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2021-08-31-accounts

BELPER HISTORICAL SOCIETY - YEAR ENDED 31 AUGUST 2021

REPORT OF THE TRUSTEES

This is the seventh Annual Report of Belper Historical Society (BHS) as a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO) for the year 2020-21. Founded in 1957, the Society sought Charity status as a CIO in 2014 with an aspiration to be better placed to make its resources available to more people by increasing its membership and raising income to fund its work and maintain its archive material in a central and accessible building.

Structure, Governance and Management.

In accordance with the Constitution and Rules of the Society, the Committee consists of:

(a) Not less than 4 and up to five Trustees who are the Chairman, Secretary, Treasurer and one or two other members of the Society and

(b) six to nine other members of the Society who are all elected by the membership annually at the Annual General Meeting.

Circumstances precluded holding an AGM in November 2020, but with membership agreement it was deemed acceptable for the current Committee to continue in office for the next 12 months. Documents for the AGM (Annual Report, Financial Statement and Trustee Balance Sheet) were supplied to members on 29 November 2020.

Committee members therefore continued in office from November 2020 as follows:

Chairman and Ex-Officio Trustee – Alan Kerry Vice Chairman and elected Trustee - Adrian Farmer Secretary and Ex-Officio Trustee – Adrian Keetley Treasurer and Ex-Officio Trustee – Heather Eaton Other Committee Members duly elected – Brian Deer, Mary Featherby, Justin Keeley, Mary McLean Farmer and Jane Whitaker.

As noted in last year’s report, the appointments of future committee members will follow a more informal process, less rigorous than that required for Trustee nomination.

The Secretary continued in office as Trustee with Belper North Mill Trust as the Societys’ representative in that group.

Objectives and Activities

The main aims of the Society continued to be as follows, to:

To support these aims, meetings are held monthly (except August) where talks of local and historical interest are given by members and visiting speakers. The lecture programme continues to be the main activity of the Society, sustained largely through an annual membership subscription to offset programme and room hire costs.

The main Objectives for this year have been:

Achievements and Performance

Activities for 2020/21 were constrained by the imposition of two further national lockdowns (5.11.20 and 6.1.21) through progressive relaxation up to end of June 2021. Members were advised in November 2020 that while the prospect of resuming normal meetings remained on hold, subscriptions for 2021 (normally renewed at end of September) would also be held in abeyance, but the Committee would aim to provide some talks and short films online.

Video Material

Over the past year, a number of short videos about Belper, and the Strutt family, were compiled by Vice Chair Adrian Farmer and committee member Mary McLean-Farmer, to provide material of interest to members while meetings were not taking place. These can still be viewed at the following links:

A Wander Around Old Belper - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c8TgiMENR-A

Food Provision in the Early Days of the Derwent Valley Mills - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nCvcG1AR9U0

= Experiencing the Derwent Valley - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v BZMi5kAJjhI

= The Strutt Family Albums 1 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v iegTTgaEjjo

= - The Strutt Family Albums 2 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v Q63M Q_o8X4

Additional Material

Short animations of the Belper Mills site and Milford were completed by Evans Vettori Architects Ltd as part of the DVMWHS Great Place Scheme using information from many old photographs creating a virtual perspective of the long lost aspects of the site and its true extent and splendour. The animations were shared with members in December and can be revisited here:.

= Belper 1896 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v v5bkv1qubl8

= Belper 1921 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v A7rdsfOfmyU

Milford - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NT4CAZXNEDE

A link to a short (10min) film trailer was for an event called 'The Machinery installation' to be held in North Mill and Cromford was also supplied:

= https://www.youtube.com/watch?v 2dNwcyhCbhQ

In February, members received a copy of an article on ‘Nail-makers' which Adrian Farmer had contributed to using images from the society’s collection in response to a request from 'Who Do You Think You Are' ancestry magazine for publication in their March edition.

Alex Gilbert delivered an on line talk in June on his research into the Strutt Farms, their innovative design and construction and what they provided and in July, Frances Wilkins provided a talk on the Douglases of Ashbourne, Jedediah Strutt and the Slave Trade, a remarkably detailed piece of research which was very well received.

Circumstances again made it impractical to arrange an event to celebrate and honour former Chairman Mary Smedley, to recognise her contribution to Belper life and heritage. It is still intended that this takes place when feasible.

Suggestions from members for any topics which could be included in any future programmes are as ever, always welcome.

Archive

In March, the Society received two filing cabinets from Mary Smedleys estate containing more of her research material, together with many box files and her collection of historical books. The latter will be accessioned into the BHS ibrary. In view of the limited space the Society has to accommodate all its archive material, an initial approach was made to the DRO (Derbyshire Record Office) to see if they could assist with storage of

an estimated 6000 BHS documents with the aim of getting everything scanned so the Society has access. This is not possible so work has begun ‘in house’ to scan or photograph where possible, particularly those items which it will be necessary to deposit at the DRO. Lockdown has delayed this transition however and the disposal of items of no relevance to Belper, or which fall outside our remit.

Following the completion of the transcription of the letters of George Henry Strutt, members have transcribed many wills and inventories of local people and those who have influenced development in the area. An index is currently in preparation for the website.

Another useful research tool has proved to be the ‘lockdown’ transcription of the Magistrates Court books of 1830-1833 and 1836-9. These complement ledgers already in the DRO where our books will be deposited.

Belper Nightwatchmen’s Reports – Acquisition

A nightwatchmen’s logbook detailing nightly goings-on in Belper from 1833-1836 came up for sale by a national bookseller, and the Society agreed to work with Derbyshire Record Office on a fundraising campaign to acquire it.

The book was on sale for £3,000 and the Society agreed to provide a series of funding callouts on video for release in July 2021, as part of a Crowdfunder Campaign. Within 48 hours of the campaign launch, the target had been reached. The reports book has now been acquisitioned at the record office, where it is freely available to researchers, and a digital copy of the book now rests with the society. A transcript has also been made by the society of much of the book in which many well known Belper names appear – a family historians paradise.

BHS Books

The Historical Society’s second publication of recent years, Historic Belper and Milford in Colour, was released in October 2020 and had very healthy sales up to Christmas, with steady interest for the remainder of 2020-21. By the end of August 2021, some 560 books had been sold, raising a net profit for the society of £1,496. Members enjoyed an on line talk in April by Adrian Farmer using images from the book. The 2019 Belper in Wartime book has continued to sell in small numbers.

The BHS Website

Committee member Mary McLean Farmer continues to expand and manage the belperhistoricalsociety.co.uk website. During the protracted lockdown, the website has received a lot of attention from across the globe, and encouraged new members to join from around the country. New material added has included a number of short research articles compiled from Mary Smedley’s notes.

BHS library

The library is located at Strutts (Room 104). The collection (approximately 700 books) covers the wider Belper area, Derbyshire as a whole, local worthies, businesses, buildings etc. plus general histories of the kinds of industries that created the Belper area. Members will be able to borrow books, although some of the more unusual books are reference only. The catalogue and guidance on using the library is available on the BHS website. [Opening times will appear on the website.]

Retention of premises at No 30 Market Place . Taken up in January 2019 as a centralised storage area and work space for the Society’s collection, the annual lease was renewed in January 2021. The Collection policy for the acquisition and retention of artifacts of local interest remains as follows:

‘that the archive will contain photographs, artefacts and paper material which illustrate and testify to the people of Belper, their working lives and businesses and those who were influenced by Belper’.

Financial Review

The only outgoings this year have been payment for the archive room, and the cost of printing the book ‘Historic Belper and Milford in Colour.’

Interest on our bank and building society accounts has reduced considerably and we have had no income from subscriptions, except from welcome new members. Fortunately, the committee had planned ahead to produce another book which came out at the beginning of the society year and was well received, sales covering nearly double the printing cost. This has enabled us to show a small profit over the year as there were few of the usual overheads.

Extracurricular activity.

BHS provided a letter of support for the proposed plan from Belper Community Enterprise and the Friends of the Belper River Gardens to restore the lost feature of the Serpentine walk In Belper River Gardens.

Plans for Future Periods

Plans and objectives for 2021-22 will include the following key areas:

Adrian Farmer

Acting Chairman,

On behalf of Belper Historical Society Committee. 26.10.21

Belper Historical Society CIO Charity No: 1158020

YEAR ENDED 31 AUGUST 2021

Balance Sheet at 31 August 2021

Current Assets

Current Assets
2021
Balances at Bank
HSBC Current Account 2835.47
HSBC MM Deposit Account 1428.19
Cambridge & County Bank 21697.42
Mansfield B.S. 30 day Notice Account 37043.43
Net Current Assets 63004.51
Current Liabilities 0000.00
Depreciation of Assets 348.40
Tangible assets
WW1 Books (Stock at cost) 1470.66
Belper & Milford in Colour Books (Stock at Cost) 467.48
Audio Visual Equipment 348.40
2286.54
Net Assets 65291.05
Represented by
Unrestricted General Fund 63004.51

The Trustees are satisfied that the company was entitled to exemption under the provisions of section 477 of the Companies Act 2006 (“the Act”) and that members have not required the company to obtain an audit in accordance with section 476 of the Act.

The Trustees acknowledge their responsibilities for:

Ensuring that the company keeps accounting records which comply with section 386 of the Act; and

Preparing accounts which give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the company as at the end of the financial year and of its profit or loss for the financial year in accordance with the requirements of section 394 and 395 of the Act and which otherwise comply with the requirements of the Companies Act 2006 relating to accounts, so far as applicable to the company.

The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the special provisions relating to Small companies within part 15 of the Companies Act 2006 and with the Financial Reporting Standard for Smaller Entities (effective from April 2008)

These accounts were approved by the Trustees on.............................2021 and were signed on its behalf by:

Trustee

Belper Historical Society . CIO Charity No: 1158020 YEAR ENDED 31 AUGUST 2021 Statement of Financial Activitles {Including Income and Expenditure Account} for the Year Ended 31 August 2021. Income Expenditure 2011 0793.58 2020 0994.54 60.(X) 0117.LKI Z021 2020 171.IM) 179.CKI 309.*10 3058.14 30.70 10.99 82.65 Deposii Interest Member5 Stjbscriptions IM)75. Visitor Donations DDn3tions oioo.tx) Donations for Postcards 0000.CKI Raffle Salcs ofWWI Book 0105. Sale5 of Belper & Milford 4148.th) Pro8rèm W¢ftlÉn8 Speakef5 fee5 Room Hire Afchr¥e Collettlons costs 2214.75 Web slte domaln & deslgnixw. Audio Wwal Equipment IXKK).IM). Admtnistratio Prirting Book 0107.90 LM)84.OD 1725.IMI Z642.CQ Totsl I￿Orne 5221.58 4588.94 Totsl Expendlture ' 4B56.75 3841.58 Current Excess of Income over Expenditure 364￿3 BALANCE SHEET at 31 August 2021 Current Assets At HSBC Current Alc At HSBC Deposit Alc At Cambridge & Countie5 Bank At Mansfleld Building Society Represented by 2835.47 1428.19 21697.42 General Fund at i Sep 2020 62639.68 Net Cuffent Assets Current Liabilit￿5 General Fund at 31 Aug 2021 DeprecVat￿n of Assets 63(M>l.51 Tangible Assets Belper in WWI book {Stock èt Costl Belper & Milford (Stock at Cost} Audiolvisual Equipmenl 1470.66 Examiners Report 467.48 2286.54 ?.u)aLtr Flog 1%111/21 Net Assets 65232.37 Represented by Unrestricted General Fund 63004.51 124 LLoyds Banking Group Shares at 31 Aug 2021 £28.72.

BELPER HISTORICAL SOCIETY YEAR ENDED 31 AUGUST 2021 INDEPENDENT EXAMINER'S REPORT TO THE TRUSTEES OF THE BELPER HisfoRICAL SOCIErY I report on the ac¢ounts of the tharity for iheyear ended 31 Au8itst 2021 which are set out on ihese pa8es- Respe¢tlve re5ponslblllttesof Trusieesard Examlner Thetrustees are responsible for the prepa¥ation of the aC￿jnts. The trustees Cc￿51der that an audit Is noi requlred forthis year under settion 144121 of the Charltie5 Act 2011 (the 2011 Actl aTrd that an independent ¢xamiaotion Is needed. It Is my ￿SponsIbl11ty to.. examine ihe accounts undersectkjn 145 of the 2011 Art: followthe procedures laid down in the General D¥rectlons givefi by the Charity Commission under sealon145lbl of the 2011 Att- and 5tste whether particulaf matters havecome to my attentto B¥is of Indep¢nd*nt examlnTe5 report My examlnation was carried out in accordance with the general Directions gfven by the Charity Commlssiorn. An e￿M$natIOn includes a Tev5ew of the accountlng wecords kept by the charlty and a comparison of the accounts presented with ihose records. It also Indudes conslderaiion of 3ny unusual items or disclosures in the accounts and seekln8 explanattons from you as trustees con¢erTrin8 any such matters. The procedyres yndertaken do not provide all the e￿deTrce that would be requiied in an audlt and con5equentfy no oplnion 15 as to whether theaccounts present a-true and fair wievf of ihe report (s limited to those rnattws set 0111 in the statement below. Independent examlnee551aiement connettion wsth my exèrnsn8tton, no matter has corne to my attentlon= I whlch 8we5 me reasonable causeto belleve that. in any materl?I respect, the requlrernent&' to keetty accountirN records in aCCOTdance with section 130of the 2011 Act.. and

Belper Historical Society Abstract S?t•mpnt of Ftninri31 .4lrtiYjti•s for Y•ir enrfed 8141.14TU%t ?O?I Income Expendrture r)pro%Tr Inrprpff SiJb5criytiuns DnD?tinns 8nok SHIPS Belper in WWI BplFwr & Milford in rnlniir 75. Printing Bplop.r & IA!Iford Tn Colour Book Archlkfp Cnllprtsr•n cn<t 0105.CWJ 4178 rwi 5??1 58 2642.IK3 4856.75 Current exces5 01 iftconie ovei expenditure 364.83 p￿.(￿N(E KI4.EET at 11.i4411s+ 2021 Current Assets At Hl. ftind •t ij ?IV.J Curreiit Liabilities 63004.51 pnrprj?tion of AssPts 3451.40 Tangible Assets liplnpr in WWJ Examiners Report 467.48 Audio/visiJal Equipment ??Sl!i q4 Klel Assets 65291.16 Unrestricted General Fund 124 LLoyds Group Shares at 3114ugust 2021.- £28.72 ￿9￿￿<t￿re(l rh. -ty Icin! J 14gn7n