Chairman's Reports

Here are words of wisdom from our Chairman John Kidley. 

Chairmans report November 2024

Well, we find ourselves at the end of another year. The Society has run it two events at Blue Lias and Tewkesbury, both of which were lucky with the weather. The events went very well and I would like to thank all who helped with the events ensuring smooth running.

We had our usual stand at the Midlands Model Exhibition which took place at the Warwick Exhibition centre.   We had several engines on display with other engines in steam giving a display of Road model steam. We shared the stand with the Steam Apprentice club who brought along some of their display material which they use to explain a bit about the workings and history of live steam in this country. This brough a new dimension to our stand which I feel we need to expand on. I would like to extend my heart felt thanks to Chris Stubbings who has organised this event for many years now and would like to step back from it now. So, if there is anyone out their who would like to take on this event please contact the committee.

The weather has been very poor this year and many steam events have been cancelled due to the wet conditions. I personally have not attended as many as I would normally due to the weather and also because my wife has suffered some ill health this year. I am pleased to say that we seem to be over this now and we hope to be able to attend more next year, weather permitting.

The A. G. M. is fast approaching and I urge all members who wish to attend to return their invitations 

A. S. A. P. It will take the normal format which will include a Christmas party. I hope to see as many of you there as possible.

John Kidley

Chairman.

Chairmans report September 2024

We are nearing the end of another steam season. The club has had another good year running our two events which were both very successful and all who attended enjoyed themselves immensely.

The Society will have a stand at the Midlands Model Exhibition and we are looking for members who want to exhibit their model, we require models of any type or size, new or old. Please contact Chris Stubbings if you are interested.

We are not long away from our A. G. M. so please ensure it is in your diary if you are able to attend. We are still looking for a committee secretary, please contact me if anybody is interested and able to attend the meetings. It’s not an odious task, the main function is taking notes at the meetings and preparing the minuets of the meetings.  As we only have six meetings a year now its not a lot of work.

I personally have enjoyed this year’s rallying although we have not attended so many due to my wife’s ill health. She is much better now so hopefully we will be able to be more active next year.

 John Kidley

Chairman.

 May 2024

The season is well under way and I am sure most of the engine owners will have already attended some events. It’s a shame the weather has been so wet and many events have already been affected by it.

 I would like to welcome Mathew Long to the club who has recently joined and acquired an engine. Mathew is new to steam but very keen to learn with his children. We hope to see him at the club events with his family and engine this year.

 I hope all who can attend will make the trip to Blue Iias as it is a great location with a lot of room to run your engine with a great pub on site which serves great food at reasonable prices. You can take a walk along the canal or round the fishing lake and take in the country air. It’s a great relaxing weekend. We will have a road run to a local village fete which all who took part enjoyed last year.

 The preparation for the Tewkesbury event is well under way with over forty engines already entered. I hope all who can attend will be there. We can offer a boiler test over the weekend if you require one. Please contact Rob prior to the event so we know about it.

 We are still looking for a replacement for Chris England as Committee Secretary if anyone could help? Please contact me. It is not a difficult role, just requires somebody to attend the meetings take notes and write the minuets.

 John Kidley

 Chairman.

January 2024

Well, we find ourselves at the beginning of a new year. I hope you all have survived another Christmas and new year celebration without too much damage. My family and I had a very enjoyable time with my close family coming to visit over the festive period.

Looking forward to another steam season I guess we are all looking at our diaries’ and trying to decide what shows you would like to attend and which ones you can get in.

 

I am told we have picked up a few new members over the new year period which is always good. Looking forward to our two steam events we are putting on this year I hope you have included both dates in your diary. We will invite the Steam Apprentice Club members to both events and hope we get a few of their members to attend.

 

We intend to advertise both of our events locally in an attempt to get the general public to come along and see live miniature steam in all its glory, this hopefully will raise our profile with the general public and perhaps attract a few new members. We are not going to charge any admission fee and will run the events along similar lines to we have previously.

 

If any member has any ideas will enhance the events, please contact us.

 

Happy new year to all,

 

John Kidley