Dear Member,
This newsletter, like last year, has been sent out as a notification of its being available as a download from the web-site. In attempts to email it directly to everyone, we encountered a number of gremlins and so the notification method appears to be the most fool-proof. I hope that each of you has received the notification with a minimum of problems including it appearing as spam!!!
Once again, for that not on email, I would ask District Superintendents to attempt to circulate their “e-less” members with hard copies…many thanks. In addition, we would ask any member who has changed his or her address recently and has not alerted the Membership Secretary, to do so immediately and if he/she is now on email to inform the Club of this please.
The Challenge of Finding an Honorary Secretary or indeed, any Kind of Secretary (the saga continues …with some degree of success!)
As stated last year, we now have a Minutes Secretary, Carol Painting, who services Council meetings and the AGM. This role has considerably lightened that of the Hon Secretary in general, once again thank you Carol.
I am pleased to announce that we now have a Competitions Secretary; David Painting has volunteered to accept this role and he will be organising the KGV Heats and Final and also the Club Competitions which run parallel with the Grand Aggregate competitions at the Bisley Annual meeting in 2008. For those wishing to contact him, please use this link: Competitions Secretary
Nominations: Election of Ordinary Members of Council
The members retiring by rotation during 2008 are Eur.Ing.C.A.Painting, P.N.Hinchliffe and R.P.Rosling. While each is willing to stand again, may I thank them for their efforts during their periods of office. However, nominations from other members may still be received. If you have one or more nominations to propose, please fill in and return the tear-off part of this Newsletter below.
The Club Yearbook, 2008
Once again, the yearbook for 2008 is expected to be produced ahead of the shooting season by Peter Jordan as editor and Peter Merry undertaking proof reading – thank you all for your efforts expended. The version without members’ names will be on the website.
Would all members please check that their entries in the National, Lawrence, Mackinnon, Kolapore and Australia match rolls in the new yearbook are accurate and send any corrections as soon as possible to Yearbook Editor and cpainting@iee.org.
We are aware that the format of the yearbook is largely determined by its contents but as we have kept the cost of membership fixed at the present amount for a number of years, the costs of producing the yearbook increase year-on-year. The task of producing it does not diminish but increasingly requires greater levels of IT skills in order to take advantage of modern publishing innovations. Peter Jordan has stated that this edition will be his last and we are therefore looking for a new editor who will have the IT skills required to make the job more efficient. The task, of course, is greatly eased if team captains and adjutants forward their results by the end of October and the DSs send in details of jewel winners by the end of the season.
If you know of anyone who would wish to be yearbook editor or would like to rise to the challenge yourself, please let me know.
The Clubhouse
Lease update: The lease has finally been signed off and all back rents have been paid. Because of the significant increase in current rent it is important that members use the clubhouse when attending the Spring and Annual Bisley meetings.
The Armoury: The Armoury now has ceased to function as such because of the lack of acceptable levels of security and Council has agreed that it be converted to create an extra room for private meetings and training in the first instance. For this to happen, all lockers must be emptied by any remaining users by the end of the Spring Meeting (26th May 2008). Any remaining locked lockers after 26th May will be broken open and their contents removed and disposed of.
Membership Facilities Committee: This committee has led the continual improvements in service with kitchen improvements already carried out. It is hoped that by the Annual Bisley Meeting, the former armoury will be open as a meeting room. As stated in previous Newsletters, the clubhouse can be hired for £30 per day for general club and training purposes and anyone interested should approach the Club through the Honorary Secretary or the Chairman.
England Team to South Africa, 2009
Tom Rylands is about to announce his team and I take this opportunity of wishing he and his team well for next year’s tour.
America Cup Team, 2008
The Team selected by the captain, John Webster and his adjutant James Watson was announced at the end of 2007 and is posted on the web-site. Good luck to the team during late summer.
Spring Meeting 2008
This year the Spring Meeting will be held at its usual time, 24th, 25thand 26th May 2009. Tom Rylands has agreed to organise the meeting using his South African team members as “volunteers”. Entry forms will be included in the 2008 yearbook and also be available on the web site and in the Bisley Clubs soon.
The National Match 2008 (message from the Captain, Prof A R Horrocks)
The National Match was to have been held in Scotland during 2008 but due to the now delayed works being undertaken by the MOD to the range at Barry, the Scottish Rifle association has decided to cancel its plans in this respect. The SRA still hopes to be able to hold its annual meeting there on the first full weekend in June, however.
The National Match will therefore revert to Bisley and the team selection process will be as normal in that the Captain (myself) and adjutant (David Taylor) will be creating a long-list of members interested in having their names included for team selection. We have already received a number of names who responded to our previous invitation when the match was planned to be in Scotland and these names will be carried forward.
If any other member wishes to be considered, please send his/her name and shooting CV to David Taylor (mrdataylor@hotmail.com). A formal invitation will also be included in the forthcoming yearbook. Please read the rules for eligibility on pages 34-36 in the 2007 yearbook.
Note that the significant dates for England short range team matches in 2008 are:
- RAF versus Home Countries, Bisley: Saturday 17th May 2008
- National Match, Bisley: Thursday (pm) 24th July 2008
- Lawrence Match during the planned SRA Meeting, Barry Buddon, 6-9th June 2008
Muzzle Energy
After a hectic winter of negotiations with the MOD, the officers of the NRA have managed to arrive at a solution with regard to enabling TR and the majority of F Class shooting members to operate below the muzzle energy limit of 4500J with minimal restrictions at the personal level when using MOD ranges, including Bisley. For the latest information, members should visit the NRA web-site at regular intervals.
Best wishes for the 2008 season.
Dick Horrocks, President and Honorary Secretary