Stalham
Farmers’ Club committee meeting
The
meeting started at 7.30pm.Monday, March 23, 2015, Dilham Hall.
Present
– Luke Paterson, chairman; Michael Pollitt, secretary/ treasurer; Ken Leggett,
Neil Jordan, Jason Cantrill, membership secretary; Jonathan Deane, John
Purling, Christopher Deane.
1
Apologies – The president, William Donald; Alison Ritchie, Sally Lomax, Helen
Gibb, Nigel Wright, Robert Norman, Alastair Ross, Peter Gardiner, Frank Read.
2
The secretary/ treasurer Michael Pollitt gave his report.
Annual
dinner: The club’s dinner at the Sutton Staithe Hotel, Sutton, on Wednesday,
March 11 had raised a total of £1,512 for the charity, Walking With the
Wounded. The guest speaker, Edward Parker, who was a co-founder of the North
Norfolk-based charity, thanked the club for a fantastic meal and excellent
company. (His letter also appears on the club’s website).
Website:
The number of visits to the club’s website since the launch in February 2014,
had exceeded 14,750. The webmaster Tim Papworth was thanked for his efforts and
also for the latest tweaks to the design.
Trophies:
Repairs on the barley trophy were being carried out and the Norwich
silversmiths, Zelley’s, were also adding a new plinth to two of the trophies
including the EH Wenn President’s Cup, which had been presented to Denis Walsh,
of Greenvale AP – the judge of the potato competition for the past quarter of a
century.
An
offer by Norwich silversmith Leona Levine to have the trophies, photographed
and re-valued, had been accepted. She had agreed to carry out the valuation at
no cost to the club, which was much appreciated by the committee.
It
was also noted that the trophies were insured by the NFU Mutual – at no charge
to the club, thanks to the generosity of members, Christopher Deane and David
Faulkner, of the East Norfolk NFU branch.
The
secretary had also noted the details of the trophy winners, as engraved on the
silverware – these details would also be published on the website.
BASIS:
Details of members claiming CPD points from BASIS had been submitted after the
February meeting.
Clay
pigeon shoot: There was some interest expressed in reviving the clay pigeon
shoot, which has been prompted by comments at the recent inter-club bowls/
10-pin match. The secretary had contacted Holt’s Charles Skinner and had
suggested possible dates for a clay shoot to be staged in north Norfolk – on
either Tuesday, June 16 or Thursday, June 18. Teams of 20 would be required.
In
general discussion, Jonathan Deane asked whether there would be support to
stage the event in September – avoiding the heavily-congested mid-summer.
Christopher Deane also suggested a team shoot, possible with three or four guns
in each.
The
chairman also spoke in favour of a September date, partly because it would be a
good run-up to the start of the shooting season.
Robert
Stimpson, who has organised the event for several years, would be briefed on
the thrust of the discussions.
Holt
would be asked to consider an alternative later date. (Post-meeting note, the
pressure on the land and shorter day length was mentioned as a draw-back by Mr
Skinner).
Bowls/
10-pin: The club’s success at 10-pin was noted and also the presentation of a
trophy at the annual dinner by Holt’s president, Richard Harrison.
As
Holt would stage the event at Rossi’s, North Walsham, in 2016, several members
asked if the February half-term holiday would be avoided. Many members would
have taken part if the match had been held a week earlier or later than
February 20.
Inter-club
quiz: The organiser, David Morton, would be asked if a date was yet known for
the quiz, which involved clubs across Norfolk, and usually took place in the
first week of November. Again, there was support to enter.
Silk
ties: The club’s new design has proved popular. A total of 19 have now been
sold for a total of £352.50, with modest early-bird discount. Ties cost £20
each and can be obtained from the secretary. There is a stock of 147 remaining
and one was presented to the guest speaker at the dinner.
Summer
programme
RABI
quiz: Stalham would enter a team for the inter-club competition taking place at
East Tuddenham village hall on Wednesday, April 22, 7.15pm prompt start.
Tickets will cost £10 each, including light supper. It was agreed to sponsor a
team with a £100 contribution to RABI.
Chairman’s
away-day expedition, June 2/3: Former chairman Neil Jordan would have further
discussions with Neal Sands to consider visits to south and mid-Lincolnshire,
and probably on either Tuesday/ Wednesday, June 2 and 3. It would include an
early departure and then a night away – on similar lines to last year’s
successful foray into Essex and south Suffolk, organised by Christopher Deane.
Garden
visit and drinks, June 17: A visit to Roger Last’s Mill House garden at
Corpusty would take place on Wednesday, June 17, starting about 6pm. This would
cost at least £10 per head for the garden tour and would include drinks,
provided by the club. A proposal to include a meal at possibly the Walpole
Arms, Itteringham, was strongly favoured. The secretary would look at costings
and would inform members of the options.
Chairman’s
farm walk, Tuesday, July 7: A joint tour with East Norfolk NFU branch was
agreed after Christopher Deane said that the branch chairman, Joe Mitchell,
would be happy to take part. The invitation, arranged by Jonathan Deane, to
tour Hall Farm, Wickmere, was accepted. The host farmer Jonathan Seaman would
be delighted to welcome members, starting at 6pm, with a tractor and trailer
tour. Supper would follow – probably a hog roast, and the NFU would stand a
barrel of beer.
Details
to be agreed.
Donations:
A £300 donation to the Royal Norfolk Agricultural Association towards the cost
of staging the Spring Fling was agreed. The event, designed to appeal to
children, aged up to 14 years’ old, would be taking place on Tuesday, March 31
at the Norfolk showground. The club has supported the event since the first
event was held in 2000.
175th
anniversary celebrations
A
special meeting of club officers, committee and any members interested in
helping to celebrate this milestone will be held in early July.
A
lengthy discussion was held, which considered a range of ideas from a
celebration ball to a drinks party at an exclusive location.
Jonathan
Deane, vice-chairman, proposed that an evening with drinks and canapés in a
prime location within the club’s catchment area would be popular.
A
proposal by Rob Norman for a dinner/dance at Rossi’s, North Walsham, was also
discussed. There were some reservations about the amount of effort which would
be required. While sponsorship from many of the club’s suppliers could help
offset some of these costs of staging such an event, it was decided to keep
this option alive.
A
range of other activities were considered – a barn dance in a large venue was
also suggested. Jonathan Deane would make further inquiries with regard to
availability, costs and suitability.
Christopher
Deane said that it might be possible to raise a significant amount for suitable
charitable objectives, which would command support from the membership.
He
added that at a previous committee meeting in November, the idea of raising a
total of £17,500 – to mark the 175th had been supported.
A
number of other ideas were suggested – a coast to coast fund-raising walk, and
a charitable raffle.
It
was agreed that the year should be marked by a series of events and as the club
was founded in December 1841, there was plenty of scope to hold events over the
following months.
However
at the chairman’s suggestions, it was agreed to consider inviting all the
committee and any other members interested to an open meeting on Wednesday,
July 8 at the White Horse, Neatishead, 7pm.
New
meeting venue:
A
lengthy discussion following and it was agreed that the chairman and secretary/
treasurer would arrange to meet as soon as reasonably practicable at the
Norfolk Mead Hotel, Coltishall, to consider detailed proposals to host the
series of autumn meetings and the 2016 dinner. There was broad agreement around
the table that a new location should be considered and certainly for the coming
year.
Any
other business
Improving
member communication:
The
newly-appointed membership secretary, Jason Cantrill, and chairman, Luke
Paterson, suggested that setting up a text message/ reminder to members would
further improve involvement. This practice had been adopted more than eight
years ago while Emma Ralph was chairman in 2007/8 and it made good sense to
re-vitalise it.
Such
an approach could be used to inform members alongside the club’s existing
website and email communications, it was agreed, and could be used to advantage
to invite members to the summer programme of events and meetings.
As
there was no further business, the meeting was closed at 9.50pm.