Newsletter
THE FRIENDS OF THOMAS PLUME’S LIBRARY
Registered charity no. 1098311
32 Long Common
Heybridge
Maldon, Essex CM9 4UU
Tel: 01621 854056
E-mail: sueswaffin@aol.com
8th April 2013
Dear Friend
Thank you to all those who responded to the invitation to attend our concert at St Mary’s Church at the beginning of February. We were treated to a very enjoyable programme of music by the Exchanging Blows Quartet that included classical, jazz and popular pieces. The committee provided wine and refreshments for the interval and the raffle was very successful and raised some extra money for our funds. Thank you to the committee and to everyone who donated generously on the evening.
With this letter and enclosed documents we look forward to a new year of Friends events. We begin with the AGM on Saturday 18th May when, as in previous years, after the business part of the evening we will have a break for some wine and refreshments followed by a talk. This year our speaker is Brian Kennell who will be speaking about the work of the Pioneer Sailing Trust, based at Harkers Yard in Brightlingsea. Pioneer was one of a fleet of deep sea Essex fishing smacks, nicknamed ‘Skillingers’ which fell into decay after a life spent dredging for oysters and scallops in the North Sea. The wreck was recovered in 1998 and the huge restoration project was started. I am sure this will be a very interesting evening so do put the date in your diary.
Thank you for your feedback on the idea of a visit to Antwerp, I am pleased to report that there has been enough interest for the visit to go ahead. This will now take place over three days from 8th-10th July which will allow more time for visiting other attractions in the city as well as the Plantin-Moretus Museum of Printing.
You will see that among the enclosed papers is the form for the renewal of your membership of the Friends. We have kept the subscription at £5 for the year but are very grateful for any donations you are able to make in addition as this allows us to continue with the programme of replacing the books that are missing from Thomas Plume’s original collection. As you will see from the Annual report, in the last financial year we were able to purchase five books when they came up for auction. We were also able to help with the running of the Library with the purchase of a new laptop computer.
If you are able to help steward at the Plume Library during the Heritage Open Days on the 14th and 15th September please tick the box with your preferred day and time on the subscription form. This is also a very good opportunity for visiting the Library when an exhibition of books from the collection will be out on display.
We have already set a date for our social event in 2014. We will be back in the Town Hall for a Quiz Evening arranged for Saturday 1st February. This is a different idea for the Social evening and should be fun to do. We hope to include a light supper but further details and an application form will be included in the Christmas mailing.
We are sorry to lose one of our trustees at the AGM. Rachael Salter is moving away from the area. We thank Rachael for giving her time to attend all the committee meetings and for all her support and help at Friends events. We are pleased to welcome Clare Dobie who will be joining the committee and taking on the job of Treasurer. Martin Wells has done an excellent job as Treasurer over the last six years but is now ready to stand down and we are grateful to Clare for agreeing to take over.
I look forward to seeing you during the forthcoming year.
Yours sincerely
S. Swaffin-Smith
Chairman