This project is part of the "Timber Culture in Europe" network, coordinated with the Council of Europe, in which participants from Sweden, Finland, Lithuania, Poland, France, Rumania and Turkey have been involved to date. Timber framers from Great Britain and Norway are invited to attend the forthcoming meeting in Normandy for the first time. Similar events have already been carried out in Rumania and Lithuania in 2001, and in Sweden and Finland, earlier this year.

    The aim is to bring together experts from the participating countries and to introduce them to a particular national timber construction heritage, along with introducing them to examples by taking them to the sites where restoration work is currently being carried out, especially on the timber architectural heritage. Aimed to be both the theoretical and practical, the exchange will allow delegates, made up of an architect (or a heritage adviser), and two carpenters, or practitioners, bringing their own professional tools, to exchange, share and test one another's methods in situations carefully chosen for their technical interest. French participation will involve an important partnership between all the sectors related to the national built heritage and the wood sector. Meetings with young trainees from French secondary schools will also be part of the scheme, both during seminars, and on the working sites, such as the European site of the Beaumont Farm where people will be welcome during the heritage open days.

Foreiqn guests:
Each foreign country is invited to send a team of three experts (an architect, or a heritage adviser, and two carpenters). In total, 21 to 24 foreign guests are expected - carpenters are asked to bring their professional tools with them.

French participants:
DAPA: the historical monuments monitoring service (Yves Lescroart);
The Upper Normandy CRMH (M.C. de la Conté).
The heritage multi-media library (Jean-Daniel Pariset);
The Historic Monuments Research Centre (Patrick Hofsummer);
Dominique Mouffle (Chief architect of the Historic Monuments);
The Seine-Maritime and Eure departmental Services for Architecture.
Technical partners: professional lycées of Envermeu (BEP Carpentry), Mesnières en Bray, George Lanfry, Mont-Saint-Aignan (BEP Carpentry).
C.N.D.B. (Normandy National Wood Net)
With the participation of Carpenter historical building companys (Desperrois, Leduc, Lanfry)

Provisional programme/time-table (14-22 September 2002):

14/09: Arrive in Roissy; spend night in Rouen (Regional Council)

15/09:
am: Welcome from the Mayor of Rouen, visit of Rouen (led by Yves Lescroart from the SDA, planning workshop and contribution from the Tourist Board).
pm: Public seminar about the European heritage (at a venue in Rouen).

Spend night in Rouen (Regional Council)

16/09: Visit of the Angivna Compagnons's (Journeyman's Guild) headquarters (lunch there); visit of sites of on-going work in Rouen and of the Valois rope factory; travel to Beaumont Farm.

17/09: Presentation of the Beaumont site; setting-up of the various workshops (new wood quartering/squaring, wood selection; grafting, propping-up, alignment of plan elements).

18/09: Workshops - forge/ironworks, cleaving shingles, lead jointing, hewing/carving.

19/09: Visit to the Pays de Caux, Ermenouville, Pont-Audemer, St.Sulpice, Manor of Pipardière.

20/09: Beaumont workshop;

21/09: Beaumont workshop; public visiting; meeting with the Historic Monuments Association.

22/09: Beaumont workshop; public visiting; experience sharing; closing session.

23/09: Depart-Normandy - Return to Roissy

For further information, please contact:
François Calame, coordinator
Phone: 00 332 32 08 1984 - mob: 00 336 64 26 77 86
e- mail: francois.calame@culture.gouv.fr

Looking forward to meeting you.
Yours sincerely,

Sylviane TARSOT - GILLERY
Directrice Regioale des Affaires
Culturell de Haute-Normandie

Direction Régionale des Affaires Culturelles
de Haute Normandie
Cité administrative - 2 rue Saint-Sever - 76 000 ROUEN, France

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