The Hadleigh SocietyMay 2020
Newsletter Index Up Sep 2020 May 2020

 

Notice of the 38th AGM, 17th June2020

Dear Hadleigh Society members

As we approach the end of May 2020, we find ourselves still in lockdown because of coronavirus and consequently unable to hold our usual style AGM. As our constitution requires such a meeting each June, at this time of social distancing we have taken the decision to run our AGM, scheduled for 17th June 2020, via this newsletter. We do hope you will find time to read the reports contained herein.

To ease coronavirus uncertainties current Executive Committee members have agreed to continue in post for a further year. Guidance on how you can nominate a new committee member and cast the single necessary vote in relation to the re-election of present committee members is given on page 15.

This unconventional format is in accordance with the principles of an AGM as set out in our constitution.  I thank you all very much indeed for your co-operation in this venture. Do stay safe.

Kind regards

Margaret Woods

Chair, the Hadleigh Society




 

Covid 19 and Membership Subscriptions

In view of the fact that meetings are suspended until further notice we will add the requisite number of months to the annual renewal date of membership to compensate for this.  I won’t send out reminders until we know when meetings can be resumed and then we will know how many months to add to the current membership year.  At that time I will send out notices to all members so you know the date your renewal will be due 2020 - 2021.  I will of course still send out reminders at the appropriate time of renewal.

Until then we hope you all stay safe. 

Very best wishes

Mavis Winders (Membership Secretary)

AGM June 2019

The minutes of the 37th Annual General Meeting of the Society can be found on page 6

The official business was followed by the presentation ‘Another Hadleigh Murder’ given by Ray Whitehand, in turn followed by some excellent cheese and wine.

Another Hadleigh Murder

Ray Whitehand

Thankfully the murder of an apprentice blacksmith took place over three hundred years ago in 1683!  Charles II was reigning and Hadleigh had the third largest population in Suffolk.

Richard Woods was the blacksmith who employed his nephew, Robert Bloomfield, as his apprentice and it was his wife, Parnell Woods, who was accused of beating Bloomfield so harshly that he died from his wounds.  Richard Woods was charged with aiding and abetting his wife in the murder.

The jury at the Coroner’s Inquest, probably held in The White Lion Hotel in the High Street, consisted of ’12 honest men of the parish’.  During the hearing the doctor said that Bloomfield’s wounds could not have caused his death but he gave no indication of what might have been the cause.  Six other witnesses gave evidence all implying in one way or another (not necessarily directly related to the case!) that the Woods were quite violent and unpleasant people.  However, the verdict was reached that the apprentice died ‘by divine providence and not otherwise’ but when Ray Whitehand looked on the reverse of this document it clearly stated that there was a case to answer!  Ray couldn’t find out where the trial was held but it appears that the Woods pleaded not guilty and were found not guilty.

Ray followed up all of the documentation available, in Latin as well as old English, but didn’t find any conclusive evidence.  Was the final verdict a good one?

Garden Visit to Shelley House

Thursday 19 September

By kind invitation of Jane and Michael Crowe Society Members visited Shelley House garden. We met in the church, where Jane gave us a fascinating insight into the importance of Shelley in the C13, when Sir Philip Tilney lived at the Hall. His cousin Elizabeth was grandmother to Anne Boleyn,

and in 1561 Queen Elizabeth was entertained by Sir Philip’s great grandson, who built a fine staircase on the back of the hall for her visit.

Jane also pointed out architectural features within the church; the Tilney chapel with its original C13 doorway and family tombs, the pulpit and griffin pew ends.

We then went to garden of Shelley House, a very impressive Tudor hunting lodge. A garden filled with interest; formal raised beds or those enclosed in box hedging, complemented by the beds spread along the undulating lawn with large trees; wonderful drifts of colour in the planting, giving an informal feel, then a topiary walk with rose arches and sculpture.

A full homemade afternoon tea was provided; Jane sitting with us on the terrace talking about her plants and the garden.

An added bonus was a visit to Michael’s studio to see some of his many paintings.

Hattie Bawden

A longer report of the Shelley visit will be in the next newsletter

19 Century Woodbridge Artists

8 October 2019 Robert Blake

Robert’s knowledge, enthusiasm and research into this topic made the subject really interesting bringing it to life.

There were a surprising number of artists in the Woodbridge area at this time mainly due to the prosperity and wealth in the town and the number of talented people.  At the centre of the group was Thomas Churchyard, a complex character, and probably the best known.  Most of these artists were not trying to make a living from their art but doing it for pleasure and Churchyard was no exception.  He was a lawyer famous for his court work and often known as the ‘poacher’s lawyer’ due to the fact that he would defend anyone he thought innocent irrespective of class.  Churchyard’s seven daughters were also accomplished artists but were frequently compared to their father rather than being judged in their own right.

Other artists included John Moore who started from humble beginnings learning from experimentation and other artists; Edward Fitzgerald an eccentric closely associated with the group; George Row was known outside East Anglia and made a living from painting; Henry Bright.

This was a vibrant group of artists socialising, painting and experimenting for enjoyment rather than trying to make a living and their art probably benefitted from it.

Suffolk’s Humphrey Repton

4 December 2019 Edward Martin

Edward has given talks to the Society on one or two occasions, this time talking about the landscape designer Humphrey Repton.  Repton was born in Bury St Edmunds in 1752 the fifth of six children, moving to Norwich with his family when he was three.  He lived near Romford for most of his life and he and his wife Mary had twelve children.

Repton was self-taught working all over the country as his ideas spread.  He undertook quite a number of commissions in Suffolk around 1791:  Shrublands, Glemham; Livermere Park, Tendring Hall, Wherstead (now owned by the Co-op), Nacton, Culford Hall.  Ideas for landscaping a property were produced in red books which was probably a good marketing ploy as clients could boast about their red book to friends.  However he didn’t mince his words or worry about upsetting clients – more often than not he was critical of the house, it was in the wrong place .... faced the wrong way .... was the wrong colour or style.... the stables had to go ... and so on.  Although he rarely carried out the actual work he was an important figure in the development of gardens and gardening.

As always Edward Martin’s extensive knowledge of his subject interspersed with amusing anecdotes made for a very enjoyable evening.

The Noel Turner Award

This was established by the Society in 1987 for building and/or environmental works of a particularly high standard.

This year two awards were made.

One to Richard and Ruth Abel of East House, George Street, Hadleigh in recognition of their exceptional renovation of East House, an important building in the town which came close to being lost; 

The second award went to Jason Thompson for the high standard of craftsmanship in building the boundary wall.

They also received a year’s honorary membership of the Society.

Following this everyone enjoyed mulled wine and mince pies.

The A-Z of Curious Suffolk

4 February 2020 Sarah Doig

This is a very brief outline of the talk which was divided into rather unusual categories.

BANG  The first person in this section was Daniel Defoe whose extensive travels included Suffolk.  He was particularly damning about Suffolk cheese which was very hard and known as bang! 

When the Maharajah of the Punjab (Dulip Singh) was deposed he came to live in Elvedon Hall which he extensively remodelled. He was passionate about hunting and shooting becoming a top shot in the county and providing excellent shooting on his estate, praised by the then Prince of Wales.

FOLLIES         Freston Tower built 1578-79 by Thomas Gooding to impress Queen Elizabeth I when visiting Ipswich it is said.  On the Euston Hall estate a watermill was redesigned to look like a church because the Duke of Grafton thought the mill unsightly.  The Tattingstone Wonder - when Thomas White bought the large house he wanted to have a view of the parish church but  this wasn’t possible so he converted a row of three cottages to look like a flint church - from one side only!

LINES  Samuel Hart of Kettleburgh, a talented shoemaker, was also described as a herbalist and poet.  He claimed to cure many complaints and if not successful could always compose an epitaph for the gravestone!

MISERS           Two particularly miserly men of the county William Jennens and John Elways MP both influenced Dickens in his writings.

NAPOLEON   There are three pubs in Suffolk called the Case is Altered, all with different stories attached to their name but all with a Napoleonic connection.

XENOPHOBIA connected with badly burned (dead) German troops washed up at Shingle Street.  The truth is still locked in MOD files.

To finish Sarah gave a very funny account of the complicated rules and the peculiar terms

associated with Dwile Flonking.  You should have been there!



The 37th Annual General Meeting of The Hadleigh Society held in Hadleigh Old Town Hall on Tuesday 11th June 2019 at 8 p.m.

Apologies for absence

Received from Margaret Jefferies (33 members in attendance)

Minutes of the 36th AGM

 Approved as a correct record

Honorary Treasurers Report

Report presented by Chris Drake

I am happy to say that it has been a peaceful year on the financial front. Income and expenditure were pretty well in balance. Mavis has continued to exercise strict economy as Membership Secretary so expenses continue to be low. We send most communications by email so there is very limited scope for further savings.

There is no need for a change in membership subscriptions unless we see the need for other changes that would increase our costs. An ageing membership brings access problems for this room. We get a concessionary rate so any other room in this building would cost us considerably more. Do we need a room with better car parking? Should we be looking to have meetings elsewhere if that meant holding subscriptions down?

Then there is the question of whether or not we should have a unified membership fee. The pros and cons were in the November 2018 newsletter so I do not propose to restate them here but doubtless you will let us know your opinion!

My thanks go to Paul Garrard of Walter Wright Chartered Accountants for his help once again in the preparation of the accounts. The treasurer asked for any questions, none were raised (Copy of Accounts to 30 April 2018 attached at rear.)

Proposed Motion not to change subscription rates.

At last year’s AGM the suggestion was made that, for a variety of reasons, it was “unfair” to charge members who were part of a couple less per head than single members. The practice is still found in many clubs and societies. In our Society the discussion mostly concerns Senior Members as they greatly outnumber Full Members. If there were a change to a flat fee the question raised is how many of these joint members would we lose by carrying a flat fee? If we lost half the subscription fee would need to be increased from £8.50 to £10. Single senior members would not then have saved anything but the Society would have lost 17 or thereabout members. As our membership base is fragile it is considered the priority ought be retention of as many members as feasible. Accordingly, it has been proposed that subscription rates remain unchanged for 2019/20. The proposal was agreed by the meeting with no dissension.

History Group Report

The report was presented by Sue Angland on behalf of the History Group

The History Group has had a restful year with no new research project on the go.  However, we have not been entirely idle, as we performed two of our presentations as part of the Saturday morning fundraisers in the Guildroom.  In August we presented Hadleigh in the 1960sand in October Hadleigh During the Great War.  Both were very well received.

In August I was contacted by Marian Thornley who wondered if the History Group could contribute any information to her book The Hadleigh Boys.  As we had carried out a lot of research on our project Hadleigh During the Great War, we gave her permission to use our script from which she has taken some snippets of information.  In particular, she has chosen to finish her account (as we did) with the powerful quote from Simon Dewes’ ‘A Suffolk Childhood

I still receive regular email enquiries – heres a typical one from 2 weeks ago:

Hi from Australia!  I have been tracing my family history and am wondering if you have any information on the workhouse that was in Hadleigh?  Are there any records of the residentsor has it all been lost?”

So having taken a well-earned break from the History Group for a year, it is now time to tackle a new project.  We plan to meet in two weekstime for a brainstorming session and no doubt will come up with an idea for a topic to research.  One of our members, Jessica Bailey, will not be joining us this time, and we should like to thank Jessica for all her hard work over the years in contributing to our presentations.

There is one date for your diary: on the weekend of 19th and 20th October, we shall be involved in displaying a Partridges Exhibitionin the Guildroom.

Environment and Planning Report

The report was presented by Richard Fletcher

The Environment Group has made comments on about 17 planning applications submitted this year and has been continuing compilation of a Local List of Non Designated Heritage Assets for Hadleigh

On the planning side, despite our and The Sudbury Societys representations, Historic England rejected our call for the modern architectural elements of the award winning Council Offices at Cork Lane to be Listed Grade II, and regrettably the most iconic parts are now programmed for demolition.

In terms of results in making comments on planning applications it has been a mixed year.

Despite our representations, the Council granted itself Planning Permission and Listed Building consent to create 53 dwellings in the former Council Office premises and to erect 4, poorly designed, houses in place of Bridge House and the council employee car park off Bridge Street

Similarly the Council granted itself planning permission for an uninspired block of 22 flats to replace the now closed Angel Street Care Home, despite the Society making several representations as to how the development could be improved, particularly where it badly overlooks residents in Meadows Way.

On a brighter note, 5 projects which the Society objected to, as they detracted from Hadleigh's heritage, were refused, most notable an attempt to erect a substantial dwelling in the treed grounds of the former Hadleigh Hall Gardens on the north side of the St. Marys churchyard.

In 8 other instances the Society supported proposals, subject to recommending modifications, of which some were incorporated as planning conditions.

Otherwise In addition to Cork Lane and Angel Court the Planning Department ignored our objections in 4 other instance during the year and approved the projects.

Finally we made design and layout comments on a possible residential estate for 120 houses on the west side of Aldham Mill Hill, north of Morrisons and we await to see whether a formal application will be made this year.

Progress on compilation of the Local List has been slow. We had however received the formal support of the previous Town Council and hope this partnership will continue with the new Town Council. Also the Hadleigh Archive Group has commenced undertaking the onerous task of researching into the history of many of the properties considered possibly suitable for inclusion in the Local List.

We expect, later in the year, to seek public involvement with a view to having an initial draft Local List by the end of 2019.  Its hoped the Local List may be completed and formally adopted by Babergh by late 2020.

In other environmental projects for the town the Society has member participation on the Neighbourhood Plan Group and the newly formed Traffic Management Group, and of course we await details of the now long overdue new Local Plan for the District.

The forthcoming year could be interesting on the planning and environment front.

Chairs Review

Report presented by Margaret Woods.

During the past year, June 2018 until June 2109, we have had a varied & hopefully worthwhile & enjoyable range of talks. To recap briefly:

After last years AGM [June 2018] Graham Panton introduced us to the lives & achievements of the fascinating & not widely known Gayer-Anderson Twinsof Lavenham.

In July several members much enjoyed a delightful visit to Polstead Mill Gardens arranged by Hattie Bawden.

Mark Mitchels then provided an excellent talk in August on the famous Norfolk Paston family & their renowned letters. Philip Avery took the October slot with his informative account of The History of Suffolk Farmsteads.

Roger Kennell, one of our favourite & regular speakers as well as a Hadleigh Society member, delivered our Christmas lecture on ‘Hadleigh Trades & Industry’ – we always love a really local topic. As is now traditional, mulled wine & mince pies rounded off this festive evening.

For our first get-together of 2019 in February we welcomed Lynette Burgess to tell us about ‘The History of Bawdsey Radar’. In March the Rev. Tony Redman regaled us with the fascinating, if not always comfortable, links between ‘Purgatory & Church Buildings’.  Much thorough research by Peter Wain provided our May topic with a detailed introduction to ‘The Lost Medieval Port of Gosford’. All in all a rich & diverse programme of speakers.

Membership has fallen to 122 members and attendance at our meetings has varied between 45 and 59 reflecting a generally steady trend.

As we are a purely voluntary organisation we must use this evening to acknowledge and thank the colleagues who keep the society running and endeavouring to meet its aims. These colleagues are [in alphabetical order]:

Sue Angland who has pleasingly continued in her role as Chair of our History Group in spite of onerous Town Council responsibilities & now living some distance from Hadleigh.

Hattie Bawden has remained a loyal & very supportive committee member with a welcome involvement & sharing of her expertise in our Environment & Planning Group. Hattie also currently delivers newsletters.

Chris Drake, as treasurer, has thankfully remained in post, managing our financial affairs with his customary competence; he is also another newsletter deliverer.

Richard (Dick) Fletcher, as Chair of the Environment & Planning Group, undertakes the very demanding and important role of monitoring local planning applications & providing well-informed & extremely professional comments on behalf of the society whenever advisable or necessary. He has also cheerfully & efficiently minuted our committee meetings. Additionally, he is now set to take over from Graham as Society secretary.

Graham Panton fortunately has continued in the role of secretary with his un-matched knowledge of the society & its constitution. His considerable IT shills render him absolutely essential as webmaster as well as newsletter editor & distributor. Graham will now step down after several years as secretary but, Im pleased to say, will stay on the committee. A special thanks to Graham for his much appreciated work in that busy role.

Ray Whitehand has now settled well into researching & arranging our interesting range of speakers; he also kindly offered to be this evenings speaker.

Mavis Winders who, as membership secretary, welcomes us to meetings & is meticulous in carrying out the associated administrative duties. She additionally produces the estimable resumes of each talk you find in your newsletters.

Our very sincere thanks to those wonderful folks for all their hard work & great commitment to aid the smooth running of The Hadleigh Society. We have also valued the input & support of our president Jan Byrne, thank you Jan.

Of course, you, the Hadleigh Society members, are a very vital resource and we do hope you will come along to as many future meetings as you can, bringing friends & relatives whenever possible.

Enjoy Ray’s talk this evening ‘Another Hadleigh Murder’ as well as a glass of wine or fruit juice & a nibble of cheese. Grateful thanks to the lady members who helped with this evening’s spread.

Thank you all very much indeed.

Margaret Woods was thanked for the great job she does as Chairman by Graham Panton on behalf of the Society.

Election of Officers and Executive Committee

For the coming year the Executive Committee will consist of:-

Margaret Woods 

Chair

Chris Drake

Hon Treasurer

Richard Fletcher

Hon Secretary

Graham Panton

member

Hattie Bawden

member

Ray Whitehand

member

Mavis Winder

member

A vote in favour of the nominations was proposed by Michael Woods, seconded by Jane Haylock. The election of nominees was carried unanimously. 



AGENDA

1.       Minutes of the 37th AGM

2.       Treasurer’s Report

3.       History Group Report

4.       Environment and Planning Report

5.       Chair’s Review

6.       Election of Officers and Executive Committee Members

Treasurer’s Report, 2020

Everything was ticking along smoothly in 2019 but then came 2020, Covid-19 virus and it has all gone a bit pear-shaped! The accounts show a drop in subscription income and, as your Executive Committee have agreed to defer renewals for the period of the “lock-down” this will be repeated next year. However, as our major expenditure is on room hire and speakers’ fees that will not be incurred for the duration, the Society should not be embarrassed financially.

Mavis has continued to exercise strict economy as Membership Secretary so expenses continue to be low. We send most communications by email so there is very limited scope for further savings.

Hopefully we may be able to get back to somewhere near normal later this year so any action on membership subscriptions can be deferred until we see how things are panning out.

The accounts are in process of audit. In summary the position is as follows.

 

2020

2019

Total Incoming Resources

£825.74

£1016.04

Total Resources Used

£900.82

£1019.55

Current Assets

£2863.85

£2938.93

If anyone wants more details then a copy of the audited accounts will be sent on request. If you have any questions relating to the Accounts for 2019/2020 I will attempt to answer them.

My thanks go to Paul Garrard of Walter Wright Chartered Accountants for his help once again in the preparation of the accounts.

Chris Drake, Treasurer

History Group Report 2020

Last summer the History Group decided on its next project: Hadleigh Guildhall Complex.  The earliest mention of the Guildhall is 1374, and we thought it would be interesting to research and construct a chronological history of the entire complex up to the current time.  Much of the resource material lies within the complex itself in the Hadleigh Archive, which was our first point of call.  We held monthly meetings until lockdown, so unfortunately some of our research has been put on hold.

In October 2019, members of the group were involved in stewarding and making refreshments for the ‘Partridges Exhibition’ which was organised by Sally Looker.  It was a huge success and it was lovely to see so many Partridges’ employees, past and present, together with many local residents, reliving the town’s history.

Also in October, members of the group arranged a stand at the ‘Hadleigh On Show’ event, where documents from the Archive were on display.  It was a rare occasion to see three original charters dating back to 1438, including the Market Charter for the Guildhall. 

We hope our presentation on the Guildhall Complex will be ready to share with members of the Hadleigh Society by the end of 2021 or possibly early 2022.  One interesting fact that we have discovered so far concerns the building’s cellar.  The main joists display a simple chamfer, and there is evidence of a plaster ceiling.  Both indicate that the cellar had some minor status and was not just a functional storage area.  So what was the cellar originally used for?  It’s a mystery!

Sue Angland

Environment and Planning Report 2020

The Environment & Planning Group (EPG) has continued to make detailed comments on planning applications affecting Hadleigh since the 2019 AGM, it has submitted objections and comments to Babergh D.C. on the emerging Local Plan for the District, and finally it is continuing the compilation of a Local List of Non-Designated Heritage Assets for Hadleigh.

On the planning side, 17 comments were submitted over the past year and generally the Society has experienced a reasonable response with Babergh’s decisions agreeing with 12 of the 13 proposals we commented upon.  The most notable decision was the refusal of yet another attempt to erect a substantial dwelling in the treed grounds of the former Hadleigh Hall Gardens on the north side of the St. Mary’s churchyard. We await decisions on 4 other planning applications including the controversial proposals for Partridge’s Store Redevelopment and the vast housing and industrial estate proposed by Persimmon on the north-eastern edge of the town.

In July Babergh published its Local Plan for the District including large allocations for housing and employment estates for Hadleigh. The Society formally objected to several of the proposals on the grounds that they were wholly out of scale with Hadleigh’s needs and ability to provide the necessary infrastructure to support the extra 1000+ population. Regrettably the final Local Plan has still not been published and it appears that the Council is likely to approve all the proposed housing and employment land contained in the draft plan, thus depriving the community of any meaningful opportunity to lay formal objections to the final plan.

The Local List has been progressing but we received a very sad setback with the unexpected passing of Patrick Taylor, a retired Conservation Officer of Babergh who had been very instrumental in assisting the Society to survey properties which could merit inclusion in the Local List. The initial research has, however, now been completed and a substantial part of the Local List of Non-Designated for Hadleigh has been drafted. It will be subjected to public consultation over the next few months. 

Finally the Environment and Planning Group has member representation on the Hadleigh Traffic Management Group, the Hadleigh Steering Group and the Neighbourhood Plan Group (although there have been no meetings on the latter group this year)

Richard Fletcher

Chair’s Review, 2019-2020

The year 2019-20 has been an unusual year, probably even unique in the annals of Hadleigh Society. Our planned programme of speaker meetings was brought to a halt when coronavirus enforced lockdown in March. Let’s re-cap briefly.

After the June 2019 AGM Ray Whitehand recounted his thoroughly researched tale Another Hadleigh Murder – a popular topic. Our August speaker was Horry Parsons with his fascinating account of The Building of St Edmundsbury Cathedral Tower. Robert Blake’s October presentation on 19th century Suffolk Artists was accompanied by an attractive display of illustrative paintings. In December one of our regular speakers, Edward Martin, gave his usual polished talk - on this occasion on Suffolk’s Humphrey Repton. Our first (and to date final) speaker of 2020 was Sarah Doig’s quirky and amusing A to Z of Curious Suffolk.

The onset of Covid 19 lockdown sadly caused the remaining two meetings to be cancelled – Adrian Walters on Sudbury Common Lands and Waterways on 25th March and Lisa Psarianos on 5th May with Where have the Houses Gone? The fact you are receiving this report in a newsletter indicates we are still in lockdown and our future meeting plans, at the moment of writing, cannot be confirmed.

Membership numbers have gone up a little from the total reported last year, tending to hover around 130. Attendance at meetings has once again been healthy.

Three events of the year are worthy of note. First was Hadleigh on Show in the Guildhall Complex and St Mary’s Church. The Hadleigh Society’s stand, attractively decorated and cheerfully staffed by committee members, was in the Guildroom. The day was deemed most worthwhile for the Society and indeed was a great success for the organisers and the town.

The Noel Turner Award was presented at our December 2019 meeting to Richard and Ruth Abel (owners) for their inspirational planning and oversight of the discerning renovation of East House and to master bricklayer, Jason Thompson, for his exceptional brickwork on the East House boundary wall. They received a framed certificate designed by local artist Richard Bawden and a year’s free membership of Hadleigh Society.

Third was our venue move. It was felt the time had come to forsake the wonderful Old Town Hall (the venue for the majority of meetings in the Society’s 38 years of existence) and conduct meetings in the ground floor Dining Room of the Guildhall Complex. This provided much easier access and, pleasingly, was found by several attendees to be a more comfortable setting.

As always at this point in the year we acknowledge the hard work and dedication of the Committee members; we thank them sincerely for all they have done. They are:

Sue Angland, Chair of History Group (though not currently on the Committee), keeps the group on track with its current projects.

Hattie Bawden organized a most successful late summer visit to Shelley House garden and regularly contributes her expertise on environment and planning issues.

Chris Drake is our most worthy and efficient Treasurer.

Dick (Richard) Fletcher has become our Secretary this year as well as remaining an effective and industrious Chair of our Environment and Planning Group.

Graham Panton thankfully continues as our IT expert in the roles of Webmaster and Newsletter Editor.

Ray Whitehand, our Programme Co-ordinator, successfully tracks down and arranges our interesting range of speakers.

Mavis Winders remains a committed Membership Secretary and also writes the interesting synopses of speaker talks for the Newsletter.

We are, as ever, grateful for the unfailing support of our President Jan Byrne.

You, our Hadleigh Society members, are of course our most important resource. Do come along to as many future meetings as you can (in the ground floor Dining Room opposite the Ram) and bring friends and relatives whenever possible. We wish you all good health for the coming year, do stay safe. We also much look forward to seeing you when it is deemed permissible to come together in groups.

Thank you all very much indeed.

Margaret Woods, Chair


Current Executive Committee, 2020

 

 

Chair

Margaret Woods

Treasurer

Chris Drake

Secretary

Richard (Dick) Fletcher

Member (Webmaster & Newsletter Editor)

Graham Panton

Member (Membership Secretary)

Mavis Winders

Member (Outing Organiser)

Hattie Bawden

Member (Programme Coordinator)

Ray Whitehand

 

 

We should also like to propose Jan Byrne continues as Hadleigh Society President.

In view of the current Coronavirus outbreak and resultant difficulties, the above committee members have kindly agreed to remain in office for the forthcoming year.


Guidance on Voting

for re-election of Committee and President for year June 2020 until June 2021

This is the one AGM issue requiring your vote. If you are happy for the committee members listed on page 14 to remain in post and for Jan Byrne to continue as President, you need take no action. No-response will be taken as agreement. Closing date is 17th June 2020.

If you wish to disagree with this proposed strategy, you may record your dissent before 17th June by e-mailing our Secretary on secretary@hadsoc.org.uk .  Alternatively, you may post your dissenting vote, to arrive before 17th June, to the Hadleigh Society Secretary, address on the back page. Votes will be counted on 17th June 2020 and the majority decision will inform future action. Thank you all so much for your participation in this new venture for the Hadleigh Society. We hope to see you all very soon.

Margaret Woods

Chair, The Hadleigh Society

Nomination Form

Society members are invited to make nominations for service on the Society’s Executive Committee for the year following the Annual General Meeting in the following capacities:

Chairman, Vice-Chairman, Treasurer, Secretary or as one of our Committee members.

All posts are honorary and seconded nominations must be sent to The Honorary Secretary, The Hadleigh Society, c/o 6 Lister Road, Hadleigh, Ipswich, IP7 5JN or email to secretary@hadsoc.org.uk

I nominate the following for service on the Executive Committee of The Hadleigh Society for the year 2020/2021.

Name

Position Nominated

Name of Seconder

 

 

 

Signed

Name

Date

In each case the nominee has agreed to stand.

You may copy this form or write your own letter to The Honorary Secretary so long as you include the necessary details.

 


 

 

Programme of Events 2020

Tue 4 Aug

Hadleigh Airfield

Peter McGee

Wed 7 Oct

New County Archive

Katie Angus

Tue 8 Dec

Medieval Town of Hadleigh

Margaret Woods

Meetings are held in Hadleigh Town Hall Dining Room, 8pm, unless otherwise notified.  Entry is free for members, £3 for non-members.

Honorary Secretary

Richard Fletcher

6 Lister Road

Hadleigh

Ipswich

IP7 5JN

01473  827891

secretary@hadsoc.org.uk

All views expressed are those of the contributors and are not necessarily those of the Hadleigh Society

 

Other Contacts

 

 

Chairman

Margaret Woods

chair@hadsoc.org.uk

01473 823798

History Group

Sue Angland

history@hadsoc.org.uk

 

Environment Group & Planning

Dick Fletcher

environment@hadsoc.org.uk

01473  827891

Membership

Mavis Winders

membership@hadsoc.org.uk

01473 824359

Website & Editor

Graham Panton

webmaster@hadsoc.org.uk

01473 823503

Newsletter delivery

newsletter@hadsoc.org.uk

The Hadleigh Society website has past newsletters etc at http://www.hadsoc.org.uk/