Minutes of the Annual General Meeting of the Bonnyrigg & Lasswade Local History Society held in the Pitcairn Centre, High Street, Bonnyrigg on Wednesday 18th April 2001. 1. Introduction. Mr Herbert Dryden opened the meeting and welcomed those present. He said that he was pleased to see such a large turnout for the meeting but thought that this might be partly due to members wishing to confirm their attendance at the forthcoming outing to New Lanark on 26th May. He asked everyone to ensure that they had signed the members' attendance book prior to the start of tonight's meeting. Before proceeding with the business of the meeting, Mr Dryden then invited Mr Neil Stewart, honorary president, to say a few words. Mr Stewart told the meeting that it was with much regret that he had to advise them of the death of a dear friend of the society, Mr Alasdair Anderson. He had read in a recent copy of the "Evening News", that Alasdair had been found on the beach at Crail in Fife. He had been missing from his home in Gorebridge for some time. He was unable to say any more as to the circumstances of Alasdair's death. He recalled happier times when Alasdair had acted as a mentor to him when he had first started research into local history. He was particularly saddened by the news and felt that it was appropriate to record his thanks for the support that Alasdair had given to the society in the past. 2. Apologies. An apology was recorded on behalf of Mr Bill Scott. 3. Minutes of the last Annual General Meeting. These were formally adopted by the meeting, proposed by Mr James Dempsey and seconded by Mr Alex Waugh. 4. Treasurer's Report. Mrs Margaret Reid advised the meeting that at the start of the season the cash in the bank was £268.44. She said £101 of that amount was used towards the Summer Outing. The cash in hand was £8.60 and we had ended the year with a cash balance of £34.90. The current bank balance was £215. Funds were therefore slightly better than the previous year. The membership fees were down by £45 but this was mainly due to many members now paying the concession fee rather than the full fee. A profit of £28 had been made on the sale of teas & coffees at the meetings. There was only a minor increase in the public liability insurance premium. A recent purchase of storage boxes for the archive amounted to £25. Mrs Reid then invited any questions on the accounts from the meeting. As there were none, Mr Dryden thanked her for her report and asked that the accounts be formally adopted by the meeting. These were proposed by Mrs Mary Renwick and seconded by Mr Duncan Chisholm. Mr Dryden also expressed thanks on behalf the society to Mrs Mary Muirhead for auditing the accounts. He asked that a letter recording our appreciation be sent to Mrs Muirhead. The secretary Mrs Sheena Johnson would attend to the matter. 5. Amendment to the Constitution. Mr Dryden explained the reasons for the proposed amendment. He said that when the society was formed in 1982, the then treasurer arranged for the accounts of the society to be audited by a competent or suitably qualified person at the end of the accounting period. In 1985 the Society adopted a constitution, which states that the accounts shall be audited by two auditors, one of whom must be professionally qualified. The current practice of the society is therefore clearly out of step with the constitution. Mr Dryden said that he had thought long and hard on this and come to the conclusion that the matter had to be regularised. He said that he had discussed it with the committee and with the present auditor. His own feeling was that as the transactions across the accounts were not numerous and the sums of money were not high, that it could become rather cumbersome to approach two auditors to audit our accounts. He said that the present treasurer kept the accounts in very good order and that the present auditor was a very competent and experienced person. He said that he felt that the time had come for the members to approve an alteration to the constitution. As such an amendment could only be made at an annual general meeting, he therefore recommended that the current clause governing "Auditors", be deleted and replaced by "The accounts of the society shall be audited by a suitably qualified or competent person". A short discussion followed and Mr Dryden answered questions from the meeting and clarified the matter. Mr Andrew Sharp moved that the amendment be adopted by the meeting and this was seconded by Mr George Campbell. 6. Chairman's Report Mr Dryden reminded the meeting of the summer and autumn outings of last year (in May & September 2000), to Kellie Castle near Pittenweem and the David Livingstone Centre at Blantyre, respectively. He was pleased to advise that arrangements were now in hand for this year's summer outing to New Lanark on 26th May. In October of last year, the society honoured two of its founder members Dr Mary Noble and Mr George Campbell and also the immediate past chairman Neil Stewart, with life membership of the society. This was in recognition of the invaluable contributions that they had made to the society over many years. Furthermore the society was delighted when Mr Stewart agreed to become its honorary president. Mr Dryden believed that this was a very fitting position for Mr Stewart to hold as he was still doing a lot of work for the society and fronting it in many ways. Dr Noble was also recently congratulated in attaining an important milestone as far as years young are concerned. Sadly however we learned of the deaths of two members of the society, Cathy Rennex and Mrs Elliot and once again we were grateful to these ladies for the support that they had given us over many years. Our meetings during this season have covered a variety of aspects. After a brief trip down "The Royal Mile" in October, Dr Myles Oglethorpe, of The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland (RCAHMS), gave us a talk at our November meeting on "Our Industrial Heritage". From the start of 2001 our programme changed each month from the printed version for a variety of reasons. However the meetings went ahead with replacement speakers being brought in at often very short notice. In January, Bill Scott gave us a talk on the "Recording Angels" project and he was followed by Neil Stewart who spoke about the website that he was developing on behalf the society and the enquiries received from it so far. These included the "Memoirs of Mrs Janet Somerville Brown", whose story was subsequently serialised in the local newspaper, the "Advertiser". Copies of this story will be made available to members at a later date. In February Mr John Hackland gave us a very interesting talk about the "Thistle Chapel". In March we had an interesting members evening with contributions from Mrs Jean Sharp on "The Old Guide Hut", Mr James Dempsey on his bivouac days and local personalities remembered. Mrs Margaret Hamilton gave us reminiscences about Black's Bakery, Herd's Chemist Shop and life around the High Street in general, in days gone by. Mr Dryden offered thanks on behalf of the society to all our speakers for their time. On local issues, Mr Dryden had written on behalf of the society to Midlothian Council expressing concern about the potential demolition of William McTaggart's studio at Dean Park to make space for a patients' car park at the proposed site of the new health centre at Quarryhead. The committee also agreed to try to repair the grave of Pierre Langlade at Cockpen cemetery. Mr Langlade was a designer at Henry Widnell & Stewart in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and was also an artist. Midlothian Council have made Mr Langlade's grave safe. The gravestone cross and lettering still need to be repaired and this will cost approximately £481. Mr Dryden had written to Historic Scotland, the Royal Commission on Ancient and Historic Monuments of Scotland (RCAHMS) and Midlothian Council to seek whole or part funding for this repair. Historic Scotland and RCAHMS have declined and no decision has yet been received from Midlothian Council. If Midlothian Council decline then there are other avenues to explore. Fund raising may also be considered. Thanks were also extended to the Kirk Session of Bonnyrigg Parish Church for allowing us to continue to rent the Pitcairn Centre for our meetings. In conclusion, Mr Dryden expressed his thanks to the members of the society for their support and encouragement and a particular thank you to Neil Stewart for assistance over the last 12 months. 7. Election of Office Bearers and Committee. Mr Dryden reminded the meeting of the names of the retiring committee. These were Mrs Margaret Waugh as vice chairman, Mrs Sheena Johnson as secretary, Mrs Margaret Reid as treasurer. Also Mrs Ena Tait, Mrs Helen Hope and Mrs Margaret Hamilton as committee members together with Miss Cathy Simpson who had been co-opted to the committee during the last year. All had indicated prior to the meeting that they were willing to serve for another year. As there were no further nominations received for office bearers, it was suggested that the retiring vice chairman, secretary and treasurer be re-elected to serve for another year. This was proposed by Mrs Jan Brown and seconded by Mrs Jean Sharp. Similarly the retiring committee members were re-elected, proposed by Mr Alex Waugh and seconded by Mr James Dempsey. Mr Dryden thanked the office bearers and committee members for their hard work and support throughout a challenging year. Mrs Margaret Waugh asked the meeting for nominations for a replacement for Mr Dryden as chairman. Mr Andrew Sharp asked whether Mr Dryden was prepared to continue as chairman and Mrs Waugh confirmed that he was willing to serve for another year. Mrs Waugh recorded her thanks on behalf of the committee and members for all the hard work that Mr Dryden had done during the year. Mr Dryden was re-elected as chairman, proposed by Mr Andrew Sharp and unanimously endorsed by the meeting. 8. Any Other Competent Business. Mr James Dempsey asked that we record our congratulations to Neil Stewart following his recent appointment as a Justice of the Peace for Midlothian. Mrs Sheena Johnson had received a letter from the secretary of Cousland History Society regarding a planning application recently submitted to Midlothian Council. It proposes the building of houses around a historic site at Cousland, on land that contains an old building that was once a nunnery dating back to the 11th or 12th centuries. Cousland is a very small village and is very historic and it is felt that the building of houses would destroy the ambience of the village and the historic site. We have been asked for our support by opposing this application. Mrs Johnson wrote to the Planning Dept of Midlothian Council opposing the application. She received a reply stating that her letter would be held with the planning application pending a decision on the matter. Mr Dryden reminded members to return their booking forms for the summer outing to New Lanark, to Mrs Johnson, no later than 4th May and he hoped that those attending would enjoy a pleasant day. The first meeting of the 2001/2002 season would be on the third Wednesday of October 2001. Mr Dryden confirmed one speaker for the new programme and that would be Mr Jan-Andrew Henderson, who would be giving us a talk on "Edinburgh's Underground City" at our February 2002 meeting. As there was no further business Mr Dryden thanked everyone for their attendance and closed the meeting. A buffet meal for the members followed.