The First Meeting of 2003.
This was on Thursday, 27th March
2003 at 8PM.
Richard Thomas presented an illustrated talk
entitled
"A Day in the Life of a Thames Tug"
Richard produced a stunning selection of colour slides
which showed the tug in question as being the General VIII.
This tug is owned by Cory and is used to tow the waste barges
down the Thames to Mucking. The tug has a beautiful 1,300 HP
engine and 1,700 gallon diesel tanks.
As the tug goes up & down the river it passes all the famous
buildings & bridges - this was the subject of the excellent
presentation.
Richard interspursed the usual pictures with a few more
unusual pictures including from a bi-plane and the River of
Fire from the Millenium Night Clelebrations.
A very good story with superb presentation - thank you Richard.
Tea/Coffee & biscuits were served.
The Spring Walk
This was on Sunday, 4th May
2003.
The party assembled in the Community Centre
Top Car Park at 2.15PM.
Photograph by David Bolwell
Photograph by David Bolwell
The Annual Coach Outing - Saturday, 14th June 2003.
This year it was to
Chatham Dockyard & Historic Rochester.
Chatham Dockyard
An air-conditioned Lodges coach left Danbury at 9AM and headed to Chatham Dockyard. The weather forcaste had promised rain and a cooler day than the previous with temperatures at the most of 18 degrees, so there were plenty of umbrellas & macs - however it turned out to be a cloudless sky & very hot!.
The organiser, David Bolwell had worked out a programme - we arrived at 10.15 and were split into 2 parties for our conducted tour. Harry, one guide said he was well qualified having served in the RAF for 35 years!. He took us past the HMS Gannet which is being restored to its full Victorian glory - the front mast was hoisted last week. We then past the submarine Ocelot which saw service in the Falklands & the destroyer HMS Cavalier. Some members went back and had a conducted trip around both.
After lunch the trip on the coal fired Kingswer Castle proved a great success which lasted an hour. The water was very smooth.
About half of the party went to Rochester Town, some looked at the Cathedral, Castle, Dicken's Museum while others found a tea room of their choice.
At 5PM Steve in his cool coach picked up the hot crowd and went back to the Dockyard where the remainder of the party got on and headed back to Danbury.
Dave Bolwell was thanked for organising such a good outing & the Met Office got 0 out of 10 for their forcaste.
Where do we go next year?. It has been suggested Windsor & then Frogmore - any ideas?
A very good day out, pity it clashed with the Twinning Jumble Sale, though.
The Annual Art Exhibition.
This was held
over the Bank Holiday Weekend, Friday the
22nd to Sunday the 24th August.
The Danbury Society 2003 Art Show was
headed by Glad Deamer and her band of willing helpers.
The standard was rated as being as high as previous years, some
even thought it higher. The weather was hot but cloudy & so it
was not thought to be the sort of days that the beach provided as
competition. Although the hall does not have air condititing the
doors were kept open to provide a good air flow.
Another very successful Art Show - thank you Glad & all who took part.
460 original oil, watercolour, silk & pastel paintings were on show
varying in price from £15 to £700. The standard was very high with
a large number of
local Danbury scenes and those of Maldon, Thames Barges and Sailing
Boats.
The Autumn Meeting - 18th September.
This was "Diving for Treasure" by Mr D Johnson.
Mr Johnson brought along a Wet Diving Suite & a Dry Suite and
explained the differences between them. He then showed the air system &
all of the controls - safety being the major item.
He then showed a number of slides of different fish and eels and told
stories which involved them. He was keen on diving around the UK & the
Portland Bill Lighthouse.
A very interesting evening - thank you Mr Johnson.
During the break Ivy Hare provided a real royal cup of tea & cakes.
The Autumn Walk
Sunday, 19th of October
They met in the Top Car Park at 2.15PM.
The walkers before they set off.
Photographs by John using a Cannon A70 digital camera
Wendy and David Moore lead a select band of walkers and a number of well behaved dogs on the final Walk of the year.
The walkers as they stream through a hedge led by David Moore.
The day was slightly cloudy but bright with a cool breeze. The Walk is designed to see the Autumn tints on the many lovely trees around Danbury.
The Annual General Meeting
This was held on Thursday, 20th
November at 8pm, in The Church Meeting
Room.
After the AGM James Henton presented an Illustrated
talk entitled "Past to the Present of Danbury Palace".
This was illustrated using a laptop computer, Powerpoint & projector.
Jim showed slides of early history of Danbury Place up to when it
became Danbury Palace. Pictures of The Palace as it was in the 1920s
were compared with those taken recently.
The future was mentioned as Anglia University have nearly finished
their building program in Chelmsford when the need for The Management
College is no longer required. Much of the "old" buildings" are
Listed.
After the presentation the large audience enjoyed soft drinks, wine
& cheese with the Danbury Society Committee.
Christmas Carols around the Tree at Eve's Corner.
This took place on Wednesday 17th December at 8.30pm. The reason for the later start is because The Salvation Army has a prior engagement.We purchased a 22 foot tree this year and then were promptly offered 4!. These will be used next year providing they are still standing then.
Picture taken by Norman Bartlett, Secretary of the Danbury Society.
Once the tree was erected a test of the lights proved that for the first time in years many bulbs were out. 23 candle bulbs were purchased for the local hardware store, this time 25 watt instead of the original 15 watt. The more powerful bulbs also have a larger filament than the pigmy so should show up better at night.
Photograph taken by John Bowen who also "removed" the electric wires.
The Salvation Army turned up early and played to about 100 persons including a number of children.
This is NOT a Carol Service as such. It is an opportunity to meet around the Tree and sing Carols in the open. It is usually too cold to listen to a Sermon.
Afterwards hot mince pies, non-alcoholic mulled wine, tea, coffe and eats were supplied in the URC Hall.
Daffodil Planting
The planting party put a few hundred Daffodils in
the ground opposite to One Stop at the juction of Copt Hill &
the A414.
Thanks to David Bolwell for obtaining the bulbs, fibre &
organising the planting.
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Copyright (c) Danbury Society 2003
Last revised:- 7th December, 2003.