February 2005

In response to popular demand (well, a little) I have decided to re-institute Phil’s previous practice of posting regular updates on the ASCY website. I know that many members, particularly those based outside London, see these as a useful way of keeping in touch with the Society’s day-to-day activities.

This posting consists of a review of goings-on since the November meeting. I’ll try and issue future updates on a monthly basis, but I won’t make any rash promises! As always, I’d welcome your feedback, positive or otherwise.

November was a huge learning curve for the new Secretary. The stream of good wishes in the days following the meeting was soon overtaken by a welter of e-mails from Phil attaching template letters, spreadsheets, databases, practice schedules, past Agendas and Minutes, pictures of the Society’s mace and much more. A trip to Beckenham yielded a bootful of ties, History books, rule books, blank membership certificates, more past Minutes, stationery and miscellaneous correspondence and papers (and a delicious supper - thanks, Phil). The rest of November was spent trying to understand the technology and re-organising the spare bedroom to accommodate all the paraphernalia!

One of the November highlights was the Ringers’ Advent Carol Service at Cripplegate, expertly organised by Gwen Rogers. A ringers’ choir was assembled under the direction of Anne Marsden Thomas (the Director of Music at Cripplegate), including a good contingent of Society members and with the virtuoso Mark Jones at the organ. The service was followed by the London Ringers’ Social at the Red Herring, which is always a good opportunity for the London ringing societies to mix, make merry and exchange views.

November also brought news of a temporary halt to ringing at Cornhill. A steeplejack’s inspection had revealed that the pinnacles on top of the tower were in an extremely dangerous condition and needed emergency repairs. The bells were eventually out of action for 5 weeks, which meant having to re-arrange two Tuesday practices - never an easy task in December, when the Church diaries are very full. Fortunately Bow and St Sepulchre came up trumps for us. As always, our thanks go to the incumbents for willingly allowing us to practise on their bells, and to the Tower Secretaries for making it happen.

December saw the Society pick up its first piece of silverware under its new Master (Simon Linford) at the Birmingham Eisteddfod. This splendid event was arranged in memory of John McDonald, a proud Society member and a leading light in Birmingham ringing for many years. The Society’s band, guided by Philip Saddleton, rang a course of "Quick Six Triples" and was judged by the other participants to have produced the best ringing of the day. It was only later pointed out (by a member of one of the losing bands) that, strictly speaking, the Society’s entry did not comply with the contest rules, which required a "touch" to be rung. Despite this technicality, the band was allowed to keep its medals. Our thanks to the Senior Steward (Stef Warboys) for kindly donating hers to the Society.

Usually our December meeting is held away from the Counting House, to allow the room to be hired out to paying groups for pre-Christmas functions. However, because we had had to move the August and September meetings, the management kindly let us use our regular room free of charge. The meeting itself was fairly uneventful, once the new Master and Secretary had got to grips with a few basic points of procedure. Andrew Graham and Andrew Keech were elected as Independent Examiners for 2005, the latter replacing Tony Bloomfield who has served the Society well for a number of years. We will need to find another new candidate next year, as Andrew Graham (another long-standing and loyal servant) has indicated that he does not wish to stand again.

Later in December we celebrated the Master’s wedding to another leading London ringer and Society member, Eleanor Kippin. The service at St Sepulchre (conducted by Past Master Brooke Lunn) was followed by a procession to the reception venue (the Counting House), to the sound of bells all the way; St Sepulchre itself, St Vedast, St Mary-le-Bow, Cornhill and the "tuneful" three at St Mary, Woolnoth. The reception featured a rousing rendition of Flanders and Swann’s "Hippopotamus Song" - a reference to Simon’s notorious hippo collection - and much eating, drinking and merriment all round.

The January meeting saw the presentation of Tower Officials’ reports. The Society provides a Tower Secretary and Steeplekeeper to each of St Mary-le-Bow, Cornhill, Cripplegate, St Sepulchre and St Lawrence Jewry, and they are required by the Society’s rules to present an annual report on their work. This year two items were worthy of note. First, the impressive amount of service ringing for which the Society is responsible at its towers, both on Sundays and midweek. Second, a little local difficulty at St Sepulchre, where the church has found it necessary to borrow over £13,000 from the Bell Fund (which is held by the PCC) to pay for its programme of building work, including the conversion of the flat at the west end of the church for commercial letting. The money will be replaced once the flat is income-producing, but meanwhile we will clearly need to put on hold any plans for major (non-urgent) maintenance work at St Sepulchre.

At the February meeting, we congratulated the Cambridge handbell band on their peal in 729 Minor methods - an astonishing achievement. We also received nominations to serve as Tower Officials. Mark Humphreys has tendered his resignation as Steeplekeeper at St Sepulchre; we thank him for his work over the last two years. Martin Cansdale has been nominated to take his place. All the other existing Tower Officials have been nominated for re-election.

One of the sad duties of the meeting is to record those members who have died. Since November we have lost Derek Jewell of Combe Martin in Devon, and Robert Lindsell of Braintree. Derek was a real character, and as well as being a proud Society member was closely associated with the OUS and the Appleton Dinner. He was remembered at the January meeting, with eloquent tributes from Andrew Stubbs, John Camp and Jim Phillips.

On a happier note, we have elected five new members; Andy Bradford, Ashley Fortey, Charles Herriott, Clyde Wallbanks and Jennie Butler. It is always pleasing when a candidate is able to attend his election meeting and it was particularly good to welcome Ashley, who had made the long journey from Herefordshire with his proposer and seconder, two old friends, Alan Bagworth and Martin Foster. We look forward to seeing all our new members at many Society events in future.

The other February highlight so far was last week’s dinner at the Hop Cellars to mark Phil Rogers’ retirement as Secretary. Over 60 members and guests attended, which is a sign of the Society’s gratitude and the esteem in which Phil is held. Tributes were paid to Phil in song ("Psalm 151", performed in "barber’s shop" style by a group of friends) and by John White, who served as Master for the first year of Phil’s term. It was a memorable occasion, and the tributes were well deserved. Phil will be a hard act to follow - as I am still finding out.

So what about the ringing? It is usual for each new Master to attract a wave of interest (or curiosity), and this year has been no exception. Attendances have been strong, and the standard of ringing generally good; the January practice at St Paul’s Cathedral was particularly pleasing. The Senior Steward ran two practices while the Master was away on honeymoon, and on 28 December we welcomed visitors from Reading and Guildford to our practice at St Mary-le-Bow.

The special method for the first two months was Phobos, and many of the regular attenders have taken the opportunity to learn and practice it. Since January the special method has been Orion, with Maypole being introduced as an "easier" option this month. An attempt to ring an extended touch of "cyclic" Spliced at the St Paul’s practice in February unfortunately foundered, but Simon is keen to repeat the experiment and to give as many people as possible the chance to progress to this level.

The level of attendance has prompted the decision to increase the number of Special practices in future. We had an extra Special at Jewry in January (when the main Special at Cornhill included 9 ringers from Towcester) and further Specials are planned at Jewry and Cripplegate in March. This week saw another innovation; a handbell Special, with several members braving the extreme cold of the St Paul’s Cathedral library to try their hands (for the first time or after a gap of many years) at Stedman Cinques and Bristol Maximus. The consensus was that this was an excellent idea, and the next handbell Special is planned for April.

That’s about all for now. Phil told me when I took over that January and February were quiet months for the Secretary, but I feel that I’ve been kept pretty busy so far! Mind you, I’m conscious that after six years Phil will have been carrying out many of the routine tasks on "autopilot", whereas I’m still very much flying on "manual". Plans are already in hand for the Informal Dinner in May, the UK05 tour and Country Meeting in August and the Anniversary Dinner in November, as well as a range of other events. We’ve also launched the review of the Officers’ responsibilities, as agreed at the September 2004 meeting; more on that next time...

Good ringing and best wishes to all,

John Hughes-D'Aeth

May 2005

Since my last update in February, the London branch of the Society has continued to be busy, both in the tower and out of it.

Overview

Ringing in March was focussed on preparing for the National 12-Bell Contest eliminator at Solihull. The band (plus a reserve) had a useful practice on the bells and also rang the test piece (a half course of Cambridge) several times at Tuesday night practices. On the day we produced a workmanlike performance and qualified comfortably, along with High Wycombe and St Paul’s who just edged out the unlucky Oxford band. We are now looking forward to the Final at Towcester on 25 June.

At the March meeting we duly elected our Tower Officials, who had been nominated in February. We also adopted the 2004 accounts, which provided the annual opportunity for us to thank the Treasurer (Andrew Stubbs) for his excellent stewardship of the Society’s finances and to question the value of the "pence box" which is passed round at every business meeting. Apparently it is intended to support members who have fallen on hard times, but it has not been called on to do so for at least 30 years and in all probability its original purpose has now been lost.

March also saw the re-dedication of the bells of St Mary’s, Beddington, a tower with which the Society has had close connections over many years. The Society was represented by Simon Linford and Chris Kippin, whose father Charlie was a member of the Beddington band in the 1930s. By all accounts it was a splendid occasion and our "official" presence was much appreciated.

The April meeting was again held at the Red Herring, the Counting House being closed for re-decoration (in Fullers’ corporate colours). We had a very full agenda and the meeting went on until 10.20 pm. The Peal Recorder (Philip Saddleton) presented his peal report for 2004, which always provides an interesting analysis of the Society’s peal ringing activities. This year’s table included details of the total number of changes rung by the leading individuals; not surprisingly, the Cambridge handbell band came out top on that score. We also authorised the expenditure of up to £7,000 to produce a revised and updated edition of Bill Cook’s History of the Society (it is hoped to have copies available for sale at UK05 and the Ringing Roadshow) and agreed an increase in the fee payable by new members to £30, with effect from 1 July 2005. Finally we adopted a consolidated and tidied up version of the Society’s Rules, incorporating the changes agreed since the last reprint in 1988.

The beginning of May saw the Informal Dinner, again held in one of our familiar haunts - Davy’s of Creed Lane. Just under 50 members and guests enjoyed the usual mix of decent food, good wine (or beer) and excellent company. A most convivial evening, as always.

At the May business meeting we welcomed John and Ina Owen, who presented a set of 12 handbells to the Society. John is a long-standing member of the Society, originally from South Wales but now living in North Carolina. We marked the occasion with a short touch of Stedman Cinques on the bells, and very pretty they were too. We have offered John and Ina a pair of tickets to the Anniversary Dinner as a small token of the Society’s gratitude. We are looking forward to putting the bells to good use in years to come.

The other major item of business at the May meeting was the tabling of the Review of Roles and Responsibilities of Officers and Officials, which had been commissioned in September 2004. David House (the Chairman of the Review Committee) is to be congratulated on an excellent report, which captures the range of views expressed by members in the recent consultation exercise. The Review is to be discussed at the June meeting and any member who would like a copy is welcome to contact me.

The following weekend saw another splendid occasion; the celebration at Southwark Cathedral to mark the centenary of the Diocese and the dedication of a new sharp 2^nd in memory of Jim Prior, a distinguished Past Master and Secretary of the Society. Many eminent members were there, including our senior Past Master John Chilcott, who defied his recent illness by calling the first touch on the new light eight. The sermon at the dedication service was preached in fine style by our good friend Brooke Lunn, and the day was rounded off with a delicious buffet in the Cathedral Refectory.

The rest of May (for me at least) has been spent preparing for our 100 all the work Spliced Surprise Major attempt (at Willesden next Monday) and putting the finishing touches to my first Newsletter. I would like to record my thanks to all those who have helped with this; Dickon Love for his IT input, Chris Rogers for making all the printing arrangements, the band of helpers who filled envelopes and not least my long-suffering wife Cathy, who sourced all the stationery and printed the labels and inserts (and put up with me throughout).

Elections and Deaths

We have elected 6 new members since the last update. One of these (my son Edward) obviously gave me particular pleasure and it was also good to elect Pleasance Purser, who has been Tower Captain at Wellington (New Zealand) for many years.

On a sadder note, we have recorded the passing of several senior members over the last three months. It is always invidious to single out individuals, but the loss of David Buckley at the early age of 58 came as a particular shock; he was a well-known figure in Somerset and elsewhere and had been a regular attender at Tuesday night practices during the 1980s. Most recently we have heard of the deaths of Ralph Edwards and Frank Price, two true giants of the Exercise who have both made a major contribution to ringing over the last 50 years or so. The June meeting is going to be a sombre one.

Ringing

Attendances at Tuesday practices have generally continued to be good, with one or two exceptions. The practices at Southwark in February and Cripplegate in April saw some particularly pleasing ringing, and Spliced has featured on most practice nights. There was also some enjoyable half-muffled ringing at Bow in Holy Week.

The focus method has been Zanussi, with Orion, Phobos and Maypole also remaining in the repertoire. A mixed band (with "tough guy" Roy le Marechal on the tenor) rang a very presentable quarter of Bristol at St Paul’s in March, and St Paul’s also saw a pleasing quarter of Zanussi rung on the April meeting night. Other Special practices have been held at Jewry (Glasgow, a first for one of our up and coming young members, Adam Crocker), St Sepulchre (cyclic Spliced) and Cornhill (Stedman, sadly unsuccessful). We have also held our second handbell Special, which again gave several (relative) novices the chance to try their hands at Bristol Maximus.

Striking Competitions

One of the features of 2005 so far has been the plethora of striking competitions in which Society bands have been involved. Apart from the National 12-Bell Contest mentioned above, two new ones have been introduced into the calendar.

The first was a two-legged "grudge match" with our great rivals, the Cumberlands. This took place over two evenings; the first (at Southwark) saw "head to head" contests on 6 and 12 bells, with the 8 and 10 bell shoot-outs held at Shoreditch a couple of weeks later. Honour was preserved on both sides as each evening finished 1-1, the Society winning the 6 and 10 bell contests. However, we were able to claim a moral victory as our bands contained 36 different people, drawn from the most regular attenders at Tuesday practices, whereas the Cumberlands could only muster 30. More importantly, the two evenings provided an excellent forum for members of the two Societies to mix and socialise; a good time was had by winners and losers alike.

The second new contest takes place this coming Saturday (21 May) and is an all-Society affair. Representative ASCY bands from across the country have been invited to take part in a knock-out event on the glorious 12 at Evesham. Some of them (including mine, representing the Cambridge University Guild) are taking the event seriously and have been practising hard; others less so. All we need now is for the sun to shine!

Consorting with the Brummies

Members of the Society have played a major part in the celebrations to mark the 250^th anniversary of the St Martin’s Guild (Birmingham). A large ASCY contingent attended the Henry Johnson Dinner in the magnificent setting of the Council House in Birmingham in February, where Paul Mounsey proposed the health of the Guild in fine style. The Society was also well represented on the Guild’s trip to Perth in April, which included several Society peals and an "alternative" Tuesday practice (including local members and visitors) at the Swan Tower. Reports suggest that there is a growing body of talented and enthusiastic members in Perth, which is great news. We look forward to welcoming some of them on the UK05 tour in August.

Conclusion

As will be seen, there is a lot going on. The discipline of monthly updates is clearly beyond me, and so I propose for the time being to issue updates on a quarterly basis. The next one will be in early September, after the Country Meeting and UK05 tour.

September 2005

It has been another hectic few months since my last update.  We are still recovering from the exertions of UK05, the Roadshow and Peal Weekend; but more of those later.

Striking contests

Unfortunately the sun didn’t shine on the all-Society striking competition at Evesham on 21 May.   Indeed, at one point the rain was lashing down so hard on the roof of the conservatory where the judges were sitting that they could hardly hear the bells!  However, this did not in any way detract from a thoroughly enjoyable day.  Needless to say, the Birmingham band came out on top in the knock-out format, but only after winning a controversial split decision against the CUG team in the semi-final (at least, that’s how we saw it).  The “Master’s Invitation XI” (actually there were 12 of them) came a creditable second.  Everyone there agreed that the event had been highly successful, and we are planning to repeat it in 2007.

As for the National 12-Bell Contest at Towcester, the Society’s band again rang creditably but could only manage third place, behind the Brummies (inevitably) and the local band, who were understandably delighted with their best-ever second place finish.  We will have to see what we can do to raise our game for next year’s contest at Worcester Cathedral; the challenge of those tough bells may suit us.

Four in a day and other madness

The centrepiece of peal-ringing activity in June was the attempt by a band of 12 mad souls to ring peals of Maximus at the Society’s four 12-bell towers - Cripplegate, Bow, St Sepulchre and Cornhill - in the same day.  Some sceptics had said it couldn’t be done, and at times we wished we’d listened to them!  Simon’s quote after Peal 3 captured the mood well: “If you ever again hear me say “I’ve got a good idea”, you have permission to shoot me”.  The final peal at Cornhill was a real test of will, but we battled through, with Andrew Mills an inspiration on the tenor.

June also saw the Cambridge handbell band rewrite the record books again, this time with a peal in 1053 Minor methods.  The boys are currently in training for an October attempt at 72,000 Minor (100 extents), which would eclipse all previous records and will be an astonishing feat of endurance and concentration if successful.  All we have to worry about is how to fit these multi-method peals in the Society’s Peal Book!

The focus in July was on a series of peal weekends around the country, as part of the Master’s effort to ring peals with as many Members as possible during his year in office.  Successful weekends were held in Scotland (organised by Mike Clay), Manchester (arranged by Jeff Brannan) and the Channel Islands, where Simon lived for several years in the 1990s.

Australia, New Zealand and UK05

Your secretary spent the first half of August on an enjoyable (if hectic) ringing tour in Australia and New Zealand.  We were made most welcome wherever we went and were pleased to meet and ring with many Society members, including Ian Harris and David Knewstub in Perth, David Bleby (thanks for the splendid barbecue) and Fred Smeaton (70 years a member and still ringing at the age of 96) in Adelaide, Andrew Chin in Melbourne, Mike Clayton in Christchurch and new member Pleasance Purser in Wellington.  We also rang Society peals at St Peter’s, Adelaide and Christchurch Cathedral.  Particular thanks to Mike Clayton for recording the peal at Christchurch, now preserved on three (demonstration quality) CDs in the Society’s library.

Barely had we landed when the UK05 party arrived to begin their 2-week tour of the UK.  This was another of Simon’s “good ideas”, and an ambitious one at that.  Over 20 members from the USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and Malta took the chance to visit some of Britain’s most beautiful towns and cities, to mix with fellow members and to enjoy an intensive course in advanced ringing.  Stopping-points on the tour included Bristol, Bath and Wells, the City of London (including a tour of St Paul’s Cathedral and a buffet in the Counting House), Loughborough, Lincoln, Oxford, Durham, Newcastle, Edinburgh and York, plus hospitality in Ellisfield (the Kippins), Towcester (the local ringers in their usual sparkling form) and Northallerton.  Despite the daunting schedule (67 towers in total), all the tourists seemed to enjoy themselves and welcomed the opportunity to expand their method repertoire and improve their striking.

The centrepiece of the fortnight was the Country Meeting in Nottingham.  The weekend followed the traditional format; peals (including UK05 tourists) on Thursday and Friday, general ringing in Nottingham (and more peals) on Saturday morning, the meeting itself at Clifton (where the Society’s second Master, Lord Clifford Clifton, is buried) in the afternoon and a very convivial dinner for 100 people at the Park Plaza Hotel in the evening.  And, of course, the odd jar in Ye Olde Trip to Jerusalem and other hostelries.  Our thanks go to Richard Allton for arranging most of the towers, and to Peter Hayward for making us so welcome at Clifton.

Much more will be written about UK05 elsewhere.  Suffice to say here that it was a monumental feat of organisation, led by Simon but with a lot of help and support from many other Members around the country.  A real display of the Society at its best.

Elections and deaths

We have elected 13 members since my last update.  There is a strong flow of new candidates at the moment and it is good to see rising stars such as Ashley Wilson and Chris Woodcock coming forward, as well as overseas candidates from Perth, Hobart, Washington DC and Victoria, BC.  To all our new members we extend a warm welcome.

On a sadder note, we have lost 9 members by death, including some of very long standing such as Raymond Overy (elected in 1930).  As foretold in my last update, the June meeting was dominated by obituaries.  We were pleased to welcome George Pipe (albeit in sombre circumstances) and he paid eloquent tribute to three giants of the Exercise; Jack Roper, Ralph Edwards and Frank Price.  The recent death of Vic Frost (aged 90 and with over 70 years’ membership) has come as a shock to his many friends in my local area of St Albans.  We will remember him at the October meeting.

Librarian

The other key event at the June meeting - which came as a bolt from the blue, late in the evening - was Jim Phillips’ announcement that he wished to stand down as the Society’s Librarian, with immediate effect.  Jim has for some time been extremely upset at the loss of certain items of the Society’s property, and we believe that this (coupled with his wife’s recent illness) hastened his decision to resign.  Jim has served the Society magnificently as Librarian since Bill Cook’s death in 1992, and his knowledge of and passion for the Society’s history will be much missed.  We trust that he will continue to make an active contribution from the back benches for many years to come.

In the wake of Jim’s resignation, the recent property audit by the Independent Examiners has prompted a review of the arrangements for the management and storage of the Society’s property, including its stock of nearly 600 books which are currently held at St Paul’s Cathedral.  Following a useful debate at the July meeting, a motion was passed in September setting up a sub-group to examine the issues raised in more detail.  This sub-group (which will be chaired by the new Librarian when he (or she) is elected in November) will consult widely and bring back recommendations to a future meeting.  If you need anything from the Library during the interregnum, please contact me in the first instance.

Projects

The summer months have seen the launch of two major projects in which the Society has an interest.

The first is the hanging of a new ring (probably of 12) at St Magnus the Martyr, a church with which the Society has close historic links and where it used to practice before the Second World War.  This exciting project is being co-ordinated by Dickon Love, in liaison with the church authorities, and the Society has pledged its support.  If the work goes ahead as planned, it will give the Society a light and available ring of 12, which it does not currently have in London.  A number of key decisions are still to be taken, including whether or not to re-use the ring of 8 from All Saints Northampton and whether to retain or replace the existing frame.  I will keep Members informed as the project proceeds.

The second project is the installation of a sharp 2^nd at Cripplegate, to provide a light 8 for service and peal ringing.  The logistics of hanging a new bell at Cripplegate are complex, as there is no trap door to hoist it through (the organ is in the way).  As a result, the budget cost is higher than would be expected for a “typical” augmentation.  A fund-raising appeal has already been launched (under the direction of the Tower Secretary, Gwen Rogers) and the Society agreed at the September meeting to make a grant of £5,000 from its Bell Restoration Fund towards the cost of the work.

Ringing Roadshow

There were many sceptics who questioned the wisdom of the Society taking a stand at the Ringing Roadshow (yet another “good idea” from you know who).  Some were unsure what the Society was trying to achieve by the exercise.  Others were concerned that there was no easy answer to the question “How do I join?”.  So it was with some trepidation that a team of us set off for Newbury on 10^th September.

As it turned out, the day was a triumphant success.  The careful thought and meticulous preparation which went into the various displays (thanks to Dickon Love, Eleanor Linford and Andrew Kelso in particular) played a big part.  The effort of transporting much of the Society’s property (including peal and name books) attracted much interest; it was good to have Jim Phillips there to help show off the property, with his usual mix of humour and enthusiasm.   The offer of free beer did no harm.  The (almost) continuous feed of ringing from St Paul’s and Cripplegate (thanks to Laith Reynolds for the plasma screen) was also a major draw.

But, above all, the success of the stand lay in the individuals running it.  A steady stream of visitors kept our corner busy throughout the day, and members and non-members alike were kind enough to comment on the professional and friendly welcome they received.  Our two main objectives in being there were to reach out to the membership and to dispel a few myths, and I think we achieved both in grand style.  Another great advertisement for the Society.

Peal Weekend

And so to another major feat of organisation, this time inspired and managed by Junior Steward Chris Kippin.  The plan was to attempt peals over Peal Weekend (16^th-18^th September) in every English county, plus Scotland and Wales.  We didn’t quite achieve this (after all, an attempt in Cumberland would hardly have been appropriate), but Chris’ patient yet firm coaxing produced no less than 58 attempts, of which (subject to a final re-count) 45 were successful.  This may well be the most Society peals ever rung over a single weekend, and all credit must go to Chris for his persistence and inventiveness in mobilising such an astonishing effort.  The weekend had the useful side-effect of putting us back in touch with a number of “lost” members; we hope that their renewed involvement in the Society’s activities will be sustained going forward.

Tuesday nights

In between all these activities, Tuesday practices have continued to provide a focus for the regular London members.  Attendances have been variable over the summer, but a number of good practices have been held, including at Cornhill and Bow in June, Cripplegate in July and St Paul’s at the beginning of August.  The emphasis in terms of methods has been on Phobos and Ariel, both singly and in Spliced.  There have also been two Special practices at St Paul’s and two more handbell Specials.

A closing tribute

I have mentioned Simon a number of times in this update, but more is needed.  Simon has put an astonishing amount into his year as Master, and he fully deserves all the plaudits for its success.  His capacity for new ideas seems to be inexhaustible, and his almost boundless energy has often left the rest of us gasping in his wake.  At times it has been seat of the pants stuff, but his sheer enthusiasm and drive have ensured that things have fallen into place when needed.  His contribution towards the Society’s current upsurge in activity has been huge, and events such as the Evesham contest (the “Linford Cup”) and UK05 will always be associated with him.  Thank you Simon, for an exhilarating year.

Our focus now is on final arrangements for the Anniversary Dinner in November.  By then, all being well, the new edition of the Society’s History will have been published and nominations will have been received for the new team of Officers to serve in 2005/6.  I will aim to issue my next update following the election meeting in November (assuming of course that I am re-elected).