AGM 15th May 2019

Minutes of the Annual General Meeting held on Wed. 15th May, 2019

Present:  Shirley Moore (Chair), O Hawkes, Janice Lane, Margaret Share, Liz Stewart-Smith,  Molly Wright, Pauline Cooper, Ann Haskins,  Ann Hough, Brian Lister, Sylvia Peace, Margaret Smith, and Margaret Woodhead.

A minute’s silence was observed in memory of Mike Smith and Mac Mumford, two stalwart members of the Historical Society, who had died recently.  Mary Jennings represented the Historical Society at Mike’s funeral which coincided with the meeting.

Min. 1.   Apologies for absence were received from Diane Roker, Elspeth Lindsey, Mary Jennings, Sue Stone, and Laurie Patterson.

Min. 2.   Minutes of the meeting held on Wed. 16th May, 2018.  Copies of the minutes had been issued and accepted as a true record.  Proposer:  Liz Stewart-Smith; Seconder:  Brian Lister.

Min. 3.  Matters arising from the Previous Minutes.  See Chair’s report.

Min. 4.           Chair’s Report.

Shirley referred to the past year which had been very busy.  In addition to regular meetings, O. Hawkes had updated the news items and additional information was added to the website, including the Remembrance Day Parade, the unveiling of the monument to commemorate the ending of WW1 (which comes complete with a video of the ceremony), also photos of the fly-past on the way to honour the American Airmen whose plane crashed in Sheffield.

Exhibitions have been provided for the Library and St Mary’s Church, also the Friendship club.  These included the Village Fire Brigade, the Coming of the Postal Service to Edwinstowe, Village Football Teams, photos and information relating to local men who died in WW1.

Molly and Shirley had represented the Historical Society at the official re-opening of the Library after the refurbishment. In response to a request from the RSPB the Society had provided photos and information for the notice boards being placed in the forest while the old Visitor Centre was being demolished.  Business cards had been printed with contact information and members were issued with data-protection details.

Committee members had been invited to a meeting with the Thoresby Archive group to share historical information and photographs, which had been beneficial to both parties.

Shirley continued to say that a large deposit of photos, slides and documents had been received from the staff of the Old Visitor Centre.

The sale of the Edwinstowe Christmas cards proved very successful and plans are in hand for similar cards for next Christmas. In the meantime notelets and birthday cards are for sale. At this point Shirley recorded thanks to Richard for selling books and cards in his shop at the Craft Centre.

Following a request from the newly formed Edwinstowe Merry Women WI for a talk on the history of the Edwinstowe WI, O. Hawkes and Margaret had produced a power-point presentation which will be shown to the Group at their meeting on Tues. 16th July.  In fact, that production will be shown at the June meeting of the Historical Society.

O. Hawkes had been successful in obtaining a grant of £200 from Newark & Sherwood District Council towards a plaque commemorating Christopher Thompson which will be placed outside the Old Library on High Street.  Shirley continued to say that with support from the Historical Society Richard Neely, Church Warden, had been successful in obtaining a grant from the Parish Council towards a plaque relating to the Bellamy Alms Houses, which were originally situated at the cross roads where the War Memorial now stands.  It was hoped to unveil both plaques in September.

There have been 18 website enquiries from individuals around the country requesting information often regarding family members.  Recently a request had been received from a curator at the Bodleian Library, Oxford, for any information available on George Aldrich who lived in Cockglode House in 1776. A painting of George Aldrich is to be featured in the channel 4 programme “Lost Treasures” later in the summer.

Information had been sent to the Sherwood Forest Trust reminding them of the history of the wetland area by the River Maun, also the background to the sponsored oak tree planting next to the village cemetery.

Shirley acknowledged how hard the committee had worked during the year, and had received many congratulations on the amount of information on the website.  She then thanked Liz for finding speakers, with a thank–you to her husband, Robin, for his eye-catching posters.  Thanks were expressed to Molly for keeping her on track and for providing detailed reports to the local press which helped to attract interest in the Society.  Janice received thanks for keeping her eyes on the finances which had expanded to include handling grant money, purchasing plaques, selling cards and books.

Min. 5.             Treasurer’s Report

Janice presented the accounts for the 12 months’ ending 31st March, 2019.  The accounts held with Santander Bank and the Mansfield Building society had been closed and the balances transferred to the NatWest Bank current account bringing the total assets of the Society to £4,199.52.  The financial position of the Society had benefited from the income from the sales of books published by the Society (£264.50), and sales of our own Christmas cards (£230.94). Magazine sales totalled £19.50.   Donations have been received from individuals and combined with those for the refreshments and raffles (£61.72) provided a useful source of funds. Annual subscriptions amounted to £300.00, whilst those from visitors amounted to £105.00.

In spite of a general increase in the fees charged by invited speakers (£221.20) the overall cost for the year was lower than the previous year thanks to the presentations given by Shirley, Olwen and Margaret at no cost to the Society.

Costs associated with maintaining the website i.e. the renewal of the website security certificate and the domain name (£38.98).  Other costs included:  Room Hire (£143.00);  N.L.H.A. subs (£15.00), Notts Historian Magazine (£23.22); Ink cartridges (£54.47);  Velcro & laminating pouches (£34.87);  Printing of Christmas cards (£65.00).  In conclusion Janice was pleased to report that the society is in a good financial position and well able to cover its costs and obligations.

Min. 6. Election of Officers

All the Committee members agreed to serve for another year.  Chair:  Shirley Moore; Vice-Chair and Website Co-ordinator: O Hawkes;  Treasurer:  Janice Lane; Secretary: Molly Wright;  Speaker Finder:  Liz Stewart-Smith;  and Margaret Share.

Proposer:  Pauline Cooper;  Seconder:  Brian Lister.

Min. 7. Talks for 2019/20.

Liz named the speakers booked for 2019/20 as follows:  September – Chris Booth “Lancashire, Derbyshire and East Coast Railway”;  October – Andy Gaunt “Sherwood Forest Outlaws and Villains”;  November – Chris Weir “Mysteries of Nottinghamshire”;  February – Pete Smith “Rufford Abbey”;  March – Sam Glasswell “Pilgrim Links – Mayflower Celebrations”;  April – Bob Massey “Skegness”.

Min. 8. Any Other Business

  1. Refreshments.  In response to a request for help serving refreshments at the meetings, Pauline Cooper and Sylvia Peace volunteered for the duty. Their help was gratefully accepted.
  2. Combined Programme and Membership Card. Shirley explained that in future the Programme would also act as a Membership Card.

On behalf of those present, Margaret Share gave a vote of thanks to Shirley for the amount of time and diligent work that she devoted to the Society.

Following the business of the meeting, members enjoyed a power-point presentation given by O. Hawkes, Shirley and Margaret about the Women’s and Men’s Bowling Clubs in the village. The bowling greens, sited in the centre of the village, were opened by the Bolsover Colliery Company in 1932. With the decline in membership they closed in 2017.

Now that the Bowls Club has folded, and if grants are available, it is the current intention to create a Community Park with seating and planting so that it remains an open space and an asset to the community.

-oOo-