The British Balloon Museum & Library

Registered Charity No 281331

Minutes of the Thirty-Forth Annual General Meeting of the British Balloon Museum & Library held at The Elcot Hotel, Newbury, on Sunday 25th October 2015.

Present:Robin BatchelorPresident

Richard d’AltonChairman

Giles CamplinVice Chairman

Tim Turner Secretary

John Baker Archivist

John CrawfordTreasurer

Celia KunertMembership Secretary

Jenni d’Alton Council Member

Pete BishCouncil Member

David BarefordCouncil Member

Karin BarefordFriend

Dominic Bareford Friend

Jeff RobertsFriend

Angela LickorishFriend

Roger BrownFriend

David LiddiardFriend

Steve RoakeFriend

Jennifer LownoesFriend

Barbara MoretonFriend

Quinton WebbDistrict Councillor West Berks Council

Paul JamesWest Berks Council

Chairman Richard d’Alton, welcomed all those present to the AGM especially the representatives from the West Berkshire Council, and declared the meeting open.

  1. Apologies.

Apologies for absence were received from; Martyn Turner, Peter Lewis-Smith, Roy & Rita Boyle, Norman & Audrey Aspsey, Ian & Christine Hooker.

A number of others had offered apologies for being unable to attend the Luncheon.

  1. Minutes of the Previous AGM

With no ‘Matters Arising’ from the 2014 minutes, the proposal was put to the meeting for them to be accepted.

Proposal: The minutes of the 33rd BBM&L AGM 2014 were accepted as true copy.

Proposed: Jenni d’Alton

Seconded: John Baker

Vote: The proposal was carried.

  1. Council Matters –

Re-Election of Council Members. The two Council members up for re-election this year were:

Jenni d’Alton and Ian Comley

Jenni had offered herself for re-election, which was appreciated – thank you Jenni!

Proposal: Jenni d’Alton be re-elected to the Council of the BBM&L.

Proposed: Pete Bish

Seconded: John Baker

Vote: The proposal was carried unanimously.

Ian Comley, in response to the invite for re-election to the Council, had decided not to stand for re-election and offered his resignation from the Council. This was a disappointment but Ian’s reasons were understood – no longer involved with ballooning, unable to get to council meetings and work!! Tim Turner said that Ian’s contribution to the Museum was greatly appreciated notably for his editorship of Trailrope, and balloon inflations on behalf of the Museum – thank you Ian (see Chairman’s report)

  1. Financial Statement – (i)
  • John Crawford, as Treasurer, had once again prepared the Annual Accounts ready for Angela to ‘tidy and fine tune’, which subsequently produce what is not only an impressive, but required document by law! So once again the Museum was indebted to Angela and her company Keens Shay Keens. JC in particular appreciates the help Angela offers in the course of putting things together. The figures produced (for the year to 31st March 2015) include an Inflation Day, with the year giving a surplus of £1,426. This now gives a healthy bank balance of £26,061 for the BBM&L. JC went on to give a few explanations over some of the figures –
  • Gift Aid and been brought into line with the year it is earnt, so this year was not representative of a normal figure for a single year, but would go back to being more representative in next year’s figures of around the £600 mark (a very valuable income for the Museum)!
  • Bank interest gave £133 in the year, which was well up on previous years as a consequent of JC moving a large amount of the capitol into the higher interest Virgin account last year! Unfortunately the rate had now dropped to give only 1.05% interest, JC’s plan’s was now to add some additional funds from the RBS working account to try and maintain a reasonable interest figure in the coming year!
  • A question had arisen when the accounts were circulated to Council as to what the ‘Restricted Funds’ shown in the accounts were to be used for! Discussion as to whether they could be used against the charges that are about to be paid for the import of the balloons from America for example! Further investigation was asked for by Richard to ensure we stayed on the side of the rules over these funds. The figure is however included in the final figure held in the Museum bank account!

Financial Statement (cont’d)

  • Richard thanked both John and Angela for their efforts in keeping things in order and felt we were in good hands under the guidance of both, plus Angela’s company Keens Shay Keens – thank you all!

Proposal: Accounts, for the period 1st April 2014 to 31st March 2015, accepted as a true copy.

Proposed: Tim Turner

Seconded: Richard d’Alton

Vote: The proposal was carried.

(ii) It was proposed that Keens Shay Keens, (via Angela Lickorish), continue to oversee the Museum’s monetary interests as our financial advisors.

Proposal; The continuation of Keens Shay Keens as financial advisors to the BBM&L. Proposed: Pete Bish

Seconded: John Crawford

Vote: The proposal was carried

  1. The Council’s Report (October 2014 to October 2015)

The Chairman opened his report saying the BBM&L had a disappointment earlier this year when, after extending our agreement for a further period for the display at the Manchester Museum of Science & Industry (till 2017) only to then receive a request for the display to be dismantled shortly after! This was due to the Manchester Museum undergoing a major re-vamp (believed equipment and staff)! The contents were subsequently delivered to Pete’s barn at no cost to the BBM&L! Richard had been encouraged to contact the ‘M Shed’ in Bristol for possible BBM&L involvement! This was not the first time contact had been made with the organisation, however Richard obliged by writing to Andy King, the curator, but the response was as before there were many things going on at the location so any progress was likely to be slow! Richard was now taking the approach that we will respond accordingly when, and if, an invite should come along in the future!

The Collection –

  • The BBM&L continue to move items to the Cameron factory for archiving/store or possible display at that location which is due a ‘revamp’ in the coming year!
  • TT reported that smaller artefact donations were limited in number this year, as had been the trend for recent years – we need more people to be moving house and clearing out! We have, however received two log-books, various books and a selection of ‘boxes of items’

The Council’s Report (cont’d)

mainly china and glass! Mike Drye had re-found (!) the Museum’s collection of postcards which he held whilst he was the category holder (they had been packed away whilst his house renovations had taken place) and had been passed to JB for the Woodley store – then Mike found his own collection album (a very large one) and decided to donate this album to the Museum, which will certainly enhance the ones already held. David Liddiard was offering a nearly complete set of Icicle plates – JB agreed to visit David and see what were suitable to add to the collection!

Hardware –

  • Richard once again appreciated the support of David Hopkins at Pidley, and Pete Bish at Hungerford for the storage facilities provided by them, and more recently import services by Pete in assisting with the Museum’s latest acquisitions arriving in the country from the USA, donated by our speaker Greg Winker!
  • The Museum had been active in a practical sense this year by being represented at balloon meetings at Joure (Holland), Tiverton (which had provided a wonderful front cover photo of the night glow and fireworks for Trailrope), Bristol and more recently Warstein in Germany! Richard specifically thanked the pilots, Neil Ivison and Martyn Turner, for their contribution and efforts in attending these events, all of which brought donations to the BBM&L – thank you both!
  • The Pidley store was now reaching near capacity so a more ‘hardened’ approach would have to be followed for future offers (TT - note to self!!) In the last year 14 envelopes had been added which included the two American ones currently in transit! Whilst all donations were appreciated, the one that stands out as the most historic in this year’s donations must be ‘Jumpin-Jack-Flash’ (G-BAIR) a Thunder AX7-77 construction number 3, donated by Marjory Malcolm – hopefully one of the ‘stars’ for Inflation Day next May, but we do need to check the condition as it came from the back of a very damp garage! The two donated from America date from the 1970’s, will be equally historic! TT also wanted to put on record, gratitude for the help he received at Pidley recently from Neil & Dave Ivison, Martyn Tuner and Barry Johnson plus assistance from David Hopkins, a hard days graft but all a necessity in the early preparation for Inflation Day – thank you all! A ‘barn day’ will now be needed at Hungerford to further prepare balloons ‘ear-marked’ for Inflation! This is likely to take place late November/early December! Once a date is identified with Pete then a call for assistance will be made!

Friends & Council –

  • With Ian’s resignation, council was now down to 10 members so it was considered a good time to sound out/recruit new members – any likely candidate names can be submitted through the council! Richard was looking for skills in many directions but marketing, web design, or fund raising experience would be particularly valuable assets to have on the council! Jenni mentioned Jeff Roberts as a possible candidate for the council, Jeff responding saying he could be interested but accept for willingness, didn’t have the specialist skills actually mentioned. TT responded by saying he thought willingness was a good start!
  • Celia Kunert reported the number of Friends stood at 284, slightly down from last year, but that may be due to the agreed policy from the last council meeting! The policy now is to include a letter in the last Trailrope of their membership year, followed by the next Trailrope giving a ‘final warning’ after which there would be no more magazines sent. This is considered to be about the fairest way of dealing with non-renewals! Celia read out the names in the hope someone will be able to apply the necessary pressure to encourage renewing! There had been 21 new Friends since the last AGM, with most coming during March and August!

Website/Facebook –

  • Richard said the Museum Facebook pages continued to be popular creating much interest in the items incorporated by Jenni, with past historic events and future events presented! The Bristol Fiesta organisers had approached Jenni to write an article for their programme this year, from which virtually daily requests had been received to join the Museum Facebook group which was a fabulous response!
  • The website is popular, but increasing comment that it is ‘falling behind’ with content! This is becoming a constant frustration for Jenni because as she only has access to part of the site, thus relying on Brian Rippon to complete other requests – which is taking longer and longer to process! Richard was going to attempt to get better support from Brian, but if things hadn’t improved by the turn of the year other support services would be sought! Steve Roake, at the meeting, said he has knowledge of web sites and may be able to help! Enquiries received by JB as archivist, were being included in Trailrope as a feature! The web site was an on-going issue but Jenni’s efforts were greatly appreciated be it much of the updates required, are out of her control!

Trailrope –

  • Richard spoke regarding Ian Comley and his contribution to, not only the BBM&L, but specifically as Trailrope Editor! Ian had been presented with a Diploma at the BBAC AGM back in March as recognition for his contribution to the BBM&L – this was well deserved, and timely, considering Ian’s subsequent decision! The Chairman expressed his, and the BBM&L’s gratitude to Ian for the last ten years for steadfastly editing the newsletter which was, and remains a challenging and onerous task that is often taken for granted!
  • Richard said the re-vamped Trailrope had been receiving many accolades which were very encouraging as reward for Jenni’s effort, all of which was appreciated! Jenni has already prepared three issues, and although saying it was hard work at times, she loved it! She appreciated the help and support with articles that she was receiving – please keep them coming! The 100th edition had recently been published and the content was a fitting tribute to such a milestone!
  • Lack of electronic uptake was disappointing in Richard’s view, but maybe wasn’t appropriate for an organisation like the BBM&L.
  1. AOB
  • David Liddiard recently made representations to the Newbury Council regarding the possibility

AOB (cont’d)

of a ballooning display being re-introduced at the West Berks Museum in Newbury! Quentin

Webb from the District Council attended the BBM&L AGM meeting and he was joined by Paul James, Culture Manager for the Council. Paul outlined how they saw a future display relating to ballooning! A permanent display was no longer an option, be it a temporary one was anything up to a year! The plan for displays in the future was to rotate through many story-lines related to the Newbury area! There was a small budget available for such displays, and expertise in putting a display together! Since the Council have implemented the rotation idea a year ago the number of visitors ‘through the door’ had significantly increased so was considered the way forward! Paul’s contact details are 01635 519075 or email The introduction of the BBM&L by David Liddiard was appreciated and although any possible display wouldn’t be required until 2017, Paul emphasised time would soon slip by, he suggested a small committee be set up to progress any ideas. Richard promised it would be discussed at the next BBM&L Council meeting! David Liddiard also mentioned another contact at West Berks was Stuart Tagg!

  • Pete updated the meeting regarding the progress of the ‘arriving today’ balloons donated by Greg & Jim Winker! There was much form filling to be completed (by Richard), not least because we are not registered for VAT, before we can receive the two balloons and a basket! There are going to be a number of charges imposed on us, but one we are trying to avoid is any import duty, but hopefully if not avoided initially, claiming it back at a later date was an option – on-going! Richard will progress the project in conjunction with Pete (who had thankfully agreed to collect the items) and Celia!
  • Richard thanked the council for their continued support over the last year, in their diverse and specialist ways were all a great help to him as Chairman, and may the support continue into the future– all being very much appreciated!
  • Robin Batchelor expressed appreciation to Jenni for continuing to organise the Luncheon and the headaches it created! TT took the opportunity to acknowledged Robin’s assistance in the auction and as ‘master of ceremonies’ at the luncheon, plus the generous support of those Friends for, firstly attending the Luncheon then donating prizes, followed with buying raffle tickets – without them the Museum funds would be considerably worse off – thank you all!

There being no further business Richard closed the meeting (12:03). He thanked everyone for showing an interest in the BBM&L by attending the AGM! He wished all an enjoyable meal, and said how privileged the BBM&L was to have as the guest speaker, Greg Winker from America, and was sure the presentation would be an enlightening one relating to historical events from the other side of the Atlantic!

Post Script to the Meeting; Richard, at the Luncheon always presents the David Liddiard Chairman’s Trophy to the council member, in his opinion, who has contributed most to the Museum over the preceding year! Although this year’s recipient is not a council member, Angela Lickorish was awarded the trophy for her professional input to the upkeep of the BBM&L accounts, and in conjunction with the BBM&L Treasurer, for getting the books to balance and dealing with the financial matters throughout the year – congratulations Angela, very well deserved .