Friday 1^st November – Ferring History Group meeting – A History of Shoreham Airport with Peter Fellows.  There will be an opportunity to renew your membership for 2025.  Tickets for the Christmas Social will also be available.

Saturday 2^nd November – Almost Nothing But Blue Ground Performance Lecture at Ferring Village Hall (3:30 – 4:40pm) – Matthew Bennington and Tom Pope have been researching the life and work of Anna Atkins – the first ever person to produce a book of photographic images.  There is a connection to Ferring here – Anna Atkins was assisted by Anne Dixon, the wife of the Ferring Vicar Henry Dixon (vicar of Ferring from 1832 to 1870).  This talk is free, but you need to book a ticket online at https://www.eventbrite.com/o/brighton-photo-fringe-and-almost-nothing-but-blue-ground-91924296093

Saturday 16^th November – Ferring Village Hall Centenary Day. Ferring Village Hall was officially opened by Georgiana Henty on Friday 14^th November 1924.  We intend to celebrate the centenary of this event on Saturday 16^th November.  At 10:30, there will be two talks by Simon Cornish.  The first will be a talk on the early history of Ferring Village Hall, and after an interval (coffee, tea and biscuits available) there will be a repeat of the Ferring From The Air presentation, charting the development of Ferring since the 1920’s using aerial photography.  There is no charge for this – simply turn up.

Saturday 7^th December – Ferring History Group will have a stall at the Christmas Market held at Ferring Village Hall (2:30 – 6:30pm).  An ideal opportunity to come along and renew your membership.  Any remaining tickets for the Christmas Social will also be for sale.

Friday 13^th December – Christmas Social (ticketed event) and Oh We Do Like To Be Beside The Seaside with Ian Gledhill.  Tickets available from the November meeting onwards from Simon Cornish.

We have the following events planned in the near future :

Friday 1st November – A History of Shoreham Airport with Peter Fellows – Ferring Village Hall, 7:30pm

Our next meeting is a presentation called “Ferring From The Air” by Simon Cornish.
We will look at aerial photos from the late 1920s to the present day, and see how Ferring has developed.

Join us for a fly around Ferring – Fasten your seatbelts !

Pete Coe, and his army pal Graham Cosham led a team of volunteers to prepare the Pillbox for active service.  The bricked up southern embrasure was opened up, and a steel frame and removable plate fitted.  Holes were drilled in the east and west embrasures for ventilation.  The door was painted in anti-vandal paint, and a new set of steps has been installed internally.

Elaine Hammond from SussexWorld was onhand to report on this event.  To see her report and video, please click the following link  https://www.sussexexpress.co.uk/news/people/historic-day-at-ferring-pillbox-as-southern-embrasure-is-opened-up-for-the-first-time-in-around-70-years-4621053?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR0EcrFOQxBYNusruy3U-DJbnt6FUAHe74_Yadh7YY7BDq7lJwuO2O7OBAk_aem_AcI5i_3eCTVoUxvrRMYuV5Wrgkwm9kU7C-FTfz8OS-ihTYVbx8WyBUn3NyjiMJOiqeE2y44CGDqpetYMsK_eCDZB

Our second meeting of 2024 is on Friday 3rd May, 7:30 pm at Ferring Village Hall.  James Sainsbury, Worthing Museum’s archaeologist returns to talks about “Some new discoveries on our Downland”.

FERRING HISTORY GROUP

The 2024 Annual General Meeting will be held at 7.30 on Friday 2 February, in the Village Hall.

AGENDA

1. To approve the minutes of the 2023 AGM (see below)
2. To receive the Chairman’s report
3. To receive the Auditor’s Annual Financial Statement (see overleaf)
4. To elect officers and other Committee members
The following have agreed to stand:  Chairman – David Garnett, Secretary – Simon Cornish, Treasurer – Stephen Abbott; other Committee members: Ed Miller, Helen McCutchan, Pete Coe, Kevin Lee, Michael Quigley.
Other nominations and volunteers most welcome.
5. Any other business

Ed Miller (Secretary) 29 January 2024

 Minutes of the Annual General Meeting held on 3 February 2023

1. David Garnett took the Chair and welcomed members to the AGM.
2. The minutes of the 2022 AGM had been circulated and were agreed.
3. The Chairman reviewed the past year as one of well-attended meetings with good speakers and some good walks and visits. The website was well stocked and the Magazine much enjoyed. Membership had reached 166 and over 100 members had already renewed for 2023. He thanked them for their support and thanked all Committee members for all their work during the past two years.
4. Stephen Abbott then presented the Annual Accounts for 2022, audited by C Hawes ACMA. (these also showed the account for 2021) Subscriptions collected in 2022 were up, at £1,295, with another £126 in admissions. Expenditure overall was £105 less than income – the main items being for printing the Magazine, speakers’ fees and the hire of the Hall, and the Group had a credit balance of over £2,700 at the end of the year.  There were no questions and the financial report was accepted with thanks.
5. Nominations were then invited for officers and Committee members. Proposed and elected en bloc were: David Garnett, Chairman; Ed Miller, Secretary; Stephen Abbott, Treasurer: other Committee members: Pat Attree, Tim Baldwin, Simon Cornish, and Helen McCutchan.
6.There was no other business.             

Ed Miller (Secretary)                6 February 2023

Our first meeting of 2024 is on Friday 2nd February, 7:30 pm at Ferring Village Hall.  The evening will start with our AGM, after which, Bill Gage will give us his talk – “Tails from the Rails”.  Bill was a former Assistant County Archivist at West Sussex Record Office, and he will use social history as a platform to illustrate the development of the railway network.

Our next meeting is our ticketed Christmas Social on Friday 8th December at 7:30 pm.  We will enjoy our usual buffet, quiz, and raffle, and be entertained by Chris Horlock on the subject of “A Sussex Christmas”.  Tickets available from Ed Miller at £10 each.  Please bring your own drinks.

Our next meeting is on Friday 3rd November at 7:30.  The meeting will be at Ferring Village Hall.  We will be treated to a presentation on Amberley Working Museum by Katrina Burton, the Museum Director.  We are hoping that the 2024 Ferring History Magazine will be ready in time for this meeting, and will be accepting membership renewals for 2024.

Our plans for renovating the Pill Box on Pattersons Walk are moving ahead. The Big Bale Out removed 800 litres of rainwater from the floor and the next step is to make the structure waterproof. The Pill Box was only one element in the anti-invasion measures of 1940.
Pete Coe, as well as leading the restoration, has researched the whole range of devices, deployments and installations, and has drawn on his own experience serving with the Royal Engineers, to put together a talk which will be of great interest. 
His first presentation will be to Ferring History Group members at 2.30 on Sunday 10 September, meeting in the small car park at the end of Sea Lane. To avoid overcrowding he will give a repeat presentation, for Conservation Group members on 24 September, and to others who may be interested a few weeks later. The presentations  will include an opportunity to look into the interior of the Pill Box.
We are inviting all those attending to give a donation of £3, to start off our funding for the work to be done over the next six months.