Chairman's Letter to members  July 2021                                                                            

Dear members                                            

I have no idea how to greet you all with circumstances as they are! “Welcome back” seems about the best of a bad job. February 2020 was our last meeting, but it begins to look probable that September 27th will see us gathering again as a Society in St Mildred’s church, where spacing will be more practicable than in Zion Baptist. How much of the proposed programme for 2021-22 will actually occur remains to be seen.

Subscriptions will be collected at the beginning of September, from those who have agreed to pay by Standing Order. If you do not pay by standing order, would you please give a cheque or cash to our Treasurer, email tony_buttler@yahoo.co.uk for address or pay at the door on attending your first lecture.

You will find the latest Newsletter enclosed in this mailing. Our Librarian Jack Gillett does a superb job editing our Newsletters (and, indeed, maintaining our scrapbooks which now form a remarkable collection). You can access the collection of past newsletters by going to the My Tenterden website (www.mytenterden.co.uk) where, under Clubs, Societies and Groups, you will find a History section with the information about our Society, including a link to past newsletters. Alternatively, those with an hour or two to spare could type in –

https://www.mytenterden.co.uk/directory/tenterden-history-society-newsletters-article-307.aspx#

While meetings have been in suspension, and your Committee has been semi-dormant, one or two of the officers have continued to keep the wheels on the rails. Jack, our Librarian, keeps an eye on books and deals with the occasional queries that need addressing. Colin Young continues to turn over a lot of historical and genealogical questions that come to us (as well as to Museum, Church and Town Hall). You will be aware of the Community Art Project of early July. Jane, our Honorary Secretary, has been deeply involved in the compilation of a map and history quiz associated with the exhibition around the town. Other matters of liaison with various Borough and County initiatives have also needed attention. Jane has also been working on design for a website of our own and you may like to have a look at:

www.tenterdenhistory.co.uk

Your Committee has now had its first face-to-face meeting, and has discussed the necessities of restarting meetings in these constrained times as well as trying to pick up the “loose ends” that we were sorting out at the start of 2020! I hope that a proper Annual General Meeting will be possible in November so that you can all have your say.

My very best wishes , and I hope to be greeting many of you to a meeting on 27th September to hear (on the current plan) Geoff Doel telling us about “The Green Man”.

H

Dr Nick Hudd

June 2021

Our programme for 2021/2022 is now in place. We are very much looking forward to seeing you and welcoming back all members!

For dates of events, please visit the *Calendar page. 

Membership Subs £6 are due from 1st September 2021.

You may pay on the door at the lecture on September 27th (St. Mildred's Church).  Cheques made payable please to "T&DLHS".

May 2021:

Your Committee is discussing and organising a safe return to our usual programme of events.

December 2020:

Chairman's letter to the members.

Dear members                                                                                              December 2020                                                            

As promised in my last missive, this is coming to you for the New Year period. It is essentially a very early Spring 2021 update, and you will find enclosed the March 2021 Newsletter of the Society.

Soon after I wrote to you all in August, your committee agreed to cancel the January and February 2021 meetings and informed the speakers. In the last few days, we have also cancelled the remainder of the 2020-21 programme. This includes the Coffee Morning in March, and all possibility of any Summer outings. I suppose the only remark one can make on this catastrophic situation is that we are in the same boat as practically every other local community organisation, not to mention organisations of wider remit. At the moment consideration is beginning of a programme for 2021-22 to start in September. Whether that will prove possible (not to mention what the enthusiasm for public gatherings will be) remains to be seen. It is likely that we will not send out another mailing until the usual August one.

I must use this opportunity to remark upon the recent death of Fred Walker, a figure notable not only in our local history community, but more widely known nationally in those circles studying the history of marine architecture. An engineer graduate of Glasgow University, Fred worked in the shipyards of Scotland and, indeed, in international shipbuilding. His interest in the history of shipbuilding took him from Smallhythe to all other places east and west around the globe. He had lectured widely and still held a honorary academic post at his death, which was sudden. If you needed to build a coracle or a supertanker, Fred knew the engineering issues involved! Many in Tenterden have had the benefit of hearing Fred speak on diverse and fascinating maritime subjects. The fruit of one of his labours can be seen in St Mildred’s church where hangs an accurate model of the “Grand Mistress” built for Henry VIII at Smallhythe. Familiar as I am with the frustrated utterings of Glaswegians (!) I well remember Fred’s mutterings over the complications and delays in actually getting that task brought to its excellent conclusion. He was a very fine friend to many of us in this town.

It was, of course, impossible to hold our Annual General Meeting in November, as had been planned. On the reverse of this letter, for information, are the certified accounts for 2019-20, accepted by your Committee. These will be presented for approval by members when possible at a formal General Meeting. My feeling is that you ought to have a sight of these now, and please do raise with me any points of concern.

My very best wishes , and I hope to be greeting many of you to a meeting in September. Patience is the word.

Dr Nick Hudd