Branch News
05/05/10
Golfing Society captain Ian Oliver is aiming to stage three events this summer, the first, the Annual Golf Day will be at Market Harborough G.C. on 27th May. The further two events include our annual challenge match against the Northampton Builders Golf Society in July. That leaves a further event to be scheduled for September.
These event are open to all, as well as four ball teams, we can also accept single/pairs entries.
‘Classic Plant’ at SED
07/06/09
The hard work put in by our East Midlands committee paid off last December 5th. That first Friday of the last month is the day that, by tradition, half a dozen of our branches hold their ‘Xmas Lunch’ – East Midlands is among them and, as is customary, there was a ‘full house’ That there wasn’t a seat to be had at Northampton’s Park Inn, in spite of the ‘Credit Crunch Plague’ says a lot for the popularity of our Club in Middle England.
Dennis Tidmarsh and Roy Pike who organised our stand. In the background the wooden cab of the 1935 Priestman Cub.
Firstly I must offer sincere thanks to Reed Publishing Information and Mark Bresnahan for giving us our largest ever stand (approximately 900 m2) thus enabling us to mount our most impressive display of classic plant to date.
Of course, this would not have been possible without the co-operation of the owners who agreed for their treasures to be part of our display.
This is half of our display, most prominent are the Priestman Mustang and the I.H. Jumbo, both yet to be restored. The crane jib in the background is mounted on a Hymac 480, possibly unique.
We had 14 machines, the oldest being a 1935 Priestman Cub rigged as a luffing shovel as well as a JCB Grave Digger, one of Joe Bamford’s earliest. Special thanks must go to Mike Eacock and Joe Freer who, at the last minute, helped us out with two machines when promises we were counting on failed to materialise.
Thanks also to haulage companies Rob Masters, TDR and Brackmills, we could not do without their support.
Two low loaders were on display, this Guy hauling the Priestman, and below a Scammell with Chris Balls’ crane rigged Hymac 480 aboard.
SED is a great opportunity to boost our Benevolent Fund. Just over £3,000 was collected by our ‘bucket ladies’ who did a ‘rattling good job’ at the exits. That this sum was less than in previous years reflects the effect of the ‘credit crunch’ on our industry. None the less – thanks to all the contributors.
One of the pleasures of SED is the visits to our stand of so many ‘old faces’, friends and aquaintances of many years who drop in for a cuppa and a yarn. We look forward to meeting them again at SED 2010. when we will again have a display of ‘all our yesterdays’.
This Cat R4 cable blade dozer is more like the day before yesterday!
Below a more recent Cat 977 with a Euclid R15 in the background
Already there is promise of more interesting old kit for next year; the owners of six machines, a couple of them ‘rarities’, have said that they will show in 2010. This isn’t surprising, our Classic Plant stand gives those whose hobby is restoring old kit the best possible forum for displaying the outcome of their thousands of hours of painstaking effort.
This is one of the two early JCB digger loaders on display and below an even earlier JCB Grave Digger
Two possibly unique machines in this last picture: An Oliver OC46 Calf Dozer and the Hymac 480 crane where you can just see the hydraulic winch at the boom foot. The Cat R4, used by Noah to build his Ark, is background.
Finally (writes Dennis) we must thank Sir Robert McAlpine, Kettering Depot, for their excellent support in providing transportation of equipment and the ferrying to and fro of the ladies who did such a good job collecting spare change at the exits over the three days.
See you next year!
Xmas Lunch
23/1/09
The hard work put in by our East Midlands committee paid off last December 5th. That first Friday of the last month is the day that, by tradition, half a dozen of our branches hold their ‘Xmas Lunch’ – East Midlands is among them and, as is customary, there was a ‘full house’ That there wasn’t a seat to be had at Northampton’s Park Inn, in spite of the ‘Credit Crunch Plague’ says a lot for the popularity of our Club in Middle England.
Serried ranks of construction people, 530 in all, and every one enjoying themselves.
It was before formal proceedings began that Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy, that knock about duo of the ‘silver screen’, began entertaining our jovial crowd. Our two lookalikes had their antics off to a T, and continued their entertainment throughout the afternoon.
Our three course lunch was an unhurried pleasure, during which L & H, a mind reader and a very clever magician circulated among our diners.
Our ‘After Dinner Speaker’ cricket all rounder Geoff Miller was Ian Botham’s room mate when they were on tour. There were some amusing tales to come.
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Geoff, said he was “ a comparatively boring bread and butter cricketer who was only selected to allow all the brilliant flair players to perform with freedom.” Cricket fans among our crowd would take issue with Geoff’s self deprecating words. True or not “Dusty’s twenty years as a professional cricket player, representing Derbyshire, Essex, Natal and England, have certainly given him a fund of hilarious stories.
Must have been an Ian Botham story
And at the end of it all, our Benevolent Fund got a mention and a cheque. Posing for the presentation (Below l to r) Welfare Officer Dennis Tidmarsh, Branch Chairman John Tull, the Mayor of Northampton, and veteran committee member Roy Pyke.
The cheque! East Midlands contribution to our Fund - £45,000
East Midlands Xmas lunch relies heavily on several local companies, our ever faithful guests, who were as generous as always, - our raffle had over 80 prizes and we had a grand auction – Formula Grand Prix tickets, football memorabilia and a signed ‘ Muhammed Ali’ print were all up for grabs.
We also managed to persuade Les Ferdinand of Spurs to donate a shirt signed by all the players. As a result of this generosity, our Xmas Lunch’s share of our £45,000 Fund contribution was a pretty splendid £28,000.
One company in particular deserves a special mention - Winvic Construction whose M.D. Simon Hunt attended with his table. Simon took the opportunity to present us with a £5000 cheque for our benevolent fund.
This was another very successful and enjoyable Xmas Lunch which was deservedly Sold Out by the end of October. The Park Inn is booked for 2009, December 4th is the date and bookings have already been made.
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