THE FRIENDS OF PATELEY BRIDGE CEMETERY AND ST MARY’S CHURCHYARD

MINUTES of the ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

In The Council Chamber

Saturday 30 January 2010, at 10.a.m.

Present: Sheila Hone, John Hone, Barry Nuttall, Barbara Breckon, Joan Branford-White, Barbara Breckon, Philip Andrew, Joanna Moody

Apologies: Chris Henderson, Maggie Jacques, Dawn Haida

Matters arising from the minutes of the meeting held on 21 November 2009: BN said that the English Heritage sign has been put in store. PA informed the group that a meeting on site will be held to look at cutting back trees and shrubs in the cemetery, as requested.

1. Chairman’s Annual Report:

“If yesterday’s article on the Friends’ work in the Nidderdale Herald is to be believed, we owe ourselves mutual congratulations!

But all our work is ongoing, so how many of the 200+ graves were actually restored in 2009? [27 headstones in the cemetery; 3 chest tombs in the churchyard. JM] More important, how much could we have achieved without the tireless work of Joanna, and her sourcing of grants and contacts with influential bodies? The Friends owe her a great debt of gratitude – but how shall we manage without her services?

Of course all of us have played our part, not least those who organised the Heritage Weekend opening in old St Mary’s and kept the paths and chapel swept, and so many other chores. Philip’s and Barbara’s presentations at the Nidderdale Festival were also well received, as was the talk to the Ladies Club.

We should also thank the AONB volunteers for their work on the cemetery path and steps, and Colin Slator in particular.

The 40 or so outstanding graves to be fettled will need further funding, therefore fundraising. After this meeting we shall have to put our heads together for sourcing.”

2. Treasurer’s Annual Report: BN presented the figures in the absence of Treasurer Maggie Jacques. Donations and fundraising resulted in £2436.52 in our account in July 2009, when the sum of £2397.52 was paid out to HBC for restorations in the cemetery. Since then there have been further donations and fundraising, and the account now stands at £1425.00. Fundraising has included the sale of cards made by Barbara Breckon and Alan Dean, and the Heritage Weekend opening of St Mary’s tower.

3. Election of Officers:

                Chair: John Hone; Vice-Chair: tbd; Joint Minutes Secretary:  Joan Branford-White & Barbara Breckon; Treasure: Maggie Jacques; Committee Members: Sheila Hone, Barry Nuttall, Joanna Moody

4. Bereavement Officer, HBC, Philip Andrew: In addition to the forthcoming meeting on trees and shrubs, PA noted that the malfunctioning tap in the cemetery toilets will be dealt with; and more assessment is being done on the use of the middle burial section in the cemetery. The Friends offered their thanks to PA for his support in the past year.

5. Cemetery Restorations (December/January 2009/10): Memsafe began work in the cemetery before Christmas but were then held up by the weather. They will be back to finish, week beginning 8th February. The Friends will pay £1394 for 18 headstones, as agreed, and HBC will meet the rest of the cost. There are around 40-50 memorials left (not 20 as incorrectly stated in the HBC press release). These are complicated and will be costly to restore. PA will have a word with the Memorials Officer to see if he can discover the outstanding figure needed for these. We are all keen to finish the job.

Any Other Business:

(i) JH asked if we are still interested in holding Working Parties on the first Saturday of each month. It was agreed that these are useful, but obviously subject to weather and other commitments. They will continue for those able to get to them. But it was noted that work in both cemetery and churchyard does go on at other times (eg. sweeping paths, collecting litter, etc).

(ii) BN informed the group that the work done on the drains has solved the problem, and he asked PA to pass on our grateful thanks to the Development Services department at HBC.

(iii) JM passed round an email from the PB Town Council clerk, expressing the Council’s appreciation of our efforts.

(iv) JM also passed round copies of the recent HBC press release and an item in the Yorkshire Post (27.1.10); JH had earlier passed round a copy of the Nidderdale Herald (29.1.10) in which our volunteering work is praised under the heading “A job very well done!”

(v) It was agreed to pay the £10 sub. to the National Federation of Cemetery Friends. JM to deal with this.

(vi) BB suggested we could raise our sub to £5 in 2011.

(vii) JM said she would continue keeping a record of the cemetery and churchyard, as a kind of archive, which might sometime go into the museum. She already has a file of information, cuttings, photos, old pictures, disks, and a memory stick with digital information and pictures which can be added to.

Date for next meeting: Saturday 24th April 2010 in the Council Chamber.

The meeting closed at 10.45 a.m.