I had just got back from a trip to London to visit the librarian of the regiment of the Coldstream Guards in Wellington barracks.
He had explained that the Officers mess backgammon board was in need of repair, which was a dramatic understatement.
The board had spent its life in many climates as the regiment moved around the world, it is this cycling of temperature and humidity that causes adhesives of the type used in its construction to break down.
The glue that held it together had long since dried out and the component parts of the board had simply fallen away as the adhesive broke down and crumbled.
The leather was a sheepskin skiver; this type of very thin leather has been used for a long time in making leather goods and stationery items.
There were the two halves of the box which were hinged and in quite good condition, plus two single pieces which fitted to the insides of the two halves.
They were very fragile due to the familiar light and dark triangles of the pattern of the board being mounted on a thin card made from strawboard, which is a terrible material, a walking acid bomb.
The box itself was in quite good condition, scuffed at the corners and worn as you would expect a century or so old sheepskin item to be; I suspect it had led a sheltered life in the officer's mess.
Along the inside edges of the box had been strips of thin wood covered in sheepskin skiver; these had been added to cover up the joins where the sides and edges of the box met.
All the problems with regard serious deterioration of the leather had been caused by the strawboard layer on which had been mounted the sheepskin triangular pattern.
Strawboard is a very nasty material to come up against in this context; it is full of acid and impurities which migrate into materials they are placed against.
All I could do was to remove this crumbling layer of plant acid; I did so patiently, it was a very tedious job, done with a thin spatula.
Eventually I had the leather free from the straw board, I loathe this material, and it is still being made today.
I mounted the patterned part of the board onto a sheet of alkaline buffered board, the idea being that what residual acids were still in the leather would be neutralised by the alkaline reserve in the board Re-assembly of the parts was a simple job, the inside patterned pieces were glued back into place, likewise the leather covered edging.
When the box had been reassembled it was given a very good leather dressing, likewise the insides of the box and the edges.
It looked just fine and is now back in the officer's mess where it belongs.