Newsletter 65
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NEWSLETTER NO. 65 AUTUMN 2005 EDITORIAL Welcome to the Autumn Newsletter and I hope you all had an enjoyable summer, making the most of some excellent weather and that no-one was affected by the terrible events in London in July. I have recently returned from the annual Association for Industrial Archaeology Conference which was based at the University of Nottingham but explored the IA of Derbyshire. I wasn’t able to stay for the whole week but for the four days I was there, I was able to visit some interesting sites including the cement works at Hope near Castleton where we all had to walk around the site with hard hats, safety glasses and high visibility jackets. It was good to see several section members at the conference as well as meeting up with old friends and I’ll be providing a report for the next Newsletter. The conference was preceded by a day seminar on Industrial Archaeology and Industrial Heritage in National Parks; David George attended and he has very efficiently produced a report for this Newsletter. Thanks to David for the other reports he has also produced this time. Longstanding members will be pleased to hear from Bob Cooper, who I met at the conference, that Nancy Cooper has settled well in her new home in Ashby de la Zouch and appreciated receiving the Newsletter. Following my plea in the last Newsletter for a new Lectures Secretary I am very pleased to report that we have one – Jane Ellis has gallantly accepted to take up the challenge and has organised the 2005/6 programme from January onwards. Jane may be known to members as the organiser of the Railway Ramblers walks that are listed in the Newsletter so has some useful relevant experience and I sure that members will agree that the programme which is enclosed with this Newsletter looks interesting and varied. So very many thanks to Jane and I hope that the lectures will be well supported. Ideas and offers for future talks are always welcome and Jane’s contact details can be found at the end of the Newsletter. We held two excursions over the summer in May and June. I was able to attend the walk around Selby in May when the numbers were swelled by visitors from the Manchester IA group, but unfortunately couldn’t make the June visit to Gibson Mill. David George reported that only 8 people did make the visit, unfortunately in spite of previous assurances, the Mill was not open at the time, the revised estimate for opening is now September, but there was still plenty to see. The low attendance has led to a thought that excursions in the summer (i.e. June/July/August) may not be a good time. I have received a suggestion that in future we should consider May and September as excursion dates. What do members think? Also suggestions for excursions are welcome, even better offers to lead walks; walking tours of Bradford and Akroyden, near Halifax have been suggested as two possibilities for next year. My previous editorial contained some key points from the 2005 AGM and as usual I have enclosed a copy of the minutes of that meeting with this Newsletter. If any of the few members attending have any corrections to the minutes, please send them to me. I was also able to follow up the query raised about the relationship between the Management Board and the Council of the YAHS and this year was able to attend the YAHS AGM so I am clearer now about the process. More of that below. I am pleased to welcome the following new members who have joined since the last Newsletter: Mr G Firth and Mrs J Vaughn. Finally a reminder that the next Newsletter will be appearing in January 2006, all contributions are welcome and I look forward to seeing you in my new role as the Section Chair at one of our forthcoming lectures. I have nowhere near the level of industrial history knowledge shown by my predecessor Bill Slatcher but hopefully I will manage to get by. Margaret Tylee NEWS FROM CLAREMONT Following the confusion at the 2005 AGM regarding the relationship between the Management Board and Council of the YAHS, I contacted Jo Heron, the YAHS Hon Secretary for some clarification. I received a helpful explanation which was reinforced by my attendance at the AGM of the YAHS, this year held on 13 August, and the arrangement is described below. In 2004 a Working Party reported on a review of the Memorandum and Articles of Association of the Society, this had been necessary to ensure that the Society was in line with current legislation. The main change was to make the governance of the Society the responsibility of a Management Board, whose members would become the Trustees of the Society and be accountable and responsible for the day to day running of the Society. The YAHS Council would continue to exist as an advisory body and members of the Management Board would also serve on the Council. These proposals were discussed and approved at an Extraordinary General Meeting of the Society held on 19 June 2004 and came into effect on 1 January 2005. Nominations for the posts of President, Hon General Secretary, Hon Treasurer and Hon Programme Secretary (all ex officio members of the Management Board); posts of Honorary Officers who will not be ex officio members of the Management Board and ordinary members of the Management Board were invited in July 2004 with a closing date of 20 August 2004. The Management Board was elected at another EGM held on 13 November 2004, there are 12 members plus the ex officio Officers. At the YAHS AGM on 13 August, the election of the members of the Management Board was ratified and an election held for ordinary members of the Council. There was some overlap between the nominations for Council and the membership of the Management Board and this has resulted in some gaps. To be eligible for a nomination to the Council, the individual must be a full Society member, nominations for election at the 2006 AGM will be invited in Feb/March 2006. Jo Heron has confirmed that representation from the Sections on Council continues to be the Section Secretary who would continue to serve for as long as they held that post. The Industrial History Section does not have one Secretary and we would have to decide who should be best placed to attend the Council meetings. There are normally three a year on a Saturday morning, one in April to receive the accounts, one before the AGM and one in the autumn. I suggest we discuss this before the nominations are due. The new constitution of the YAHS has not been circulated to members but to save on costs it was suggested that members could get a copy from the Library on demand. The new President is Dr Richard Hall from the York Archaeological Trust who was not present because he was abroad working on a new BBC programme on the Vikings One final point regarding the main Society. Following some difficulties in getting expenses paid via the Treasurer from the Section’s account, I have agreed with him that I will hold a float from which incidental expenses such as postage and copying costs can be paid on receipt. This should speed up the process of re- imbursement. NEWS ITEMS Access to Archives is a nationwide programme to provide wider access to archive materials held in repositories throughput the UK. There are several projects which form part of this programme that will be relevant to a study of Yorkshire’s industrial history. Three which I have identified are as follows: Shafts of Light – South Yorkshire’s Coalfield Archives. The material held in the archives of Rotherham, Barnsley, Doncaster and Sheffield Archives ranges from the 1500s to the present day and includes records of the National Coal Board and the National Union of Mineworkers, as well as some individual colliery companies. Tracking Railway Archives Project – providing access to records relating to railways and the railway industry. Broad Acres, Big Houses, Yorkshire People – archives associated with the great houses and families of Yorkshire. The material includes not only maps, letters, deeds and accounts but also information about the urban and industrial developments from which the families drew their wealth. Access to the information is via the A2A website at www.a2a.org.uk. The database does not contain images of the documents themselves but provides access to catalogues of the material held and links to information on participating Archive Offices making it easy to arrange a visit or order a photocopy. Parkwood Mills in Huddersfield is a grade II listed woollen mill dating from the second half of the 19th century and is a good example of a room and power mill where the space was leased to a number of businesses. The Victorian Society has been involved in a long running battle to prevent the demolition of several of the structures including the chimney as part of a conversion into 91 flats. The chimney and boiler house only were reprieved but recently a more sympathetic developer has agreed to retain virtually all of the buildings on the site. Rotherham Council have published a free walking leaflet describing an Industrial Trail around the centre of Rotherham. The walk includes Rotherham Lock on the Don Navigation, the Sheffield & Rotherham Railway, the office of Guest & Chrimes, the latter being the inventor of the screw down water tap and Clifton Park Museum, the former home of the Walker family whose ironworks built cannon for the American War of Independence and the Napoleonic Wars.