As this was a intended to be a brief meeting to address some specific issues, minutes of the

last meeting were held over to be discussed next full Committee Meeting

1.  P Nightingale proposed that a one-off payment of £200 is made to Jon Emerson in

recognition of his work on the website.                                                                                  Agreed

2.  Because of the cost and the previous low attendance, G Fairfax proposed cutting down the

number of music meetings held at Kneller Hall to 4 per year: these would include the LMS

preparation.                                                                                                                                  Agreed

P Nightingale undertook to put together a programme for 2012 and circulate this to the

Committee                                                                                                            Action: P Nightingale

3.  G Fairfax has had a sword mounted and it is now ready to be awarded as the Richard

Holmes Award.  It is expected that it will be awarded to a Corps rather than an individual.  All

the Committee members are asked to define the criteria for making the Award, ready for

discussion at a future Committee Meeting.                                                                         Action: All

4.  J Goatcher expressed concern at the Society’s apparent inability to attract young people.

During the ensuing discussion, all present provided examples of attempts to support and

attract young people.  P Foss works regularly with schools in the Liverpool area, but they

have not joined the Society.  G and C Fairfax had been to St Dunstans College and left

membership application forms; P Nightingale described the situation where he had helped at

Felstead School, but they had shown no inclination to join the Society; J Goatcher is in

contact with Whitgift, who are members, although they no longer attend the Society Music

Meetings.  P Nightingale suggested that a way forward with schools who approach us for help

is for it to be a condition that they join the Society and that training is provided for them at our

Music Meetings.

Lord Mayor’s Show Sat. 12 November Band Instructions

Assembly area is as previously : The Rotunda, West Smithfield, London EC1.  All personnel to arrive no later than 0900 hrs.  Allow plenty of time for congestion will build up early as roads are closed.  Dedicated transport must display a Parking Permit (see item below). You should aim to park in Smithfield Market.  Tea and buns and toilets are available at the entrance to the Rotunda, but you should first report to the Corps of Drums Society assembly point so that the Drum Major can organise the Corps appropriately. Once this is done, there will be time for drinks before we step off.  While we are in the Rotunda, there must be No Playing of instruments.

Lord Mayor’s Shoe Sat November 12 Security Details

Please let me have as a priority (by 16 September) the following :

• Names of members of your Corps who will be attending and the instrument they play
• Individual members attending need to notify me of the same
• Registration number and make of your vehicle – we need to share vehicles where possible ; up to now we have been issued with  the passes we have asked for, but this might change, so if you are using a private car, make sure it is full.  If you can travel by public transport you should do so.
• If you require a vegetarian packed lunch, let me know.

Lord Mayor’s Show Rehearsals

These will be at Kneller Hall, 16 and 30 October.  Please note that 30 October will be a dress rehearsal

Music Meeting

This will be at Kneller Hall on Sunday 18 September, commencing at 1030 hrs.  Please bring refreshments as there is nowhere on site to obtain it.  There is a pub across the road from the Hall.

Uniforms for Sale

Kellswater Flute Band have 30 uniforms to sell together with hate (male and female versions).  They are asking £750 ono plus delivery costs.  Enquiries please to

Alistair McDonald on  07801327947  or  ally.mcdonald@btinternet.com

Kneller Hall

This will be our meeting venue for the forseeable future. Because it is a military location, we will need to supply them with names and vehicle details of those present.  If you intend to be at the next and future meetings,  please let Peter Nightingale know in advance for each meeting so that he can provide the information to Kneller Hall.

There will be no refreshment  facilities available, so please bring drinks and a packed lunch.  There is a pub across the road for those who wish to use it.

Royal Military School of Music,  Kneller Hall,  Kneller Road,  Twickenham TW2 7DU

By Road: M25 J12,  M3 East,  A316 Country Way, Great Chertsey Road, Chertsey Road,  B361 Whitton Road, Kneller Road

By Rail: Whitton Railway Station, then walk (see a streetmap)

By Underground : Hounslow Central, then walk (see a streetmap)

If you have any problems on the day, Peter Nightingale will be contactable on

07961815710

Meeting dates

Our first meeting at Kneller Hall will be Saturday 16 July, commencing at 1030 hours.  Please let Peter Nightingale have your vehicle details, and names of passengers as soon as you receive this Newsletter.

Owing to there being a prior booking at Kneller Hall, the meeting scheduled for Saturday 17 September has now been changed to Sunday 18 September.

Lord Mayors Show rehearsals will be as previously announced : 16 and 30 October, with the 30 October being a dress rehearsal.

Lord Mayor’s Show

Please ensure that you attend the two rehearsals for the Lord Mayor’s Show. If this is a problem, please contact Drum Major Geoff Fairfax.

The Muffled Drum

Sadly we have to announce the death of member Chris Collins, ex Grenadier and a fine artist who emblazoned the Army’s drums for a considerable period of time.  An appreciation of his life and work will appear in a future Drummers Call.  Dave Clark, of Massachusetts, USA has died – Dave was a very longstanding member of the Society and supporter of British Military music.

Annual General Meeting 2011

Below is a summary of the meeting: full minutes appear on the Society website.  Anyone who cannot access the website, and would like a complete set of minutes, please let me know.

The meeting took place at the Scout Hall, Chesham, home base of the Chesham All Girls Band.  We were made very welcome by Mr and Mrs Tim Smith, who provided a superb lunch.

The meeting began with a minute’s silence for our President Brig Professor Richard Holmes, who had recently passed away.

Minutes of AGM 2010 were adopted, as was the Treasurers Report. The Chairman provided a resume of the past yearand announced the new members of the Society. He appealed for contributions to Drummers Call.

The existing Committee was re-elected, there being no others standing for election: Committee comprises                                                         Chairman: Peter Nightingale

Treasurer: James Goatcher

Secretary : Christine Fairfax

Senior Parade Drum Major : Geoff Fairfax

Training and Development : Mike Hall

Music and Training : Peter Foss

Editor, Drummers Call : Peter Hart

Clifford Chandler was appointed Auditor

Richard Holmes Award

It is intended to make an annual award to a Corps in which youth is well represented and which has made improvements/ acheivements/expansion in the past year.  More details will follow in due course, but you may wish to begin thinking about the submission you will make for your Corps should you wish it to be considered.  The successful Corps will be able to display the Award for one year.

Society President

Following the death of Richard Holmes, the Society is currently without a President.  The Committee will be considering this in due course.

Kneller Hall, Kneller Road

Twickenham, TW2 7DU

Directions

Road;

M25                 Jct 12

M3                   East

A316        Country Way, Great Chertsey Road, Chertsey Road

B361        Whitton Road, Kneller Road

Rail;

Whitton Railway Station (It is a walk to the venue, see street map)

Underground;

Hounslow Central (It is a walk to the venue, see street map)

Facilities;

There are no food facilities, please bring a packed lunch if required.

There is a Public house across the road from the guardroom, The Duke of Cambridge.

I will be contactable on my mobile, Peter Nightingale// Mob. 07961815710

At the present time we are having problems finding a venue for our first meeting we have tried a number of places but they were either unsuitable or not open at the weekends. If there is anywhere that you may know about please let us know. Lets try and keep it within the M25.

We will keep on trying.

Regards
Peter Nightingale

The Chairman

31 members in attendance

1. Apologies for Absence; P Hart

2.Minutes of AGM held 8 May 2009; Adoption proposed by T Dacombe, seconded G Fairfax. Passed nem con.

3. Treasurer’s Report; (in separate document) Adoption proposed P Foss, seconded A Bransby. Passed nem con.

4. Chairman’s Report;

P Nightingale reviewed the Society’s year; Another good one.

• LMS 2009; Sorry about the RAIN. Cutler’s Sword had been presented to Cpl A Oxley 3rd Bttn the Yorkshire Regiment.

• LMS Liverpool; 20 Members of the Society attended.

• New members; Felstead School, J Emerson, B Mullan, D Oliver, G green, A McDonald, F Dean, Royal British Legion  North Wiltshire Corps of drums. Some members had rejoined – M Davis, M Lidinson, I Smart.

• Drummers Call; Appeal for articles.

• Updated Web Page; Designers of the new website would be available later in the day to demonstrate the system. Thanks to Reg Davis, Mike Boxall, Paul Vickers. Appeal for Webmaster. Need to establish links to member Corps of Drums

• LMS 2010 Rehearsals; Emphasis on the need to attend the designated rehearsals.

• International Military Music Society Membership; This was a good link for both the Society and IMMS. Proposed that the Society becomes a member. Proposer B Knight, seconder P Williams. Passed nem con.

• Next year and further into the future; We should be looking at a foreign event in Europe or even America.

• Thanks to the Committee for all their help and to the members for their support.

5. Election of officers; During the Chairman’s report the membership voted in the existing Committee, who had all indicated their willingness to stand again:

Chairman : Peter Nightingale

Treasurer : James Goatcher

Secretary : Christine Fairfax

Training and Development : Mike Hall

Editor, Drummers Call : Peter Hart

Senior Parade Drum Major : Geoff Fairfax

Music and training : Peter Foss

The re-election of the Committee was proposed by R davenport, seconded by J Leigh and adopted nem con.

6. Appointment of auditors; This was done during the Chairman’s report. J Goatcher suggested Clifford Chandler. Mr Chandler ‘s appointment was proposed by G Fairfax and seconded by A Bransby and adopted nem con.

7. Other Business;

R Davenport enquired about the Society’s relationship with Corps in the locality of Woolwich. Col. Neville and the ACF were mentioned, but the point was made that there was little liaison between the ACF and the Society. G Fairfax mentioned that A. Casey was likely to be interested in joining the Society.

Meeting Concluded

17 October 2010

Meeting commenced 1200 hrs. Peter Nightingale in the chair.  32 members present.

1.  Apologies; Nigel Lilleywhite, Roy Cox, Jack Cox, John Leigh, Peter Foss, Neil Byrne, Zena Byrne, Angus Bransby, Pam Hales, Keith Hook

2.  Minutes of the Annual General Meeting held 17 May 2008; Question on publication date for Drummers Handbook, dealt with by Col. Walton

Acceptance of minutes proposed by Mike Cheeseman, seconded by Col. Walton.  Carried nem con.

3.  Treasurer’s Report; Robert Stone summarised the attached report. He pointed out that bank interest had fallen.  Mike Cheeseman asked whether the sum of £250 had been paid to the Museum.  Peter Nightingale to follow this up.

Acceptance of report proposed by Geoff Fairfax , seconded by Trevor Pearce. Carried nem con.

4.   Chairman’s report;

Peter Nightingale reported that the Liverpool Lord Mayor’s Show had gone well in June 2008.  The Cutlers’ Sword had been awarded to Lance Sergeant Damian Thomas (Grenadier Guards). The Chairman had been impressed by the breadth of ability required for this award.  Worthing Carnival had gone well.  Lord Mayor’s Show: we must ensure that participants attend rehearsals; Corps will be marked up with named places.  Some members of the Society had been invited to attend an event organised by the Army School of Ceremonial. New members: the names of those joining the society in the past year were read out: P Woods, I Sampson, P Taylor, HAC Corps of Drums, j ross, J Forward, SSI G Docherty (for Whitgift Corps of Drums), j Coward, D Lear MBE, P  Earley, S Warmington.  Drummers Call: every effort would be made to get out 2 issues per year; The Chairman appealed for articles.

5.   Election of officers; All existing officers had indicated that they were willing to stand, apart from the Treasurer, who had stated his intention to relinquish the role.  The Chairman introduced James Goatcher (who was willing to take on the role of Treasurer)  to the meeting. The following were elected, having been proposed by Mike Cheeseman and seconded by Pat Barber:

Chairman : Peter Nightingale

Treasurer: James Goatcher

Secretary: Christine Fairfax

Editor, Drummers Call: Peter Hart

Parade Drum Major: Geoff Fairfax

Music: Peter Foss

Training development: Mike Hall

6.  Appointment of auditor; Deferred because of change of Treasurer : to be decided by Committee.

7.   Amendment of rule 4d; It was proposed that the existing wording (“to give practical advice and assistance including education and training at the expense of The Society in the playing of the instruments of the corps of Drums , and in the formation management and administration of a Corps of Drums”) be amended to “to give practical advice and assistance, including education, in the playing of the instruments of the Corps of Drums, and in the formation, management amnd administration of a Corps of Drums

Proposed by Trevor Pearce, seconded by Roger Davenport.  Carried

8.  Honorary Life Members; The Committee had agreed to offer this to two members : Mike Hall and Phil Williams. The entire meeting was willing to propose this. Carried.

Col Walton suggested listing all honorary life members in Drummers Call.

9.   Lord Mayor’s Show;

We have received an invitation for one Corps to particiate in this year’s show. The Chairman reminded members of the need to attend the practices.  The Society will attempt to provide a rear rank of buglers.

10.  New Year’s Day Parade, London; This runs from Parliament to Berkeley Square and would probably entail travelling in by coach from Woolwich.  Phil Williams suggested a June parade when the weather was likely to be warmer.  Membership to be canvassed for their response.

11.   Drummers Call; Dealt with under Chairman’s report.

12  Other business; *Muster not happening as Americans have pulled out of the trip.  Meeting on 22 August proposed instead, including a concert and displays from any viable Corps.

*Banners in progress

*New lapel pin available

*PeterThomas offered the old Hastings display boards

*Web page – prospective new member working on this, should be ready August/Sept

*The Chairman thanked the Committee  and members for their support.

*Ian Robinson commented that the Society rarely sees military members at meetings: Peter Nightingale will ask them to attend.

Meeting concluded at 1245 hrs.