Walks & Talks
Every year we run at least one Walk & Talk where a small group of us visit a location with interesting stained glass. A guide is on hand to talk about the windows. The day is informal and relaxed, with our members sharing lifts between venues, if required. Previous Walks & Talks have included visits to Eton, St Albans, The Barbican, Lincoln, Northamptonshire and a visit to see the wonderful Harry Clarke glass at Ashdown Park. If you would like to organise one in your area, please contact Andrew Taylor walk&talk@bsmgp.org.uk
Lead Casting and Milling at Salisbury Cathedral
Lead Casting and Milling at Salisbury Cathedral
A one day event dedicated to the manufacture and use of lead calmes in stained glass set in the inspiring surroundings of Salisbury Cathedral’s stained glass conservation workshop. Organised by the Conservation Working Group in association with Sam Kelly.
Sam Kelly ACR AMGP will share his working knowledge of traditional lead craft and current practice. Sam has worked in stained glass for 40 years, starting as an apprentice in 1977, becoming an Associate of the British Society of Master Glass Painters in the 1980s and later an Accredited member of ICON (The Institute of Conservation).
In the morning participants will receive an introduction to the use of lead calmes in stained glass, and the safety implications of working with lead. Next attendees will be able to observe close up as Sam goes through the whole process whilst explaining materials, equipment and techniques that he has developed over a long career at Salisbury.
After Lunch the day will continue with a guided walking tour and open discussion of the cathedral stained glass focusing on interesting or challenging lead work.
The day is primarily aimed at practicing stained glass artists, conservators and leaded light craftspeople who are interested in learning the traditional method for casting and milling lead calmes within a practicing conservation workshop. It is also open to those interested in allied heritage buildings crafts.
The training day will lead to a broader understanding of the traditional process of making lead calmes through observation of the whole process: from lead casting, milling and further refinement of the lead calmes. Training will also cover health and safety for working with lead, the historical context of lead manufacture, and attendees will be able to examine and identify the different profiles and their uses.
As ever with our in-person events there will also be the opportunity to connect with like-minded colleagues, and share frustrations and successful approaches. Informal drinks are planned after the event. More details to follow.
This once common but now rarely seen craft process will be observed first-hand by participants and captured by videographer Alex J Wright for wider dissemination after the event.
Early bird tickets are £74.80 for members (£88 non-members) before 31 July. Thereafter £85 for members (£100 for non-members). Tickets are strictly limited so book early to avoid disappointment.
Meet 10am on Friday 4th Sept 2026 at Salisbury Cathedral Works.
Buy ticketsSketching in the City 2026
Sketching in the City 2026
Join Rachel Mulligan to sketch stained glass around the City of London in venues specially selected by Caroline Swash.
The City of London is known for outstanding post-war glass that replaced windows that were bomb-damaged during the Blitz. Caroline Swash FMGP has researched the area extensively. She has a long and distinguished career as a third-generation stained glass artist, educator and author.
Rachel Mulligan FMGP can regularly be seen with a sketchbook and watercolours in hand as she visually records windows. She will share tips and encouragement for this most absorbing way of studying our historic stained glass heritage.
We will start at Grays Inn Chapel to sketch a Christopher Whall window (11am-12noon). We will revisit St Etheldreda (which we loved last year) to see the stunning Eddy Nuttgens scheme (12-1pm). We will fit in a brief stop at St Nicolas Cole Abbey to see the Keith New windows (1-2pm). Lunch will be at St Mary Aldermary, where there is a cafe (2-3pm). Then on to our last site, St Mary le Bow, to sketch the remarkable John Hayward glass (3-4pm). We will then adjourn to Williamsons Tavern to review our sketches. All timings are approximate as we will be walking between sites.
The visits will be at a leisurely pace with time in each venue to sketch. It is an informal and friendly event designed to help build the stained glass community. Bring your own sketching materials and lunch. We look forward to sharing sketches, chat and stained glass enthusiasm.
Tickets are £17 for members (£20 non-members). Meet 11am on Friday 17 July at Grays Inn Chapel (nearest station Chancery Lane).
Image: Rebecca Bingham’s sketchbook from the Sketching in the City 2025 event
This event has passedSketching in the City
Sketching in the City
Join Andrew Taylor and Rachel Mulligan as they lead a sketching stained glass workshop around the City of London in venues specially selected by Caroline Swash.
The City of London is known for outstanding post-war glass that replaced windows that were bomb-damaged during the Blitz. Caroline Swash FMGP has researched the area extensively. She has a long and distinguished career as a third-generation stained glass artist, educator and author.
Andrew Taylor FMGP balances the demands of ecclesiastical stained glass commissions by taking time out to do pleinair painting. He loves the immediacy of capturing the changing light of local landscapes. He will demonstrate and share his methods (indoors), and hopes to capture the light of church interiors, filtering through stained glass, using traditional oil paints and easel. Rachel Mulligan FMGP can regularly be seen with a sketch book and watercolours in hand as she visually records windows. They will share tips and encouragement for this most absorbing way of studying our historic stained glass heritage.
The visits will be at a leisurely pace with time in each venue to sketch. It is an informal and friendly event designed to help build the stained glass community. Bring your own sketching materials and lunch.
Tickets are £17 for members (£20 non-members). We will meet at St Ethelreda’s, Ely Place, EC1N 6RY (note this is a different venue to previously advertised) at 11am on Saturday 9 August and end at the Hung Drawn and Quartered pub to compare sketches after the Walk & Talk. Places are now fully booked.
This event has passedStourbridge 10am Glass Blowing Demo
Stourbridge 10am Glass Blowing Demo
The Conservation Working Group are offering a unique and exciting opportunity to visit the Historic Glass Quarter of Stourbridge to watch a demonstration of traditional cylinder flat-glass making with Blowfish Glass at the Red House Cone. This technique of creating mouth-blown window glass has been used for centuries. The Group are focussing this year on the risks threatening the stained glass community. Sadly, 2023 has seen “stained glass window making (historic)” added to the Heritage Craft Association’s Red List of endangered crafts for the first time. The risk of traditional skills and knowledge being lost is something which artists and craft workers are keenly aware of. Traditional glass blowing is one such craft.
The demonstrations will be given by glass sculpture artist Elliot Walker (winner of the Netflix series ‘Blown Away’), and accredited conservator Laura Atkinson. They have been working on creating flat window glass, looking into preserving and evolving this art form for specialist use.
Participants will not only be treated to a live demonstration but will also have flexible entry to the Glass Museum and the Red Cone Museum. Stourbridge has been a major glassmaking center in Britain for over 400 years. The two museums explore this fascinating history and showcase a variety of glass objects.
There will also be an option of an afternoon guided canal walk. The Stourbridge Canal was built to transport coal from coal mines at Dudley to the fuel the kilns at Stourbridge, and to carry fragile glass to market. This chance to explore ‘the glass mile’ will follow the landscape which helped shape the glass industry into what it is today.
There are three ticket options available;
10am glass blowing demonstration, entry to both museums, guided canal walk.
12 noon glass blowing demonstration, entry to both museums, guided canal walk.
2:00 pm glass blowing demonstration, entry to both museums.
The 2pm tickets exclude the afternoon canal tour, so would suit people who can’t participate in the walking tour owing to reduced mobility, or who are unable to arrive in the morning. Holders of a 2pm ticket will be welcome to visit both museums all day.
Full price £75. Members £63.75. Student tickets are available at a reduced price of £55. Please contact kencomct@googlemail.com for more details. Students need to bring proof of their course on the day.
The formal event will finish at 16:30 pm but there will be a social event happening afterwards. Details will be shared with participants after booking.
For more information please contact Lizzy at bsmgpconservation@gmail.com
Saturday 19th August is a day not to miss!
This event has passedStourbridge 12 noon Glass Blowing Demo
Stourbridge 12 noon Glass Blowing Demo
Book 12 noon ticket here and see 10am ticket for full details.
Full price £75. Members £63.75. Student tickets are available at a reduced price of £55. Please contact kencomct@googlemail.com for more details. Students need to bring proof of their course on the day.
For more information please contact Lizzy at bsmgpconservation@gmail.com
Saturday 19th August is a day not to miss!
This event has passedStourbridge 2pm Glass Blowing Demo
Stourbridge 2pm Glass Blowing Demo
Book 2pm ticket here and see 10am ticket for full details. Note that 2pm ticket is cheaper because it doesn’t include all the activities.
Full price £65. Members £55.75. Student tickets are available at a reduced price of £45. Please contact kencomct@googlemail.com for more details. Students need to bring proof of their course on the day.
For more information please contact Lizzy at bsmgpconservation@gmail.com
Saturday 19th August is a day not to miss!
This event has passedOxford Festival of the Arts
Oxford Festival of the Arts
We are delighted that our Centenary Touring Exhibition is on display at Christ Church Cathedral in Oxford as part of the Oxford Festival of the Arts from 24 June – 10 July.
You can join us in the afternoon on Tuesday 28 June for a Walk & Talk at Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford. We will be led by our expert guide, Peter Cormack.
Highlights of the tour include some remarkable 14th-century stained glass, Abraham van Linge’s extraordinary c.1630s window, Edward Burne-Jones’s early masterpiece, his 1859 St Frideswide window, as well as several fine windows made by Morris & Company. Some artists from the Centenary Touring Exhibition will be on hand to talk about their panels in the exhibition.
Tickets are £8.50 for members and their guests (£10 for non-members) and includes a guided tour of the Cathedral.
Meet at Tom Gate, Christ Church Cathedral at 1.30pm.
Spaces are strictly limited so book now to avoid disappointment.
This event has passedHarry Clarke at Ashdown Park
Harry Clarke at Ashdown Park
This year our Walks & Talks event on Wed August 14 (2pm-6pm) will be visiting just one location, but what a special one! The Ashdown Park Hotel houses eight windows by acclaimed Irish stained glass artist, Harry Clarke (1889-1931). Clarke designed the scheme which was made at the Glass House in 1925 for the former Chapel of Our Lady and St Richard, Convent of Notre Dame, now part of the hotel.
The extraordinary windows are full of exquisite detail and rich colours. This is a must-see for all Harry Clarke fans. The former Chapel also includes unusual abstract windows by John Hayward FMGP.
Tickets are £17 for members and their guests (£20 non-members) and includes talks by our guest speakers, Caroline Swash and Tony Benyon. Rachel Mulligan will be leading a sketching workshop for those interested in studying the artworks in more depth.
There is an option to have afternoon tea at the hotel for £26 (£48 for two) or a cream tea for £11.25 (please email your order to Andrew Taylor when booking but pay on the day). For those wishing to stay at the beautiful four-star Ashdown Park Hotel & Country Club for a mini-break, room start at around £150 a night which includes use of the Spa.
Please note that the event is now confirmed with the venue and will definitely proceed on 14th August.
This event has passedNews
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