Russian Society

For the final meeting we invited to speak to us Monsieur Pasty, who is spending a year as French Assistant at Nunthorpe Grammar School, to speak to us on the Valley of the Loire. Monsieur brought, as well as slides, a large number of leaflets ranging in subject from the history of the area to the Le Mans racing circuit.

We hope Monsieur Pasty will be able to visit us again before he returns to France at the end of the year.

J.W.H.

Hon. Secretary: A. YOULE. Hon. Treasurer: D. A. BURNELL. House Representatives: School House: M. E. GOUGH. Manor: T. J. HAGGLE. Temple: C. G. GOODLOCK. Queens: M. SENIOR. Grove: D. R. WALLER. Dron field: K. A. MOFFATT. Rise: J. R. W. THIRLWELL.

The term began with G. M. Austin, Esq., taking over as Master-inCharge of the Society. The committee having been formed, many new members were soon joining and we hope that they will continue to show keen interest and enthusiasm to produce the future core of the Society.

We started the school year with a "members' evening", that is to say talks given by individuals from the society. R. C. Dixon began with a discourse on the history of Communism, put over concisely and directly. J. R. W. Thirlwell followed this with a clear, witty talk on "Russian Musical Composers". This covered the whole range of composers in a very compact way, being illustrated with appropriate tracks on record. To conclude the meeting A. Youle gave some of his impressions gained on a trip to Moscow, the talk being based on a set of colour slides taken during the visit.

The second meeting was somewhat hurriedly arranged as the outside speaker planned for the date was not available, so instead, Mr. Austin addressed the Society on "The Changing Faces of Communism". The talk was, in fact, very entertaining, being clear, concise and attractively put over.

The film, "Battle on the Volga" ended the term for the Society. The film related, from official newsreel and archive records, the epic Battle of Stalingrad, one of the most decisive and important battles of the 2nd World War. The camera shots were varied and interesting, and the action powerful and fast moving. In all, this proved to be the most successful and popular meeting.

We would wish, for the future, that more members would show greater enthusiasm for the superficially less attractive meetings, but nevertheless just as instructive and often more entertaining, for any Society depends on continuous support from all of its members.