MINUTES OF THE BRISTOL HF RAMBLING CLUB
ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
Held at Westbury -on-Trym Methodist Church Hall on Saturday 9th November 2019
Present: Chairman, Treasurer, Membership Secretary, Walks Secretary, Club Secretary, Webmaster and 26 club members
Apologies: Albert Ferris, Kathy Harrison, Tom and Janet Logan, Jennifer Stirratt, Jean Waller
Minutes of the Annual General Meeting held on 27th October 2018: Were agreed and signed
Matters arising from Minutes: None
Chairman’s Report When I took office a year ago I was also Club Treasurer and it was hard work filling both roles. This continued until July when Joan Warren kindly took over as Treasurer. The Committee has also had to cope without a Social Secretary following the resignation of Gill Pocock at the last AGM. The death of Diane Knight at the end of March was a great loss to the Committee as well as the Club members who knew her. She contributed greatly to the Committee, compiling and issuing the newsletters, updating the membership list, and since the last AGM, co-ordinating the Ambles. She will be greatly missed for her hard work and enthusiasm. It was good to see so many Club members at her funeral. The Committee did manage to issue two newsletters, albeit rather shorter ones than usual, and I am happy to report that Tom Logan has volunteered to take over as Newsletter editor from this AGM.
The events which have taken place during the last Club year are as follows:
The Christmas lunch at the Woodford Lodge was ably organised by Gill Pocock. It was an enjoyable occasion, although unfortunately poorly supported with only 26 Club members attending. This is a continuation of the lack of interest that members have shown in attending social gatherings in the last few years.
The questionnaire to members was circulated in March and 62 members responded (50%). The committee analysed the results and are trying to implement some of the suggestions.
On 6th July we had our annual garden party hosted by Bob and Vanessa. It was a lovely summers evening and a very enjoyable event, but again numbers attending were down on previous years.
During the year I have walked with all of the groups within the club except the Amblers, something I will try to do next year. The Tuesday and Hill Walks continue to be well supported but sadly not the Saturday walks; we will be getting the programme secretaries’ reports shortly. It is particularly sad that so few members now come out on Saturdays as this was the only day members walked for many decades before the Tuesday walks started. During the year we have attracted several new members on our Tuesday and Hill Walks, some of whom have become regular walkers. I think that things look positive for this next Club year which, incidentally, is our centenary and we will be organising various extra club events which we hope a great many of you will support.
Membership Secretary’s Report - Lesley Davis. I would like to start the evening with a very warm welcome to everybody here. This is my fourth speech as Membership Secretary and I am very please to report that five new members have joined the club since the last AGM. However, four members have advised me that they are not re-joining this year and very sadly we have had one death, that of Di Knight. I would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge all the work Di did for the club and especially for all the help she gave me. She is a great loss to the Club and a hard act to follow. Our current membership currently stands at 113, with 9 renewals still outstanding.
We are coming into our Centenary Year and it would be amazing if we could attract lots more new people to the Club to help us celebrate and to ensure that the Club survives for another 100 years.
Treasurer’s Report A copy of the accounts were circulated and are self explanatory. The Club still has a fairly healthy balance. It should be noted, however, that the expenses for producing the newsletters are rising, mainly because of the increase in postage and the large number of members who have requested paper copies rather than emailed ones. The accounts were audited by Gerry Calderbank. Laurence Work proposed that the accounts be accepted, Tom Jones seconded, and the vote was to formally accept the accounts.
Walk Reports
Tuesday ‘A’ Walks: Sue Finney gave the following report. I am pleased to say that we have had a very enjoyable year of walks with an amazing variety as everyone tries to do something different. We have had only one cancellation as far as I can remember due to bad weather and I have to say that people turn up whatever the weather. We must be a hardy bunch. I would like to thank you all for volunteering to lead walks and the job of filling the programme has not been too onerous. I had an excellent response when a leader couldn’t do their walk and a volunteer stepped in. I would like to ask you all to check e-mails the night before or on the morning of the walk if the weather forecast is bad. I feel the decision should be up to the leader to decide whether to run a walk but I will try and let you all know if it is cancelled. We have attracted a few new members and we have 3 new walk leaders so I feel we are thriving. I think we can look forward to another year of lovely days out.
Tuesday ‘B’ Walks: Joan Warren started with her usual witty poem and then gave the following report. For a large part of 2019 the mud disappeared and we hardly got our boots dirty although the last few weeks have reverted to that of earlier times. We have had some good walks, with numbers from 4 to about 16, more in the cooler recent months than in the heat of the summer. A few walks have been cancelled, either because of weather forecasts being sometimes over-pessimistic, or because of insufficient numbers, and this has resulted in the gaps in the program being filled as leaders replaced these with their earlier plans. There have been some occasions when the Club walk became a ‘walk with friends’ as only 2 or 3 were present. We continue with our practice of suggesting potential walkers contact the leader in case of last minute problems.
I must thank our diminishing group of leaders, several of whom have led at last 3 walks in a 6-month period and have committed to a similar programme next session, enabling us to fill almost every week, leaving a couple for people who do not yet know what dates they have available. We also thank some ‘A’ walkers who help us out by leading ‘B’ walks, and a special thanks to leaders who send me their details in good time, before I need to remind them. We look forward to as good a programme in 2020, with the opportunity to explore the exceptionally varied area around Bristol.
Unfortunately quite a few of our walkers have been in varying degrees of ill health and we miss them, and often their partners too, and wish them a speedy recovery and return to our company. We have also shared with the rest of the club, the sad loss of Di Knight earlier this year. She made every effort to join walks, although struggling and in the last months only able to come on the less hilly outings. We always enjoyed her delicious shortbread which she circulated on walks, and her final contribution of this was at her well attended funeral, shared with other groups with whom she walked. The memorial walk at the beginning of July, the date she annually treated the Club with her birthday tea, was a good day in Lacock, and the organisers, Clevedon Amblers, kindly put a ‘B’ walk on for those of us who wanted a shorter version, before we all had tea together in the village.
Ambles: Report by Margaret Baxter. Amblers meet on the 2nd and 4th Thursday of each month for a short walk of 2ish miles followed by a lunch. Several members who can no longer walk that distance meet for a coffee and then join the rest of the Group for ‘chatting and chomping’. Having joined the Club as a ‘real’ walker, I feel that keeping the Ambles going is a way of giving back to the club. I feel that the Amblers who can no longer do what we used to can meet to walk and keep the system going. I would like to say thank you to all who have led walks for the Amblers, even those who have needed to have their arm twisted.
Hill Walks Report: Tom Logan reported that It has been yet another enjoyable and successful year for the Hill Walkers. Although we had the usual rain and fog at times, we also had some beautiful days which enabled us to fully appreciate the views in the Brecons, where all our walks took place this year. Numbers have remained fairly constant at around 10 – 12 walkers, though we finished our programme with 15 on the final 2019 walk. We have been able to welcome several new walkers this season and hope that this is a trend we can maintain. Only one walk was lost to weather this year, and again it was the effect of the storms coming across the Atlantic! We also lost one walk due to illness, though I was gratified that 2 members offered to fill the gap at short notice. Unfortunately, as in other areas, we are becoming dependent on just a few leaders, though this is not an area where just anyone can take on the role. My thanks as always to our leaders and to those members whose company makes our hill walks so enjoyable, whatever the weather.
Walking Secretary / Saturday Programme Secretary’s Report: Muriel Reeves submitted a report as follows: There has been an air of unpredictability surrounding some of our Saturday walks this year: have you noticed that Saturdays now seem to be the day when it rains! Unfortunately, the weather has influenced the viability of several walks this year. Were we to have a Black Boot award I think I could have been the unfortunate winner this year having had two of my own walks cancelled because of Met Office severe gale warnings of 60 mph gales, and a further walk only 2 weeks ago when the Met Office predicted a 100% chance of heavy rain all day. On this occasion the Met Office were 100% accurate and an afternoon of rambling around Cribbs Causeway turned out to be a more productive – and dry – option! It was particularly disappointing that on each of the occasions I had to cancel there had been a potential new member planning to come. All our groups – and in common with other clubs – are finding it increasingly difficult to enlist walk leaders and this is probably the single-most important issue. We have a small group of walkers keen to go out on Saturdays but absences due to holidays etc do now have a greater impact than in earlier times. It is interesting to note the high number of members attending hill walks and disappointing that short walks have not in the main been supported, although there was an exception to this a few weeks ago when 15 members were on the hill walk and 8 members went on an alternative walk led by Ann Talbot, making a healthy total of 23 members out that day. Our Club has a long and well deserved reputation for being friendly and non-competitive and an outworking of this can be seen in the generosity of ‘A’ walkers lending a hand to ‘B’ Walkers and Amblers by occasionally offering to lead a walk for them. I see Saturday walks as being pivotal to the future of our club because this may be the only day in the week which is available for those of working age. However, ideas for reaching these potential members would be very gratefully received. During the coming year we are hoping to have two coach rambles – one to the daffodil woods around Newent and another to the Severn Valley and its railway. We hope that these trips will provide something for everyone but of course they will only happen if there is sufficient interest and support. Thank you to all leaders who have devoted a lot of time to planning and recceing walks over the past year and have volunteered for next year’s programme. And to all other members PLEASE KEEP WALKING!! I have a copy of the 2020 programme with me which shows a number of vacant dates and it would be lovely if one or two of those gaps could be filled tonight.
Election of Officers: As the Chairman mentioned in his report, Joan Warren took over the role of Treasure in July this year and Tom Logan has volunteered to take over as Newsletter Editor. The role of Social Secretary is still vacant, however the Committee is hoping that this will be filled shortly as a joint role.
The new Committee will be as follows
Members
Chairman Peter Holmes continuing
Secretary Sandra Hodgkins continuing
Treasurer Joan Warren
Membership Secretary Lesley Davis continuing
Walking Secretary Muriel Reeves continuing role combined with Saturday Programme Secretary
Newsletter Editor Tom Logan
Social Secretary Role vacant
Associate Members Tuesday ‘A’ – Sue Finney continuing
Tuesday ‘B’ – Joan Warren continuing
Ambles Margaret Baxter in the interim
Web Master Bob Pinniger continuing
Review of Walking Statistics:
Saturday Walks: Laurence Work submitted the following statistics. Thirty-three Saturday walks were logged this year with an average attendance of 7.5 members per walk. The Golden Boot winner was Peter Holmes with 27 walks and there were two runners up both with 19 walks, these were Richard Miles and Rosemary Boulton.
Tuesday Walks: Jennifer Stirratt reported as follows: The figures show that the Tuesday ‘B’ walking programme has been less popular this year with many of the ‘B’ walks not taking place. I am not sure whether this has been due to a shortage of leaders or the very hot weather or if in fact it is down to the fact that not all leaders are supplying me with details of the walks they lead. I do try and chase but it is not always possible to contact them. According to the records I did not receive results for 15 ‘B’ walks and 1 ‘A’ walk. The highest number of members joining an A walk was in December with a total of 30 and the highest for a B walk was 26 in January. A walk in January also recorded the highest combined number of walkers for both walks which was 54. Eleven visitors were welcomed on walks this year and 8 are now regular walkers and one has already led an ‘A’ walk.
Reluctantly I have again won the walking stick this year with a total of 39 walks, Tom Logan was second with 35 walks and Ann Mitchell was in third place with 29 walks completed. The total mileage walked by the members this year (taking account of all the walks for which I received information) was 6642 and I am sure we are all looking forward to a good walking programme next year.
I have been keeping these statistical records for a number of years and in recent times have noticed a steady decline in the interest the members have in these. I am no longer asked for figures outside of this AGM and am also finding that I have to increasingly chase leaders for their walk figures. I think it may now be a good time to ease recording in this way.
Following Jennifer’s report the subject of keeping these statistical records was discussed. It was confirmed that there is no legal requirement to keep these and in fact it is only relatively recently in the Club’s long history that they have been kept. No one raised an objection to the cessation of recording this information, it was therefore agreed that the recording of these statistics would now cease.
Presentations There were no presentations made at this meeting
Any Other Business
Joan Warren advised that she is now in possession of a folder which Di Knight had built up over the years and contained information on lots of walks in and around Bristol and the surrounding areas. If anyone would like to have a look through this and use any of the material for a future walk they would like to lead then she has this with her. She requests that after the walk has taken place, the information be returned to her for refiling.
There was a request for a skittles match to form a future social event. Mary Coles and Muriel Reeves to look into this.
Date and Place of next AGM: This to take place on Saturday 14th November 2020. Further information to be circulated prior to the event.
ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
Held at Westbury -on-Trym Methodist Church Hall on Saturday 9th November 2019
Present: Chairman, Treasurer, Membership Secretary, Walks Secretary, Club Secretary, Webmaster and 26 club members
Apologies: Albert Ferris, Kathy Harrison, Tom and Janet Logan, Jennifer Stirratt, Jean Waller
Minutes of the Annual General Meeting held on 27th October 2018: Were agreed and signed
Matters arising from Minutes: None
Chairman’s Report When I took office a year ago I was also Club Treasurer and it was hard work filling both roles. This continued until July when Joan Warren kindly took over as Treasurer. The Committee has also had to cope without a Social Secretary following the resignation of Gill Pocock at the last AGM. The death of Diane Knight at the end of March was a great loss to the Committee as well as the Club members who knew her. She contributed greatly to the Committee, compiling and issuing the newsletters, updating the membership list, and since the last AGM, co-ordinating the Ambles. She will be greatly missed for her hard work and enthusiasm. It was good to see so many Club members at her funeral. The Committee did manage to issue two newsletters, albeit rather shorter ones than usual, and I am happy to report that Tom Logan has volunteered to take over as Newsletter editor from this AGM.
The events which have taken place during the last Club year are as follows:
The Christmas lunch at the Woodford Lodge was ably organised by Gill Pocock. It was an enjoyable occasion, although unfortunately poorly supported with only 26 Club members attending. This is a continuation of the lack of interest that members have shown in attending social gatherings in the last few years.
The questionnaire to members was circulated in March and 62 members responded (50%). The committee analysed the results and are trying to implement some of the suggestions.
On 6th July we had our annual garden party hosted by Bob and Vanessa. It was a lovely summers evening and a very enjoyable event, but again numbers attending were down on previous years.
During the year I have walked with all of the groups within the club except the Amblers, something I will try to do next year. The Tuesday and Hill Walks continue to be well supported but sadly not the Saturday walks; we will be getting the programme secretaries’ reports shortly. It is particularly sad that so few members now come out on Saturdays as this was the only day members walked for many decades before the Tuesday walks started. During the year we have attracted several new members on our Tuesday and Hill Walks, some of whom have become regular walkers. I think that things look positive for this next Club year which, incidentally, is our centenary and we will be organising various extra club events which we hope a great many of you will support.
Membership Secretary’s Report - Lesley Davis. I would like to start the evening with a very warm welcome to everybody here. This is my fourth speech as Membership Secretary and I am very please to report that five new members have joined the club since the last AGM. However, four members have advised me that they are not re-joining this year and very sadly we have had one death, that of Di Knight. I would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge all the work Di did for the club and especially for all the help she gave me. She is a great loss to the Club and a hard act to follow. Our current membership currently stands at 113, with 9 renewals still outstanding.
We are coming into our Centenary Year and it would be amazing if we could attract lots more new people to the Club to help us celebrate and to ensure that the Club survives for another 100 years.
Treasurer’s Report A copy of the accounts were circulated and are self explanatory. The Club still has a fairly healthy balance. It should be noted, however, that the expenses for producing the newsletters are rising, mainly because of the increase in postage and the large number of members who have requested paper copies rather than emailed ones. The accounts were audited by Gerry Calderbank. Laurence Work proposed that the accounts be accepted, Tom Jones seconded, and the vote was to formally accept the accounts.
Walk Reports
Tuesday ‘A’ Walks: Sue Finney gave the following report. I am pleased to say that we have had a very enjoyable year of walks with an amazing variety as everyone tries to do something different. We have had only one cancellation as far as I can remember due to bad weather and I have to say that people turn up whatever the weather. We must be a hardy bunch. I would like to thank you all for volunteering to lead walks and the job of filling the programme has not been too onerous. I had an excellent response when a leader couldn’t do their walk and a volunteer stepped in. I would like to ask you all to check e-mails the night before or on the morning of the walk if the weather forecast is bad. I feel the decision should be up to the leader to decide whether to run a walk but I will try and let you all know if it is cancelled. We have attracted a few new members and we have 3 new walk leaders so I feel we are thriving. I think we can look forward to another year of lovely days out.
Tuesday ‘B’ Walks: Joan Warren started with her usual witty poem and then gave the following report. For a large part of 2019 the mud disappeared and we hardly got our boots dirty although the last few weeks have reverted to that of earlier times. We have had some good walks, with numbers from 4 to about 16, more in the cooler recent months than in the heat of the summer. A few walks have been cancelled, either because of weather forecasts being sometimes over-pessimistic, or because of insufficient numbers, and this has resulted in the gaps in the program being filled as leaders replaced these with their earlier plans. There have been some occasions when the Club walk became a ‘walk with friends’ as only 2 or 3 were present. We continue with our practice of suggesting potential walkers contact the leader in case of last minute problems.
I must thank our diminishing group of leaders, several of whom have led at last 3 walks in a 6-month period and have committed to a similar programme next session, enabling us to fill almost every week, leaving a couple for people who do not yet know what dates they have available. We also thank some ‘A’ walkers who help us out by leading ‘B’ walks, and a special thanks to leaders who send me their details in good time, before I need to remind them. We look forward to as good a programme in 2020, with the opportunity to explore the exceptionally varied area around Bristol.
Unfortunately quite a few of our walkers have been in varying degrees of ill health and we miss them, and often their partners too, and wish them a speedy recovery and return to our company. We have also shared with the rest of the club, the sad loss of Di Knight earlier this year. She made every effort to join walks, although struggling and in the last months only able to come on the less hilly outings. We always enjoyed her delicious shortbread which she circulated on walks, and her final contribution of this was at her well attended funeral, shared with other groups with whom she walked. The memorial walk at the beginning of July, the date she annually treated the Club with her birthday tea, was a good day in Lacock, and the organisers, Clevedon Amblers, kindly put a ‘B’ walk on for those of us who wanted a shorter version, before we all had tea together in the village.
Ambles: Report by Margaret Baxter. Amblers meet on the 2nd and 4th Thursday of each month for a short walk of 2ish miles followed by a lunch. Several members who can no longer walk that distance meet for a coffee and then join the rest of the Group for ‘chatting and chomping’. Having joined the Club as a ‘real’ walker, I feel that keeping the Ambles going is a way of giving back to the club. I feel that the Amblers who can no longer do what we used to can meet to walk and keep the system going. I would like to say thank you to all who have led walks for the Amblers, even those who have needed to have their arm twisted.
Hill Walks Report: Tom Logan reported that It has been yet another enjoyable and successful year for the Hill Walkers. Although we had the usual rain and fog at times, we also had some beautiful days which enabled us to fully appreciate the views in the Brecons, where all our walks took place this year. Numbers have remained fairly constant at around 10 – 12 walkers, though we finished our programme with 15 on the final 2019 walk. We have been able to welcome several new walkers this season and hope that this is a trend we can maintain. Only one walk was lost to weather this year, and again it was the effect of the storms coming across the Atlantic! We also lost one walk due to illness, though I was gratified that 2 members offered to fill the gap at short notice. Unfortunately, as in other areas, we are becoming dependent on just a few leaders, though this is not an area where just anyone can take on the role. My thanks as always to our leaders and to those members whose company makes our hill walks so enjoyable, whatever the weather.
Walking Secretary / Saturday Programme Secretary’s Report: Muriel Reeves submitted a report as follows: There has been an air of unpredictability surrounding some of our Saturday walks this year: have you noticed that Saturdays now seem to be the day when it rains! Unfortunately, the weather has influenced the viability of several walks this year. Were we to have a Black Boot award I think I could have been the unfortunate winner this year having had two of my own walks cancelled because of Met Office severe gale warnings of 60 mph gales, and a further walk only 2 weeks ago when the Met Office predicted a 100% chance of heavy rain all day. On this occasion the Met Office were 100% accurate and an afternoon of rambling around Cribbs Causeway turned out to be a more productive – and dry – option! It was particularly disappointing that on each of the occasions I had to cancel there had been a potential new member planning to come. All our groups – and in common with other clubs – are finding it increasingly difficult to enlist walk leaders and this is probably the single-most important issue. We have a small group of walkers keen to go out on Saturdays but absences due to holidays etc do now have a greater impact than in earlier times. It is interesting to note the high number of members attending hill walks and disappointing that short walks have not in the main been supported, although there was an exception to this a few weeks ago when 15 members were on the hill walk and 8 members went on an alternative walk led by Ann Talbot, making a healthy total of 23 members out that day. Our Club has a long and well deserved reputation for being friendly and non-competitive and an outworking of this can be seen in the generosity of ‘A’ walkers lending a hand to ‘B’ Walkers and Amblers by occasionally offering to lead a walk for them. I see Saturday walks as being pivotal to the future of our club because this may be the only day in the week which is available for those of working age. However, ideas for reaching these potential members would be very gratefully received. During the coming year we are hoping to have two coach rambles – one to the daffodil woods around Newent and another to the Severn Valley and its railway. We hope that these trips will provide something for everyone but of course they will only happen if there is sufficient interest and support. Thank you to all leaders who have devoted a lot of time to planning and recceing walks over the past year and have volunteered for next year’s programme. And to all other members PLEASE KEEP WALKING!! I have a copy of the 2020 programme with me which shows a number of vacant dates and it would be lovely if one or two of those gaps could be filled tonight.
Election of Officers: As the Chairman mentioned in his report, Joan Warren took over the role of Treasure in July this year and Tom Logan has volunteered to take over as Newsletter Editor. The role of Social Secretary is still vacant, however the Committee is hoping that this will be filled shortly as a joint role.
The new Committee will be as follows
Members
Chairman Peter Holmes continuing
Secretary Sandra Hodgkins continuing
Treasurer Joan Warren
Membership Secretary Lesley Davis continuing
Walking Secretary Muriel Reeves continuing role combined with Saturday Programme Secretary
Newsletter Editor Tom Logan
Social Secretary Role vacant
Associate Members Tuesday ‘A’ – Sue Finney continuing
Tuesday ‘B’ – Joan Warren continuing
Ambles Margaret Baxter in the interim
Web Master Bob Pinniger continuing
Review of Walking Statistics:
Saturday Walks: Laurence Work submitted the following statistics. Thirty-three Saturday walks were logged this year with an average attendance of 7.5 members per walk. The Golden Boot winner was Peter Holmes with 27 walks and there were two runners up both with 19 walks, these were Richard Miles and Rosemary Boulton.
Tuesday Walks: Jennifer Stirratt reported as follows: The figures show that the Tuesday ‘B’ walking programme has been less popular this year with many of the ‘B’ walks not taking place. I am not sure whether this has been due to a shortage of leaders or the very hot weather or if in fact it is down to the fact that not all leaders are supplying me with details of the walks they lead. I do try and chase but it is not always possible to contact them. According to the records I did not receive results for 15 ‘B’ walks and 1 ‘A’ walk. The highest number of members joining an A walk was in December with a total of 30 and the highest for a B walk was 26 in January. A walk in January also recorded the highest combined number of walkers for both walks which was 54. Eleven visitors were welcomed on walks this year and 8 are now regular walkers and one has already led an ‘A’ walk.
Reluctantly I have again won the walking stick this year with a total of 39 walks, Tom Logan was second with 35 walks and Ann Mitchell was in third place with 29 walks completed. The total mileage walked by the members this year (taking account of all the walks for which I received information) was 6642 and I am sure we are all looking forward to a good walking programme next year.
I have been keeping these statistical records for a number of years and in recent times have noticed a steady decline in the interest the members have in these. I am no longer asked for figures outside of this AGM and am also finding that I have to increasingly chase leaders for their walk figures. I think it may now be a good time to ease recording in this way.
Following Jennifer’s report the subject of keeping these statistical records was discussed. It was confirmed that there is no legal requirement to keep these and in fact it is only relatively recently in the Club’s long history that they have been kept. No one raised an objection to the cessation of recording this information, it was therefore agreed that the recording of these statistics would now cease.
Presentations There were no presentations made at this meeting
Any Other Business
Joan Warren advised that she is now in possession of a folder which Di Knight had built up over the years and contained information on lots of walks in and around Bristol and the surrounding areas. If anyone would like to have a look through this and use any of the material for a future walk they would like to lead then she has this with her. She requests that after the walk has taken place, the information be returned to her for refiling.
There was a request for a skittles match to form a future social event. Mary Coles and Muriel Reeves to look into this.
Date and Place of next AGM: This to take place on Saturday 14th November 2020. Further information to be circulated prior to the event.
