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ISSN 1463-9564 ANNUAL REPORT 2003 - 2004
16-18 Queen Square, Bath, BA1 2HN
THE CHAIRMAN'S REVIEWThis year's Annual Report once again records the Institution continuing its successful programme of high quality lectures and discussions as well as expanding its activities. There are two new groups, Poetry and World of Antiquities which are gathering in their own followers and contributors. The new "Belief" series of lectures has given members and visitors the opportunity to learn about many facets of spiritual experience. This year the popular lunch time talks, held monthly, have followed a theme which attracted many who wanted to know about the many museums in Bath. This has been a special year for the Collections. In February a new Collections Manager, Matthew Williams, was appointed and he has already begun to make his mark. Then in May the Institution was granted full recognition as a "Museum" by the Council for Museums, Libraries and Archives. This is a tribute to the ten year efforts of the Collection Committee and its team of volunteers who have catalogued, conserved and appropriately stored the thousands of specimens and artefacts in the Institution's keeping. Ways now have to be found to enable the public greater access to the Collections. Sadly we also have to note that the Collections and the whole of BRLSI suffered a great loss in the untimely death of John Lewis. He worked hard to reorganise the Library, taught volunteers how to repair and conserve books as well as initiating the "Adopt a Book" scheme to raise money to repair and rebind many of the more valuable books. There have been changes among the nominated Trustees. Professor Peter Haggett, the nominee of the British Academy has come to the end of his term of office. Professor Jocelyn Bell Burnell has also left the Board because she has taken early retirement from the University of Bath. We are grateful for the interest that these eminent academics have shown in BRLSI and wish them well in their retirement. We look forward to welcoming their successors, Professor William Doyle and Dr. Gareth Price. In December Angela Ould resigned as Secretary to the Board of Trustees much to the regret of all. We were, however, very fortunate that she was replaced immediately by Anthony Griffiths, a relatively new member, who volunteered his services. With our ever widening range of activities we need more volunteers like him who can bring their expertise and time to the service of the Institution. More members are needed to serve on committees or assist with practical tasks which make it possible for interesting events to take place at the Institution nearly every evening and now during the day as well. Since he retired as Trustee in October Bob Draper has continued to act as house manager, preparing rooms for lectures and discussion groups. This task is becoming a full time job but Bob already has a full-time job at the University! We realised how much we depended on him for the successful functioning of the Institution when earlier this year Bob took a holiday. If we expand our activities volunteers are needed to give Bob regular and reliable assistance. This September he will have been away again representing BRLSI at the first international conference of Mechanics Institutes and Literary and Scientific Institutions in Melbourne, Australia. He is to make a presentation about the revival of BRLSI and its growing success thanks to the dedication and enthusiasm of members over the past ten years. We look forward to hearing about his experiences, so that we can continue to work with enthusiasm for BRLSI. In January 2005 the tenants who occupy the major part of our building, the B&NES Training Services, will agree a new lease which should mean that BRLSI has more use of the Pink Room and so can expand our activities. Recently, the company Red-Central which occupies the Moore Room decided to leave earlier than expected because essential repairs have to be done to the roof-lantern. Hence there are now two sets of legal negotiations in progress plus the planning for the repair work. This has meant a great deal of extra work which has been undertaken by Andy Pepperdine, Chairman of the Management Committee, and Rodney Tye as Chairman of the Finance Subcommittee. On behalf of the Institution I thank them most warmly. As always the thanks of BRLSI go also to our indefatigable part-time Administrators, Brenda Vicary-Finch and Angela Reichardt. For a few weeks recently Kirsty Allen has helped them out for one hour a day doing the basic housekeeping so that the ground floor room remains a pleasant venue for members and visitors. The three part-time paid staff and the many volunteers are the team behind the success to date of the Institution but further progress will not be made unless more volunteers come forward. The number of paid staff that can be employed is limited by our modest financial resources. I recognise that the recurring theme of this review is the need for more volunteers and that this is a repetition of last year's report. I trust that you will read the Annual Report with pleasure and then be inspired to contribute more to BRLSI's future achievements.
Nancy Catchpole
THE MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE After nine years of continuous work at the centre of the Institution, Bob Draper stepped down as Trustee and as Chairman of the Management Committee as our Articles require. However, he has not left us, and continues to ensure that all our events are provided with the equipment they need. At the end of August 2004, he went to Australia as our representative at an international meeting of Mechanical Institutes, followed by a well-earned break. We have a very welcome addition in Matt Williams, our new Collections Manager, who is bringing much needed experience and contacts to the development of the collections. It was not long after he joined us that we heard that we have been recognised as a full museum by SWMLAC, but the honour will last only one year if we cannot create better access to the artefacts and objects in the collection. Yet another change in duties is that Marie-Louise Luxemburg has agreed to help in the production of the Proceedings, after Don Lovell thought it best for his eyesight if he did not continue. Talking of the Proceedings, you will all have noticed that, thanks to all the work put in by Paul Birkeland-Green, our new membership cards are now small CDs which contain the Proceedings for the previous year, as a number of you have expressed a preference for an electronically encoded form to save paper and printing costs. We intend to make this a permanent feature, and paper copies can still be obtained on application to the office. We have had another very full year of events, including a day about Andrea Casali, who painted the ceiling pictures in the Pink Room on the occasion of them being re-instated after long and painstaking conservation work. The are still missing their gilt surrounds, which will be added when the room is next decorated. You will also have seen the transparent porch on the ground floor, which gives us the opportunity of allowing the outer door to be left open to make the approach much more welcoming, and also to allow passers-by access to our diaries and details of lectures. We have not been so successful in some other applications for work; in particular, we proposed a ramp up to the front door of number 18 to aid the disabled access to the building. However, it could be achieved only at a steeper slope than the recommended limit, and has been turned down. However, since the difference is slight, and we are concerned about access to our facilities, we are considering an appeal. Our tenants in the Moore Room, Red Central, who have been a model of tolerance and good sense, have decided to leave us this autumn. The good news is that we will now be able to maintain the lantern light and maybe upgrade the toilet facilities with minimum upheaval. It also means we may be looking for a new tenant for that area. Negotiations are in progress with B&NES training services regarding a new lease for their use of parts of the building when the current lease expires at the end of December 2004. All in all,
it's been a very busy year and the next one looks the same. Andy Pepperdine
MEMBERS' MEETING, 5 June, 2004
Members’ Comments
Anthony Griffiths
SUB-COMMITTEES COLLECTIONS
1.1 Casali Paintings Sadly, due to a number of different factors, there has been very little progress on the project to improve the presentation and access too the Casali paintings this year. The Pink Room requires redecorating, the lighting to be assessed and improved and a commemorative/explanatory plaque commissioning. In light of the repatriation of the Pink Room, as of January 2005, and its forthcoming redecoration (possibly under dilapidations) it seems necessary to pursue the lighting and mounting of the Casali paintings as a matter of the utmost importance. Work is anticipated to start at the beginning of 2005. 1.2 Disaster Plan Earlier in the year John and Evelyn Lewis visited the National Preservation Office at the British Library for advice on developing a disaster plan, which would include the whole building and its contents. Following this John and Evelyn began to produce a draft disaster plan. The Emergency Manual, which. we already had, will be suitable for entering details of most of the plan. Following the sad death of John Lewis, Evelyn Lewis has handed over the work that they had done together on the disaster plan to Matt Williams. The document is intended to be amended, augmented and handed in draft form to the Management Committee at the earliest opportunity. However this, and other collections management documents, are currently on hold while the Collections Manager prepares an event for Heritage Open Week. 1.3 Registration Vicky Dawson of SWMLAC (South West Museums Libraries and Archives Council) met with representatives of the MLA (Museums, Libraries and Archives Council) in order to present our case for full museum registration in June of this year. Our application was successful and we were granted Full Registration under "The Museum Registration Scheme". Vicky Dawson at SWMLAC has congratulated us on our success but has emphasised that we must continue to maintain registration standards. The first priority was that we accession all un-accessioned material and the second is that we catalogue all unregistered material. Matt Williams has been encouraged to pursue a program of professional development in order to "increase his knowledge of collections management issues". An application to pursue an NVQ-4 in Cultural Heritage was successfully made but there have been numerous delays on the part of Strode College in enrolling Matt on the course. 1.4 Management documents Following the creation of a Library Policy early in the year Matt Williams began a project to produce Procedures and Guidelines covering aspects of collections management such as Object entry, Accessioning, Cataloguing, Labelling of Objects, etc. This was in an attempt to standardise procedures to a level of best practice as outlined by the MLA. The project is not yet complete and has, due to concerns raised by the Management Committee, been expanded to include copyright issues. The intention is to produce a folder with all these procedural rules enclosed for the easy reference of staff and volunteers alike and should be completed prior to Christmas 2004. 2. Collections 2.1 Library The library catalogue was completed this year, including recent acquisitions. The Collections Sub-committee agreed upon a Library Policy early in the year and on the back of that a project was begun in order to draft Procedures and Guidelines for general management of the library and other collections (see section 1.4.). The unbound magazines and journals have been boxed up, the shelves containing the Parliamentary Papers have been screened to minimise dust and most of the library collection has now been cleaned and conservation requirements have been assessed in the process, allowing prioritisation of any restoration/conservation work. Sorting of the library is anticipated to have been completed by the publication of this report. A new volunteer, Andy Dingley, is working on an online library gallery in which will be displayed various examples of binding, illustration, conservation (before and after), etc. 2.2 Ethnology and Archaeology The corridor store is in the process of being cleared of all items considered at risk of deterioration due to adverse environmental conditions and the pottery (at less risk) is now stored in place of the long items previously housed there. The items that have been scanned (Seals, Intaglios, Medallions etc.) have now been catalogued in full. A considerable amount of material, predominantly roman, was returned to the BRLSI from Kingswood School this year. That material has been sorted and boxed, Bob Whitaker and Jayne Lawes of Bath and Camerton Archaeological Society are to determine which items are to be kept in the BRLSI collections and which are to be offered to other suitable institutions. The curation of our Palaeolithic and Neolithic stone implements has been completed. The Museum of Costume has returned some items loaned to them and two busts at the City of Bath College have been recovered. A new loan agreement is to being negotiated with Linda Jones of Bath Abbey Heritage Vaults for the stone work displayed there but ownership of the material has been disputed leading to some delays. Some 1000 prints and drawings have now been accessioned and registered. Recently this effort has been increased by the work of a new volunteer, Edna Clifford. 2.3 Geology The Geology store was damp proofed early in the year and environmental monitoring suggests that the work was successful. The geology collection was reinstated following a drying out period, some of the shelving used previously proved to be corroded and potentially dangerous so new shelving was ordered and any damaged shelving disposed of. The majority of the mineral collection has been labelled and numbers affixed to specimens by a new volunteer, Iain Brown (based on the work of Sue Cowdry). A second new volunteer, Sam Berry, is auditing the Moore collection. Rob Randall has gone through the card indexes and ensured there are no gaps in the run of numbers. 2.4 Natural History Rob Randall has, assisted by Denise Cusick, begun work on registering the conchology collection and is close to having registered 1000 specimens. There are now a total of 7687 registered botanical specimens and Rob Randall is about halfway through cataloguing the Jenyns herbarium.
3.1 Pelagosaurus Palaeontologist Stephanie Pierce, a PhD student based at Bristol University, initially borrowed all the cranial material of Pelagosaurus, a Jurassic crocodile from the Moore collection earlier in the year. These BRLSI specimens will be stored at Bristol Museum until October 2004. More recently she requested and received a loan of the post-cranial material from the same locality, to be returned on the same date. A request has also been made to remove one specimen to the University of Austin, Texas, to perform 3D scanning of the brain case. This has been approved dependant on several conditions that are aimed to safeguard the specimen but no action has been taken as yet. 3.2 History of Science We had a visit from Prof. John Parker and colleagues from Cambridge University. They spent a day inspecting the Jenyns correspondence and his herbarium. They are investigating the collecting activities and methods of Prof. J.S. Henslow and his students, and are preparing a new biography of him. There has also been interest from Dr. David Allen, who has requested photocopies of Jenyns’ correspondence relating to the publishers Van Voorst. Dr. Allen is preparing a paper on the history of publishing works on natural history. 3.3 Temporary Exhibitions Aside from the Adopt-a-Book case, which is often left up as a promotional device for the scheme, there have been two temporary (single case) exhibitions this year. The first "Theory and Controversy: Darwin and his Contemporaries" documented the work of Darwin and others in the mid Nineteenth Century and the debates for and against the Theory of Evolution via Natural Selection. This was a great chance to showcase some of the beautiful books we have on the subject. The second, "Expeditions in Hope of Passage" is also a single case display with three posters that tell the story of Parry (the Bath born explorer), Franklin and Ross and their various expeditions in search of the North West passage. The BRLSI exhibits themselves consists of Inuit artefacts brought back by Parry himself and various remnants of Franklin’s final voyage (which resulted in the loss of him and his entire crew). 3.4 Moore and Moore Fossils In order to mark Heritage Open Week an exhibition based upon the life and work of the nineteenth century Bath palaeontologist, Charles Moore. Moore, despite never having been a professional scientist, was closely involved with the BRLSI and we now hold most of his geological collection (once displayed in Bath Geology Museum). These specimens will be used to tell Charles Moore’s story, which in turn exemplifies the nineteenth century amateur scientists who contributed so much to our modern understanding of the world. The exhibition will be held from the 23rd to the 30th of October and there will be a children’s activity day on Saturday the 30th. Bristol University Palaeontology Laboratory and the Bristol Dinosaur Project have offered to contribute much-needed resources such as poster printing, preparatory facilities to improve the conservation state of some of the specimens and latex casts for the activity day. These facilities will be provided in exchange for the assistance of Matt Williams, Collections Manager at the BRLSI, in the mounting of a pair of a large Dinosaur (Camerasaurus) leg to be used in Bristol Museum, Wildscreen Festival and other high profile events. The BRLSI logo will also be present on the displays in recognition of our input. Matt Williams
FINANCE The day-to-day finances of the Institution have again followed an established pattern and figures generally have been close to budget Both our tenants have continued in occupation and rent is always received promptly. But there are breaks in the lease of both tenants in the coming financial year and there is much discussion of future plans. The settlement figure of £600,000 received in March 2002 has been treated as a reserve fund with income being mostly re-invested. Broadly this is now above £700,000, but markets can fluctuate. Messrs Rowans, now of 2 Queen Square, continue to report regularly. Major exceptional items of expenditure have been the final account for restoration of the Casali paintings and the installation of the ground floor interior porch. Both have enhanced our premises. Other exceptional outgoings lie ahead, notably on the lantern of the Moore Room; and expenditure to meet new legislation requirements. We now have a part-time Collections Manager again. Although much of our work is done by volunteers some more part-time work will need payment in future. But we have little margin for outgoings if our present policy on reserves is to be continued. Rodney Tye
INCOME £123,346
EXPENDITURE £116,244
WEB-SITE and IT This year has seen a restructuring of the web-site. The increasing demands for 'interoperability' and 'interactivity' have led us to establish the web-site based on the 'Coldfusion' system. This system is currently employed by half of the worlds top 500 companies and is the 'engine' behind the British Libraries new interactive web-site. This system will allow the web-site to deliver information on request. This is especially important as the institution makes more of its archive and databases available on the internet for academic research, and the benefit of all. Great care is being made to work within the W3C guidelines for web design (best practice) with particular regard to access for all (interoperability). The RNIB is being most helpful in this regard. Addition facilities are becoming available for the institutions officers and administration to update areas of the site remotely, thus allowing for more active content at the site. Hopefully this will increase, the promotion and awareness of the many and varied activities taking place at the BRLSI. This year has seen the introduction of the mini-CD membership card to all members. This CD has a full copy of the 2003 Proceedings and several presentations. The Casali leaflet is also included in .pdf format, kindly provided by Jean Brushfield. 2004-5 is set to further develop the Virtual Museum project with help from the Collections Committee and our new Curator, Matthew Williams Paul Birkeland-Green
THE INSTITUTION'S PROGRAMME This year, we staged over 20 lectures, more than any previous year, covering a wide range of subjects. Of particular note was a series arranged by Victor Suchar which covered the range of modern physics and all the questions being asked by those at the forefront of research. We concluded in 2003 the series which celebrated 10 years since the recovery of the Institute in 1993. But when one series stops, another takes its place, this time a monthly set of lectures on various aspects of Belief organised by Martin Sturge. The discussion groups are largely thriving with full programmes, and we welcome a new Poetry Group under Janet Cunliffe-Jones. An attempt to begin discussion on Worlds of Antiquity has not received as much active support as we would like, but will continue with sporadic, rather than regular, meetings. Another disappointment was that we did not arrange a visit for our members, as the proposal did not find enough support. A Day Conference on ‘Education for the 21st century’ was held on Saturday, 11th October 2003. The event was jointly organized with the Royal Society of Arts (Wales and the West) and with Clifton Scientific Trust. The speakers included Professor John Holman, Dr Eric Albone and Dr Patrick Hazlewood. We contributed to the local political scene by inviting the prospective MEPs to put their points of view before the European elections, as well as more locally a discussion about the relationship between the town and the university. In 2004, Geoff Catchpole has persuaded most of the museums in Bath to provide a talk on some aspect of their collections, exhibitions history or work for a set of monthly lunchtime diversions. This year, we had our third Poetry Competition, and the topic was "Time", a subject that proved of wide ranging application. Martin Sturge again chaired the reading and discussion of the prize-winning entries. We have continued with the experiment of informal meetings on topical subjects, chosen by Geoff Catchpole, some in the evenings, and others at lunchtimes. These have had a variable response, but generally welcomed. Every Saturday morning, the Institution is open to anyone passing for coffee and biscuits. At these times, a variety of people have been able to meet and start discussions and debates on a wide number of subjects with other members and their families. The increase in activity is now showing that we are short of resources to support them all. We are still greatly indebted to Bob Draper for the arrangement of furniture and setting up of equipment, but we are in dire need of more volunteers to help. The Institution cannot yet afford to pay someone permanently for this post, and there is little prospect of any significant increase in income becoming available. Programme Sub-committee
BRLSI EVENTS DURING THE PERIOD SEPTEMBER 2003 TO AUGUST 2004 LECTURES We have had a full series of well attended lectures during the last year, especially notable was the full house for a fascinating description of the present state of philosophical thought on Consciousness by Professor Ted Honderich for our Christmas lecture in 2003. Victor Suchar organised this as he had done ever since he instigated these lectures in 1997. He had also arranged an occasional but well attended series on Modern Physics given by leading exponents of the current research which started last year and concluded with five lectures this year. We were also fortunate to hear from the L'Oréal Science Graduate of the Year, Araxi Urrutia, on the research into the way DNA conserves its content for which she obtained the award.
TENTH ANNIVERSARY SERIES Last year we started a series of lectures to celebrate ten years since the revitalisation of the Institution in 1993. These lectures have been instigated by each of the discussion groups in their areas.
BELIEF SERIES LECTURES Following an introductory lecture on "Belief" by Martin Sturge on 6th January 2000, as part of the Millennium Series, the Belief Series proper has now got into its stride with a very well attended lecture by Gerard Kilroy on 1st December 2003 on Sir John Harrington, Queen Elizabeth's troublesome godson and perhaps Bath's most illustrious writer.
PUBLIC MEETINGS
DISCUSSION GROUP MEETINGS Economics Rodney Tye This year (2004) we have for the fourth year an evening of short debates. These have given other organisations with whom we have links an opportunity to lead a discussion. The evening in July 2003 was notable for a presentation by Clare Tyson, the youth MP for Bath. In June 2004 there were elections for the European Parliament and in collaboration with Charter88 candidate from all the main parties were able to speak in discussions. The programme of events brings in a core group of members and others just attending when a particular subject is of interest. Although Economics can be regarded as dull all our meetings have been lively and good humoured.
French Civilisation Martin Sturge & Anne Whitmarsh As well as two lectures on behalf of the French Civilisation group, the film "Le Placard" was shown in co-operation with the Aix-en-Provence Twinning Association on 24 October. Herschel Astronomy Dick Phillips The group has had a successful year with an average attendance of about 25. However, most attendees are members of the William Herschel Society or of the public. Attendance by other BRLSI members is low though welcome at some of the more controversial talks. The year started with Dr. Rodney Hillier and Prof Francis Ring playing an interview between a modern scientist and William Herschel from a TV script by David Hoskin. Although the Science Fair was held in March as usual, there was too little support from the members to put on a display. Members express appreciation at the high standard of the lectures and the novelty of some of the ‘home-grown’ activities - of which there are still too few. Past experience of lack of interest in July outings was confirmed. There is still too little involvement by members of the group and it was particularly disappointing that only three members offered to help out at the Bath Taps into Science Exhibition in March. Group members tend to be rather passive and unnecessarily modest about making contributions. There has been an attempt to set up a steering group to organize and suggest activities but only one member, Dr Rodney Hillier, has been active in this. In fact, it is he who has found speakers for September to December 2004. However, in January, three members gave short talks on some aspect of astronomy in which they are interested or have been involved. Two members cooperated to speak about the probability of extra-terrestrial life, while the other talks dealt with Mach's Principle and the design of a model to demonstrate to school students the orbits of the two bright comets expected in May 2004. Friday evenings are increasingly being taken up by lectures arranged by other groups, which is disturbing. It is not true, as has been said, that anyone interested in astronomy is unlikely to be interested in any other lecture or vice-versa – ask Don Lovell, who frequently attends our meetings. Furthermore, arranging such lectures without consultation is discourteous. If a speaker is only available for a first Friday in the month, then such a clash is understandable but should be rare. The year ended with an outing to the Bristol Astronomical Society, but only 5 members took advantage of this occasion. Provision of aural and visual aids and support by Bob Draper and his team has been much appreciated. However, traffic noise has been a problem in warm weather - provision of large floor-mounted fans would obviate the need to open windows under such conditions.
Literature & Humanities Peter Valentine This years meetings, which averaged 30 attendees, were notable for their variety. This was the result of an experiment to see if separate art, music, and literature groups would be practical, as many members said they liked a wide variety of subjects. Highlights of the year were. Don Cupitt’s, (founder of the ‘Sea of Faith Movement) lecture ‘The Great Questions of Life’ and the ‘James Joyce’s Centenary lecture on Ulysses’ by Winterstoke Professor of Literature at Bristol University Timothy West. As a result of an offer to convene a music group by both Jill White, distinguished former Music producer for BBC radio 3 and Director of Music for The National Youth Orchestra, and Dr Robert. E. Blackburn, Retired Principal Lecturer in Music and Assistant Dean of former Faculty of Art & Music at Bath Spa University College, an initial course of three music lectures Sept, Oct, Nov 2004 has been arranged, and if successful will be continued 2005. Experience shows that visually illustrated lectures should be avoided particularly in the downstairs room between the months of April to September and that it would probably be more practical to have an early December meeting with holiday break in July as well as August, It is becoming increasingly evident that many potential speakers in the Arts, even local speakers or actors for instance, expect some sort of payment or royalty for performances. If this Institution wants to expand its Arts Groups which members definitely do, then it will have to use the system suggested by Bob Draper, that is, lecturers or performers who require a fee, should hire a room and charge an amount commensurate with hiring cost (£75 upstairs/ £35 downstairs) plus their own fees, which will then depend on audience enthusiasm.
Philosophy Victor Suchar The group held 11 meetings, as follows, with an average attendance of 30- 35 members and visitors each. Typically, sessions consisted of one hour presentation followed by one hour discussion. The programme for the balance of '04 and for January - December '05 has been established in planning meetings with members in '03 and '04. Dr. Donald Cameron and Simon Farrow have agreed to act as co-conveners of the group.
Poetry Janet Cunliffe-Jones This new group has had an encouraging start. The first meeting, November 2003, was held to test and discuss the desire for such a group. It was held at lunch time, and was attended by 23 people. There was an immediate request to follow this up by a meeting in December, which was arranged at short notice, to read suitable seasonal poetry. Although this was held in the afternoon, on Dec 18th, it was attended by about 20. The five meetings in 2004 have had an average attendance of 23 people. About 60 people have attended at least once, and a core membership of 12 or so people come very regularly. It is interesting that the July meeting, on Edward Thomas, attracted a number of people who had not been before. A style for this group is still evolving, but a tradition is building that poetry should be read aloud in the group, and that there is a value to listening to poetry as well as to critical discussion.
Science Andy Pepperdine This year we had the pleasure of hearing the UK Science Graduate of 2003, an award supported by the Royal Institution and L'Oréal, describing her work on how the DNA in our cells keeps itself in order during the delicate process of division so allowing mutations only where they can be reasonably tolerated. Also, at the time of the Bath Literature Festival, Clare Dudman gave a fascinating account of the work she did when researching her book on Alfred Wegener, and outlines his biography from German childhood to Arctic exploration which triggered his ideas on continental drift, which was not taken up by his contemporaries, but is now commonplace. A third lecture was from Martin George at the time when ID cards were in the news on what the limits of such technology were and how it might develop. The monthly discussion groups have benefited from three BRLSI members this year; Phil Cooke on the history of computers, Debra Enzenbacher on what it was like to spend a year on a scientific station at the South Pole, and David Cunliffe-Jones on his recent ideas on the way molecules interact. The range of topics has been wide, from a technical demonstration of digital film production to academic treatments of physics, biochemistry, mathematics, energy generation, unit standardisation and ancient history.
Transport Mike Wrigley This was an interesting year for the Transport Group, as there was a deliberate attempt to broaden the scope of the topics from transport to other issues concerned with the built environment. Of the ten presentations that were given, four were on distinctly non-transport topics. Attendance across the year averaged about twenty people per presentation. Whilst there was a core of regular attenders, specialist topics attracted people for just the one event. This was particularly so for the non-transport subjects. The first presentation in September 2003 was given by Roger Houghton, member, on "The Reclaiming of the High Street." This talk was the result of many years of research into the High Street and Orange Grove in Bath. He showed how both had changed over the centuries, and in particular, how the use of High Street by citizens had been restricted by the growth in traffic. In his talk, Roger argued for the removal of traffic from High Street, and showed a number of ways in which he felt this could be achieved. This talk was followed in October by David Knight of Colin Buchanan and Partners on Green Travel Plans, the means by which any organisation manage its travel and transport requirements so as to encourage more sustainable forms of transport. Travel plans are now required for any significant new development, and identify all the ways in which the organisation and its employees can be encouraged to reduce dependence on the motor car. In November, Professor Brian Edwards of Heriot Watt University spoke on Transport and Architecture. He spoke on the changing nature of railway station design within the context of sustainable transport policy. He showed how changing demands for travel and means of access to railway stations affected their architecture. He gave examples both of historic and contemporary stations. December saw the first of the non-transport lectures when Nicholas Pearson, a landscape architect based in Bath, spoke about the impact of major projects on the landscape. The following presentation was in February, 2004, when Harold Lewis, author and editor, who is seconded to London Underground, gave a talk about the tube system in London, and how it is adapting to the new system of management and funding. There was some insight into the problems and issues of the part-privatisation of the Tube. Western Riverside was the subject of the presentation in March, when Chris Cavanagh and Steve Howell of BANES Council provided a progress report on the regeneration of Western Riverside which is one of the largest and most significant development projects in the South West. In April the presentation was given by Chris Shepley, former Chief Planning Inspector, who gave an introduction to the new planning system which is being introduced into England, and which will affect every local authority in the country. This was followed in May by Richard Fielden of the architectural practice Fielden, Clegg, Bradley, based in Bath. Richard Fielden is a commissioner on the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment (CABE), the Government’s advisory body on the quality of design in the built environment. He spoke about the work of CABE in seeking to raise design standards across the country. Michael D'Alton, member, gave the talk in June on the work by Colin Buchanan and Partners in examining the impact that the expansion of Stansted airport would have on the surrounding areas of Essex, Hertfordshire and Cambridgeshire. The project considered the effects of a number of options for growth, from one to three new runways. The final presentation of the session in July was by Susan Kenyon who is a research fellow in the Research Unit for Transport and Society, University of the West of England. She spoke on "Transport and Social Exclusion", the subject of her doctoral thesis. Susan gave a detailed definition of social exclusion and the dimensions of social exclusion and identified how mobility, as one of the dimensions, contributed to social exclusion.
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