supplement
IRONBRIDGE CONGRESS 20-22 July 1979
V th Ann~al Congress
IRONBRIDGE 20- 22 JULY 1979 This year the Group is joining the celebrations of the bicentenary of the Ironbridge Gorge industrial archaeology complex in Shropshire. Without doubt, this congress will be rich•in photographic opportunities, and will be led by Dr Brian Bracegirdle FRPS, the acknowledged authority on the photography of industrial remains. Here we will not be photographing shadows, but the things that cast the shadows. Visits will be made to the museum of ironfounding, Coalport china works, Moore's tile works, Blists Hill, the ironbridge, and many other parts of the Gorge not open to the public. Accommodation will be in Concord College, Attingham ·Park, Shrewsbury; accommodation is restricted to about 50 people, so early booking is recommended. Programm .e Friday
20th
Saturday Sun day
July
21st 22nd
July July
7 pm Dinner at Concord College 8.30 Intoductory lecture by Brian Bracegirdle FRPS. All day in the Ironbridge Area. 7.00 Formal dinner followed by a social evening either the opportunity to return to the Gorge for further photography, .2!: a programme centred on the Roman site of Wroxeter, (delgates may choose either)
!!.!.! (members and/or subscribers to "archaeolog") £10.00 (non-members and nonsubscribers to "archaeolog") £7.00 (student members and/or subscribers to "archaeolog") £25.00 including full board from Accommodation: Friday dinner to Sunday afternoono FULL PROGRAMMEDETAILS ARE INCLUDED IN A BROCHURE OBTAWABLE FROM MARY MITCHELL - FILL IN THE REPLY SLIP Conference
II
fee:
£8.00
AGM - 5th February1979 The following Annual General
is a brief resume of Meeting held at the
Chairman~s Report
the statements made RPS House on Monday
1978
'The report of the Chairman of this Group is brief, even if this is not in the • nature of the Chairman, because it is the duty pf the Secretary to give account ih more detail of the Group's activitie~ throughout the year. Some of you will recall that at the beginning of the year I predicted that this would be a watershed year, That statement was correct because I ' saw two things happening. First it should be recognised that the affairs of the Group had been run by a co1DD1ittee of busy people most of whom were deeply involved in other archaeological or photographic activities and so regarded the Group as less important~ A decision was taken to nominate a large committee made up of those who had shown a real interest in the work of the Group, This committee was elected by last years AGM and has proved to be all and more than was expected of it, The committee deserves the thanks of ' the Group, and certainly has my personal thanks. Secondly there has been an influx of intelligent and . energetic young people into the life of the Group. Many of these have worked hard on the Committee and in other activit .ies, Conspicuously, Tony Pearce, as Secretary, has pu t in an.effort that in energy and ability exceeds anything I have seen in voluntary work, The appearance of "archaeolog" has delighted us all, won us friends, increased our membership, and helped f'ulfill a long standing obligation to our overseas members. We thank ~iss Angela Clarke for her fine and dedicated ; work. I could go on to name many others but I am sure to leave someone out, so I will simply thank all those youngsters who have Joined us. So I was right; it has been a watershed year, and without a doubt the best we have had, When I say it has been our best year I do so believing that it will be the precursor of an even better one. Tbere is a growing momentum which nothing should stop, Robert Pitt Chairman 1 978
Secretary ·s Report Tony Pearbe as Secretary reported that during the year 'the membership had doubled and stood at 221 at the end of 1978, He reported on the 13 events · which had been organised, and on the activities of the committee throughout the year.
Treasure r 's Report The Treasurer, Hiss Mary 'Mitchell, reported on the Group's finances. It was not yet possible to finalise the Group's financiat statement~ for 1978 since there were outstanding accounts to be settled with the Society, The year was unusual because of the new ventures, notably "archaeolog" and the summer projects, Poor pricing policy for events, and late publication of our advertisement in "Current Archaeology" for the Durham Conference resulted jn losses on all events. These faults will be rectifiEkl in the coming year.
at the 5th February,
Elections The meeting, at which J1 people were present, then elected the officers and committee for 1979: Chairman: Tony Pearce Deputy Chairman Brian Tremain Secretary Michael Leonard Treasurer Mary Mitchell Editor of "archaeolog" Angela Clarke (A motion was passed making the Editor of the Group's periodical an Officer of the Group} Committee: Dr Michael Apted, Clare Conybeare, Michael Gill, Vic Heppelthwaite, Trevor Hurst, Derrick Knight, James Locke, and John Stubbington, Two vacancies were left, and the members to be co-opted were not specified.
Statement
by Tony Pearce
as . Chairman
Tony Pearce was welcomed into office as Cht by the President of the Society, Sir George Pollock, Bt, FRPS. On taking over the Chair ·Tony Pearce made the following _statement: "I am deeply moved by the honour you have bestowed on me; thank you, I would like the first thing I do as Chairman to be to thank Hob Pitt for six years hard and dedicated work for the Group. Without that which he has done in setting up the Group, we would not be sitting here nov. I would like you all to join me in thanking and congratulating Bob. "Secondly I would like to thank the Committee for its hard work over the recent years, especially in 1978.' "It has become practice for the Chairman to commence the year by giving it a slogan or catch phase. It seems to me significant that our year starts at the same time as the Chinese New Year, and so it would be appropriate to name the year after an animal. This year, therefore is to be the Year of the Shark, because, like a shark we must keep moving forward in order to stay alive. "What may you expect from me in the way of policies? I want to direct the Group and its .committee to take a fresh look at 'its image. There are many areas which we are interested and actively involved in which are not embraced in the title 'archaeological'. With this new image, we may also have a new name, but we must have a ne.w constitution to reflect the realities of the way the Group is run, and to make elections more democratic. I am obviously talking here about a postal voting system. 1 must "'archaeolog be expanded and made to pay, We doubled our membership last year, and I believe that we should do the same this year. I ask all members to help us achieve this. During the year your committee will provide a wide range of events throughout the country; these must be priced sensibly in order to pay for themselves.
"Our main event will be the Ironbridge Conference from 20 - 22 . July. This will coincide with the bicentenary of Ironbridge, and since we will be led by Brian Bracegirdle FRPS, the acknowledged authority in this area, it will be an excellent weekend. "Finally, from me personally you may expect a highly participative form of leadership, where you do not have one Chairman , but many people jointly leading. "I ask you for your support in achieving these aims, which I think are worthy."
Ill
Coalport
IV
Pottery
(Ironbridge
Gorge
Museum Trust)