Ilmington

TRADITIONAL ILMINGTON MORRIS MEN: The Traditional Ilmington Morris Men recently arranged a reunion for past and present members for a visit by Dr Chris Green. Chris, was a founder member of the Ilmington Morris, formed in 1975. He was a doctor of plant pathology at the Wellesbourne Horticultural Research Station during the mid 1970s when living in Shipston. His interest in folk dancing and Cotswold Morris was inspirational in the formation of a morris side in Shipston in 1975 along with Paul Bryan, Roy Cook (current members), Stan Jones, Colin Short, Keith Warmington, George Renton and fiddle player Harry 'Fid' Sturch (the last remaining link with the earlier morris). At a meeting in The Red Lion Inn, Ilmington, on September 21 that year, it was decided to concentrate the side's interest in the Ilmington dances. In 1986 Chris emigrated to Australia, having paid a return visit in the late 80s, the recent visit has seen a lapse of 10 years. During the evening he attended a morris practice to see the side's progress into the new millennium.

He was accompanied by his partner, Sherree, who shares a mutual interest in folk dance and as an accordion player. Both were entertained afterwards at the Red Lion courtesy of Ellie and Bob Johnson. The proceedings culminated in the presentation of a framed print of a photograph of Chris taken in 1989 together with fellow founder members Paul Bryan, Roy Cook and Stan Jones with Professor Dorothy Hodgkin at Crab Mill. Copies were given to the other founders as a memento. A copy of the book on Ilmington was also given by Paul Bryan with a commemorative signature certificate of reunion members.

VILLAGE HALL AGM: The chairman, Nick Walker, reported on the continuing satisfactory level of bookings, and that the rebuilding project had been closed out. They had had to take out a loan of £3,500 from ACRE to cover the shortfall. He thanked treasurer, Ray Christie, secretary, Margaret Allan, and booking secretary, Carol Hawkins, for all their hard work, and the Allen family for keeping the hall clean. The treasurer reported that the cost of insurance and cleaning had gone up substantially. There had been no expenditure on maintenance or repairs but that would change.

All the bills in connection with the rebuilding project has been paid, and all outstanding grants had been received. There had been a shortfall of £7,746 due mainly to the dry rot in the hall, stage and partition wall, and additional requirements from the fire officer.

Some additional grants had been obtained for the work on the stage and £4,246 had been transferred from general funds. That, together with the loan of £3,500 from ACRE had cleared the shortfall, and left a balance of £1,594. Tony Wilkins proposed a vote of thanks to Mr Christie for all his work. The chairman and committee were then re-elected en bloc. The booking secretary reported that her book was full, with many bookings for next year, and that the hall was so heavily used that she could not give anyone else a regular slot. The chairman then said that the pre-school did its best to fit in with other users, and by and large this was working well. Mr Christie said that the problem would come when someone wanted to hire the whole hall. At present all the pre-school equipment is stored on the stage and in the committee room; having spent a lot of money on having the stage rebuild the committee must be able to let the stage as well. It had been proposed some time ago to have a shed for storage, but this was shelved because there was no money. The matter would have to be resolved during the coming year, and sources of finance found. The chairman asked whether the loan should be repaid as soon as possible. It was agreed that curtains to separate the lounge from the main hall, costing about £300, should be bought first. It was also agreed that it could be left to the committee to repay the loan early if possible. Mr Wilkins asked about charges to hire the hall. The chairman replied other villages compared favourably with Ilmington. Mr Christie said that the rates were fair but low, and could be maintained for the moment. The chairman said that it was superb to have the pre-school in the hall. He hoped it would prosper and continue for many years to come.