The Annual General Meeting of the Association will be held on Wednesday, 22nd February 2006 at 8.00 pm. prompt at the Old Sulians' Rugby Club, Lansdown, by kind permission of the Rugby Club.
Your attention is drawn to Rule 15, under which any member wishing to move a resolution or nominate an Officer at the Annual General Meeting must give notice of his intention in writing to the Honorary Secretary, not less than seven days before the meeting. P D Powell Honorary Secretary.
AGENDA
Hon Secretary's Report 2005
Despite the growing age of the membership, the number of paid up members continues to rise.
The Executive Committee meet monthly and would like to see a few more members attend the AGM.
This year the Association have presented a new perpetual salver to the School for 'Presentation of Work' for Year 9. Hopefully it will help to improve neatness and writing. We also added a book token to all our Awards.
We were sad to see the retirement of Roy Ludlow and to mark the occasion we presented him with a memento at the Annual Dinner. We are pleased to welcome Andrew Davies as the new Head and note that he continues to uphold standards.
Our thanks to Roger Wood for not only doing the Hon. Correspondent duties but also filling in for Tony Bowrey in his temporary absence due to health problems.
I have had a quick trawl through the minutes of the meetings held in 1948 - all held at School with Ken Ruddick in the Chair. The Rugby Club produced plans for land at Lansdown that they were hoping to purchase, but had made a loss of £60, as reported by John New. Tom Wyatt asked for more support for the Tennis Club - the Recreation Ground Co., wanted 15 Guineas per court for the year. A successful Easter Dance organised by John New and 'Buster' Hanna was held together with other events such as skittles evenings and cricket matches.
Old Sulian Arnold Ridley, of Dad's Army fame, suggested an 'Old Sulian Night' when his play 'Easy Money' visited Bath. Seats were duly booked in the stalls.
The Annual Dinner at Fortes, with the Mayor and Chairman of Governors as guests, cost 12/6 for dinner and drinks. The Treasurer L F Burt reported regularly of late payments for events and subs. Money was gradually being raised for the War Memorial Fund - Buster Hanna was not getting much response. Two gross of Old Sulian lapel badges were ordered, (the last being used this year in Roy Ludlow's plaque!), each to be sold for 3/-. Profits to go to the Memorial Fund. Bert Marquiss had problems getting photos into the Old Sulian Magazine but Mr Clapp was said to be doing his best!
Back to this year - Events held during the year have been well attended apart from the Approach Golf which was again a casualty of the weather, but going back many years, attendances have never been great.
We are sad to record the loss of Jack Norris, 'Biffer' Smith, Mike Nash, Peter Tinworth, K Davies and H F L Bath.
Our grateful thanks are due as usual to the Rugby Club for the continued use of the Club House at Lansdown for our Committee meetings.
Peter Powell. Hon. Secretary.
Hon Treasurers Report 2005
This year, on paper, we made a small loss. This was due to Ladies Night being held over until 2006 as the President travelled the globe. Once again we had generous sponsorship from Patchway Autoparts towards the Dinner and a good attendance helped towards a healthy profit. There were no cancellations and everybody paid promptly which is a great help. We added Book tokens to the School awards which also raised our expenditure. There were 8 new members, one non-renewal, and 6 departures, giving a net membership at years end of 251. John Foster has audited the accounts and I am, again, very grateful to him. The Balance Sheet will be presented at the AGM. We are down to about 2 dozen ties but they are still available from the address on the newsletter, at £4 each, or £4.50 by post. Rich Wood. Honorary Treasurer.
Your President, Secretary and scribe duly met the new Headmaster, Andrew Davies, in September last. Tea in the Head's study and we all recalled our days…. whilst the Head is clearly looking forward to his! Our impression, and those of you who heard him speak at the Dinner, is that the School is in safe hands.
And talking of the Annual Dinner, it was very well attended and from the comments received, a most enjoyable evening. The principal guest, Roy Ludlow, out-of-work former Headmaster, gave a resume (I almost said 'brief'!) of his time on Beechen Cliff with a number of anecdotes and proposed the toast to The Association. He was presented with an engraved plaque mounted on Bath Stone on marble, to mark his retirement and election to Vice President of the Association (shown opposite). Your President, Alan Blake, duly responded and the new Headmaster, Andrew Davies, invited to say a few words, in true Ludlow tradition, made the 5 minutes last 20! All the speakers were well received and the evening lasted well past closing time. With extended hours, and a possible change of venue, this should not be a problem this year.
Some of us were at The School for another exceptional Piano Concert in October with more than 30 performers, and at the Abbey in December for the Annual Carol Service. Your President handed over the Sulian Awards at the School Presentation Evening in the Assembly Rooms. We have also been invited to attend 2 School Parent Evenings to show the Association to the current pupils and their parents.
The AGM is almost upon us, the notice appears above. John New and Ivan Whipp, Trustees of the Association since Methuselah was small, have requested to stand down. Tony Comer, the 3rd Trustee is feeling lonely so former President, Mike Wood has 'volunteered' to join him. We really could do with a few more to help out on the Committee so if you are free on the 22nd please come along and help to keep the Association alive.
Members will be pleased to hear that both Tony Bowrey and Ivan Whipp are well on the mend following their illness'.
Sadly I have to pass on the news of the death of former Headmaster, Peter Bolton, just before Christmas. Peter followed on from Leslie Scott and took CBBS and Oldfield into Beechen Cliff in 1972. He moved to Steyning Grammar School in 1979. He was present at the 100 Years Exhibition and was in correspondence with our Hon Sec only last year. 'Buster' Hanna (1942) has died in Australia. He was one of the great characters of the Sulians before his move to South Africa. He made many return visits and eventually left for Australia. He spent a couple of years here first and was President in 1986/87. I recall several 'Aussie' themed Ladies Nights and still have my 'corked' hat somewhere! Known only to his mother as Arthur Charles, we send our sincere condolences to Tess and the family.
Association Golf Sham Castle on Friday June 16Th. Book now. Info from mike@systemagic.co.uk or Mike Wood on 01225 335250
The Old Sulians Rugby Club are having a better time. Mid-place in Somerset 1, they have a new Coach in Simon Jones, ex Bath, some new young players and a few good wins under their belt. The Association is pleased to be a sponsor again and is associated with the match on April 22nd against Bristol Barbarians. All former players please put this in your diary and meet up with old friends at Lansdown on that day, (Not that you wouldn't be welcomed any Saturday!)
Finally, we now send out over 50 e-mail copies of this newsletter. If you have e-mail it saves us a fortune in postage. E-mail to rich@oldsulians.org.uk and he will add you to the listbot! The newsletter can also be seen and downloaded from the website at: www.oldsulians.org.uk
Recent additions to the photo gallery on the web-site are folders of the Vickery Sea-Cadet Camp from the '50's and the Annual Dinner, all stored on a machine in deepest Twerton! Watch out for Ladies Night! 2006.
The newsletter and web-site are sponsored by Systemagic, for all your IT needs in Bath. - 01225 426800