Annual Report by David Roberts, AGM Chairman
For year ending 31 December 2023 Presented at the AGM on March 23, 2024
The Friends of Roman Aldborough offered members a programme of Talks and Visits.
Talks
Our programme of talks continued to be well received by members. Talks were mainly face to face with two being held via Zoom. With permissions in place, these were all recorded and posted on YouTube for a limited time for members only. The most popular talks received around 50 views on YouTube.
Our talks included:
The Aldborough Aureus - Dr Nick Summerton
50 years of the work of York Archaeological Trust- Dr Peter Addyman
Wine for the Emperor- Professor Maureen Carroll ( held at Dunesforde Vineyard)
Binchester and the Eastern Hinterland of Hadrian’s Wall- Dr David Mason
Celtic Farm to Roman Villa- Tony Warden
Digging Deeper at Isurium Brigantum - Prof Martin Millett and Dr Rose Ferraby
Lead and lead mining in Nidderdale and Craven,from early beginnings to the 18th century
Eastfield Roman Villa - Paula Ware (postponed until 2024)
Visits
Once again we enjoyed special tours led by leading archaeologists and museum curators. This year we made a visit to London. Based on the success of last year’s two day visit to Hadrian’s Wall, we also included another 2/3 day trip in the programme.
Our visit to the British Museum began with a behind the scenes tour led by Dr Sam Moorhead who allowed us to inspect the ‘Aldborough Aureus.’ Richard Hobbs gave us a tour of the Room 49 and showed us the Aldborough oil flask and other highlights from northern Roman Britain.
The Best of the West Tour
This included visits to Bath Roman Baths, Corinium Museum at Cirencester, Chedworth Roman Villa and Wroxeter Roman City. Site managers and curators led the tours. Many thanks to Nigel, who organised the visits with the help of Irene.
Other visits included:
Petuaria excavations at Brough and the Hull and East Riding Museum.
Binchester Roman Fort and Auckland Castle.
Education Group
Angela Pierson, English Heritage School Visits Co-ordinator, is keen to encourage visits to the site. Local teachers were invited to an after school session to tour the site and see the new Museum Handling Collection. Nine schools visited the site which is more than in any previous year. They were:
The Mount, York Boroughbridge Primary Roecliffe Primary Boroughbridge Primary * Ackton Pastures, Castleford * Dishforth Village Gillamoor Primary The Forest School Mowbray School
- visits to the dig
The current economic situation and rise in transport costs means that schools continue to find visits difficult. We funded the school visits to the dig thanks to help from donations from Boroughbridge and District Historical Society and Dunesforde Vineyard.
More volunteers are joining the Education Team in 2024.
Roman Garden Project
The Garden Group has planted the prepared beds with plants Romans would have used. The vegetable and herb beds have been particularly productive.
One FORA member has donated a seat for the garden and another has donated a notice board.
Using donated funds, a shed had been bought and erected to store garden equipment.
Cambridge University Roman Town Project
The team from the University of Cambridge, led by Dr Rose Ferraby and Professor Martin Millett concluded their dig and research activities on the site begun in 2020. The dig took place between August 26 and September 23, 2023. Together with an enthusiastic team of volunteers, students from local schools and Cambridge University were able to participate in the dig. An Open Day was held and was well attended.
Outreach talks
Outreach talks continue to be offered to local groups and organisations.
Guided tours of the English Heritage site
These were organised by EH using their guides. Many of the guides are FORA members. The visitor feedback from the site is very positive and visitor numbers continue to grow.
FORA/ EH meetings
FORA and EH met for two update meetings. Another ‘free entry’ day was organised for local residents.
Signed by one or two trustees on behalf of all the trustees:
| Signature | Name | Date of Approval |
|---|---|---|
| Patricia Jane Barber |
FORA Accounts 2023
| Opening Balance | 1/1/2023 | £14,639.95 | Closing balance | 12/31/2023 | £15,691.83 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Closing Balance |
| INCOME | Jan | Feb | March | April | May | June | July | Aug | Sept | Oct | Nov | Dec | TOTAL | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Renewals | £515.00 | £600.00 | £225.00 | £5.00 | £60.00 | £60.00 | £30.00 | £155.00 | £1,650.00 | ||||||
| New Members | £15.00 | £90.00 | £25.00 | £80.00 | £35.00 | £115.00 | £20.00 | £380.00 | |||||||
| Visitors | £22.50 | £15.00 | £135.20 | £30.00 | £7.50 | £210.20 | |||||||||
| Visit Bookings | £45.00 | £45.00 | £50.00 | £50.00 | £92.00 | £20.00 | £135.00 | £260.00 | £75.00 | £15.00 | £787.00 | ||||
| Guide Book Sales | £0.00 | ||||||||||||||
| Outreach Talks | £0.00 | ||||||||||||||
| Rafe | £99.00 | £117.00 | £66.00 | £55.00 | £135.00 | £472.00 | |||||||||
| Donaton | £9.14 | £4,000.00 | £5.00 | £21.25 | £20.00 | £15.00 | £2,000.00 | £6,070.39 | |||||||
| Donaton Teas | £40.25 | £25.50 | £26.64 | £92.39 | |||||||||||
| Donaton Educaton | £90.00 | £377.00 | £467.00 | ||||||||||||
| Donaton Garden | £251.10 | £251.10 | |||||||||||||
| Grant Garden | £600.00 | £600.00 | |||||||||||||
| Site Guides | £15.00 | £63.00 | £78.00 | ||||||||||||
| Silent Aucton | £95.00 | £15.00 | £20.00 | £130.00 | |||||||||||
| Miscellaneous | £180.00 | £180.00 | |||||||||||||
| Repaid Floats | £0.00 | ||||||||||||||
| £539.14 | £1,245.00 | £4,521.75 | £127.00 | £262.75 | £130.00 | £478.64 | £80.00 | £555.20 | £385.00 | £393.60 | **£2,650.00 ** | £11,368.08 TOTAL INC | |||
| OUTGOINGS | |||||||||||||||
| Hall Hire | £60.00 | £12.00 | £120.00 | £192.00 | |||||||||||
| Speaker Expenses | £360.00 | £360.00 | |||||||||||||
| Visit Costs | £338.50 | £338.50 | |||||||||||||
| Transport | £165.50 | £165.50 | £124.56 | £455.56 | |||||||||||
| Outreach Talk Exp | £0.00 | ||||||||||||||
| Design/Artwork | £192.50 | £192.50 | |||||||||||||
| Web Expenses | £367.90 | £367.90 | |||||||||||||
| Computer Costs | £349.99 | £349.99 | |||||||||||||
| Mobile Phone | £4.50 | £4.50 | £4.50 | £4.50 | £4.50 | £4.50 | £4.50 | £4.50 | £4.50 | £4.50 | £4.50 | £4.50 | £54.00 | ||
| Printng | £134.25 | £28.46 | £162.71 | ||||||||||||
| Ofce | £55.98 | £14.55 | £70.53 | ||||||||||||
| Sofware Licence | £99.15 | £99.15 |
| Hardware Maintenance Contract | £334.88 | £334.88 | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Purchase Assets | £0.00 | ||||||||||||||
| Domain Renewals | £0.00 | ||||||||||||||
| FORA Subs | £0.00 | ||||||||||||||
| BAFM Membership | £100.00 | £100.00 | |||||||||||||
| Insurance | £268.00 | £268.00 | |||||||||||||
| Bookbinding | £0.00 | ||||||||||||||
| Rafe | £10.59 | £10.59 | |||||||||||||
| Postage/Stamps | £0.00 | ||||||||||||||
| Site Guides | £0.00 | ||||||||||||||
| ED Expenses | £0.00 | ||||||||||||||
| Dig Expenses | £0.00 | ||||||||||||||
| Refreshment Expenses | £0.00 | ||||||||||||||
| Donaton EH | £0.00 | ||||||||||||||
| Donaton Dig | £4,000.00 | £400.00 | £4,400.00 | ||||||||||||
| Subscriptons | £20.00 | £70.00 | £90.00 | ||||||||||||
| Garden Spend | £436.80 | £1,259.99 | £180.00 | £280.00 | £251.10 | £2,407.89 | |||||||||
| Trustee Expenses | £22.00 | £22.00 | |||||||||||||
| Refund | £20.00 | £20.00 | |||||||||||||
| Bounced cheque | £20.00 | £20.00 | |||||||||||||
| £24.50 | £628.76 | £385.08 | £635.00 | £483.30 | £5,367.50 | £4.50 | £362.00 | £930.00 | £994.10 | £496.96 | **£4.50 ** | £10,316.20 TOTAL OUT | |||
| Net Income | £514.64 | £616.24 | £4,136.67 | -£508.00 | -£220.55 | -£5,237.50 | £474.14 | -£282.00 | -£374.80 | -£609.10 | -£103.36 | £2,645.50 | £1,051.88 NET INCOM | ||
| Jan | Feb | March | April | May | June | July | Aug | Sept | Oct | Nov | Dec | ||||
| Closing Bank Balance | £15,154.59 | £15,770.83 | **£19,907.50 ** | £19,399.50 | £19,178.95 | £13,941.45 | £14,415.59 | £14,133.59 | £13,758.79 | £13,149.69 | £13,046.69 | £15,691.83 | |||
| RESTRICTED FUNDS | |||||||||||||||
| Contngency | £5,000.00 | £5,000.00 | £5,000.00 | £5,000.00 | £5,000.00 | £5,000.00 | £5,000.00 | £5,000.00 | £5,000.00 | £5,000.00 | £5,000.00 | £5,000.00 | |||
| Educaton | £3,281.06 | £3,281.06 | £3,281.06 | £3,281.06 | £3,281.06 | £3,281.06 | £3,371.06 | £3,371.06 | £3,011.06 | £3,011.06 | £3,011.06 | £3,388.06 | |||
| Garden | £2,756.00 | £3,356.00 | £3,356.00 | £3,356.00 | £2,919.20 | £1,659.21 | £1,659.21 | £1,479.21 | £1,199.21 | £948.10 | £948.10 | £948.10 | |||
| Unpaid | |||||||||||||||
| TOTAL | £11,037.06 | £11,637.06 | **£11,637.06 ** | £11,637.06 | £11,200.26 | £9,940.27 | £10,030.27 | £9,850.27 | £9,210.27 | £8,959.16 | £8,959.16 | £9,336.16 |