We are very pleased to bring you another perspective on the Society AGM in the UK.  This is a report by Hazel Hajdu, Secretary of the Victoria branch.  For us in Australasia, who only rarely have the chance to attend the Society meetings in the UK it is alwsays a great opportunity to hear about it from one of us.  Thank you, Hazel, it must have been a wonderful experience!


Registration for the AGM was at 10.30 a.m. on Saturday, 1st October.   I was staying with relatives in Southampton, so decided that life would be easier if I went up to London the day before, and not have a mad rush at the crack of dawn on the Saturday.  As it turned out, this was a double blessing, as that Friday and Saturday saw a record heat wave for October in the U.K. – the hottest for decades.   So revelling in the unaccustomed luxury of time to spare on Saturday morning, after breakfast at the Hotel Russell, I went for a walk in the Square;  two or three people passed me as I was sitting on a bench, drinking in the lovely cool greenery of the trees, and said, “Are you coming to the AGM?  It’s just up the road…..”  Ricardians must be psychic to recognise one another instantly, I thought, and then realised that I was wearing the boar badge.   So reluctantly leaving the tranquillity of the Square, I eventually found the registration centre in the School of Oriental & African Studies a very short distance away.   It was orientation day for the University, and the quadrangle was filled with students milling around, and stalls of every description, advertising the many and varied activities of the campus, matched only by the many and varied appearances of the students.

I spent the morning meeting people, looking at the sales stalls, which displayed all kinds of handiwork, books, paintings and craft, all with links to mediaeval times, and Richard’s life.

It was very good to meet people who had hitherto been only names.   Did you realise that the actress Josephine Tewson was a Ricardian?   She was there.    I  spent some time with Sue and David Wells, the hard-working joint Secretaries.    David had earlier mailed to me a map of the area, to ensure that I didn’t get lost in Bloomsbury, and it was so enjoyable to meet such a friendly and helpful couple, absolutely dedicated to their work.   I had a interesting talk with Phil Stone, and I gathered that they were very pleased to have  representatives from overseas Branches.   There was some concern about the arrival of the guest speaker, Dr. David Starkey.   Apparently during the previous week he had made a harmless enough comment in an interview about the social direction of some of the youth of today in the U.K.;  his words were conveyed to some of the student bodies, and there was a worry that his arrival would be greeted by a hostile reception.   Fortunately, this was avoided.

Dr. Starkey’s address was both informative and entertaining.   One interesting point which he made was that the concept of the red rose did not exist before Bosworth!    His address is summarised in the December 2011 issue of the Ricardian Bulletin;   incidentally, the address was the inaugural Isolde Wigram Memorial Lecture.

Following the address, the AGM agenda followed the pattern of most AGM’s,and the matters dealt with are reported in the December Bulletin.  It was interesting to hear the Canadian speaker, John Duncanson, describe the activities of the Canadian Branch.   He, incidentally, asked me at the end of the meeting when the New South Wales Branch Convention was to be held, and expressed some interest in attending it.   I assured him that all would be revealed in the U.K. Bulletin in due course, when plans were finalised.

I was asked to speak about our recent Australasian Convention, which I did, and quite a lot of interest was shown in our customary biennial get-togethers and our activities generally.   Several people wanted to know exactly when in 2013 the next Convention would be held, and I gathered they were really contemplating coming to it.    Babs Creamer (Dorset Branch, who has attended some of our past Conventions), came over to say hello, and that she hoped to be able to come out again to the next Convention.

I must say that Phil Stone ran a very efficient and harmonious meeting.   It ended about 4.00 p.m.  A very nice example of how well I was looked after by Sue and David Wells, was that Sue actually found someone to escort me to my taxi, and share it to Waterloo Station, where I hopped on to the 4.50 p.m. train,  and was home by 6 p.m.   The time seemed to have gone by so quickly.

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