I was honored when the British Society of Bookbinders invited me to be a presenter at their 2009 conference in Warwick, England, and even more pleased to learn how many friends would be attending. Arriving at Manchester Airport, I was picked up by my colleague, fellow paper engineer and teacher Paul Johnson and whisked off to a historic site nearby, Little Moreton Hall, a beautiful timber framed structure not changed from the 16th century.
I stayed with his family that evening, and the next day we drove to the conference for three days filled with demonstrations and talks on books, bookbinding, conservation, and (of course) pop-ups. The conference ended with a very successful dinner and auction to help support the Society.
From there, ten of us headed north to Dominque Riley and Michael Burke’s home in the Lake District near Ulverston. What a treat! We spent a day and a half exploring the environs, visiting pubs, a tannery, gardens, and a bobbin mill.
That evening was a party, with slide presentations and a pot luck dinner. Bookbiners David Sellars, Don Glaister, Yehuda Miklaf, Michael Burke, and Dominique Riley here look over a display of their bindings.
It was the perfect trip: a combination of work, play, travel, and meeting up with many old and new friends.