Dear Member,

Fresh in my mind and hopefully, in some of yours too, is the Branch Annual General Meeting, held at the Dewstow Golf Club, Caerwent on Wednesday 17th November 2010.

For those of you who did not turn up, you missed a most enjoyable event. Oh, the meeting itself went the way of most AGM’s and was over in about 45 minutes. The most interesting feature was the election of officers and committee. Chairman, Vice-chairman, Treasurer, Secretary and Education Officer were all re-elected for a further year and we had two vacancies on the committee, one in South Wales and one in the South West.

Nominated for South Wales was Nick Owens and for the South West, Barbara Fletcher. Both were unanimously elected.

 

 In total, there were only 15 or so attending and that included three retired members who not only contributed to the meeting from their vast experience but also enjoyed some lunch, a glass of wine and a chat with old friends. It was good to see them.

 

 

 

You may remember that 17th November was a day following over night heavy rain, leading to floods across much of Cornwall. Ben Jones, who lives in Lostwithiel, left his house at 6.15am to drive to Lostwithiel station where he found no trains running due to floods and a landslip. He then drove to Plymouth, same story; thence to Exeter where he managed to catch a train to Bristol Parkway. There he was met by another committee member, Sean Kerslake, who drove both to the meeting venue, arriving only 10 minutes late. Returning the reverse way, Ben got home at 6.15 pm. A twelve hour day, solely on Institute business for which he neither receives nor asks for, any reward. A true committee man, he deserves a medal. Two other members also braved the elements and drove up from Honiton and Exeter respectively.

You will have seen from the report on the AGM that Jonathan Challacombe FICS (pictured)was re-elected as the Branch Education Officer. As you know, Jonathan works at Plymouth University as a lecturer. We are delighted to report that he has received a well deserved promotion and is now Associate Professor in Maritime Business, International Shipping & Logistics, School of Management, Plymouth Business School, University of Plymouth. Many congratulations from us all.

In case you re wondering if this photo (not the best reproduction, I admit, but copied from a newspaper) is of some kind of protest let me put you wise. It is an archaeological dig at Sea Mills in Bristol. The gentleman kneeling in the foreground is our old friend Ted Renshaw, FICS, former Bristol Branch chairman, Warwick Prep lecturer and ICS Examiner, recently retired – well, let Ted tell his own story……..

“Coming of age at 66 reminded me that if I was going to revitalize a long held interest in archaeology, then time was running out. So I wrote to the Bristol University to enquire about short Courses and to my surprise was invited to apply and attend an interview for a part time Degree Course. The course is of 6 years duration and I am now in my fourth year. The course takes place over week-ends with Saturday in the classroom and Sundays a route march with torrential rain guaranteed and I love every minute of it..

My involvement at Sea Mills comes through being a volunteer with Bristol Museum, initially cataloguing non recorded artifact finds, many of which are three figures old and, I think, is a weakness of every museum cellar. Surprisingly there has been little excavation at Sea Mills for the previous 50 years and recorded information is sparse. We were first set the task to leaflet the roads nearest to the harbour and invite residents to a series of open days which would offer the opportunity to identify their finds. This was a success and was followed by a suggestion that we desecrate their gardens with a series of test pits; an idea which was often accepted and actioned. Currently our efforts are concentrated upon Sea Mills Harbour allotments and the uncovered evidence depicts a somewhat different Roman presence than previously thought.” Ends.

According to a report in ‘Lloyds List’ of Tuesday 23rd November the Institute is bidding for UK Port Clearance Role.

ICS representatives will meet with the shipping minister Mike Penning to discuss the possibility of members taking over vessel reporting and clearance at UK ports. This proposal may prove sensitive at a time when immigration is high on the political agenda and such a move would effectively see one aspect of Britain’s border control handed to the private sector.

According to sources familiar with the situation, the idea of ships agents taking over selected Customs operations was previously put to the last Labour administration in 2006 and came so close to fruition that a memorandum on the issue was signed the following year. However the plan was quashed in a climate of security concern that led to the establishment of the UK Border Agency, which took over port of entry functions from Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs.

(Report courtesy Lloyds List 23/11/10)

SICK LIST

JOHN BOLT - After reporting last time that I was able to remove John from the sick list, I regret to say that he is now back on it. He recently developed severe back pain which was put down to his illness in 2006/7 when he spent a considerable amount of time in hospital lying on his back. This was followed by intensive physiotherapy. (See his report in issue 29, Autumn 07) John has now had a cat scan in Llandough and we await results.

Ken Brown and Jack Spackman are dealing positively with their problems. George Phillips is still in a care home in Plymouth, I keep in touch with his wife, Margaret, and she tells me he is in good spirits. He is visited about 4 times a year by two old friends, Alan Humphries and John Slater, but if any other old friends or colleagues would like to follow suit he would be delighted to see you. His address is Cann House Care Home, Tamerton Foliot, Plymouth, PL5 4LE Tel. 01752-771742.

DATES FOR YOUR DIARY

Wednesday 19th January 2011. The new committee meets for the first time at ABP’s offices, Newport at 2.15pm.

Institute Examinations 2011 – Monday 11th April – Thursday 21st April, excluding Friday 15th April’

For full timetable see ICS Website ( www.ics.org.uk )

Falmouth Docks mourns tug boat captain

Falmouth’s waterfront is mourning the loss of one of its finest sons following the sudden death of tugboat captain John Devine. Mr Devine died in his sleep during the early hours of Friday morning, aged just 55.

His wife Debbie said he had worked a late shift captaining the tug Ankorva at Falmouth Docks last Thursday and went to bed as usual; he never woke up. She described his death as “a great shock,” as he had not been ill and there had been no warning. The family are waiting for the results of a post-mortem, to establish the cause of his death. Source : The Packet.

STOP PRESS 2 – 30.11.10 By the time you read this you will almost certainly have heard of the sudden death, on November 29th, of our Director, Commodore David Alan Phillips. We send our deepest condolences to his wife, children and family.

IN A LIGHTER MOOD –
DESPITE THE TITLE!!

A MAJOR EARTHQUAKE MEASURING 4.8 ON THE RICHTER SCALE, HIT IN THE EARLY HOURS OF MONDAY 20TH SEPTEMBER 2010 EPICENTRED ON THE GURNOS ESTATE, RHONDDA.

Victims could be seen wandering aimlessly muttering ‘You alright luv, what the ‘ell ‘appened.’ The earthquake decimated the area causing approximately £50 worth of damage. Several priceless collections of mementos from the Balearics and Spanish Costas were damaged. Three areas of historic and scientifically significant litter were disturbed.. Many residents were awakened well before their giro arrived. Hundreds were confused and bewildered, trying to come to terms with the fact that something interesting had occurred in the Gurnos.

One resident, Donna-Marie Jenkins, a 17 year old mother of 3 said “It was such a shock, little Chantal-Leanne came running into my bedroom crying. My youngest two, Tyler-Morgan and Megan-Storm slept through it all.. I was still shaking when I was watching ‘Trisha’ on TV the next morning.

Apparently though, looting carried on as normal.

The British Red Cross has so far managed to ship 6000 crates of Fanta to the area to help the stricken masses.

Rescue workers with sniffer dogs are still searching through the rubble and have found large quantities of personal belongings including benefit books and jewellery from Elizabeth Duke at Argos. A large number of cannabis plants were also uncovered..

HOW YOU CAN HELP !

This appeal is to raise clothing and food parcels for those caught up in the unfortunate event. Clothing is the most sought after - items required include – jeans, Welsh Rugby or Cardiff City shirts, baseball caps, leggings (female). Foodstuffs include frozen chips, peas, pork scratchings, cans of Brains Dark.’ This appeal is to raise clothing and food parcels for those caught up in the unfortunate event. Clothing is the most sought after - items required include – jeans, Welsh Rugby or Cardiff City shirts, baseball caps, leggings (female). Foodstuffs include frozen chips, peas, pork scratchings, cans of Brains Dark.’

£2 buys chips and Fanta pop for a family of four, £10 can take a family to Barry Island for the day so the children can play on the beach among the plastic rubbish and discarded fishing lines.. 22p buys a biro for filling in com-pen-say-shon claims!! At this time of “Peace on earth and goodwill to all men”, I’m sure you will dig deep.

STOP PRESS – 30.11.10. Lights go out on Irish subsidies. UK to stop paying towards cost of navigational aids around Ireland. British Shipowners have finally won their long running battle over Irish light dues.

BRANCH ANNUAL DINNER Friday 20th May 2011 at Mercure Holland House Hotel, 24, Newport Road, Cardiff, 6.30pm for 7.30. 2011 is the ICS Centenary Year and we are hoping to attract a special guest speaker.

That’s it for this issue. I welcome copy for the next one by the end of March 2011 please. Also, please remember that not all our members are on the Internet and so do not hear all the bits of information that I manage to gather together in these pages. They rely on the news letters for keeping up to date.

 It remains only for me to wish you all a happy Christmas and a healthy 2011. Don’t forget to log on to the Branch web site from time to time to see what is on under ‘NEWS’

Yours sincerely

DAVID MOORE
(Branch Hon. Secretary)