MINUTES OF THE ORFORD MUSEUM TRUSTEES MEETING AT BRUNDISH LODGE, HIGH STREET, ORFORD ON THURSDAY, 9 MAY 2024 AT 10.30AM
1.Trustees Present.
Elizabeth Spinney (in the chair), Nigel Maslin, Roy Wisdom, Vic Harrup, Valerie Fenwick, Clare Greenwell, Joanna Martin
2.In Attendance
Stephen Mael (Curator)
3. Apologies for absence.
Sally Walton (Trustee), Philip Wise (Curatorial Advisor), John Grayburn (Treasurer & Friends’ Administrator).
4. Minutes of the last Meeting & Matters Arising.
The Chairman apologised for the fact that Joanna Martin had not been listed as attending the last Trustee meeting and said that an erratum notice had now been attached to the Minutes of that meeting.
Vic Harrup then read out the following statement:
“I asked at that meeting for the Minutes to include thanks to Rachel Massey for storing the 3-pin Game for many years. Also, recognition that Valerie and I arranged for the game to be displayed at the Suffolk Punch Trust and for it to be cleaned , treated for woodworm and transported to the Trust. This has not been done.
I was misquoted in the Chairman’s Report for the above meeting. I did not ask ‘when we might expect a ‘bumper issue of ‘The Orford Historian’, but expressed disappointment that Issue 2 was not the ‘bumper’ issue we had been promised. This was to make up for the long delay between Issue 1 and 2.
Why am I so often misquoted?”
The Chairman said that she was sorry if Vic and Valerie felt they had not been sufficiently thanked for dealing with the 3-pin game but that she had included their report in full in the Minutes. She pointed out that Trustees are expected to do undertake tasks such as this for the Museum and that several of the other Trustees do far more without thanks or appreciation from them. As far as the ‘bumper’ issue is concerned, the Chairman said that she was not aware that any such issue had been promised and that she was certainly not in a position to promise one or to order the editor to produce such an issue. Valerie Fenwick said that The Historian was an ‘organ of the Museum’ and that Jack should report to the Trustees at meetings to inform them about progress on and the content of forthcoming issues. Joanna Martin said that when she was an editor she always did this. The Chairman said that she would certainly speak to Jack but she doubted if he would be able to attend meetings. Jack is a young man with many heavy commitments and we are dependent on him for The Historian. If excessive demands and pressure are put on him, he will resign. This view was echoed by Roy Wisdom. It should be remembered that, like the rest of us, he does this work as a volunteer and is under no obligation to continue should he not wish to do so. He has said that Issue 3 should be ready in September 2024.
Vic then complained about being generally misrepresented in the Minutes. The Chairman said that she recorded the meetings and that she felt that she had quoted him correctly. He then pointed out that Nigel Maslin’s voice had been mistaken for his on a previous occasion and that the recordings were therefore useless. The Chairman said that she had apologised for that error and confirmed that it was she who did the Minutes. Nigel Maslin reprimanded him for his behaviour at meetings. Vic then said that lies were being told about him. The Chairman said that this was a disgraceful thing to say and that she felt he should resign as a Trustee as he was consistently making Trustee meetings so unpleasant on a regular basis. He did not.
The Minutes were then signed.
4.Chairman’s Repo rt
This report had been previously circulated. The Chairman summarised her report and said that since it had gone out, Dickon Whitewood had spent another day in the Castle and that a third case was now finished. He had taken the last two back boards to Wrest Park where it is very much easier for him to work on them and hopes to be back on 23 May to finish the job. We will then have to think about the labels which need quite a lot of work both as to both content and appearance. Joanna Martin has put all of them on to our system and we are extremely grateful to her for doing this. Once the cases are finished, those involved in this work will discuss with Dickon how best to go about it. She mentioned the very interesting approach we had received from the town of Soufflenheim in eastern France concerning Hubert Martin born in Orford and said that Jack was in contact with M. Schoeffert about an article for the next issue of The Historian. The Chairman then drew Trustees attention to the book launch in the Town Hall on 23 May and said she hoped to go and felt we should buy a copy of the book for the Museum library. Roy Wisdom asked if there would be a talk and it was confirmed that there would be.
5. Curator’s Report
This report had been previously circulated. Joanna Martin said that she and Stephen Mael had attended a training session on EHive, a more modern version of Modes with features that would allow public access and also enable work to be carried out away from the office. It also has many other useful features and is much more secure that Modes. Nigel Maslin asked if it is compatible with Modes so that data could simply be transferred from one to the other. Joanna said that EHive themselves would probably do this for us though she was not sure what the cost would be. Stephen Mael said the Aldeburgh Museum were in the process of changing to EHive and that he felt it could be wise to wait and see how they get on.
6.Treasurer’s and Friends’ Repor t
This had been circulated at the meeting. The Chairman said that the overall financial position was still healthy but she felt that if we wished to pay for additions to the Museum collection we should apply for grants as funding for running costs and salaries is so much more difficult to get. She felt that the money received from colleagues of Michael Flint might be used for new acquisitions as Michael had always felt that we should add to the collection whenever something worthwhile was available. Renewals to the Friends were a little disappointing but it is early days. The Chairman then asked all Trustees to sign bank forms from Santander. She asked Vic whether he proposed to remain as a Trustee since there was no point in him signing if he was going to resign. It was decided that he would sign. All signatures were collected with the exception of Sally Walton who was not present. The Treasurer will contact her later.
7. Events
Clare Greenwell reported that the Matt Salusbury talk had been a moderate success with an audience of about 30 people. As far as future events are concerned , Toby Capwell is coming to speak on Richard III on 25 September and various other speakers are being considered. Turning to the Son et Lumière, we have 2 dates booked at Butley Priory, 22 and 28 August, in case of bad weather. The script is written and has been sent to Jack Cooke for his comments and he has said he will do his best but he is very busy. Clare will also ask her stepdaughter, a BBC producer, to have a look at it and perhaps make it a bit more colloquial. Ralph Fiennes has turned us down so far but we are waiting to hear back from Tom Hiddleston who has not yet said no. Miranda Raison is also a possibility. The costs were then discussed together with technical aspects. Total costs come to about £3,000. Graeme Kay has very kindly agreed to help with the music. Timing was discussed and it was felt that doors open at 7.00pm so that people could get their picnics started with the performance starting at about 8.00pm. VAT was discussed as we are not VAT rated. Sponsorship was discussed and Clare said she would ask Sally Walton whether she could help with this. Adnams could be invited to provide a beer tent and possibly give us some sponsorship. Lavatory arrangements were discussed. The Chairman suggested that we should set up a separate sub-committee for this event as there were so many different aspects to it and this was agreed. She also felt that we should make as much use as possible of Ralph Cochrane as he has great knowledge and experience in this area (and is free). Further suggestions for autumn speakers were made and the Chairman said she would approach Brian Boulton, who researched the WWI biographies of men killed in action from Orford and the surrounding area, but she doubted if he did talks. Mike Finney has some very interesting talks but the Chairman wondered if they were sufficiently concerned with the history of the area.. Edward Martin might talk about Suffolk historic gardens – Joanna will ask him - and the possibility of a Christmas event was suggested by the Chairman.
8. Finds and Acquisitions
Valerie Fenwick showed the meeting an ancient auger made in Butley Street by a wheelwright, William Large in about 1700 which she wished to donate to the Museum’s collection. The Chairman said they were very grateful for it and asked Valerie to provide a report on it to assist accessioning. It will be a very welcome addition to the agricultural implements already on display in the Museum office. There is no further news from the PAS on the Butley tremissis and other items in which we have expressed an interest.
9. Publications
Matters concerning the Orford Historian had already been discussed. We continue to sell our books through the Church and the website at a steady trickle. The Chairman said she very much wants to re-visit the possibility of selling them in the Castle and that that is something to be discussed with Dickon at any future meeting.
10. Website
John Grayburn and Mike Welsh with input from Ralph Cochrane continue to update the website and are now so proficient at this that we are hoping to de-couple from Studio Brandup with the exception of one or two essential services. This will save quite a lot of money. Card payments can now be made on the website and a Friends’ page is in development. Membership cards are now issued online.
11. Any Other Business
Valerie Fenwick asked about Accreditation. The Chairman said that we had to wait to be invited to do this but that we should certainly be updating all the necessary documentation. We should be in a pretty good position though we no longer have an Education Officer. Valeries Fenwick suggested we should invite the school children to the office and show them specific items. Joanna Martin said that one of the most frequently asked questions to Castle staff was “where is the lighthouse” as the board in the first floor does not mention the fact that it has now gone. This will have to be corrected and the Chairman will discuss with Dickon Whitehead how we get the board off the wall so that a new one can be corrected and printed. Leiston Press could do this for us. Clare Greenwell suggested that, should the Priory Son et Lumière be a success, one could be done at Orford Castle. This, of course, would be a matter for English Heritage. There had been a firework display there one year but that had fallen foul of health and safety issues and was never repeated.
12. Date of the next meeting
Thursday, September 5 at Brundish Lodge, Orford at 10.30am.
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