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May
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| CHAIRMAN’S REPORT Our next meeting, 7 June 2006, starts at 7.00 p.m. with our Annual General Meeting – followed by Dr Richard Hall’s talk entitled ‘A Roman Cemetery, a Gift from King Alfred, and a Viking Ship Burial’ at 7.30 p.m. Since our last A.G.M. FLARE has continued to present its series of highly successful and enjoyable monthly lectures. We have ‘visited’ the Falklands with Robert Philpott, Southwark with Harvey Sheldon, Northants with me, and Chester with Dan Garner. Our Christmas party was attended by well over forty members who enjoyed good food, wine and company – with Liz Lucas providing sparkling entertainment in monologues and readings. We have also ‘been on tour’ around north-western Europe with Mick Jones, a Roman villa near Northampton with Roy Friendship-Taylor, the Roman Cotswolds with Neil Holbrook, and Transylvania with Bill Hanson. Coming up to date, we have looked afresh at the Tresham monuments in Rushton, Rothwell and Lyveden – followed by a full-day coach tour of the actual buildings. At the time of writing we look forward to welcoming back Philip Crummy and being brought up to date with recent work in Colchester – 17 May. NEW TREASURER During the year the Committee has thanked Hugh Taylor for his sterling work as Treasurer over many years, and welcomed his successor Dean Bird. The transition was flawless, a model of working together and handing-over with precision. Hugh’s last report as retiring Treasurer concerned the approval of our updated Constitution by the Charity Commissioners. His wealth of expertise will not be lost to us as he has agreed to continue to serve on the committee. Dean is already well in control of the finances, for which we are all very grateful. WEBSITE Committee members are also grateful to Ben Rook, working with Mick Jones, for updating and indeed largely re-designing the FLARE Website. This contains details of all our events, lectures, outings, news and publications, and can be found as ‘www.flarelincoln.org’. INSURANCES Many societies and Friends groups like ours now take out insurance cover. This not only covers equipment but public liability and third party etc., against claims for injuries and damages. FLARE’s insurance is provided through the British Association for Local History – covering all eventualities from attendance at lectures, visits to historical and archaeological sites, and indeed involvement in any activity organised and provided by your committee. SUBSCRIPTIONS For many years now FLARE basic annual subscriptions have remained the same: £6.00 for individual membership and £10 for family membership. This, as I am sure you agree, represents extremely good value for money. Our speakers are of the highest calibre and come from far and wide. Each year the level is reviewed, and once more committee members feel no need to recommend an increase at our coming A.G.M. We would ask, however, that while non-member visitors are most welcome to our meetings they should contribute towards our costs – with a donation of at least £2.00. Better still, we would urge all visitors living locally to become members. STANDING ORDERS If you pay your subscription by standing order please check that you are paying the correct amount: £6.00 or £10.00 (£3 for students). If you do not pay by standing order, please consider doing so if at all possible. It may be beneficial to FLARE through gift aid covenant. The Treasurer will have more to say on this at the A.G.M. Finally, we look forward to seeing as many members as are able to come to the A.G.M. and hearing any suggestions or contributions you would like us to take into consideration for the coming year. If you would like to serve on the committee, or would like to nominate someone (with their prior approval) please let me or our Secretary know in good time for the nomination to go forward. John
Wilford
CITY ARCHAEOLOGIST'S REPORT As I write this contribution, HRH The Prince of Wales is due to visit the city to admire the work of restoring the ‘Deans Eye’ window at the cathedral, as well as the civic Guildhall to see a display on a masterplan for the City Centre, facilitated by the Prince’s Foundation, and thence to visit the scheme at the Priory Centre at St Catherine’s. Later in the day, a unit from the BBC will be filming elements of the Roman Ermine Street for a programme about the Great North Road and its predecessors. All this highlights the importance of Lincoln’s heritage for its future, and how essential it is that it is maintained. A group of MPs from the Select Committee on Heritage visited the city briefly on 31 January and were left in no doubt as to the need for financial support for the historic environment. The information panels are all now in place in the ‘Cathedral Quarter’, and another group is being designed for the remaining part of the city centre. Keen eyes will note that, at the St Paul-in-the-Bail site, the panel on the Roman forum which stood at the corner of Bailgate and Westgate – one of those provided by FLARE – has now been moved to replace the original and ageing panel next to the well. Congratulations are due to everyone concerned that The Collection has made the shortlist of four for the annual Gulbenkian Museum award. The winner will be announced in late May. The Museum’s audio-visual theatre is used regularly for evening presentations and day-schools; another day school is planned on 3 June on historic buildings. These are being organised by Mark Williams of Heritage Lincolnshire (01529-461618). On 24 June, a conference will be held on the Witham Valley Project, in the Jackson Lecture Theatre at the University. Entrance is free, but a ticket will be necessary: contact the Society for Lincs. History and Archaeology if you are interested. I have been helping the Society to plan its annual Archaeology Day. This year it will take place on 14 October at the Riseholme campus of the University, and will be devoted to the Roman period, with both local and wider interests covered. The long-awaited volumes on excavations in the Upper City and the Corpus of Saxon and Medieval Pottery will be formally launched in the next few weeks. Both run to c.300 pages; more details are available on the Oxbow Books web-site (www.oxbowbooks.com). The report on the finds from the St Paul-in-the-Bail well has now been delivered to Oxbow. This mainly consists of a collection of 17th-century artefacts deposited in or after the Civil War skirmishes in the city. Work progresses meanwhile on the last (and by far largest) of the site volumes, covering the lower city. A large article on medieval and later glass from the excavations will appear in the next volume (no.162) of The Archaeological Journal. Members of FLARE might also be interested in the annual meeting of the Survey of Lincoln Project, which will be held at 10am on Saturday 20 May at FLARE’s usual venue, St Hugh’s Church Hall. The main substance of the meeting will be the archaeology, architecture and history of the Monks Road area, to be set out in a booklet published later this year. Activity
in the field continues. You may have read about the planned urban expansion
of the city towards the west, in the Swanpool area. Fieldwork is already
under way, and results of the preliminary surveys, covering amongst other
things the Roman pottery industry, will be available shortly. Over the
next few weeks, the creation of a new pond in the University campus will
be monitored carefully for traces of early occupation, particularly of
the prehistoric period. There are as usual several proposals in hand for
developments in the Brayford Pool area. Mick Jones
SUBSCRIPTION RENEWALS May we remind members that the FLARE subscription year runs from April to March. Our Treasurer Dean Bird, and Membership Secretary Roz Mellows, will be pleased to receive payment if you do not pay by standing order, or advise you about standing orders at the A.G.M. FLARE ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING - 7 June 2006, 7.00 p.m. AGENDA 1.
Election of President
President:
Mrs Jean Scott Members:
Auditor: |
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