KENILWORTH HISTORY & ARCHÆOLOGY SOCIETY – March 2016 Newsletter

» Last month at the AGM, Phil Stock was elected to the Committee in lieu of Barbara Platten, who had resigned. No other changes were made. The Treasurer presented the accounts, to the satisfaction of the membership. The Chairman made a few points, but left the tenor of her view of the year to her Report published inKenilworth History 2016 which was made available to subscribing members.

The AGM was short, and we were able to enjoy an excellent illustrated talk by Tom Garner on what had been entitled “The History of Photography”, but was actually much more “History through Photography”. It was clear from the comments from the floor afterwards that many of us had no idea just how early significant events in world history since the mid 19th century had been recorded in photographs. The talk was very much appreciated.

» Tonight Nic Fulcher will give an account of the “New Place Project” under the aegis of the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, standing in for Kate Christmas.

» Next month April 11th Roy Smart will give an account of the career of the First Earl Beatty, under the title of “The Last Naval Hero”.

CHANGE TO JULY PROGRAMME

Unfortunately, the Mayor wants the use of the Castle on the date we had arranged for our visit in July, so we have moved the event to the 25th July. Because this is so late in the summer, the August outing has been abandoned. There will be major ‘Siege’ events over the last weekend in August as well.

At the first Committee meeting after the AGM, the Committee unanimously coopted Christ Blunt, our Webmaster, to its ranks. It is clear that the Committee needs to work closely with him in order to utilise this new and invaluable service to the best interests of the Society.

This evening, Members will be handed a Questionnaire. The purpose is to establish the resources the Society has to hand in the abilities and inclinations of the Membership. This has been done in the past (eg, 1965) when membership was much smaller, and even then the Society was well-known for the amount of work it did. With the current membership level, it may be that we could do more if we marshalled all our forces.

It is intended that members remain anonymous, but there is no obligation to hide you lamp under a bushel, if you would like to declare your hand. The way it will work otherwise is that when a particular expertise is needed, that need will be advertised through the monthly Newsletter, and therefore on the Website. That will be the time to put yourself forward, but only if you want to. What we are trying to  avoid is making anyone feel pressured; if you want just to sit back and enjoy the meetings, then the Committee will be just as happy!

» Kenilworth Family History Society 13 April AGM + Members’ evening Short talks by members. Meetings 7.30 at Senior Citizens’ Club.

» Warwickshire Local History Society Tuesday 15 March 2016 AGM 7.15pm NB, followed by Dr Maureen Harris, ‘The “debauched” parson and the “wit-already-expired-rogue”: Warwickshire parish politics, 1660-1720’ in The Friends’ Meeting House, 39 High Street, Warwick, CV34 4AX

» Warwickshire Geology: All meetings take place at S. Francis’ Church Hall, Warwick Road (Kenilworth main street), Kenilworth CV8 1HL, with coffee at 7pm before a 7.30pm start. 16 March: Prof Sarah Davies (Leicester): Rivers, lakes, swamps and seas: exploring an early Carboniferous environment.

» CADAS: 9th February Title: Hoards, Hounds and Helmets: The story of the Hallaton Treasure Lecturer: Vicky Score. 12th April “The Infancy of the Alphabet” Lecturer: Professor Alan Millard. All meetings are held at the Friends’ Meeting House, Hill Street, Coventry, at 19:30

» The Magazine recycling centre seems to have fallen into abeyance. The object was that Members should take copies of magazines, read them, & bring them back for others. It looks as though they are disappearing into private collections!!

» Another, different, miscellany of guide books of various dates to places all over the country is available for sale at the back of the room 5p each to the Society’s funds.

Contacts:

Chairman – 01676 532654; Secretary – 01926 858670; Treasurer – 01926 852655;

Vice Chairman & Editor – 01926 858090

Website www.khas.co.uk