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AGM 2008
 

The 30th Annual General Meeting of the Club was held in the Railwaymen's Church, Swanwick Junction, at The Midland Railway Centre, Butterley, on Saturday 17 May 2008 commencing at 2.00 p.m.

INTRODUCTION AND SEDERUNT
Members attending were: Richard Martin (Chairman), Gordon Pirie (Vice Chairman), Graham Lambert (Secretary), Pete Walker (Membership Secretary), Ted Cheers, Eileen Clark, Joe Clark, Roger Cleaver, Stephen Gray, Nick Hartshorne, N.J. Hill, Bob Hipgrave, Andy Hutchings, Stephen Lewis, Catherine Marchant, Yvonne Martin, Elaine Pirie, Brian Richardson, Douglas Robinson, Geoff Sargeant, Rosemary Sargeant, Brian Slater, Jeff Smith, A.J. Spencer, Fred Thornton and Mary Thornton..

APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE
Apologies were received from: Maurice and Hilary Blencowe, Barry Bubb, Phillip Earnshaw, Jane Ellis, Paul Hudson, Bill Jagger, Tony Jervis, Angela Jones, Mark Jones, Glen Leonard, Richard Lewis, Rupert Nicholson, Bill Pertwee, Martin Phelan, Bob Prigg, Ralph Rawlinson, David Shepherd, Jeff Vinter and Nigel Willis.

CHAIRMAN'S ADDRESS
Being appropriate to the venue, the Chairman, Richard Martin, addressed the meeting from the pulpit and welcomed all those attending. He offered our new leaflet, rather than hymn sheets, and gave the following report:

It had been another good year for our club and I would like to say 'well done' to all volunteers, Committee Members, Area Organisers and Walk Leaders, without whose efforts there would be no Railway Ramblers. During the year there have been over fifty walks nationally and two organised holidays; a great achievement for a small club like ours.

I would like all Members to consider leading a walk in order to increase the variety of walks available and to take some of the pressure off existing long-serving walk leaders. Members willing to help in this way should speak to their Area Organiser or, if they do not have one, send their walk details to the editors to go in the magazine.

Sadly, our Founder Member Nigel Willis's wife, Libby, died during the year, a great shock to all who knew this lovely lady. Our thoughts are with Nigel at this sad time.

During the year, Jeff Vinter arranged for one of his students to design a new club leaflet, which he had printed, and I have a large stock of these at home. If any Member would like a few to hand out to friends and fellow walkers who might be interested in joining the Club, please let me know and I will post some to you. In the meantime, samples have been placed on the seats.

MINUTES OF TWENTY-NINTH AGM
These had been circulated to all members in the Club's magazine and published on the Club's website. A motion to accept the Minutes as an accurate record was proposed by Graham Lambert, seconded by Roger Cleaver and carried unanimously.

MATTERS ARISING FROM THE MINUTES
There were no matters arising that would not be covered by other Agenda items.

REPORTS FROM ELECTED OFFICERS
Reports from the following officers were presented to the meeting.

Vice Chairman
Gordon Pirie provided the following report.

  • When I was compiling this talk, I realised how much work the other members of the committee put into this club, and how much we are indebted to them for their efforts. As a result, the club has had another successful year.
  • This last year has seen lots of work put into publicity. You will hear about the success of the website with 44,000 hits up to mid March, and the 5,000 copies of the new brochure, as a result of Geoff Sargeant's suggestion, distributed since last July. [Erratum: The brochure was suggested by Duncan McLeish, who wrote the original text for it. Webmaster.] In addition, Graham Lambert has arranged more effective contact with the Northumberland Railway Walks Society – a socially minded group, and a merry bunch to boot!
  • From the financial angle, you will be glad to hear that the insurance premium for the club's public liability insurance remains at £215 pa for £5 million cover, and through Graham's efforts the club's high interest savings account is now with the Alliance & Leicester; which gives us access via 14,000 Post Office branches, many A&L offices, and the Internet.
  • Graham has been busy sorting out another important document – a standard request letter to landowners asking for permission to walk through their property – which is a great idea.
  • Mixed with some memorable occasions, we've had some very sad news this year. We all remember, with pleasure, the good times we have had with Libby Willis, Arthur Barnett, and Raymond Hutcheson, and it's sad to read their obituaries in Railway Ramblings, written by John Simmons, Brian Slater and Tony Jervis respectively. We are anticipating looking after some of Raymond's writings and photos for members' use. It was super to hear from Jane Ellis and Richard Lewis about the success of the walk in February in Arthur's memory, around the time of what would have been his 100th birthday.
  • Other rare occasions were when Richard arranged to meet our President, David Shepherd, OBE, at the Gloucestershire and Warwickshire Railway, and Bill Pertwee was awarded the MBE in the Queen's Birthday Honours.
  • I was glad to see that Maurice and Hilary have agreed to include more detailed information for walks, e.g. directions, locations and map references, although we still had to send them an e-mail asking, 'Where is Butterley?'
  • We had some correspondence about a new bank/public holiday and I think it's a super idea to have one in November, possibly named Remembrance Day.
  • Finally, there have been the TV programmes. 'Along These Lines', currently being shown in the South on Meridian TV, is proving to be excellent, with lots of fine photography. We haven't seen it in our neck of the woods, but I know that Ralph Rawlinson, Ron Strutt and Jeff Vinter have contributed vast amounts of information. It's odd that David Shepherd featured prominently, although he didn't contribute much. Let's hope that the programmes boost our membership.I also heard something about helicopter-based photography of old UK lines, to be broadcast by the BBC in the autumn – something to look forward to.

Secretary
Graham Lambert read out the following letter dated 30 April 2008 from David Shepherd, the Club's President:

Dear Graham,

I am so very sorry that I have not replied sooner to your letter of 7 April. It is the usual excuse which you know already so I won't be repetitive! First of all, I don't know whether any of your members managed to get down to the Gloucestershire and Warwickshire Railway event as you suggested because the whole event was so crowded with people from start to finish that I didn't know who I was meeting most of the time. Incidentally, for wildlife conservation, with the aid of Black Prince, we raised something like £17,500, so that will indicate the degree of success of the weekend. It was all very exciting. You ask in your letter if I will be prepared to continue as President and the answer is most certainly 'yes' – I just wish I had more time to come to your various events but I really enjoy reading your magazine from page to page. Concerning my inability to commit myself further than just a name on the notepaper, why don't we consider having a special day with Black Prince on the GWR for Railway Ramblers? We have done this for a couple of organisations. Our friends at the Gloucestershire and Warwickshire are only too keen to support us in every way possible as they are a great bunch of people. It would, moreover, give me an excuse to go down to see Black Prince, which I hardly ever do due to my many commitments but, if there is a reason, I am only too delighted to take the opportunity. So a coach load of Railway Ramblers especially coming to enjoy themselves with 92203 would, I think, be well worth considering, perhaps at your AGM. Concerning that day, I am very much afraid that once again I am committed all day and in the evening for my Foundation. Meanwhile, with sincerest apologies for not writing sooner and with warmest regards to all.

Yours sincerely,

David

Graham continued by reading the following letter from Bill Pertwee, the club's Vice-President:

Dear Graham,

Thank you for your letter of 7 April. I am quite prepared to continue as your Vice-President. I shall be away yet again in parts of this April and parts of May which coincide with the AGM. It is possible I may be moving down to the West Country, probably late summer. I will of course let you have my new address there if it should happen. I do want to attend an AGM at some time when I am completely free, but am still being pushed to do another railway book about disused stations and their new life nowadays. The slight problem the publishers are putting to me is that a DVD should be filmed at the same time, with an on the spot commentary from me. At the moment I am part of a team gathering money towards the new children's hospice in Cornwall. Our efforts are going well so it is well worth the time spent on the venture. If the book and DVD should come about I will certainly need the help of the Railway Ramblers as I have mentioned before.

For now, kind regards,

Bill

Graham then summarised his year as Secretary, comprising mainly administrative tasks but also co-ordinating and acting as a centre for the Committee and Members' needs. As requested at last year's AGM, contact had been made with the NRWS, and their walks programme is to be included in Railway Ramblings. He reported that he had also:
  • Produced a walk permission request to landowners for use by walk leaders.
  • Dealt with communications concerning the sad deaths of Members Raymond Hutcheson, Arthur Barnett and Libby Willis.
  • Arranged improved facilities with Alliance & Leicester for the Club's banking arrangements.
  • Been involved with the new brochure, the Two Tunnels (Connect2) project, and member David Wilson's queries about Bluebell Railway DVDs produced by Chris Bedford's Dumpman Films and the latter's website – Chris is now a Member.
  • Helped to deal with the Presteign–Kington trespass problem by a member on a walk led by Bob Prigg.

Treasurer
Copies of the audited accounts had been circulated to the meeting. Paul Hudson, the Treasurer, had not sought re-election and was not in attendance, but had sent in the following report:

2007 found the finances of Railway Ramblers in a sound position. However, with current pressures on the outlook for inflation, we could see a sharp increase in outgoings in the next year or so, and this is already evident with the costs of producing and distributing the magazine, our major expense. With this in mind, I propose an increase in the Household membership rate from £8 to £10 (other categories to be increased pro rata) from January 2009.

In Paul's absence, Graham Lambert offered to take questions and immediately advised the meeting that the Committee, on reflection, had decided that the Club's funds were healthy enough to allow the subscription levels to remain unchanged, at least for the current year.

Gordon Pirie asked if we could put our subscriptions through the Gift Aid scheme, but Douglas Robinson advised that this was not possible as we are not a Registered Charity.

Fred Thornton asked why AGM expenses were so much higher than in the previous year. Graham advised that this was due to a combination of Club Officers' AGM expenses previously being shown under Sundry Expenses, refreshment charges incurred at the 2007 AGM, and the hall hire for our 2008 AGM having been paid in advance during last year.

Graham drew attention to 'one off' expenses in relation to a new printer for our Editors and the cost of producing the Club's new Membership leaflet.

Marion Thornton asked why interest was all credited to the Footpath Fund when some related to the Club's General Fund. Graham was unable to answer this and assumed it was an historical situation. It was agreed that the Treasurer should show the pro rata amounts in future. Graham then proposed that interest earned on the Club's General Fund should be transferred to the Footpath Fund in future. This was seconded by N.J. Hill and passed unanimously.

The Treasurer's Report was proposed for adoption by Graham Lambert, seconded by Brian Slater and approved unanimously.

Membership Secretary
Pete Walker submitted a printed report setting out the membership statistics. He advised that, since the year end and with a new member joining today, membership now stood at a record 499, mainly due to the 'Paul Atterbury effect'. The well known presenter on the Antiques Roadshow had recently published a book, 'Along Lost Lines', in which the Club had been mentioned favourably, and this had resulted in several new membership applications. The possible effects of the current Meridian TV series 'Along These Lines' and an as yet untitled BBC series due to be screened in the autumn were anticipated as favourable.

Andy Hutchings asked if groups, such as NRWS, were included as individuals and Pete advised that it was treated as one membership.

Marion Thornton asked if Area Groups with very low numbers should consider joining another group. It was agreed that it was up to those concerned to decide.

It was asked why the club didn't have a Northern Ireland Area Group, and Pete advised that there was only one member.

Magazine Editors
The following report had been received from Maurice and Hilary Blencowe:

We have plenty of material for possible inclusion in the magazine and receive material regularly. We also have a wealth of photographs, but please remember to include the location, the date the photograph was taken and, if possible, a short write-up to go with each photograph. All members undoubtedly know the type of format that is most readable within the magazine, so if a walk report follows those lines this will increase the chances of it being published. Maps are very useful too. Finally, as always, we end with a plea to keep to the copy deadlines.

Webmaster
Jeff Vinter had submitted the following report, which Graham Lambert read out:

During 2007, the website has undergone further major developments, the principal ones being the addition of:

  • A message board, which can be updated by club officers;
  • An online gazetteer covering the whole of the British Isles;
  • Links to additional railway-related sites;
  • Five further pages in the Photo Gallery; and
  • A web statistics service, which tracks the Internet Protocol (IP) addresses of our visitors, which countries they come from, how they found our site, etc.

At the moment, the site has 64 pages. As at 3rd January 2008, it had attracted 40,544 visits since being launched (in a much simpler form) in 1997. The last time the hit counter was checked on 15th May 2007, it stood at 31,233. Extrapolating these values, the average rate of activity on the site is as follows:

  • 40 visits per day
  • 1,224 visits per month
  • 14,648 visits per year

The above rates represent an increase of 11% over 2006, which in turn was 50% up on 2005. The hit counter measures unique visits only, so people visiting the site repeatedly on the same day are not counted. The highest number of visits in a single day was 109 on 1st January 2008.

Other statistics are as follows:

  • 78% of visitors access the site directly, i.e. by typing in its web address, with a further 22% of visitors using a search engine to locate it.
  • The browsers used are predominantly Microsoft Internet Explorer (80%) and Mozilla Firefox (15%), with the main search engines being Google (89%) and Yahoo (6%) – information which enables me to concentrate on testing the site with the products that most of our visitors actually use.
  • Of those visitors who use a search engine, almost 99% of them are looking for Railway Ramblers, disused railway lines, disused railway walks, or similar word combinations. The remaining 1% are searching for Jeff Vinter. (During the year in question, these were probably media people researching TV series and newspaper articles.)
  • 90% of visitors are from the UK, with the remaining 10% coming from the rest of the world. The USA is the biggest contributor in the 'rest of the world' category with 2.78% of visits, but most of the other countries are English-speaking or, as with Spain and Portugal, contain sizeable ex-patriot communities. It is likely that some of these visits are by people considering a holiday in the UK.
  • All of the above statistics are provided on a cumulative basis, with the option of extracting data between any pair of dates.
  • Unfortunately, details of individual visitors are cleared at the end of each 24 hour period since this information is too bulky to store cumulatively. While this provides me with a means of identifying, and potentially barring, anyone who misuses the site, it is not easily interpreted since one-third of the visitors are identified only by a numeric IP address, which does not let me determine easily who they are.
  • As at 3rd January 2008, the website had inbound links from 255 other websites, ranging from the Ramblers' Association, to local authorities and even the BBC.
  • The website currently occupies just under 54 megabytes of disk space, with 100 megabytes available in total. This is ample for the next 2-3 years. More space could be obtained easily by re-sampling the photographs, especially in the large Photo Gallery. The reduction in quality would be unnoticeable, but would reduce the size of each photograph by up to three-quarters. This would also increase the speed at which individual pages loaded.

At last year's AGM, a member claimed that the high number of visits to the club's site was probably the result of repeated visits by existing members. This did not ring true. In 2007:

  • 22% of visitors needed a search engine to find our site, so were probably not members.
  • Of the 78% of visitors who found our site directly, some were visiting us via inbound links from other websites, so were probably not members.
  • 10% of visitors (159 different individuals) were from abroad, so were probably not members.
  • The website was again the club's most effective recruitment tool, with each new recruit being initially a non-member.
  • Several non-members made themselves known during the year by sending me e-mails, or contributing news reports and photographs to the website.
  • To account for over 14,000 visits during the year, every existing member would have had to have viewed the site at least 30 times, which seems unlikely.

Given the technology that we are using (discussed briefly below), I cannot state with absolute certainty what percentage of visitors represents non members. However, given the first point above, it is reasonable to suppose that at least 20% of our visitors are non-members, representing just under 3,000 visits per year. Taking all factors into account, that figure could easily be 33%, or even 50%.

The technology that we are using to run the site is largely free, with only the message board attracting a fee (currently $28.44 per 180 days, which is less than £30 p.a. given the current exchange rate). We could obtain a more detailed analysis of our web traffic by choosing a paid rather than a free web statistics package, but I do not feel that this is justified. We are a small club and, in my opinion, have all that we need to monitor and manage the effectiveness of our website.

Apart from developing and managing the website during the year, I have also carried out the following publicity work for the club:

  • Developed and printed 5,000 copies of a high quality, full colour promotional brochure. (A copy of this was sent to each member with the Autumn 2007 magazine.)
  • Provided detailed assistance to the makers of an eight-part television series to be broadcast on Meridian (ITV1) in the south of England. This included advice with route selection, supplying historical details, tracing former passengers and railway staff, and providing detailed itineraries for a helicopter pilot and aerial film crew.
  • Assisted a freelance journalist in researching an article on the former Bridport branch for possible publication in The Guardian.

At the time of writing, the BBC has made contact about a national series on the after-effects of the Beeching closures, and I am expecting to hear from their director during the coming months. [Addendum: This six-part series is now in production with the working title 'Railway Walks'. Webmaster.]

SUBSCRIPTION AND CAPITATION RATES
Graham Lambert referred to Paul Hudson's Treasurer's Report and the Committee's decision to defer any increases, and proposed that the existing rates of subscription and capitation remain unchanged. This was seconded by Fred Thornton and carried unanimously.

APPOINTMENT OF AUDITOR
At last year's AGM, it was suggested that the title of this post be changed to Accounts Scrutineer, but the Committee felt that it would be appropriate to retain the title of Auditor. Douglas Robinson and N.J. Hill advised that, under current legislation, this is not recommended and suggested that the title be changed to Independent Accounts Examiner. This was accepted by the meeting.

Geoff Jones was not seeking re-election and Nick Hartshorne offered to stand. This was seconded by Douglas Robinson and carried unanimously.

FOOTPATH FUND
There were no disbursements from the Footpath Fund during the year.

Richard Martin gave details of a railway path scheme for part of the former Somerset & Dorset line, known as the North Dorset Trailway, which is seeking £6,000 to acquire a key piece of land south of Stalbridge. Dorset County Council will match donations, and Richard proposed that the Club donates £2,500 to this scheme. Geoff Sargeant seconded and this was carried unanimously. [Addendum: DCC's matched-giving has yet to be confirmed, but the Trailway supporters' group raising the money aims to put all fund-raising for this acquisition on to a 'matched' basis. Webmaster.]

REPORTS FROM AREA GROUPS

Chilterns
The following report was given by Geoff Sargeant:

Activity remained stable over the year, averaging monthly walks, although a couple were shelved due to lack of interest, possibly due to poor weather forecasts at the time. Nevertheless, we proceeded with groups as low as three, the norm being much higher however, sometimes reaching double figures, with a maximum of 17.

We twice visited the Brackley area, exploring the LNWR and GCR routes through the town, also the nearby SMJR, rarely visited. For these our thanks go to Dave Scott and Mick Boggis for researching and leading the walks. Other routes followed were the Ayot Greenway to Harpenden, the Buntingford line to Hadham, the Croxley Mills branch, the Brill tramway (Kingswood branch), the Alexandra Palace line, and the Watlington line from Chinnor (this latter including a steam-hauled 'Halloween Special' on the Icknield Line). Waterways followed included the Chelmer & Blackwater Navigation and the Thames & Medway Canal; some of us also joined the sponsored walk in the Wendover hills in support of the Chilterns air ambulance. Acknowledgements are due to Alan Frewin, Roger Cleaver, and Roger Green for preparing some of these rambles.

Several of us participated in Don Kennedy's 'Lost Railways of London' series of walks, and visited the Ketton cement works tour organised by Phil Wood, which also included a ride in a diesel shunter.

Our overseas trip was a December week in the Eifel area of Germany, when seven of us rented a holiday apartment in Bad Munstereifel for walks in the surrounding hills and forests, rail trips to Bonn and Cologne, and enjoyed the Christmas markets. As a UK out-of-area trip, some of us (unadvertised) visited the Whitehaven area of west Cumbria to investigate its railway and industrial heritage; this will form the basis for an 'official' RR visit in June this year.

Eastern
No report was submitted.

Midlands, East & West
Bob Prigg advised through another Member that he had undertaken too many walks to detail!

Midlands, South
Barry Bubb supplied the following report:

There were three Stratford area walks in June, July and August. The Evesham area walk on 29 March this year unfortunately had to be cancelled, due to a relative's illness, necessitating a spell in Stratford hospital. It will be re-scheduled for 6 September (provisional date). The 26th April walk will hopefully go ahead as planned along with the rest of this year's programme as per the magazine except the 5th July walk, which is now one week later than advertised, due to a special events weekend which was unknown at the time of planning. I have enclosed details of a plan to redevelop the old army camp at Long Marston as an 'Eco Town'. This may result in the re-opening of the line to Stratford-on-Avon, a consequence of which will be the possible loss of the Greenway cyclepath. I must stress that things are in the very early stages and there is much opposition locally. I hope to see the President of the Club at the GWR, where progress is now proceeding northwards towards Broadway, with track relaid for about a mile and a half to near the site of Laverton Halt (closed 7 March 1960). Projected opening dates are Laverton 2009 and Broadway 2014.

North East
The following report was received from Mike Ellison:

There is nothing really to report for the North East. We (Ian Black and I) have still had no member asking for any walks – though a couple of members will be joining the walk I am running for the North Eastern Railway Association on the trackbed of the line from Middleton-in-Teesdale to Barnard Castle in early May.

North West
Mark Jones submitted the following report:

The North West group enjoyed another successful and enjoyable year. A highlight was the hosting of the club's 2007 AGM weekend at Carnforth, with walks starting at Lancaster, Sedbergh and Arnside to complement the formal meeting.

In our area the group enjoyed, amongst others, walks from Bolton to Atherton, a day exploring the Brooks tramways on Rossendale and a day in the Glossop/Hadfield area. Phillip Earnshaw organised two very popular holiday breaks, a week in the Brecon area and a five day visit to Scotland, based at Perth. Phillip also arranged two fascinating track walks on preserved lines during their out-of-operation periods. The Lakeside & Haverthwaite Railway was walked in March, and the Keighley & Worth Valley line in November.

For 2008 we have another full programme of events in our area and beyond. We continue to publish a newsletter every six months with items of news, a quiz, walk reports and a programme of forthcoming events.

We welcome all Railway Ramblers to join us on a walk sometime soon. Thanks to all who have given their time to support the group whether as organisers, advisors or walk leaders.

Scotland
Tony Jervis supplied the following report.

The year started badly when the May walk along the Bathgate–Airdrie line, likely to be re-opened in the next few years, was rained off after only about a third of the distance had been covered. However, summer eventually arrived and the walks thereafter were eminently successful, with new members attending and not being scared off by the eccentricity of some of the group, particularly its supposed leader. A circular walk following colliery and quarry lines around Kilsyth found that routes 'fossilised' through older housing developments were more likely to survive than those in more open country where the country park landscape artist had laid his hand of blandness. A major problem in the Wishaw area of Lanarkshire was the burgeoning network of new multi-lane dual carriageways of near motorway standard that had to be crossed; environment-friendly ramblers with minimal carbon footprints obviously do not form part of the government's transport policy. Out in the middle of the empty moors north of Slamannan, however, we were surprised but pleased to come across waymarking arrows; where the 'official' path came from or whither it was eventually going we knew not, but that it incorporated part of the railway line we were following helped to increase the legitimacy of our peregrination. In Ayrshire, too, a long-closed colliery line had been incorporated into a country park; that we eventually lost the exact route in a dense pine forest was compensated by the unexpected finding therein of a well-loaded apple tree. Also during the summer, a number of shorter midweek evening walks explored the twiglets that served peat works, shale mines and canal interchange basins. The supposed onset of winter did not impede our progress, though in deference to the potential increased bogginess of the land, the programme was designed to follow lines that had, at least partially, become tarmacked paths; indeed, if anything some of the walks seemed longer, return journeys home being occasionally started after darkness had fallen. The Summer 2008 programme is now being formulated and the group are looking forward to another several months of perambulatory blether (English translation: light-hearted discussion) across large swathes of Scotland.

For those with a good knowledge of railway geography, the following lines have been explored since last May: Dunfermline to Steelend; Luib to Killin (Loch Tay); Gateside to Fairlie and the Caprington branches; Kelty to Lilliehill Junction and Townhill; Cronberry Moor circular; Lenzie to Lennoxtown; Comrie to Crieff; Slateford to Balerno; Cardrona to Walkerburn; Cleland to Salsburgh and Dunsyston; Cumnock to Ochiltree; and Glamis to Newtyle.

Southern
Richard Martin read the following report from Graham Lambert.

The Southern Group is very active, which is due to having several enthusiastic members who are prepared to put in the effort to create a monthly walks programme. This is co-ordinated by Roger Mayo at an annual planning meeting each February. Since the 2007 AGM, the group has walked the former Malmesbury Branch, the Meon Valley line from West Meon to Wickham, several Purbeck mineral tramways, the Surrey Iron Railway from Wandsworth to Croydon, the Portsmouth & Arundel Canal from Arundel to Barnham including a visit to Arundel Brewery, a Dungeness round trip including the Romney, Hythe & Dymchurch Railway, Brading to Bembridge on the Isle of Wight (which completed our coverage of the whole system since 2001), the Somerset & Dorset Railway from Midford to Midsomer Norton, the Downs Link from Henfield to Shoreham-by-Sea, the Croydon Tramlink including 'then and now' on the former Merton Abbey Branch, the Mid Kent Line to Sanderstead, another 'Capital Bash' on the Lost Railways of London around former Docklands lines, the S&D around Corfe Mullen and Spetisbury to Sturminster Marshall, and the Lambourn Valley branch.

This has been a varied and interesting programme, and thanks go to Kevin Arnold, Keith Lawrie, Jeff Vinter, John Everest, Don Kennedy, Richard Martin, Roger Mayo, John Elson and Simon Prudence.

South West
Vacant – no report received.

Wales
No report received.

Yorkshire
Jane Ellis submitted the following report:

The Branch activities have ranged far and wide, covering the length and breadth of the county, from Stainmore and Swaledale in the north to Sheffield in the south, Spurn Point in the extreme east to Nidderdale in the far west. Thanks go to the dedication and enthusiasm of our walks leaders. We also had a well researched canal walk in January and our traditional end of year 'Dayrover Dash' tracing routes in the highest and remotest spots in the county, where you wouldn't believe public transport could go. Our Christmas walk was the usual festive occasion; this time, we were welcomed back to our favourite venue, The Commercial at Chapeltown near Sheffield, where once again we were allowed free use of the function room after lunch and Richard Lewis entertained us with a grand digital slide show of his railway ramblings, both in the UK and across Europe. Once again we got together with the North West group, not just for days' walks such as the splendid AGM events in Cumbria, but also for holidays. We were fortunate to enjoy summery conditions for the South Wales week, based in Brecon, and even for the November trip to Perthshire, both of which were really memorable.

MEMBERS' MOTIONS
Graham Lambert referred to Clause 14 and outlined the following proposed changes to the Club's Constitution in bold and italics.

  • 'In the event of the winding up or dissolution of the Club, its property and assets shall be dedicated to a group or groups with similar aims to the Club ...', shall be changed to read '... distributed equally amongst the members, at the discretion of the appropriate Annual or Extraordinary General Meeting.'
  • 'Should the net assets in the General Fund fall below two hundred pounds (£200) ...' shall be changed to read '... last year's expenditure continuously for a period of three calendar months, the Committee shall convene an Extraordinary General Meeting to discuss the future, and possible dissolution of the Club.'
  • 'All liabilities at the dissolution of the Club shall be shared equally among the members of the Committee' shall be changed to 'Club'.

Graham stated that the Constitution was most unusual in that the Committee, rather than the Members, would be liable for any liabilities in the unlikely event that the Club was wound up. The quid pro quo was that the Members would now share in any surplus, should the Club be wound up. In support of the above he stated that the mood of the members in attendance at last year's AGM was positive, and that the proposed changes had been aired in the AGM Minutes published in the magazine and on the club's website.

He went on to explain the reason for the proposed change to the basis on which an EGM might be called, which was suggested at last year's AGM, and that is that it would preclude the need to continually amend the existing fixed figure in line with inflation. The Club's expenditure for the past two years has averaged around £3,000, of which the magazine and its distribution account for ca. 60%. Club funds, excluding the Footpath Fund which should be 'ring fenced', have averaged £7,000. Calling an EGM would give an opportunity to determine the Club's problems and consider proposals to rectify them and would, hopefully as a result, not necessarily result in a proposal to dissolve the Club. Realistically, the Treasurer should spot such a financial problem well before the Club's funds dropped to the level of the previous year's expenditure and take suitable action. Given the aforementioned, the proposed revised 'trigger' of the last year's expenditure for calling an EGM appeared to make sense.

The Committee had considered all these matters and recommended the proposed changes in the Constitution accordingly. This was seconded by N.J. Hill and approved unanimously.

At last year's AGM, it had also been suggested that a minimum period of continuous membership be required in order to share in the Club's assets in the event of the winding up of the Club in order to prevent 'carpetbaggers' from benefiting from this situation. Based on the aforementioned statistics, the likely payout per Member would be in the region of £6, which the Committee felt would be unlikely to motivate 'carpetbaggers' and therefore it was not recommending this suggested change.

Clause (3) of the Constitution refers to three classes of membership, namely Household (1 or more persons living at the same address), Overseas, and Group (10+). The Minutes of the 23rd AGM state 'The Chairman noted that the Household Rate (HR) should be used as the basis for the Club's subscription rates. Overseas Rate should be 1½ times the HR and Group Rate should be 3 times the HR. (This formula had been agreed at a previous AGM.)'

The Secretary cannot find any reference to this in previous AGM Minutes, but the Committee recommends that they be inserted in the Constitution.

This was approved unanimously.

The Constitution does not require the AGM location to be near a mainline train station, nor does it preclude holding the AGM on the Saturday of a Bank Holiday weekend. However, the 5th AGM Minutes state 'a Resolution was made by Carl Pollitt that the AGM should be held at a British Rail location on the Inter City network, in a different part of the country each year. This was seconded by Alan Bowers, and the Secretary has been asked to look for a suitable site in the future.' There is no note that a vote was taken, but it seems clear in the minds of a number of Members that this was agreed. It is impossible to know how many Members might be put off attending an AGM by the absence of a nearby railway station, but the Area groups would be able to arrange transport for those without cars, the number of whom is probably relatively small. Perhaps a note could be inserted in the magazine suggesting that those wishing to attend the AGM who are without their own transport should contact their Area group leader to arrange a lift?

The Committee therefore proposed that the Constitution should state that preference will be given to holding AGMs near a main line railway station and that the AGM will not take place on the Saturday of a Bank Holiday weekend. This was carried unanimously.

ELECTION OF OFFICERS
The Secretary, Graham Lambert, advised that the following are all prepared to stand unopposed and suggested they be elected en bloc. This was then proposed by Yvonne Martin, seconded by Stephen Lewis and carried unanimously.

Chairman – Richard Martin
Vice-Chairman – Gordon Pirie
Secretary – Graham Lambert
Membership Secretary – Pete Walker
Magazine Editors – Maurice and Hilary Blencowe
Magazine Distribution Officer – Rupert Nicholson
Webmaster – Jeff Vinter

The Secretary advised that the position of Treasurer was vacant. Douglas Robinson proposed Marion Thornton and this was seconded by Geoff Sargeant. Marion accepted the nomination and was elected unanimously.

DATE AND VENUE OF NEXT AGM
Richard Martin suggested a location at the former GWR works in Swindon, but the cost was high and this was dismissed. Following our President's suggestion that Members enjoy a day at the Gloucestershire and Warwickshire Railway to see Black Prince, it was proposed that we investigate this for the AGM. Failing agreement, a hotel or similar venue in the Cheltenham area was agreed. In trying to agree a date it became apparent that there might be clashes with at least two other Area Group weekend rambles. The Secretary therefore suggested that we find a basis for fixing the AGM date in order that it will always be known in advance to Members to facilitate planning and avoid date clashes. After much discussion, Fred Thornton proposed that the AGM is held on the second Saturday in April except when this is Easter Saturday, when it will be held on the previous Saturday. This was seconded by Bob Hipgrave and approved unanimously.

The 31st AGM of the Club will therefore be held on 4 April 2009, as it is understood that the second Saturday in April 2009 is Easter Saturday.

ANY OTHER BUSINESS
Brian Slater referred to the trespass matter briefly outlined in the Secretary's report, and Stephen Lewis asked if the Constitution allowed the Club to exclude such Members and was advised that it did. It was agreed that the Secretary should send a letter to the culprit, via Bob Prigg, warning him that his behaviour was unacceptable to the Club.

Marion Thornton asked how often non-members could attend walks and was advised twice; beyond that, our Public Liability Insurance would not cover them.

Bob Hipgrave asked if personal injury was covered by our insurance and was advised that only Public Liability is covered.

There being no further business the meeting closed at 4.20 p.m.

NOTE
The annual accounts, and membership and website reports, will be published in a forthcoming issue of Railway Ramblings and distributed to members.