May 2016

This newsletter includes a report of the annual members' meeting.

Since the last newsletter:
Our annual members' meeting was held at Browne's Hospital on April 13th, and was attended by over 60 people.
The Chairman reported on:

• Two new co-opted committee members (Jean Bevan and David Lankester)
• Stamford First Project.
• Kier Living development update.
• Society reserves of approx. £8,000 – no large project would be sanctioned without members’ agreement.
• Current confused position about the status of the Museum Store.
• Did members have any ideas for the Awards’ Evening [plus AGM] on October 13th?
• The print of St Leonard’s Priory kindly donated by member Dave Baxter was shown.

Graddon Rowlands reported on behalf of the Urban Group:

• Town improvement projects eg Sensory Garden and benches on Water Street
• Peter Heyes’ lead on greening projects.
• Planned refurbishment of St Michael’s Churchyard.
• The Group’s help to replace the four bronze plaques that have gone missing.
• Installation of four new lights on the Town Bridge later in 2016, plus the lighting upgrade in Red Lion Square, done with the Group’s help.

Melanie Sockett reported on upcoming events and talks for members, and mentioned the launch of the greeting card sets, hopefully at the St Leonard’s Priory event in July.

Peter Stevens reported on his work on the Bastion Project, Phase 2:

• He explained that he had found 4 quotes for the restoration of the Bastion and had contacted Historic England and Hirst Conservation.
• The Chairman explained that the Society could not resource it (it is owned by SKDC) but could consider “seed funding” it. The general feel of the meeting was that this would be an acceptable use of Society funds.

Members’ Concerns/Thoughts:

• Pleased to see improvement over the last year to Cheyne Lane and thanks to Cllr Dawson for the statue of Hermes.
• Re: The Bastion Project: St Peter’s Community Group would be prepared to give a modest donation towards any work, and would continue to keep the area tidy, for which the Society was very thankful.
• Graffiti exercised the minds of several members. Cllr. Taylor would try to tackle this.
• More benches were needed in the town centre.
• Cllr. Taylor spoke about Stamford First and reiterated that Society members would be involved with the Heritage & Environment Topic Group, to be chaired by David Pennell.
• A possible development at Hudd’s Mill and a plan for 1,000 new houses in Borderville were mentioned and a watching brief would be kept.
• The balance of talks and visits was considered to be okay. A visit to Wothorpe Towers was suggested.
• The suggestion of the building of a super-surgery by Lakeside on Stamford Hospital land was mentioned. The Fever Wards there were listed but could not be used by the Hospital as their condition was inadequate.
• With the increase of the population of the town, it was suggested that Stamford Museum could be re-opened. It was agreed that the main concern was to ensure that the objects in the Museum Store were kept together.

Recent planning responses:

The Kier proposal to build homes on the land to the south of Kettering Road between Stamford and Wothorpe has arisen again. The Society is continuing to object strongly. Members wishing to object as individuals are asked to do so to SKDC by May 13th at the latest. There is also an online petition (not run by the Society) at https://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/keep-kier-out-again
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Events programme
Tickets are available from the Secretary. Unless otherwise advised, talks will be in Browne's Hospital at 7.30pm and cost £3.50.
Thursday 2nd June 2016: – talk by Professor Alan Short. Alan Short is Professor of Architecture at Cambridge University and a Fellow of Clare Hall. His talk is about climate change as it affects architecture and conservation.
Thursday 9th June at 6pm – evening tour of Browne’s Hospital, followed by coffee and cakes. Tickets are available for members only at the special price of £4. Please book as soon as you can, as places are limited.
Saturday 16 July 2016 from 6pm to 8pm: Our annual evening event at St. Leonard's Priory. Drinks, music and the attendance of local artist Karen Neale are arranged. This event is free to members; donations will be welcome.
Wednesday August 17th at 10.30am – a private guided tour of Apethorpe Palace. This is fully booked; if you have a place and cannot use it, please let Melanie know, so we can give it to another member.
Tuesday 20th September 2016 at 10.30am: a private tour of Octavia Hill’s Birthplace in Wisbech. Octavia Hill was a social reformer and one of the founders of the National Trust. See http://www.octaviahill.org/ for more information.
Thursday 13th October 2016 at 7.30pm in the Town Hall: the Society's AGM and Awards evening. Please put this date in your diary; the paperwork will follow in due course.