Extraordinary General Meeting, December 6th 2022

Brill Sports & Social Club, 7.30 - 8.05pm

In attendance: 5 members of present committee plus 6 other members of The Brill Society

Apologises: Merilyn Munson (retired secretary), Miles Keeping (PC rep.), Dave Munson

(1) Chairman’s Report

Written report supplied (see Appendices 1 and 2). Main points:

  • Thank you all for coming and on-going support

  • Last public event very successful event with Mike Farley

  • Covid then interrupted events

  • Sails damaged last Oct

  • Wonderful generosity of community and visitors

  • Dipped into reserves to pay for sails 

  • Present committee served over 20 years, some longer

  • Report lists many publications, talks and walks facilitated and promoted by TBS

(2) Treasurer’s Report

Written report supplied (see Appendix 3). Main points:

2021

  • Main expenditure on behalf of Walks Group (money held by Brill Society) purchase of mower

  • 2021 opening of windmill £632 about half of normal amount because playground team manned windmill in August and kept the money as a donation

  • Card machine people charged a small commission, hence odd figure

  • 2021 no payment from PC

  • 2022 two payments from PC

  • Ended 2021 £16.5k in bank etc

  • Accounts signed off by John Cable 

2022

  • One month remaining (year end Dec 31)

  • Drive for donations via Just Giving and direct to TBS around £18k

  • Generous donation £5k from Historic Buildings Trust

  • £100 from TV filming

  • Repairs £27.5k, had to use £10k of reserves built up over many years

  • Windmill entrance back to pre pandemic levels 

  • Subscriptions slightly increased £440

  • Ended 2022 £13k (thanks to recent donation)

Andrew Whitaker will remain as Treasurer until the end of the Society’s financial year (Dec 31) whereupon he will prepare and submit final accounts before handing over to the new Treasurer.

Question from floor : When is Windmill due to be painted?
Answer :A 10 year maintenance plan was agreed with Bucks Council but this haas now expired.

(3) AOB

Black tie event, postponed from November, now April 29th 2023
Delicious meal, dancing, action of prizes which money can’t buy
Marketing will start in the new year, need to sell all 100 tickets to make decent profit

Brill History Day, February 11th 2023
Free event of stalls in the morning, talks in the afternoon
Offers of help gratefully received!

Vote of thanks to the committee from Roger Williams, a “grandee of The Brill Society”

  • Village probably doesn’t appreciate how much the society has achieved over the years

  • Like Christopher Wren’s monument, one can see the impact of TBS all around us

  • Main achievement caring for the windmill

  • So much time and effort involved

  • Particular mention of Merilyn Munson and Jan Moyneux

A second vote of thanks from the present committee to Jan Molyneux by Fran Newman
All of Jan’s achievements already mentioned but special mention must be made of liaising with the County Council (not always easy)

A third vote of thanks to all the committee by Paul Norman
Having now found out the extent of the work done by TBS increased admiration for all the work that has been achieved

(4) Election of new committee

The following people stood and were elected to the committee: 

Hannah Hulme Hunter (acting secretary)

Andy Fisher, Paul Norman, James Field, Ant Harris (positions to be confirmed)

Appendix 1 : Chairman’s Report

Ladies and Gentleman, thank you all for coming out tonight and for all your help and support over the years.  Quite a few of you have served on the Brill Society Committee at some time and have helped achieve many amazing things.  I have provided details of everything I can remember during my time on the committee and shortly before, although I am sure many things have been missed.

Unfortunately COVID stopped the “in person” events for over two years, although just before lockdown, we had probably had one of the best ever attended meetings with Mike Farley, the archaeologist, with a fascinating talk and everyone bringing their artifacts for identification.

The damage to the sails at Halloween last year focussed all our attention on the repair fund.  The generosity of the donations we have received shows the huge affection for the Windmill.  You will all know that we have now undertaken the repairs.  However, this has eaten into reserves, which need to be built up to pay for the repainting every ten years.  Andrew will update you on this.

Andrew and I have served on this committee for around twenty years, I have been Chairman for over ten years and the rest of our committee have over ten years service.  We all feel now is the right time for us to hand over to a group of people who, I know, have many great ideas for the future, to increase membership, use digital technology to promote the Windmill and enhance the profile of the Society within the village.

I thank you all for your support and urge you to assist our new committee to continue to support and enhance our community in the future.

Appendix 2 : The Brill Society : Purpose and Activities


The Brill Society is a community based registered charity, established to preserve and protect the community, environment, conservation and historic interests of Brill and its environs.

The Society was established in the 1960s following a number of unattractive developments within the village and has been active ever since, promoting the interests of the community. The Brill Society is independent of the Parish Council yet co-operates with it to enhance the tapestry of the community.

The activities of the Society have been many and varied and have included:

  • A project to remove the overhead wires throughout the whole of the Conservation Area, to enhance the character of the conservation area.

  • The protection and retention of the unusual ironstone brick kerbs within conservation area, requiring their replacement when unsympathetic modern materials have been used in their replacement.

  • Recording and protection of the footpaths within the village, supporting and taking on the regular walking of the paths and reporting of damage, blockages etc.


Organised Walks

  • An organised walk of the full route of the Bernwode Jubilee Way by a relay group of walkers over single weekend shortly after the establishment of the route.

  • A group walk to beat the bounds of Brill Parish, with the permission of various landowners through whose land the boundary passes.

Talks

In the early years of the Brill Society, monthly talks were organised in the Memorial Hall during the winter months.  These covered a wide range of topics, including archaeology, transport, and architecture. Of the many, the ones that spring to mind are:

  • The Great Train Robbery; several talks over the years by by the first policeman to discover the robbers' hideout at Leatherslade Farm.

  • Alice Walter’s trip to The Antarctic

  • Hearing Dogs for the Deaf

  • Brick making and brick design

  • Octopus and squid brains and their interaction with modern art

  • The click languages of Southern Africa

  • The geological history of Brill

  • Place names of Buckinghamshire

Visits 

  • Windmills and Watermills of Buckinghamshire

  • The Greatmoor Incinerator

  • Owlsworth Millwright’s Yard to view 2009 restoration project

Publications

  • The Parish Map; a project to record details of the buildings, wildlife and community important to the village. Undertaken over a period of months and incorporating many skills of villagers, including pottery, embroidery, silversmithing, architectural design and artistry. The original is exhibited in Brill School.

  • Portrait of Brill; a millennium publication to record the village dwellings and their occupants.

  • Brillennium (TBS underwrote this popular publication)

  • History of Brill

  • Brill Windmill guide

  • Field names of Brill Parish; a project to record the names of all the fields within the parish, following discussions with the landowners.

  • Various postcards

  • Guides to walks around Brill

Sales 

Jubilee Way Walk book, published by Bucks County Council including walks within the Parish

Brill Windmill by Luke Bonwick, published to record the works to the windmill during the 2009 restoration.

Awards

Primarily intended to acknowledge and celebrate an improvement in the “facilities” of the village rather than individual endeavours. Recipients have included:

  • Retention of Post Office

  • Restoration of historic barns within the village

  • Brillenium

  • Village fireworks display

  • Brill Oldies Radio

Other activities

  • Sponsoring a photography class at Brill Show

  • Educational tours round the windmill for pupils of Brill School

  • Provision of Teacher’s Pack of flour, bran etc.

  • Management of Brill Society website and response to questions about the community and its history

  • Initiated and supported the restoration of Hartwell’s Barn


Brill Windmill

Whilst acting as a volunteer in the seasonal opening of the windmill, Jan Molyneux identified serious structural problems. With the support of the committee, she instigated a campaign to force the County Council, the owners at the time, to take action to repair and restore the windmill, the work finally being completed in 2009. The campaign included:

  • Writing funding applications used by both The Brill Society and Bucks County Council to achieve >£300k funding.

  • Representing Brill Community during restoration.

  • Ensuring provision for lighting of the exterior of the Windmill, which was wholly paid for and maintained by the Brill Society.

Appendix 3 : Treasurer’s Report

Presentation of 2021 Accounts as checked by Jon Cable

Income: £1455.16

Expenditure: 2035.71

Major expense was the mower for the Walks maintenance, the money for which came from grant funding specifically for such use.

2021 included windmill entrance money of £632.35. This is an odd amount due to commission charges through Sum Up to allow card payments.

Our contribution to the playground group was to allow them to open the windmill for the month of August and to keep all receipts. This amounted to over £600.

The annual grant from the PC was not received in 2021 solely due to the timing of the accounts and the receipt of the grant. The PC has now changed the month of payment to ensure the grant is accounted for in the correct year.

Ended 2021 with £16,500 in the bank.

BUT

This year (2022) has included the massive drive for donations towards the repair of the sails damaged in the Halloween storm.

To date these donations have amounted to just over £18,000. The donations have all been generous, ranging from the odd pound here and there to a massive £5k from the William Delafield Trust, a local historic buildings charity. We even received £100 from Susan Calman’s Grand Day Out.

There was an associated cost of £18 per month which we pay to Just Giving to process many of the payments via their site.

We have now, of course, paid for the repair of the sails and this has cost £27,500 net of VAT which is paid by the Parish Council as owners of the windmill.

Windmill entrance has been as strong as previous years with just over £1,200 taken (net of Sum Up commission)

Subscriptions for 2022 have increased slightly to £440.

A full set of 2022 accounts will be drawn up at the end of the year.