The membership remains at its maximum of 110, with 11 Honorary Life Members. Sadly 5 members have died, namely Max Thurlow, Bob Loveland, Dennis Chandler, Henry Stubbington and John Roff, each of whom will remain fondly in our memory.

The Club has continued to thrive under the Chairmanship of Michael Tate. Our funds are diligently controlled by John Penfold, and Richard Smellie has had our Members' welfare under close and conscientious supervision. Eamon Murphy has continued to keep our attendance record - the average of 82% was lowered by severe weather from January to March, but we achieved a record 100 attendees in December.

Graham Cooper and Richard Smellie were made Honorary Life Members in appreciation of their invaluable services - Graham as Speakers' Secretary, 9 years as Secretary and 1 as Chairman; and Richard's 9 years as Care Secretary.

Speakers:
Nigel Craddock inherited the 2008 programme from Michael Tate and continued to engage high quality speakers to interest our members. These were:

• Robert Rogers - How Parliament Works
• Philip Wolff - Gold Leaf Making
• Roger Dymond - Why Stamps?
• Sandy Campbell - Financial Planning
• Ken Brazier - Mercy Ships
• Dr. H Adams - Colour in Photography
• Ted Sutton - The Mary Rose Story
• Graham Laurie - History of Royal Flying
• David Brown - The Falkland Islands
• Andrew Gray - Mt. Everest Base Camp
• Reg Cornthwaite - The Life of a Farmer

Social Events:
Mike Beavington and Dave Norris arranged an excellent programme of visits:
Chichester
Bletchley Park
Chatham Dockyard and Medway cruise
The Waterloo Experience
The Christmas Show at Thursford
Carousel
The Jeffrye Museum and the London houses of Charles Dickens and Benjamin Franklin
Blenheim Palace
The 4-day Spring break in Chester and Liverpool.
The annual BBQ at Algy Garratt's and the Christmas Lunch at Boxmoor Lodge were as popular as ever, but attendance at the Cheese and Wine Party was less than usual.

The Committee's monthly meetings were enhanced by the warm welcome from Michael and Valerie and their generous hospitality. Club meetings were well sustained with tea /coffee, served by Barbara, Sylvia, Margaret, Diane and Jean. Jean has now retires, after serving our teas and coffees since our Club's formation in 1982, and was presented with a framed print of her choice.
Les Rogers continued to organise the hall for our meetings, aided by Norman Dugard, Chris Gower, Tom Derbyshire, Richard Gurney and Jack Baynton-Glen. Robin Hurley controlled our sound system, aided by Stuart Foulds and Mike Wilson (who also runs our website), with David Stevens and Fred Glascoe providing the viewing equipment. Geoffrey Higham examined and approved the annual Club accounts.
As usual, the Chairman has been able to find willing nominees for the incoming Committee. An array of Speakers and events has already been prepared for the months ahead and Members can look forward to another year interesting and enjoyable activities conducted in an atmosphere of genuine friendship.

Derek Tarling, Secretary, June 2009