• A full weekend of demonstrations viewed live and displayed on large screens
• Attractive and accessible venue Residential or day booking
• Hewits in attendance to supply all your needs
• Bookbinding videos and slide presentations
• Visits to the college library to view its collection of rare antiquarian books
• Book surgery/forum - bring along your problem books. A panel of experts will offer solutions and invite discussion at an informal get together after dinner on Saturday, chaired by David Lanning or John Pursey, J. Hewit & Sons.

Lester Capon - well known bookbinder and teacher will demonstrate rebacking a leather bound book and look at a number of related aspects and solutions.

John Jameson - Cotswold Bookbinders, invites members to bring books needing rebacking/restoring so that some can be selected to be repaired free of charge during the weekend to demonstrate a variety of restoration techniques.

Bookbinding Forum By Lester Capon & John Jameson - Sharing with many bookbinders concern at the loss of bookbinding courses I felt I should like to join with other interested people in trying to provide a way of sharing knowledge of our craft. We obviously cannot replace properly structured courses, (this problem is being tackled nationally by our societies) but by co-operation, maybe in some small way we can bridge that gap. Until the re-emergence of full time bookbinding courses it is necessary to provide the student or amateur with a selection of demonstrations and workshops.

As most people's free time is limited, our events must be limited in subject matter. With the encouragement of J. Hewit & Sons, we have put together this book restoration weekend, which we hope will be the first in a series of weekend demonstrations on a variety of aspects of bookbinding at this and other venues.

The theme of the first such venture is book restoration as we felt that was the topic which would be of most interest to the majority of amateur bookbinders. You don't have to be a member of any bookbinding society to attend. It's available to anyone who is interested.

We sympathise with students today who are finding their options very limited. I also know that there is a vast army of bookbinders out there who would welcome the chance to meet their fellows at an informal event and discuss common problems.

We are aiming to provide a weekend crammed full of demonstrations, videos, slide presentations with the highlight on the Saturday evening being the "Forum". This will take the format of a light-hearted 'Question Time' but instead of David Dimbleby, David Lanning or John Pursey will be in the chair and there will be more input from the audience! Should be fun but instructive as well! Bookbinders will be invited to raise questions on any restoration matter, bring their problem books to be analysed by the panel in search of solutions etc. Everyone will be able to join in discussions in relaxed atmospheres in the comfortable surroundings of an oak- panelled room in the old wing of the Royal Agricultural College.

We have decided on the format being a series of demonstrations so that we can cover as much ground as possible for as many people as possible. It also relieves us of the problem of providing equipment for everyone. Clearly a hands on workshop would not be really practicable.

The idea is that we share as much knowledge as possible at a weekend event, which does not invade the working week. We want to make the events as accessible as possible, affordable and held at a time that will not encroach on your working week.

The Conference Centre
Royal Agricultural College, Cirencester, Gloucestershire

Lester Capon - Started bookbinding at Camberwell School of Art and Crafts in 1975. He trained under and worked for James Brockman for 15 years. He ran the full, and part-time courses at Guildford College from 1993 - 2000. Lester is currently a self-employed bookbinder, conservator, restorer, and teaches part time at City Lit. Institute, London.

John Jameson - John has been trading under the name of Cotswold Bookbinders for 12 years and is mainly involved with restoration and rebinding. He enjoys working alone but also gains satisfaction from the whole cycle of meeting the customer, discussing the work entailed, carrying it out then returning the finished book to its owner. "The thanks you get is like applause to an actor! " Over the years he has attended courses at Brunel College, Bristol, Guildford College and the London College of Printing. He is currently running a series of bookbinding workshops at Cirencester, Frome, Wimborne and Cwmbran. "I enjoy passing on my skills and showing others the satisfaction which can be had from bookbinding."