April Meeting
Our meeting season commenced in April with the AGM. Our chairman, Steven, started by thanking Ray, Hilary and Glyn for their work and also to Malcolm for his regular Docks Notes for Humber Light and to Brian Pearson for continuing to bring along his surplus shipping magazines to the meetings, for the benefit of other branch members. Steven told members present that the subscription rate would remain unchanged and that the change to a summer meeting season was still proving popular and would continue for the present. He also brought up the question of the Annual Dinner and after a show of hands from those present that indicated a continued interest in the event, he asked Hilary to investigate further and Glyn to place a booking form in the next Humber Light. The question of the judging system to be used at the Annual Photographic Competition, which was brought up at the 2012 AGM, was mentioned and it was suggested that the guest judge could choose the winners of
the slide and digital sections and members would choose the print section winner. This would be subject to the guest judge being happy with the arrangement.
Although our secretary, Ray, was unable to be present at the AGM, he left copies of the meeting programme for 2013 for distribution to those present. Glyn added that Ray was still awaiting confirmation from one speaker and also added a little further information on the July presentation.
Our treasurer, Hilary started her report by apologising for the lack of 2011 comparison figures on the accounts sheet. She added that the 2011 figures had been somewhat ‘confused’ by the meeting season change. There was a loss in 2012, in part due to the increase in costs paid to speakers, but Humber Light printing costs were down due to a reduction in membership and some members taking the electronic version of the journal.
Our journal editor, Glyn apologised for the slightly wayward publication date of some editions of Humber Light, mainly due to some technical problems and other commitments around publication time, but added that the journal should settle down in future, also as regards format and font use. No complaints had been received as regards the continued use of A5 format. Glyn thanked his regular contributors, Malcolm Ladd, Patrick Hill, Rick Ward (no longer a member) and Simon Smith for their supply of articles and images. He also thanked the two non-members who had supplied articles; Roy Cressey for his regular ‘This and That’ feature and also to Gordon Haynes for his articles on Scottish ferry journeys. Glyn also made a brief mention of the branch’s web site and thanked again Patrick, Simon and Rick for their supply of images.
To conclude, Steven advised that a trophy ah been purchased for presentation to the winner of the digital section of the annual photographic competition. The AGM concluded at 2008.
For the remainder of the evening we were entertained by Patrick, with his 'Illustrated Port Jottings' on the digital projector. The high quality images showed a good selection of vessels visiting the Humber during 2012, with most vessels being on the move. Simon and Glyn contributed some images taken from the foreign territory of the south bank! Thanks Patrick.
the slide and digital sections and members would choose the print section winner. This would be subject to the guest judge being happy with the arrangement.
Although our secretary, Ray, was unable to be present at the AGM, he left copies of the meeting programme for 2013 for distribution to those present. Glyn added that Ray was still awaiting confirmation from one speaker and also added a little further information on the July presentation.
Our treasurer, Hilary started her report by apologising for the lack of 2011 comparison figures on the accounts sheet. She added that the 2011 figures had been somewhat ‘confused’ by the meeting season change. There was a loss in 2012, in part due to the increase in costs paid to speakers, but Humber Light printing costs were down due to a reduction in membership and some members taking the electronic version of the journal.
Our journal editor, Glyn apologised for the slightly wayward publication date of some editions of Humber Light, mainly due to some technical problems and other commitments around publication time, but added that the journal should settle down in future, also as regards format and font use. No complaints had been received as regards the continued use of A5 format. Glyn thanked his regular contributors, Malcolm Ladd, Patrick Hill, Rick Ward (no longer a member) and Simon Smith for their supply of articles and images. He also thanked the two non-members who had supplied articles; Roy Cressey for his regular ‘This and That’ feature and also to Gordon Haynes for his articles on Scottish ferry journeys. Glyn also made a brief mention of the branch’s web site and thanked again Patrick, Simon and Rick for their supply of images.
To conclude, Steven advised that a trophy ah been purchased for presentation to the winner of the digital section of the annual photographic competition. The AGM concluded at 2008.
For the remainder of the evening we were entertained by Patrick, with his 'Illustrated Port Jottings' on the digital projector. The high quality images showed a good selection of vessels visiting the Humber during 2012, with most vessels being on the move. Simon and Glyn contributed some images taken from the foreign territory of the south bank! Thanks Patrick.
May Meeting
For the May Meeting Glyn Woods brought along a selection of slides taken in 1977, this being the first year he had seriously got involved in maritime photography. He went on to add that as he was just starting out at that time ,the locations for the first year had been a bit limited, with most of the slides taken in London (docks and river) and Fleetwood. Nevertheless a good selection of vessels were shown on the screen, the oldest being the cable-layer John W. McKay, built in 1922 and many other slides of centre superstructure vessels. The meeting finished with Ray Scott thanking Glyn for the evening's entertainment, which had attracted a reasonably good attendance.
June Meeting
Our secretary was unable to contact our planned speaker for the night, so our chairman, Steven, stepped in and gave us one of his fascinating 'Music and Ships' presentations. On this occasion we were treated to a selection of slides of merchant vessels of 1940-1960 vintage with accompanying suitable background music and minimal commentary. Vessels of many of the shipping lines of the period were shown, including Glen Line, Port Line and Clan Line, just to name a few. However the evening didn't go totally smoothly due to a couple of technical hitches, firstly with the projector and then with the CD player. Despite these small problems, everyone present enjoyed the evening and thanks go to Steven for putting this presentation together at fairly short notice.
July Meeting
The best attendance of the season, so far, welcomed Dr. Stephen Bloy, who had made the trip from the south bank to give his presentation entitled 'For Those in Peril'. This was a social history of the development and eventual decline of the Grimsby fishing industry. Dr. Bloy started by explaining why the town was well placed as a port, although in the 13th/14th centuries it was nowhere near as important as the lost port of Ravenser Odd, across the river on the Spurn peninsula. Grimsby see-sawed back and forth between prosperity and decline over the centuries until the arrival of the railway around 1848. Shortly after this the Royal Dock and Fish Dock were opened and inducements made to fishing smack owners in the south west and south east of England to move their home port to Grimsby. After the mid 1850's, the fishing industry at the port thrived, even with the interruptions of the 'cod war' with Denmark between 1890 and 1914 and the two world wars. However after the fist 'cod war' with Iceland in 1958, decline started, made even worse with the two further periods of dispute with Iceland in the 1970's. Dr. Bloy explained the 'politics' surrounding these disputes with Denmark and Iceland and how the British fishing industry in general was badly let down by the governments of the time. A thoroughly absorbing talk of over 90 minutes was well received by those present and many thanks go to Dr. Bloy for giving us his presentation, which must have taken many hours of research.
August Meeting
For our August meeting, we welcomed along Mike Puplett from the MCGA at Bridlington. Mike, who had a long career with the Royal Navy, before joining the Coastguard service, started by showing us the large area (nearly 1 million square miles) of sea covered by the UK for search and rescue activities. He then pointed out the relatively large area covered from the Bridlington station, which, since the closure of the Great Yarmouth station, now stretches from Berwick in the north to just north of the Thames estuary in the south. He went on to explain how a good knowledge of the area is needed as well as good communication skills when liaising with other agencies such as thy RNLI and MOD. Incidents dealt with by the Coastguard include shipping, pollution, cliff rescues, missing persons, overdue vessels, gas platform emergencies and even animal rescues. Following his presentation, Mike then spent some time answering questions from those present. Another very interesting evening and many thanks to Mike for giving up his evening to come along and speak to us.
September Meeting
In September we had a visit from Paul Holloway from the UK Border agency, who gave us an interesting and informative presentation on the work of the agency. Paul, who is based in Hull, started by explaining the formation of the agency in 2008 from various Government departments, principally Customs and Excise and Immigration and went on to detail the tasks covered by the agency's staff. Following the presentation, Paul took many questions from members with follow up queries, which continued until Paul had to depart. All present thanked Paul for his informative talk and giving up his evening off work to visit us.
In September we had a visit from Paul Holloway from the UK Border agency, who gave us an interesting and informative presentation on the work of the agency. Paul, who is based in Hull, started by explaining the formation of the agency in 2008 from various Government departments, principally Customs and Excise and Immigration and went on to detail the tasks covered by the agency's staff. Following the presentation, Paul took many questions from members with follow up queries, which continued until Paul had to depart. All present thanked Paul for his informative talk and giving up his evening off work to visit us.
October Meeting
Our final meeting of the season was the annual photographic competition. A dissapointingly low attendance was entertained by an excellent selection of digital images, prints and slides, but not as many as we would have liked. Roy Cressey made the journey across from Leeds to be our judge again and had a difficult choice to name winners from the entries in each category. In the digital section Roy eventually awarded first and second places to entries from your web master (Glyn Woods) of shots of RIJNBORG passing South Ferriby in 2005 and RED EAGLE and OCEANA in the Solent in 2006. In the print section, Steven Tacey was first, with a shot of GYPSEY RACE at Bridlington about 2007 and Simon Smith second, with a shot of ATLAS passing South Ferriby. In the slide section two of Patrick Hill's entries were placed first and second, with a shot of AUTOSTRADA approaching the Humber Bridge in about 1985 and LADY ALMA off King George Dock. Thanks to Roy for being our judge, to all the entrants for providing the evening's entertainment and finally congratulations to the winners. (The winning shots can be found in the PHOTO GALLERIES section of this site)
Our final meeting of the season was the annual photographic competition. A dissapointingly low attendance was entertained by an excellent selection of digital images, prints and slides, but not as many as we would have liked. Roy Cressey made the journey across from Leeds to be our judge again and had a difficult choice to name winners from the entries in each category. In the digital section Roy eventually awarded first and second places to entries from your web master (Glyn Woods) of shots of RIJNBORG passing South Ferriby in 2005 and RED EAGLE and OCEANA in the Solent in 2006. In the print section, Steven Tacey was first, with a shot of GYPSEY RACE at Bridlington about 2007 and Simon Smith second, with a shot of ATLAS passing South Ferriby. In the slide section two of Patrick Hill's entries were placed first and second, with a shot of AUTOSTRADA approaching the Humber Bridge in about 1985 and LADY ALMA off King George Dock. Thanks to Roy for being our judge, to all the entrants for providing the evening's entertainment and finally congratulations to the winners. (The winning shots can be found in the PHOTO GALLERIES section of this site)