Minutes of the Annual General Meeting of the Bonnyrigg & Lasswade Local History Society held in the Pitcairn Centre, High Street, Bonnyrigg on Wednesday 21st April 2010. 1. Introduction. Neil Stewart opened the meeting and welcomed those present. He explained the procedure to be followed for the AGM and intimated that the evening had also been advertised as a members’ night in the hope that it would encourage more people to come along. He said that he would be presenting further information obtained in the research into the history of “Henry Widnell & Stewart – Carpet Manufacturers”, at the end of the meeting. 2. Apologies. Apologies were recorded on behalf of Jim Murray, Mary Renwick, Mr. & Mrs. George Masterton and Sheila Turner. 3. Minutes of the last Annual General Meeting. These were formally approved by the meeting, proposed by Alex Waugh and seconded by Jane Forsyth. 4. Treasurer's Report. This was delivered by Howard Turner and members were referred to the Balance Sheet and the following brief explanation was given: Membership of the Society had fallen by 5 to 53 but with so many visitors attending total subscriptions had increased by £3.00. A grant of £134.00 had been received from Midlothian Council but with public expenditure cuts being imminent it was uncertain whether we would continue to receive this grant. Expenses for speakers were £40.00 and this was lower due to talks being delivered by members rather than invited speakers. The excursion to Traquair House was not well supported and amounted to a loss of £68.00 being incurred. The tea & coffee fund made a profit of £46.00. A decision had been taken to cancel our subscription to the Scottish Local History Forum. The subscription had increased to £24.00 with the intimation that a further increase was imminent. As few members actually read the magazines and since they were all readily available through Bonnyrigg Public Library and the Local Studies office at Loanhead, there seemed little point in maintaining our subscription. A further attempt to find cheaper public liability insurance had been unsuccessful. Our bank balance was £754.00 and this amounted to an increase of £32.00 over last year. There are no plans to increase subscriptions for the coming year. Howard then invited questions from the members regarding the accounts. As there were none received, Neil Stewart recorded his thanks to Howard Turner and asked for the accounts to be formally adopted by the meeting. The adoption of the accounts was proposed by Margaret Waugh and seconded by Jean Sharpe. Thanks were also recorded to Mary Muirhead for examining the accounts. She was re-appointed as independent examiner for the following year, proposed by Isobel Ferguson and seconded by Catherine Simpson. 5. Interim-Chairman's Report Neil Stewart was pleased to report on another successful year. In October 2009, our speaker was Jim Murray supported by his colleague John Scott on “The History of Jenner’s”, exploring the Lasswade connection. This also gave us a valuable insight into the methods used in this type of research. Jim Murray subsequently made available a lot of the material from the research in an exhibition in Bonnyrigg Public Library. This exhibition had been well received. In November 2009, Susan Oakes gave us an interesting talk on “Old Lead Mines of West Linton”. In January 2010, we had a members’ evening and our subject was “Sharing Memories of Our School Days” This was designed to encourage members to do a bit of research and the meeting was led by Jim Murray. In February 2010, Helen & Neil Stewart gave a presentation on “The History of Henry Widnell & Stewart” – Carpet manufacturers in Bonnyrigg, Eskbank & Roslin”. In March 2010, we heard an excellent talk by Ian Hogarth on “Scottish Mining Disasters”. Neil Stewart said that throughout the year that attendances had been high and this proved that the Society was a very popular organisation in the area. He also commended the committee for delivering an excellent programme for the year and for all of their hard work. He asked the meeting to show their appreciation in the usual way. 6. Election of Office Bearers and Committee. Neil Stewart reminded the meeting of the retiring committee. This consisted of Howard Turner, Christine Cunningham, Christine Elliot, Jane Forsyth, Jim Murray, Helen Stewart & Margaret Waugh. He said that he had been advised that all of those current committee members were willing to stand for another year. He therefore proposed that these people be re-elected en-bloc and this was unanimously approved by the meeting. The appointment of Office Bearers then followed. Christine Cunningham was re-appointed as Secretary, proposed by Andrew Sharpe and seconded by Jan Brown. Howard Turner was re-appointed as Treasurer, proposed by Alex Waugh and seconded by Jean Sharpe. Herbert Dryden was elected as Chairman, proposed by Neil Stewart and seconded by Christine Elliot. The position of Vice Chairman remained unfilled and this would now be referred back to the committee for a resolution. The new committee appointed by the members, was confirmed, namely Herbert Dryden (Chairman), Howard Turner (Treasurer), Christine Cunningham (Secretary), Margaret Waugh, Christine Elliot, Helen Stewart, Jane Forsyth and Jim Murray. Howard Turner intimated that this would be his last year as Treasurer and that he would be resigning at the next AGM. 7. Any Other Competent Business. Howard Turner reminded the meeting that a book given to the Society on the history of Rosslynlee Hospital would be passed to the Bonnyrigg Public Library for members of the public to borrow. The book is entitled “Up By” and has been written by Dr R J Craig. Suggestions were invited for a Summer Outing. The Falkirk Wheel, Culross, Falkland Palace, Glamis Castle, Floors Castle, Brechin Castle and Drumlanrig were offered by the meeting. Any others should be given to Christine Cunningham. As there were no further items of business Neil Stewart closed the meeting and thanked the members for their attendance. A presentation of further information on “The History of Henry Widnell & Stewart – Carpet Manufacturers”, followed.