Celebrating expertise and dedication at our Summer Working Party

We are delighted to recognise Lynn Mathias, a brick and flint specialist, as the winner of the Anthony Goode Award. 

This Award is presented every summer at our Working Party to the person who best embodied the Working Party spirit – a warm mixture of generosity, dedication and enthusiasm – which allows a group of amazing people to work and learn together for a week to repair a historic building. 

The late Anthony Goode was a talented craftsman, a great SPAB supporter and he never missed a Working Party. After Anthony died in 2018, craftsperson Joe Orsi created an award to honour him, formed from Anthony’s pointing irons.  

This year the Award was awarded to Lynn Mathias. Lynn is a brick and flint specialist based in Bedfordshire. He’s worked in this trade for over 30 years and is a tutor at West Dean College.  Lynn is an expert and a brilliant teacher, and under his guidance volunteers got the chance to try brick gauge repairs on the historic garden walls at Boxley Abbey.

Lynn says: “To receive the award in Anthony’s memory is such a privilege as he really was a SPAB legend. To stand with previous winners Brit Harwood and John Russell is also extremely humbling. I just enjoy interacting with volunteers at Working Parties and doing my best at being a lantern bearer for keeping traditional crafts alive.  I would like to think I would be doing Anthony proud and keep his legacy living on for many years to come.”