Members of the Quantock Centre were thanked for their “tremendous support” by the new Chairman, Derek Spackman, when he spoke at the 34th annual general meeting at West Monkton Village Hall on 25 February.
More than 100 members packed the hall. In a review of the year, Mr Spackman said the departure of his predecessor, David Bastable, had left “a large hole” in the organisation because he had been responsible for so much of the work that went into the Centre's excellent programme of events.
“As a result, while the quality of events is still high, the number of events has reduced. It is hoped this will be a temporary blip and that as time goes by the number of visits will increase back towards the previous level.”
Mr Spackman said: “Without the support you have given over the last 12 months, the Centre would not be what it is today – a very successful organisation that gives pleasure and enjoyment to so many.”
A price of the Centre's success was that many of the events, including visits to historic houses, were heavily oversubscribed. Another source of concern was the falling attendances for Saturday lectures, held in the autumn and winter. These problems needed to be tackled in the coming months.
Mr Spackman said a special thank-you to Morley Sage who, at short notice, had temporarily taken on the chairmanship of the Programme Sub-Committee where “all the hard work is done in organising the splendid events that we have”. Ian Billinge had now taken over “this daunting task”.
Mr Spackman paid tribute to Eric Franks, retiring after ten years as Hon. Treasurer. He thanked him for “all his efforts in making the Centre the success it is today”. He recalled that Mr Franks had retired once in 2000 and then come back to help the Centre when his successor was taken ill. Basil Bryant was elected the new Treasurer.
Presenting the annual accounts, Mr Franks reported that income from subscriptions had gone up from £4,648 to £6,484, largely due to the increase in the annual rate to help meet rising administration costs.
The Centre had been able to contribute a further £23,500 during the year towards the cost of a new visitor centre at Barrington Court. At the end of the financial year, the fund stood at more than £75,800. [It has since risen to £84,000.] The target is £100,000, to be raised by next year when Barrington Court celebrates the centenary of its acquisition by the National Trust.
Mr Franks said that, thanks to donations from the Centre, the National Trust had been able to complete many small projects that might otherwise have been delayed. He listed Stourhead, Mompesson House, Brownsea Island, Snowshill Manor, Lanhydrock, Kingston Lacey, Dunster Castle, Tyntesfield and Dyrham Park.
A C Mole and Sons, chartered accountants, were thanked for the work they had undertaken as honorary independent examiners of the accounts.
Robin Grigg, Judith Marchent, Berenice Scriven and Thia Tebay were elected to fill vacancies on the Committee.
A desperate appeal for money to save Cragside, Northumberland – described as “one of the most extraordinary estates” owned by the National Trust – has prompted the Quantock Centre to give nearly £625 towards the rescue. This is funded from interest in the Loan Account for the deposit of surplus funds.
The money will go towards re-wiring the house – the first in the world to be lit electrically by Joseph Swan's newly invented incandescent light bulbs.
Cragside was built in the 19th century by Lord Armstrong, Victorian industrialist and tireless inventor. By the 1880s, his house had hot and cold running water, flushing toilets, an early form of telephone, a motorised cooking spit, and a passenger lift.
More than £4million is needed for restoration and renewal. The re-wiring is the largest such scheme ever undertaken by the Trust.
John O'Brien, the Property Manager at Cragside, has written thanking the Centre for its “wonderful support”. The donation would give Cragside's “hard-pressed team of staff and volunteers a tremendous boost”.
The Centre's contribution will be recorded in a “Donations Book” for the project. The book will become part of Cragside's permanent archive.
The Quantock Centre raises money for many Trust causes. Its response to the Cragside appeal is typical. But its help extends beyond buildings. The retiring Hon. Treasurer, Eric Franks, said after the annual general meeting: “The public perception is that we're about preserving old houses when in fact, of course, we support other schemes to do with nature and the environment.”
He cited the £1,000 given to Dunster Castle for camera equipment to record and show the lives of rare bats. And last year, as he reported at the annual meeting, the Centre contributed just over £720 to The Vyne – construction of a birdhide in East Thames and Solent Region. The money came from interest in the Loan Account for the deposit of surplus funds – the source of our help for Cragside.
It is the Centre's practice to allocate Loan Account interest outside the home region as an acknowledgement of the wider interests of the National Trust.