Members of the Quantock Centre are being urged to help organise and run events following the departure of the Chairman, David Bastable, who has moved to London.
To gauge the level of interest and enlist helpers, the Centre has arranged a meeting in the Conference Centre of the Somerset College of Arts and Technology (SCAT), Taunton, on Saturday morning, 19 November, There will be two sessions, at 10.30 and 11.30, with coffee served at 11.15.
In a letter to members, sent out with the Winter Newsletter, the acting Chairman, Derek Spackman, writes of the “very large gap” resulting from David Bastable's departure.
“He devoted almost all his time – and his vast knowledge and experience of the Trust and historic properties – to the Centre. He organised and ran more than half of all the events. We have thus lost an enormous number of volunteer hours which somehow have to be replaceded.
“If you, the members, value the varied and extensive programmes that have been such a feature of the Centre for the last ten years, then we must look to you for active help. This help is needed urgently because we have to plan a long way ahead. Not all the tasks are large or onerous, and if we can sensibly share the work and responsibilities, then we can continue to have a successful and enjoyable Centre.”
Derek Spackman concludes by saying that the response from members will directly determine the level and quality of future programmes: the fewer people who offer their help, the smaller the programmes. “This could affect the strength of our membership and our financial support for the National Trust.”
He echoes the point in the Newsletter itself, warning that without active help from the members there could be a significant diminution in the activities of the Centre. “This could, of course, make it less attractive to existing and potential members, and the Centre could end up a pale shadow of its present self. This is not a pessimistic assessment, but a realistic one, shared by colleagues with whom I have talked. Having said that, I believe we can have a Centre every bit as successful and flourishing as the one we know. We shall simply achieve it in a very different manner.”
Isabel Richardson, the archaeologist involved in the rescue of Bronze Age cairns on the National Trust's Holnicote Estate on Exmoor, has written to the Quantock Centre to say thank-you for a £1,000 gift which “enabled us to save the remaining Bronze Age fabric for posterity” (see Autumn News).
The Centre gave the money to the Estate last year for the conservation of the south eastern cairn on the Dunkery summit. The Centre then supported the Estate's application to the Exmoor National Park Authority's Planning Committee for permission to rescue the cairns.
To everyone's shock, the application was turned down, and the National Trust appealed to the Planning Inspectorate. This July, it learned that the appeal was successful.
The remedial work has entailed levelling the stones that had been moved by visitors, covering the site with a permeable geotextile to separate the Bronze Age and modern deposits, and forming a low mound over it with local river silt. The final stage – planting indigenous heathers – is being done this autumn.
Ridlers of Dulverton are now providing the coaches for the Centre's main visits. They took over on 1 October from Webberbus of Minehead who, earlier this year, bought Bryants Coaches, the Williton company which had served the Quantock Centre for more than 25 years.
Members who do not pay by Bankers Order are being reminded that the annual subscription of £8.00 is due on 1 December 2005. This includes those members who joined between 1 June and 30 November 2004. In the case of any subscriptions not received by 31 January 2006, membership will regrettably be terminated.