2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | January 2009

April 2009 Newsletter

Notice of Annual General Meeting
Old Dronfield Society Meeting
Member Subscriptions for 2009/2010
Dronfield Heritage Trails
Exhibition - Sat 6th June and Sun 7th June
Review of Past Activities
Thank you
Help Needed
Birthday Fun

Notice of Annual General Meeting

The A G M will be held on Thursday 23 April at 7.30 p.m. in the Edward Lucas Hall of the Peel Centre. Elections will be held for Committee membership and nominations for officers and members are invited. Anyone wishing to propose an individual (with the person's consent) or to stand should notify the acting secretary by telephone or by returning the nomination slip at the end of this newsletter as soon as possible. It would also be appreciated if the acting secretary could be notified of any items to be raised under Any Other Business.

Our Chair Ann Brown wishes to stand down and we need to find a new Chair. We give all our thanks to Ann for her amazing job as Chair over many years. Her knowledge about Dronfield and its neighbours is quite astonishing. Well done Ann! Jean Kendal also wishes to stand down from Membership, so as you can see we want volunteers for these positions. Our Treasurer David Axe is willing to stand again as Treasurer for a further year. The present committee members are willing to stand again for a further year, but we are 2 members short. Can anyone spare a few hours to help on the committee please?

Cathy Kearns has volunteered to be our Acting Secretary at present and has indicated she would be willing to stand as our new Secretary. Our grateful thanks to her as we were becoming desperate!

Pat Mooney is doing a sterling job as Programme Secretary and has booked future talks which look very entertaining. Thanks Pat!

The Committee have been thinking about creating a new post of Archivist who will sort all our photos, info and records. We have not had this position before but as our collection is continuing to grow it looks like one is needed.

Following the business meeting Janet Stain will give a short talk, "Knickers - a Brief History". It should be fun!

Old Dronfield Society Meeting

Our meeting on May 28th is about SAMUEL PLIMSOLL M.P. Tony Marsh will tell us about his life. It should be an entertaining talk.

Member Subscriptions for 2009/2010

Subscriptions are now due as from 1st April and a slip for return to the acting secretary is included at the end of this newsletter. The cost is still only £5.00 a person which is very reasonable.

All meetings take place at 7.30 p.m. in the Edward Lucas Hall of the Peel Centre which is accessible by stair lift via the fire escape stairs to the left of the main entrance. Please ask a committee member for access either before or at the meeting. If you require transport to attend the meetings, please contact a committee member.

Dronfield Heritage Trails

There is a slight delay with the publishing of our 2 new booklets. Hopefully these should be ready to launch at our Exhibition on the 6th and 7th June.

Exhibition - Sat 6th June and Sun 7th June - (10am to 4pm both days)

This year our exhibition will be "THE OUTLYING VILLAGES OF THE ANCIENT PARISH OF DRONFIELD." (Apperknowle, Coal Aston, Cordwell Valley, Dronfield Woodhouse, Holmesfield, Little Barlow, Millthorpe and Unstone).

If anyone has photographs, information or material of any kind relating to any of the places named above and which we could use in the Exhibition would you please contact any Committee member as soon as possible or bring it along to any of our next meetings. Thank You.

Review of Past Activities

On January 22nd Peter Harrison gave us a fascinating talk about "Blue John" stone. Peter is still working and has no intention to retire even though he is nearly 83 years young! He lives in Castleton, where his grandfather used to live (whom he visited as a boy) and became intrigued with Blue John. Blue John is a peculiar stone found only at the western end of the Hope Valley and, so far, found nowhere else in the world. Treak Cliff Cavern where Blue John can be found was part of an ancient reef 6,000 feet thick and formed near the Equator about 290 million years ago. The time scale is enormous, almost beyond belief! Old Millers Mine was the first mine to be opened and by 1770 there were 25 mines in the area. The heyday for Blue John was around 1760 to 1830. It used to be called "Derby Drop" or "Derbyshire Spar," but in about 1766 was named Blue John. Peter explained that when the stone is mined it is damp and has to be stored away for 1-2 years to dry out and then resin is added to the stone or it cannot be cut or polished. This can take hours to boil! These days only small pieces of Blue John are found and are made into bowls, ornaments and jewellery. It's still quite an old fashioned process with the use of a lathe and hand tools. French clocks were mounted on "Bleu Jeune" and it can even be seen at Kedleston Hall in a firestone dated 1760. At the Albert Memorial Chapel, London there are some delicately inlaid panels of Blue John of the finest quality. Today a small bowl would cost about £1000. At the new information centre at Castleton a large bowl is on show. This was valued at £17,000 in 1959! At Lauriston Castle, Edinburgh, Scotland, there can be found a priceless collection of 72 rare Blue John ornaments which can never be replaced. Today young apprentices are working with Blue John to carry on the tradition.

Thank you

Many thanks to Mr and Mrs M. Chadwick of Chiverton House who have donated £300 towards the publishing of the Heritage Trail booklets and also to Dronfield Rotary Club for their donation of £100.

Help Needed

Don't forget your help is needed to keep the O D S running and to be able to continue its activities. Anyone can volunteer and do as little or as much as they want.

Are there any members who can help with the publicity; such as putting up notices about forthcoming meetings and events in the library and other places please? It's a very small job which wouldn't take much time.

We could also use some computing expertise. Can anyone help please? If you can please contact the acting secretary. Thank You.

Birthday Fun

Cathy Kearns had a lovely party on her 50th birthday ( 6th March ). We had never seen such a large 50 before! The numbers completely filled her front room window! The harpist played beautifully and the music was enjoyed by all. Denise did a marvellous job in arranging such a happy day and the food was just like a banquet.

Pat Mooney baked yet another of her memorable cakes. They seem to be getting better if that is possible!