Something Old, Something New, Something Less Controversial,
Future Taxis, Some Worrying Signs, Something Sporty,
Trivial Pursuits and Habitat Boost
REPORT
By Miles Shepherd
Executive Advisor & International Correspondent
Salisbury, England, UK
INTRODUCTION
It’s a bit of a mixed bag this month as we are in the midst of the political silly season with the Party Conferences dominating the headlines. Nonetheless, I can bring you news of a long running project completion, some new projects and some sporting projects, and so on with the report.
SOMETHING OLD
Cathedral from the East – prior to completion Image: PAMedia
On 7 September, the East Gable of Salisbury Cathedral was blessed to mark the end of the restoration and repair work. This is a home-based project for me – I can see the Cathedral from my office window, so I had to report that this long-running project is complete.
Press reports claim this is the culmination of four decades of work on the historic cathedral but we have heard that before. Shortly after we moved here, the Prince of Wales (now King Charles III) came to close out the original project, scaffolding was removed and the appeal closed. A touch premature, we thought at the time, and so it proved as this latest project began in 1986. Anyway you look at it, there will be no scaffolding around the 13th Century building for the first time in decades.
Workers have been making their mark since the work began in 1986, chiselling out new carvings for masons of the future to discover. These include a carving a delicate baby dragon, a gecko, a bird in a nest, a sunflower and a ferret. “It’s a culmination of 37 years’ worth of work which has brought us to this moment,” said Gary Price, the cathedral Clerk of Works.
Clerk of works Gary Price inspects a new figure Image: PAMedia & BBC
“We have gone round and photographed, cleaned, pointed every single stone during the last 37 years. “We’ve worked our way clockwise around the building and we’re finishing where they started the cathedral over 803 years ago, so it’s quite fitting.”
During these works, around 1,100 stones have been replaced, the windows have been cleaned, wooden frames restored, lead water goods repaired, and other remedial work has been undertaken over a period of 37 years, almost as long as it took to build the main Cathedral.
Although this project is complete, work continues and masons have now moved on to the North Cloisters, where they will spend the next four years restoring elaborately carved tracery and Purbeck columns, bases and capitals that have split.
SOMETHING NEW
September saw the decision to approve a deeply controversial project – the opening of a new oil field in the North Sea. The Rosebank Oil Field drilling has been condemned by environmental campaigners but hailed by supporters as a big step in bolstering the UK’s energy security. Critics, on the other hand, said it would harm climate change targets and not reduce bills
More…
To read entire report, click here
How to cite this report: Shepherd, M. (2023). Project Management Roundup from the UK, report, PM World Journal, Vol. XII, Issue X, October. Available online at https://pmworldlibrary.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/pmwj134-Oct2023-Shepherd-UK-Regional-Report.pdf
About the Author
Miles Shepherd
Salisbury, UK
Miles Shepherd is an executive editorial advisor and international correspondent for PM World Journal in the United Kingdom. He is also managing director for MS Projects Ltd, a consulting company supporting various UK and overseas Government agencies, nuclear industry organisations and other businesses. Miles has over 30 years’ experience on a variety of projects in UK, Eastern Europe and Russia. His PM experience includes defence, major IT projects, decommissioning of nuclear reactors, nuclear security, rail and business projects for the UK Government and EU. His consulting work has taken him to Japan, Taiwan, USA and Russia. Past Chair and Fellow of the Association for Project Management (APM), Miles is also past president and chair and a Fellow of the International Project Management Association (IPMA). He was, for seven years, a Director for PMI’s Global Accreditation Centre and is immediate past Chair of the ISO committee developing new international standards for Project Management and for Program/Portfolio Management. He is currently Chairman of the British Standards Institute project management committee. He was involved in setting up APM’s team developing guidelines for project management oversight and governance. Miles is based in Salisbury, England and can be contacted at miles.shepherd@msp-ltd.co.uk.
To view other works by Miles Shepherd, visit his author showcase in the PM World Library at http://pmworldlibrary.net/authors/miles-shepherd/.
