At the AGM on 30th October 1984 the Secretary, Alan Wheeler, reported on the hiring of the Town Hall for a 150th anniversary dinner and dance. In addition he reported ‘a new automatic loft ladder (was) installed after once seeing the Steward (Len Barrell) swinging, without a parachute, from the loft opening’. During the past year the Membership Committee ‘interviewed and recommended 48 applicants for election’. There were now 317 members, including 56 associates.
During the year, the charges for using the snooker table were discussed and payment was raised to the exalted heights of 10p for six minutes or £1 an hour.
In April it was reported to the Committee that the President, Sydney Hyde, was seriously ill in St. Edmundsbury Nursing Home at Bury St. Edmunds, where he subsequently died.
At the same meeting, Ted Cornish reported on the fixture list for the Club’s cricket team, for which six matches had been arranged.
At the Club’s AGM held in October 1985, the new President, John Wardman, compared the Club to a first class meal, the ‘real meat of the Club’, the Secretary, Alan Wheeler and Treasurer, Martin Walker, being compared to ‘roast beef and Yorkshire pudding’. Photos of the two immediate past Presidents, Leslie Francis and Sydney Hyde, were to be framed and hung opposite the bar.
In the Secretary’s report mention was made of the Club’s social activities –a Dinner Dance, the Christmas Draw evening, the New Year’s Eve party plus snooker singles and doubles competitions and a horse racing evening, plus the traditional Fruit and Veg Show in September. Recently Sydney Hyde’s widow, Diane, had donated her late husband’s ‘treasured collection of cricket books’ to be displayed securely in the Club for members’ enjoyment.
A Special General Meeting, called for 22nd April 1986, discussed the oft recurring subject of poor support from a large proportion of members and a drop in bar takings over the previous year. The Steward was spoken to on the subject.
Redecoration of the outside of the Club had been completed and a team of volunteers redecorated the Club lounge and games room during the year. The bar was to be open ‘for a trial period’ from 7.00 p.m. to 10.30 p.m. on Sunday evenings, mainly for the benefit of Club cricketers returning from matches but to be manned by volunteers. Tony Robinson suggested an ‘Open Evening’ so that ‘friends of Members could come and see what the Club had to offer’.
Membership had declined to 243 by the time of the 1986 AGM, of which 46 were associates. At the AGM it was noted that the Club’s single wicket cricket competition was won in ‘monsoon weather’ by Stephen Cornish ‘probably because, being quite tall, he could keep his head above water’. One hundred tickets were sold for the Annual Dinner Dance held at Lucas CAV’s Social Centre in October and ‘the + Club made a small profit’. A decline of 20% in bar takings over the past four years was cause for concern.
At the December committee meeting, it was reported that malt whisky was now available ‘at 65p per tot’. For 1987 the new Secretary, Colin Jordan, had drawn up a proposed year plan, detailing projected events which were inserted in the minutes. It makes the Club look a hive of activity!
A pool table came into operation in early 1987 and the need for an ‘extractor fan for the Sports Hall’ was discussed. A fixture list for the cricket section of the Club shows an ambitious 31 fixtures arranged for Wednesdays and Sundays throughout the summer.
Bar takings were reported as ‘very good – particularly on Sunday evenings when our Cricketers were entertaining their ‘victors’ (victims?)’.
The winner of a cycle ride to Bury St. Edmunds on 2 Ist June was Ted Cornish with a time of 2 hours 38 minutes. The Minutes add ‘the fact that W. E. Cornish was also the timekeeper had no significance, it was said’.
At the November AGM it was agreed that the subscription should be increased to £10, together with a £9 joining fee from Ist January 1988. Perhaps reflecting the influence of inflation, at the 1989 AGM a further increase in subscriptions to £15 was passed, although pensioners would only be asked for £10. The President reported on the donation and installation of the late Sydney Hyde’s cricket library ‘while the Bar Committee have juggled the figures yet again to make this one of the cheapest places in town to have a drink’. The Secretary announced the winners of various Club tournaments which included Snooker (Singles and Doubles), Table Tennis, Darts, Pool, Single Wicket, and Fruit and Veg Show winners.
In 1989, the then President, John Wardman, decided that ‘enough is enough’ and proposed Martin Walker as the Club’s next President.
Events of that year were reported on by the Secretary, including a Spring Dinner attended by 60 members and the Annual Dinner Dance which attracted 107 members and friends. There had also been ‘regular Quiz Evenings ..... Treasure Hunt ..... a Valentine’s Party, a 60s Evening and a Tramps Night’.
By the 1990 AGM the President was thanking ‘our Genial Steward, Paddy’ (Paddy Fitzpatrick) who had taken over bar duties during the year. The ‘upstairs offices have been occupied by Sudbury Duplicating since last January’ and were bringing in much appreciated revenue. Bar takings were reported as ‘now reaching figures of £750 per week’; , by the following year that had risen to an average of £865. Speaking of increases, members today will wince when they read that, in August 1991, because of brewery increases, the price of a pint rose by 7p to £1.12. A ‘Fifty Club’ was in operation and was attracting new members.
Alterations to the bar and kitchen had been completed, mostly by volunteer labour, by the AGM of 1992 but it was noted that recession was having an impact on the Club’s fortunes. By 1993 a deficit of £4,000 had increased to £5,000, partly due to two burglaries the Club had experienced during the year when the contents of the two gaming machines had been the primary targets.
Minutes of the AGM for 1996 being absent from the records, we pass on to 1998 at which 20 members were present. Membership had declined to 178. Further break-ins during 1998 prompted the President, Martin Walker, to declare the year an ‘Annus Horibilis’, echoing the Queen’s recent comments about the fire at Windsor Castle.
By 2002 the inclusion of postal voting for members unable to attend the AGM was being considered and eventually passed. A Beer Festival had become established as a regular event in May; it was to prove a great success and, with the stability behind the bar, membership and takings began to increase steadily.
A weekly quiz had also established itself on a Sunday night, with Brian Starling acting as Quiz Master. This was inherited by the Club from The Boat House and gradually quiz participants became Club members.
During May 2004 a new Steward was being sought after the resignation of the previous incumbent, Mrs. Pauline Hooper, and her Deputy, Nigel Simpson. Neil Garnham was interviewed and started work on 21st June 2004 ushering in a new era for the Club. A bar rota was set up in August consisting of Neil, Peter Lockyer and Paddy Fitzpatrick.
The Beer Festival, now becoming a tradition in the Club, that year recorded a profit of £1,198. At the AGM in 2004 the Club had 468 members, bringing in a revenue from subscriptions of £4,124. Since then a day at Newmarket Races and a Golf Day have become regular events enjoyed by quite a lot of the membership.
In 2007 Alex Jagger was elected onto an all-male committee and in 2008 Jenny Batley took over as Secretary of the Club whilst Ben King became the third member of an effective and efficient bar staff consisting of Neil Garnham and Peter Lockyer.
This brings the Club firmly up-to-date in its 175th birthday year. It seems in good shape to face the future, whatever it may hold.
Philip Walker, July 2009