Ship/Place/Originator: SecretaryMinutes of the RNPA AGM held at the Telford Hotel
on Sunday 8th October 2017 at 1000.
Those Present:
Committee
Tony Darbyshire – Chairman
Peter Bunting – Vice Chairman
Jan Larcombe – Secretary – Historian
Valerie Darbyshire – Treasurer
Raymond Whitehouse – Social Secretary
Stephen King – Membership Secretary
Hilary King – Newsletter Editor
Danny du Feu – Exhibitions
Members
George Ash, Bridget Bunting, Nigel Craft, Andrea Downing, Mervyn Ellis, John Flack, Roger Forbes, Mike Gilbert, Ian Hooper, Jean Keeling, Mike Keeling, Doreen Larcombe, Brian Lowe, Mike McKnight, Joan Morris, Ken Morris, Elizabeth Penny, Roy Penny, David Price, Olga Price, Vince Richards,Jonathon Robbins, Patricia Thompson, Steve Thompson, Pam Whitehouse, Stuart Wood.
Apologies from Bob Lomax, Harry Walker, Duncan Reid, John Foley, Bob Stanyard, Ray Pogson, Bob Pearce. Bill Porter Peter Thorne, Tom Suddes,
Nick Mewton. and Chris Dalby.
Item 1. Approval of minutes of last meeting
Roy Penny proposed and John Flack seconded that the minutes were a true record of the last AGM, carried unanimously and Tony duly signed to that effect.
Item 2 . Roll of Honor.
Ian Gutteridge, Craig Leask, Steve Saywell, Roy Miller, Paul Hanson, Brian Robertson. Mike Brown, Tex West and Peter Grigsby
Tony asked the meeting for any remembrances of the above and then led a minutes silence of reflection and respect
Matters arising – covered below
Item 3. Election of Officials
Tony asked if there were any volunteers to serve on the committee and receiving none said that all members of the current committee were willing to serve for another year and asked for the members approval. Nigel Craft proposed and Mike Keeling seconded approval and it was carried unanimously.
Item 4. Chairman’s report
Tony thanked the committee for their work over the last year and asked for a round of applause for the committee members
Item 5. Secretary’s/ Historians report.
Jan advised the meeting that as of 26th January 2017 serving photographers were no longer a Fleet Air Arm branch, were now part of the General Service warfare organization and were now known as Leading Photographer etc. He showed the members a copy of the new branch badge.
Use of social media.
Jan said that the committee had decided not to proceed with a RNPA Facebook page as the survey conducted after the last AGM resulted in half of those replying saying they would use it if there was more information on it and the other half saying they would not use Facebook.
2017 Cenotaph March
Jan said that he had forwarded the details of our 18 marchers to the RBL and that he had just received the tickets which he would be sending out to individuals shortly. Danny agreed to make all the arrangements for the day and provide the necessary wreaths.
Joint reunions with SEs and METs
Jan said that the joint reunions were still planned with the SEs down to arrange the 2020 event in Bristol
Branch 100th Anniversary celebrations 2019
Jan explained that he had made numerous attempts to make contact with WO Dua and Hilary Roberts of the Imperial War Museum but had not heard back. He had spoken to Rob Harding who said that as far as he knew it was still planned to hold a ball in HMS Excellent in June/July 2019. He undertook to try and arrange a meeting with WO Dua as it was now important that we had a date for the ball so that we could arrange our reunion around it.
WRNS 100th Anniversary (in 2017) update
Jan said that he had visited the exhibition in Portsmouth and was disappointed in that most of the displayed items were behind glass and were not well annotated. He had not seen them but a Mamiyaflex camera and an exposure meter belonging to Glynis Shaw were on display.
Progress on history of photography in the RN
Jan advised that he was having problems getting information the branch since 1984.
Despite three freedom of information request and the intervention of the last First Sea Lord (Admiral Zambellas) he had not gained access to any “modern” official papers. He now intended to contact all those who were involved in running the branch since 1984 to ask for their collective memories of events.
Item 6. Social Secretary’s report
Ray reported that there were 50 people attending this years reunion and that he had two late cancellations due to illness. He noted that the display boards were well used and created lots of interest. Danny added a request that any photographs of photographers should be forwarded to him for possible inclusion on the display
Confirm plans for reunion 2018 in Plymouth
Ray confirmed that he would be arranging a reunion in Plymouth during the first or second week of October 2018 and would be letting everyone know the details as soon as possible.
He explained the organization of the Fleet Air Arm Federation and showed the Federations designs for this years Christmas cards.
Item 7. Treasurer’s report
Val presented the association’s accounts for the year ending 30th June 2017 which showed a positive balance of £5768.75 at the end of the year. Everyone had received copies of the accounts by email and there were no queries arising. Acceptance was proposed by Vince Richard and seconded by Ian Hooper, carried with no dissenters.
Item 8. Membership Secretary’s report
Steve reported that the number of members has slightly increased from last year. There were 89 members and 42 spouses plus 1 Honorary. He asked that he should be informed of any changes of emails addresses and said that he had several inquiries regarding membership but they often did not result in new members and the take up from younger photographers was very low with overall numbers going down slowly.
Item 9. Newsletter editors report
Hilary said she had updated the front page and that the many extra pages in the last newsletter was because it was the 50thedition but that subsequent newsletters would revert to the normal eight page format. She thanked all those who had sent articles and photographs and asked members to continue the good work.
Item 10. Website progress
Tony said that he had little response to his request for information on ships, establishments and squadrons at last years AGM and that he intended to repeat the request being more specific with the requirement.
Following a question from Nigel Craft on what sort of detail was required Tony said that the information on Wikipedia was about right and any photographs of photographers on board would be appreciated.
Steve outlined his “people on ships” project which was attempting to list all photographers who had served in ships and establishments. This was ongoing and he said he would welcome any input to the project.
Item 11. Clothing Sales
Steve said that he had only sold one or two items, mainly ties, and that he would repeat his advertising in the next newsletter. He had had a couple of inquiries recently and was able to fill orders as and when required.
Any Other Business
Roger Forbes asked if the joint reunions would include the METs and Jan confirmed that this was the case and that they only met every third year which suited the pattern of a revolving organizer branch.
Noting that there were very few people dancing to the disco music Nigel Craft suggested that there should not be a disco after the dinner and a show of hands confirmed the general feeling of the meeting that there should be music that people could dance to but at a much lower volume so that members could carry on a conversation without shouting. It was also felt that the lighting in the dining room should not be dimmed and that there should be no flashing lights.
Before closing the meeting Tony and Peter ran through the arrangements for the RNA and David Austin Roses visits and Ray reminded members about payment for the light lunch and the visit to DSOP.
Tony closed the meeting at 1111.
Date / Date Range: 08-10-2017
Submitted By: Secretary
Now Held By: Secretary
Date Added: 19-12-2021
Historians Number: Hist1365
Original Website Link