South Wales Mountaineering Club

Clwb Dringo De Cymru

www.southwalesmountaineering.org.uk

Newsletter, December 2000

Notes from the editor

Nadolig Llawen, Happy Christmas to all our club members. The AGM and Annual Dinner should still be fresh in the memories of those that attended.

The club is forty years old this year and still going strong. There is plenty in the pipeline to ensure it continues to grow and strengthen.

For those that are unaware of the political wranglings that take place, a visit to next years AGM would be very enlightening. Those that attend get to vote in new committee members. Those that don't attend get voted onto the committee!

The coming years committee is made up as follows;

Not committee members as such, but holding positions of some awesome responsibility are;

Please remember those named are elected officers of the club and have agreed to give up some of their time for the benefit of the club. They represent you and your views. If you have any issues you need to raise about the club and how it conducts its self, contact the most relevant or friendliest sounding person. The committee meets about every six weeks, and will discuss and hopefully resolve anything brought to their attention.

Newsletter publication

The newsletter will be published every third month, starting with Dec. 2000. (I've never been a newsletter editor or any other type of editor before, so feedback to the above email address would be very useful.)

Hopefully, all members that are able, will have provided their membership sec. with an email address. Those that want can then receive this newsletter via the information super highway, cutting down on considerable cost for the club in printing and posting. Obviously, those that aren't able to receive their full colour, all singing and dancing electric newsletter, can still receive a printed copy. Future newsletters will hopefully include the occasional picture and the like, which will be of much better quality transferred to you by a computer rather than a tired and damp postie.

Club membership 2001 and on

Membership now costs; Junior/Student£5:50 Full £11:00 Married£16:00

All members are encouraged to pay membership by Standing Order. Those that already do so, along with those that wish to do so, should note that the club account details have changed and are as follows;

STANDING ORDER MANDATE

Applicants Bank Details:

To:____________________BankPlc________________________________________Address

Account to

be debited:_________________AccountNumber:____ _______SortCode__________

Please Pay (Beneficiary's Bank Details): Bank& Branch Name: Lloyds Bank, Swansea West

SWMC Reference: Sort Code Number:30 98 85 Account Number: 00604339 Name:SWMC

Each payment: £

Date of first payment to be made as soon as possible after:

Date of second first working day after:01/01/2001

Then subsequent payments to be made on the first working day of each New Year Annually

Please delete one of the following:

1. This is a new instruction

2. Please cancel any previous standing order in favour of the Beneficiary under the above reference

Signature(s)_____________________________Date_________________________________

Those that are reading this from a monitor can print the relevant page and use it as their standing order instruction to their bank. Just fill it in and send it to your membership secretary who will put it through the banking system.

Cardiff Mem. Sec: Phone 029 20214677

Swansea Mem. Sec: Phone 01792 535931

Reports from the AGM

The rise in subscriptions has come about as a result of the Rates being re assessed on the Barn.

Most of the current healthy bank account will need to be spent on projects at the Barn and the advance costs for the Guidebook production.

Item 9.5 of the constitution was amended to the effect that three people are authorised to sign cheques on behalf of the club. Two of the three must sign.

You've had the new members of the committee. Some people have moved to other posts, and some people have stood down. The following is a list of those we should thank for their time and effort. Well done and thanks to you all.

Steve Lewis. John Custance. Haydn Griffiths. Chris Wyatt. Bryn Jones.

Members are to be asked for email addresses on this years membership form, hopefully enhancing communication within the club.

Other matters were discussed, a full account of which can be had in the AGM minutes, available from the Secretary.

The next AGM will be held on Wednesday 14^th November 2001 in Cardiff.

Reports from the committee

The committee last met on the 5^th December 2000 and the following items are reported.

The website is up and running and will be continually developed in order to provide the best facility possible.

A new members pack is being developed and should be available in the New Year. This should remove the shrouded mists about such things as the Barn and how to access it, weekly meets etc..

Karl Skett raised issues about the Access Rep. structure and how we interact with the BMC. He will be preparing a report for the next committee meeting which should form the basis of a document to send to BMC head office.

The new Guidebook should be published around Easter 2001, but obviously this is subject to a number of factors, not all of which are under our control.

Advertisers may be given space within the guidebook. Anybody who would

like to purchase it or has any ideas for the sale of same are urged to contact a committee member ASAP.

Over the years a significant number of women have joined the club but allowed their membership to lapse. SWMC is open to all and should ideally reflect the community we live in. In order to address any perceived imbalances between male and female membership, Linda Jensen will be organising a series of events over the next year to attract and retain women members. Anyone with strong views or good ideas should contact Linda.

On a similar vein it is important that SWMC operates as a single club, not two. A series of Club-wide meets is to be planned by Gary Lewis, hopefully increasing contact between members from the Swansea and Cardiff areas. It is hoped to hold two such meets every year at venues across the country.

Other matters were discussed which will be reported upon as they develop.

The committee will next be meeting on Thursday 25^th January 2000.

Letter from the barn warden

I took over as Barn Warden at the last AGM. Steve Lewis is now working up at Aberdovey and is still involved in the barn maintenance but can't make it to the Committee meetings.

I used the barn quite a bit over the summer and thought it needed some attention. If you have been round the Lincoln MC hut next door, you would definitely agree. I am building up a list of things that need doing: my list includes a fridge, toaster and new plates and cutlery for the kitchen, a new shower head in the washroom, and a trip to the launderette for the mattress covers.

Maybe you have got some ideas or things that niggle you when you visit. I am going to put a suggestions book in the barn, but you can also contact me direct as per the Committee list.

We will be having a work weekend in the New Year organised by Steve, on the weekend of 3/4 February. Please try to come along if you can: ask a Committee member about getting a lift up to North Wales.

Also, I am trying to work out how many keys we have to the barn. There are supposed to be 14 and at present I can account for numbers 12 to 14. If you have got one of numbers 1-11, can you return it or at least tell Pete Bennett or Nigel Lewis in Cardiff or me in Swansea. The alternative is to change the lock again.

Thanks. Kim Collis

Goings on at the Annual Dinner

A full report of the goings on should hopefully appear in a forthcoming edition. Anyone wishing to avoid having their embarrassing moments published should write an article highlighting other people's behaviour. The best one gets published, and in true "Big Brother" fashion, what gets recorded becomes history, regardless of actual events!

The dinner was a great success with eulogies, slide shows, barracking and an evacuation. Some 104 people attended, including mountaineers from the 1950s to those that joined in 2000.

The Annual Dinner 2001 will be held on Saturday 17^th November 2001 in the Swansea area. Book early to avoid disappointment.

Swansea Meetings

Swansea members meet at 2130 hrs, Wednesday nights at The Rhyddings, Bryn Mill. There is also a regular trip to the wall at Welsh International Climbing Centre on Friday nights. Anybody who wants to go and needs directions or a lift share can contact Kim Collis (email) or Anne Pitman (email or 01792 535931).

Cardiff based members are particularly invited to come along.

The forthcoming slide shows have been rearranged and are as follows.

Wednesday 17 January: Jo Ellis, Alps, (Trevor Tucker will also be showing some of his slides from the early years of the Club, as seen at the Dinner)

Wednesday 7 February: Mike Danford, Norway, & Dave Griffiths, Pyrenees

Wednesday 7 March: Ann Pitman and Mark Winder, Kilimanjaro

Cardiff meetings

During British Summer Time (a misnomer if ever there was!), the Cardiff members meet at 1810 hrs, Wednesday nights at Asda car park, Jcn. 32, (Coryton) before heading off to a venue. Lift sharing is the norm.

During the winter people head to the wall on Wednesdays, with lifts being shared after prior arrangement.

The first Wednesday of every month sees a slide show at Llandaf Rugby Club.

Swansea based members are particularly invited to come along.

Letters from members

Any old rope going spare? A canoeing member wants your old rope. Any donations via Anne Pitman.

Coming soon

The next newsletter will be published in March 2001. Please submit any items, requests or pictures by Dydd Dewi Sant. (1^st March) to n.and.l@ntlworld.com

All submissions will be considered for publication and most probably printed.