000 over a three-year period.The Fine Arts department wherethe student will study for an MAwill also receive £1,000. Threestudents who are runners-up willeach receive £500.For more details please contactChristine Davies, NW Area YoungArts Representative, by email onchristinemdavies@aol.com. Haslemere DFASrewards pupils'work at festivalHaslemere DFAS donated funds to sponsorfour Junior Art prizes in a new competition atthe Vivartis Autumn Art Festival at KingEdward's School, Witley, Surrey. The festival showcases the work of over 300professional and amateur artists, and this year,for the first time, the work of local schools. The school grounds provided the setting fora sculpture trail created with the SurreySculpture Society. A variety of media and stylesgives the exhibition its unique appeal and thiswas evident in the winning paintings: SophieFigueiredo of St Hilary's Exploding Tomatoesand Nick Medcraft of Yateley Manor's TheSheep. The runners-up were Lily Mendonca ofSt Ives and Annabel Fraser of Highfield.Members attended a private view and informaltalk by Evelyn Phillips, the Festival Director.The success of the evening means HDFAS willsponsor the competition again this year.