NORTHUMBERLAND

&

    TYNESIDE BIRD CLUB

      

        Registered Charity No.  517641

50th ANNIVERSARY CONFERENCE

Newcastle Civic Centre, Saturday, 25th October 2008

 

Saturday 25th October dawned bright and, to the relief of the organising committee, with a westerly wind.  Sunderland and Newcastle were playing in Sunderland, but fortunately it was an early kick-off so all seemed to be set fair for a day to remember.

 

I guess that when they sat down to plot the Tyneside Avifauna Bulletin in 1958 not even the ’small group of rebels’ could have imagined the scene 50 years on.  Until Saturday many of the Northumberland and Tyneside Bird Club members probably only had a sketchy idea of the last 50 years.  All that was to change for the 100+ delegates to our Anniversary Conference in the Civic Centre in Newcastle.

 

The setting was suitably impressive as we gathered in the foyer at the top of the sweep of stairs in Newcastle’s Civic Centre. While some greeted old friends others were putting well-known names to faces and enjoying watching the club’s history unfold in front of us.  Guests had joined us from as far away as Orkney, Aberdeen and Sussex. Members who had contributed to the club’s first bulletin – David Howey, Rod Key, Jim Edwardson, Stan Booth and Graham Bell were there and we had received letters from others including – Bryan Galloway, Colin Watson, Dick Potts, and Alec Iredale.  The entries to the photo competition were displayed on the landing and in the Council Chamber and delegates were soon voting for the ‘People’s Choice’. By 2.00 o’clock we were all assembled and Tom Cadwallender quickly took us through the housekeeping information in his own inimitable style.  

 

Paul Stewart, our current chairperson, welcomed our guests including some of our original members and introduced the first speaker.  Mike Hodgson traced the history of the club from the first bulletin to the present day.  The changes in format – do you remember Banda machines? (someone must have got into an awful mess each month) to our current colour production emailed to many members.  Mike reminded us about the talented artists who have illustrated our publications and the massive input from members who have given the club such a detailed record of sightings for the last 50 years.

 

Past chairs of NTBC had been asked to take us through the afternoon and Ian Kerr now introduced David Parkin.  David concentrated on the range of high quality publications created by members of the club over the years.  His talk underlined the dedicated research and data which has been a hallmark of the club’s long-term record keeping.

Following a break for refreshments John Ginnever introduced Mick Marquiss who told us about three research projects that he has been involved with.  He entertained and educated us with information about species ranging from osprey and sea eagles to a personal favourite of his – Bullfinches.

Finally Martin Davison introduced Colin Bradshaw who was charged with the interesting task of looking at the next 50 years.  Clearly a man with a vivid imagination, he offered a humorous and sometimes scary look into the future.  His talk included some interesting photos of many in the audience.

 

Sarah Barratt took on the task of summing up the afternoon. She had clearly been listening carefully as she thanked the chairs and speakers, illustrating her comments with references to the talks and skilfully linking past and present. Throughout the afternoon it had been clear that NTBC had been an important influence for everyone who spoke to us.  A real tribute to the club.  (Click here for more details about the talks)

 

It didn’t take long to adjourn to the Pandon Room where the evening event was to take place.  The Civic Centre had done us proud and the room looked most inviting with tables laid up ready for our evening meal.  It wasn’t long before there was a significant queue at the bar and everyone settled down to catch up with friends and add their own thoughts to the afternoon’s discussions.  Graeme Bowman ambushed us all with copies of the quiz and we settled down to eat.  It suddenly went quiet!  The hot buffet seemed to suit all tastes and the desserts disappeared rapidly including a rather good cheese board.  Once the dishes were cleared we embarked on the serious business of trying to complete the quiz.  Graeme had done a splendid job of making sure it challenged everyone and all teams were soon scratching their heads.  Forays to the book stall outside to seek enlightenment from past copies of BIN and the Winter Atlas were frequent (but not always successful).  

  

Around 9.00 o’clock the photos boards were wheeled in and Adrian Pitches announced the winners in appropriate Oscar style.  The prize winning pictures (follow links to view all entries) were: Birds as Art - Black-necked Grebes, Ian Fisher, Bird Behaviour - Moorhens, Steve Barrett, Birds in Flight - Arctic Tern, Peter Tapsell, Rarities - Lesser Grey Shrike, Ian Fisher, Open Class - Red-breasted Merganser, Roger Forster. Ian took the award for Best Portfolio and the ‘People’s Choice’ and Steve was awarded Best Image for his Moorhens.

 

Now it was time to mark the quiz.  Graeme took us through the answers accompanied by cheers of triumph and groans of despair in fairly equal quantities.  Congratulations to everyone and especially to Graeme for managing to balance history, birds and general knowledge for fun.  Mind you the winning team did include some heavyweight knowledge including County Recorders/BIN editor/Atlas compiler. Maybe a handicap next time!

 

Chat and a few more beers completed a splendid day with a few hoping that we would find an excuse to celebrate again in the not-to-distant future.  Many thanks to everyone who helped with the organisation of the day, our speakers and chairpersons, our guests and members from across the years who travelled from across the country to attend;  to Graeme for the quiz and to Adrian and Martin for judging the photos while Alan made sure the entries were all anonymous ready for the judges.  Thanks also to the Civic Centre staff for their efficient organisation and great food.  It was a real relief when it all came together.

 

The biggest thanks, however, goes to all the members over the years who have helped the Northumberland and Tyneside Bird Club to provide a focus for the continuing study and protection of the varied and thriving bird-life in our county.

J. Bentley

 

(photos courtesy of S. Sexton)