Last week I had the wonderful opportunity to visit the Teesside Archive in Middlesbrough and speak with conservator Helen Kendall (ACR) about some conservation/preservation techniques, as well as have a tour of the building and archive store.
I’d been having several practical issues while consolidating degrading leather bindings of the Past Caring Project. Some of the bindings are covered in full leather, bound with the flesh side out (also called reverse leather). During the application of a consolidant to help reduce powdering, the consolidant mixture was occasionally leaving brush marks on the leather, even after drying. I reached out to some conservators in the area to see if anyone had a similar experience, hoping to receive some tips and tricks to help reduce the undesired effects. Through this, I met Helen, who is also working series of reverse leather bindings.
One of my favourite little bits of the tour was seeing a series of picturesque wooden slide boxes in one of the strongrooms.
Helen also showed me around the conservation space, which among many things, houses a large upright light box and an freestanding press.
Helen demonstrated her technique for consolidation and we talked about methods for protecting the binding after the treatment, which I found very helpful to see in person.
I will be certainly applying some of the techniques to the Past Caring Project work.
Thank you to Helen Kendall and the Teesside Archive for the day, it was a lovely opportunity to visit and speak with another North Yorkshire conservator.
For more information on the Teesside Archive:
https://www.middlesbrough.gov.uk/leisure-events-libraries-and-hubs/teesside-archives
Images: Tiffany Eng Moore
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