Bearsden and Ramblers and Hillwalkers Minute of the Committee Meeting held on 23 June 2014.

Present: Bob Diamond (Chairman). Beth Diamond, Mary Darke, Doreen Kingsbury, Helen Donnachie, Moira Allan, Fiona Taylor, Karine Davison, Imogen Johnstone, Peter Allan, Peter Bartos, Helena Bartos

1. Apologies: Hazel Miller, Liz Weir

2. Minute of the meeting of 28 April 2014

These were agreed with the following corrections:

5.2 amend to ‘Map Leaflets and Plinth. It was agreed that this should be paid in full from the no.3 account’.

Attached reports - Change heading of report labelled ‘Publicity’ to ‘Webmaster’

3. Matters Arising:

3.1 Reports. It was agreed that the new system of the Secretary circulating reports one week prior to the meeting appeared successful. Any item which came up after submission of a report could be brought up at the meeting.

3.2 Hi-Vis Jackets. These were now available

3.3 Proposal for Bus Walks. Fiona said that it was too onerous for the Walks Co- ordinator to organise all the bus walks as well as the normal walking programme. Plans for bus walks had been made by the full committee in the past, not the walks committee. It was suggested that the Bus Convenor should also organise the walks on bus walks. These trips would also need to be organised earlier if additional notice in the programme was required. These suggestions were noted for future discussion.

4. Reports

4.1 Publicity (Report attached). Milngavie Walks Panels. Peter A asked that if anyone from the committee was notified of/invited to the official unveiling of the Milngavie Walks plinth and board they let him know. It was agreed that a heading reading ‘Developed and Funded by and Milngavie Ramblers and Hillwalkers’ (or ‘Developed and Funded by Ramblers Group’) was preferable to that proposed. However it might be too late for an alteration to be made. Peter A would check. It was agreed to send Andrew Summers and Sue Swinson an official email congratulating them on being selected to carry the Commonwealth Games baton. (Bob)

4.2 Bus Convenor (Report Attached). Glencoe. Bookings for the Glencoe trip were now 38. A 49 seater coach had been booked. Bob asked if there was any flexibility in bookings. Could a smaller coach than had been booked be substituted if numbers were lower than expected? Moira said that there was little difference in costs for coach size, as the main cost was the driver’s time.

13 September bus walk. It was agreed that a 49 seater bus should be booked, leaving Milngavie at 8.30am, and returning as late as possible within the driver’s permitted hours. There was some concern that the C walkers might be left in Moffat for a long time whilst waiting for the A walkers to complete their walk. Peter B said this would be taken into consideration when planning pick ups and drop offs.

4.3 Social (Report Attched

Christmas Lunch. It was agreed that the Christmas lunch should be at the Glazert Hotel, Lennoxtown on 13 December 2014. Helena would book this. Doreen volunteered to lead the pre-lunch walk, and the new Social Convenor would be asked to organise the mulled wine.

AGM Speaker. Helena proposed inviting a speaker on the history of the Central Hotel. This was agreed.

Spanish Night. Mugdock was booked for 19 September. Fiona and Moira would co- ordinate this and pass on information for the programme to Peter B by 5 August, and final details to Helena after 10 September. Peter A would include an item will be included in ‘Breaking News’ mid August. Deadline for bookings would be 12 September. Cost approximately £8 – to be confirmed by Moira.

Visit to see The Great Tapestry of in New Lanark. Visit proposed for 21 October 2014.

Visit to Coats Observatory. A visit was proposed on 11 November. A maximum of 15 people could be accommodated. Details would be included in the new programme.

Christmas Pantomime. It was agreed that no bookings should be made for this year, but this should be discussed at the AGM to see if there was support for attending a panto. Christmas 2015, and if so whether a daytime or evening performance was preferable.

4.4 Treasurer (Report Attached)

Moira suggested that a bus booking deadline should be re-introduced. Booking to close two weeks prior to the date of the excursion. This would permit cancellation of the bus if the trip was insufficiently supported to be viable. This was agreed.

4.5 Webmaster (Report Attached)

4.6 Nerja (Report Attached)

4.7 Walks Co-ordinator.

Planning of the Autumn and Winter programme had been started, but there had been a slow response from potential leaders. The programme needed to be completed for forwarding to Peter B by 5 August. Mary Darke had volunteered to lead a C walk on the Moffat Big Bus trip.

4.8 Membership (Report Attached)

4.9 Secretary (Report Attached)

The items in the secretary’s report were discussed.

1. Milngavie in Bloom (see Access Officer’s report) 2. Bearsden festival – Invitation to take part. As this event would take place on a walk day it was agreed to arrange for some Ramblers leaflets to be displayed. 3. Ramblers Open Meeting, 27 June 2014. It was agreed that the Chairman would email Benedict Southworth and make the following points: o Short notice given regarding the meeting o Lack of consultation regarding the organisation of such a meeting o Inappropriateness of a discussion of Ramblers membership in Scotland when the result of the referendum in September might mean that Ramblers Scotland was no longer part of Ramblers UK. It was agreed that Bearsden and Milngavie Ramblers Group would not be represented at the meeting.

4.10 Chairman (Report Attached)

(Correct name of Ramblers Scotland representative to Jeannie Cranfield).

4.11 Access Officer (Report Attached)

Imogen said that the report that had been distributed had part of its text missing. The correct version is attached.

5. Area AGM 2015

It was planned to hold the 2015 Area AGM in Milngavie. It was agreed that the Bearsden and Milngavie group would assist with organisation of refreshments and a short walk.

6. Bearsden and Milngavie Ramblers AGM speaker.

This was discussed in item 4.3

7. Support for Milngavie in Bloom’s plans for upgrading the West Way

Imogen said that Milngavie in Bloom (MIB) were developing a 5 year project to upgrade the local section of the West Highland Way (WHW). They had suggested that B&M Ramblers might like to assist both by volunteering help, and funding. It was agreed that this was a worthwhile project, and B&M Ramblers should support the project in principle. MIB would be asked to supply details of their plan, so that B&M Ramblers could decide what help the group could offer. A note of two volunteer days already arranged would be put on ‘Breaking News’.

8. Funding Proposals

Options for use of funding available in the group’s accounts were discussed. MIB – as above Paths maintenance – Bob to approach Kathleen McWhirter about this Printing costs for programmes – Moira to get an estimate

A decision of spending these funds was required before 1 September.

9. AOCB

IDTags. Moira had produced some sample tags for members to have with them on walks. It was agreed that these were suitable. In addition to the information previously agreed, it was decided to add full address of member and B&M Ramblers charity number.

10. Date of Next meeting

Monday 25 August 2014 at Milngavie Community Centre

Reports

Bus Convenor

I was on holiday when the bus to Cowal took place on 7th June and Moira very kindly dealt with this so I am unable to report on this bus. With regard to the Glencoe bus which takes place on 5th July, I have 31 bookings so far. I would suggest we get a Breaking News put on the website to chase up some bookings as it is only about two weeks away. Helen Donnachie 16th June 2014

Social Events Co-ordinator On Friday 16th May 'Ladies Who Lunch” event was held, very successfully, 23 ladies enjoyed their meal and an opportunity to exchange their news and respective opinions. On Tuesday 10th June “Pollok Country Park Tour” was planned. There was not much interest shown and therefore only 3 people were disappointed when the event had to be cancelled due to an extremely inclement weather. Several events are being planned for the programme starting in September. The following events are being suggested and an approval or rejection is being sought during the committee meeting: 19 September : Spanish Night (Mugdock Park Theatre has been already booked for the event by Peter and Moira A.) 21 October: A visit to see The Great Tapestry of Scotland in New Lanark 31 October : AGM A search for a speaker(s) is under way 18 November : A visit to the Coats Observatory in Paisley for Winter viewing night – Telescope viewing. If sky is out of sight Planetarium show is substituted. 13 or 20 December : Christmas Lunch. It is to be held again in the Erskine Bridge Hotel. Particulars are expected from the hotel within next few days. A visit to a pantomime (preferably to the Citizens Theatre for Christmas Carol) is considered but a discussion of an evening attendance is required by the committee. HB 16/6/14

Treasurer’s report 16 June 2014 No 1 a/c - General a/cBalance as at 16 June 2014 - £1170.61. Quarterly funding of £262 and quarterly recce allowance of £55 are due around mid July. Recce expenses year to date are still low at only £111. £1250 has now been paid for new website. Hi viz jacket and laminate cards have been paid. See below for EDC report. No 2 a/c - Activity a/c Balance as at 16 June 2014 - £2562.30 which includes £1000 of deposits for the Nerja holiday. All other payments are up to date. No 3 a/c - Restricted Funds a/c Balance as at 16 June 2014 - £1862.05. No further funds have been received from Andrew since November 2013. To be discussed at meeting Surplus funds in both main and self funded accounts. Taking in to account funding due from Area in July, the No 1 a/c currently has surplus funds of around £900 with our excess funds calculation at 63%. The No 2 a/c, deducting The £1000 Nerja deposits, is around the correct recommended balance of £1500 but the excess funds calculation is 34%. We need to look at both accounts, but mainly the No 1 a/c, to try to get within the guidelines to stop future funding being cut. EDC Report I met with Jean Cambell on 19 May regarding our printing payments. As you know our cheques have not been cashed and it has been a constant battle getting invoices etc. A disciplinary procedure has been started by them and a member of staff has been suspended. A fact find was done which I have now signed and will return to EDC this week. They are currently looking in to our outstanding cheques and invoices and I have just had an e-mail confirming that they will issue a single invoice to cover the last 4 programmes and return the outstanding cheques to me, although no timescale for this has been indicated yet. I have still to establish who the future contact is to be for further programmes but it is not urgent just yet. Hopefully, once the fact find is sorted, I will be able to find this out.

Webmaster Following the web launch on the 8th May everything is working out very well and thanks to everyone who made comments about the website at the web launch. Everyone seems very happy with what has been produced. I would like to propose a freeze on any further development for the next six months to give everyone a chance to get familiar with the website as it stands at present. The Breaking News and Gallery pages will continue to be updated as and when information is sent to the webmaster. The “Walks around Milngavie” page on the website is now available with eight PDF files recently installed which can be downloaded and viewed. See publicity Report below.

Publicity Milngavie Walks Panels The Milngavie Walks Panels will have a QR code (quick reference code) that can be read on a smart phone or tablet which calls up the “Walks around Milngavie” page on our website. The plinth is expected to be produced very soon. Andrew Summers is overseeing the plans to site one plinth in Milngavie Precinct and a wall mounted board in Mugdock. I believe there may be an official unveiling of these involving the Council as it is their land it is being installed on and this may be covered by the Milngavie Herald. The plinth and wall mounted board will have a heading “Produced and Funded by Bearsden and Milngavie Ramblers”. Suggest a few minutes at the meeting to discuss the above. Peter Allan, June 23rd

Nerja 2014 Sub-committee Report for Committee Meeting 23 June 2014 All flights have been booked, and with several people cancelling, it allowed everyone who was on the waiting list to come on the trip. One couple have since gone on to the list but it has been explained to them that it is highly unlikely that they will get a place. All those who cancelled have had their £20 deposits refunded. A list has been produced of everyone’s travel arrangements as there are a lot of people making their own arrangements outwith the group trip. In fact only 37 people are on the official group trip dates and flights. Airport transfers to and from Malaga will be arranged shortly for these people. Those not on any group transfer arrangements will also have their £20 deposits refunded in due course. Linda and Ian Weir are liaising with the hotel owner regarding all the individual accommodation requirements for those not on the group dates. The subgroup decided that despite having an extra day from what was originally planned, there will not be an official ‘free day’ during the week, so there will be organised walks on each of the 6 days. On the Wednesday, a lot of people may want to go on the Thompson organised trip to the Alhambra but there will still be walks arranged for those who choose not to go. Once the airport transfers are booked, a further update newsletter will be issued to everyone. A Spanish night is being arranged as a social event for all members on 19th September at Mugdock theatre to include food, wine, a Nerja slideshow and a Spanish lesson kindly being given by Thea Stanton. Fiona Taylor, 15 June 2014

Membership 23rd June 2014 At the end of May the membership number was 305: 2 new members, 1 reinstated, 3 lapsed (with subscriptions outstanding >4 months). There has been 1 more new member since the start of June. The monthly notification of the membership list and the changes to the membership numbers is no longer sent out under a pass word. Sorry I won’t be at the meeting in person, but I don’t leave until the morning of 20th if there are any questions. Hazel Miller, 23rd June

Secretary On Monday June 13th Bob, Imogen and I met Jenny Overton from Milngavie in Bloom to discuss Milngavie in Bloom’s five year plan to beautify the first 100 yards of the WHW. The local council has agreed to help with clearing overgrown shrubs etc. Volunteer work sessions of 2 hours a time are planned, for which Milngavie in Bloom are asking if it might be possible to have our assistance. Imogen’s report is below. An invitation has been received from Roddy Hamilton, the Minister of New Kilpatrick Church, asking whether we would like to be part of the Bearsden Festival big societies fair on Saturday 23rd August. This will run from 10 am - 2 pm in the BB Hall at the Glebe car park and New Kilpatrick Old Halls at the cross. Rambler leaflets could just be placed somewhere, but a manned table would be better. We would need to provide our own table. It would only need 2 or 3 people to do half the time each. Can we agree to be represented? There has been a communication from Benedict Southworth, Chief Executive of the Ramblers. An open meeting is being held on Friday June 27th at the Renfield Centre, 260 Bath Centre Glasgow G2 4JP, from 10.45 – 4.30 pm. Refreshments will be are included. We are invited to send representatives from our group. Discussion will include what questions should be asked of the membership in Scotland re what Ramblers should achieve and become over the next ten years. Mary Darke June 2014

Chairman I met with Jennie Cranfield (Ramblers Scotland) at Clober Primary School on Monday, in order to judge the designs for the 10 way markers for the Mains Estate Core Path. We had a successful time, and Ramblers will now get the chosen designs made up. It is hoped that they will be ready by September so that the School can be involved in the joint launch. Bob Diamond 23/6/14

Access Officer

Access Officer report for meeting on 23.6.14

A site meeting was held with Jenny Overton from Milngavie in Bloom on 13th June attended by Bob Diamond, Mary Darke and myself where we walked the initial stage of the West Highland Way to look at the work that Milngavie in Bloom felt was required to be done. Most of the work required clearing and replanting. There was one area where a trod might benefit from being made more permanent, this would involve cutting back trees above.

The first section to be worked on – immediately after the turn off before the section of the path goes alongside the library – involved cutting back the trees that line the path and the overhang. This seemed a feasible joint project to be carried out over two sessions at the end of the summer.

Proposals to put to committee: * Ramblers should be asked for volunteers to participate on 2 clearance days on Thursday 21st August and Thursday 4th September. With possible other dates in the future.

* Consideration should be given to contributing money towards planting in the future.

Imogen Johnstone