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I must start my column this month with sad news. April proved to be the toughest of months and became a bit of an emotional rollercoaster. News reached IIMS Head Office of the death of two long-standing Institute Honorary Fellows. Peter Morgan and John Excell passed away within a week of each other early in April. Both men have left their mark on the Institute. This unwelcome news rocked my colleagues and me, as well as some members too. I have devoted space in this news bulletin to the obituaries of both men and to showcase their professional achievements. As a surveyor remarked to me recently, “The graveyards are full of people the world could not do without”. On further examination, it is true. With the passing of these two individuals goes a wealth of knowledge and experience.
On a far lighter note, our head office building, Murrills House, has been under siege from builders, decorators and window installers for the past few weeks as renovations have got into full swing. Work to replace the windows is well advanced. The new hand-built frames and sash windows have been installed, but not without some drama. The final two windows to be replaced are situated at the front of the building. It became clear as work started that the two old wooden lintels were in a desperate state of repair, rotten enough to potentially bring the front of the building down. I saw the wet rot in the one-hundred-year-old plus wooden lintels, and they were an appalling mess. The window openings had to be propped whilst new steel lintels were inserted. The image shows installation nearing completion!