By kind permission of the owners of the building, the 2009 Whole School Reunion and AGM took place at the Moseley School of Art, Moseley Road, Birmingham on Sunday, 17th. May.

What a great day! To enter a school building for the first time that was such a special place for those who had the privilege of attending . . . 40, 50, 60 or more years after they left to find their way in the world . . . that was an experience that was shared by many of those who joined us for our 2009 Reunion. Added to that was our experience of meeting old friends from our time at "Moseley Art" after such a long time. Among the personal reunions was that of Linda Spencer (Mander) and Dave Allen, who were each other's first loves at Moseley (pictured below, right, outside the bikesheds).

Among the personal reunions that took place as a result of our "Missing Persons" exercise last year after Brian Wilson (1951) asked us to find his former best friend Ken Holt. After finding Ken and reintroducing him to Brian, they have begun to continue where they left off as best friends after 57 years apart.

The crowds of former pupils began arriving early, wanting to make a full day of their reunion, and, by the time the doors formally opened, more than two-thirds of the total had already arrived and had taken refreshments amid a loud and happy atmosphere.

The attendance would have been even higher had not the clouds opened during the early morning and deluged the Midlands - always a deterrent for our more faint-hearted members! A very large number of regular faces were absent, and their parents will be asked for an explanation. How many of our former pupils would be reminded of the smell of wet wool, wet leather and wet hair as they entered the old school on those grey, rainy mornings when we were youngsters . . . before the normal smells of carbolic soap and cabbage from the basement returned? How many would remember the smells from the Canning & Co. factory on Great Hampton Street, and the characteristic solvent odour from our next door neighbours, Butchers Transfers? How many would remember how slippery the floors were in the red tiled corridor and terracotta herringbone-tiled entrance foyer when it had been raining?

As always, the appearance of the once beautiful school facade causes much concern. 107 years of acid erosion have taken their toll on the stone elements of the building, which is listed as Grade 2*, denoting that it is of international architectural interest. The majority of people who pass the school assume, due to the condition of the exterior, that it is derelict and unoccupied. The interior of the school, however has been renovated to a reassuringly very good standard by the owners, the Moseley Muslim Community Association.

THE 2009 ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING After being called to order with the school bell by Mr. Bob Ashby, the President, Graeme Collins, opened the Annual General Meeting by welcoming everyone to the 9th. reunion organised by the Association. He welcomed those who, in particular, had travelled great distances to be with us. He welcomed Bob Sedgley, who had journeyed (as he has done for every one of our reunions) from Villalonga, Spain, Maggie Timoney Giles, who had travelled from Dubai for the second consecutive year, Judi Wainwright, who had travelled from Zimbabwe, and Lynford Pepall (brother of last year's guest speaker Graham Pepall) who had journeyed from his home in the Netherlands.

The competition for who had travelled furthest, however, was won outright by Dennis Green, who had travelled all the way from Perth, Western Australia. Graeme also welcomed former teacher and MSAA Academic Officer T. H. W. (Bob) Ashby, who was maintaining his unbroken attendance at every one of our 9 reunions, travelling from his home in the Cotswolds. It was unfortunate that his wife, Joy could not accompany him due to preparations for her next exhibition. Everyone present showed their appreciation of Bob's commitment to the Association with loud applause.

He also welcomed the two most senior former students, Ruby Colson (Summers)(1935), and George Beaumont (pictured 3rd. from left), who also left the school in 1935. It was George's first reunion and he was convinced that there would be no-one there from his time . . . needless to say, Ruby and George, who were meeting again for the first time in 74 years, had lots to talk about.

Apologies It was announced that we had received 143 apologies, including those from Mr. Jack Taylor (former Head), and former teachers Mr. Ted (Moggy) Mason, Mr. Stanisa Vlahovic, Mr. Richard Waddington, and Mr. John Swift, all of whom wished us well and hoped to be remembered to all those fortunate enough to be present. The President had received a phone call from 'Moggy' Mason, who explained that he doesn't get about very well these days, but wished us all a very happy reunion, adding that he wished to be remembered to everyone.

The 2009 Spring Exhibition Graeme Collins explained that the proposed exhibition had been cancelled due to an insufficient number of works being pre-registered. The amount of work, time and money necessary to mount an exhibition on the scale of that proposed would not have been warranted by the poor response to the call for works by our members. Graeme added that he was personally extremely disappointed at this development and reminded those present that leaving everything to others is not an option for our members. Individual members needed to personally react to requests for contributions if the Association is to continue to thrive. Our Assistant Exhibitions Secretary, Jan Williams personally organised the hanging facilities on the day for those who supported us by bringing in works. Jan and her team organised a first-class display, and everyone involved is congratulated.

Obituary The President announced that former teacher and staunch supporter of the Association Mr. Ernie Price had recently passed away, his funeral having taken place during the third week in April 2009. The President stated that he had had a long personal conversation with Ernie shortly after the 2008 Reunion which had impressed the President greatly. The President then related the names of those former students who had also passed away since our last meeting. These were Paul Nicholas (1971), Margaret Davis (1965), Trevor Charlton (1948), Peter Robins (1951), Margaret Hickinbotham (Eyles)(1938), David Tamplin (1952) and Susan Jones (Pimm)(1963). News of the passing of Susan, who had been a close friend of the President, had only been related to him immediately before the meeting. The President then asked all those present to stand in silence for a short time in memory of those mentioned.

Minutes The minutes of the last Annual General Meeting were then related to those present. The most important items were the election and appointment of officers, these being the re-election of Graeme Collins as President, the re-election of Bob Ashby as Academic Officer, and Ron Carter as Exhibitions Secretary, with Jannette Williams (Cox) volunteering to act as Assistant Exhibitions Secretary. There had, disappointingly, been no nominations for the office of Treasurer, and the President had agreed to undertake the duties in the absence of an appointee. The members had unanimously agreed to retain the annual subscription at £15.00. It was announced that a Spring Exhibition would be held at the school in May 2009 to coincide with the AGM and Reunion.

Election of Officers The next item being the election of officers for the forthcoming year, Graeme Collins asked for nominations for the office of President. In the event, there were no other nominations, and Graeme Collins was re-elected unanimously. Graeme thanked the meeting for the confidence placed in him.

Nominations were then sought for the office of Treasurer. There being no nominations, the office remains vacant, with the President continuing to undertake the role of Acting Treasurer for the forthcoming year. All matters regarding subscriptions, finance and standing orders should continue to be addressed to him at the email address at the head of the NEWS webpage.

The next office to be appointed was that of Academic Officer, currently held by former teacher Mr. Bob Ashby. Having indicated that he would be prepared to continue in office and there being no other nominations, Mr. Ashby was re-elected unanimously, with enthusiastic applause.

The President then explained that the last regular office, that of Exhibitions Secretary was possibly the most important of all. There seemed, however, to be little appetite for an exhibition among our working artists (as was evidenced by the cancellation of this years intended Spring Exhibition), and the formal appointment of an Exhibitions Secretary would be deferred. Jan Williams kindly agreed to make herself available should circumstances develop during the forthcoming year, assisted by Ron Carter.

Affiliated membership The President obtained the approval of the membership at the 2008 AGM for his proposal that the facility of affiliate membership of the Association should be extended to all students of the Birmingham College of Art (now the Birmingham Institute of Art & Design, Birmingham City University), both present and past. He had felt that we, the finite number of former students of the Moseley School of Art had a limited active future if we don't introduce new members with an enthusiasm for exhibiting their work. The President invited former students of the BCA to attend our 2009 AGM and Reunion, and had been in conversation with a large number of interested parties. This, however, did not materialise into actual attendance, largely because of the large distances that those interested would have to travel. It transpired that the large majority of former BCA students now live overseas. The mindset present among many people following the onset of the present financial recession also appeared to be a deterrent to attendance. The President said that he would continue to progress the matter.

The Financial Statement and Annual Subscription The President announced that a number of minor purchases had been made during the preceding year, and that, instead of the Association providing a donation to the school owners this year, he had decided to take advantage of the opportunity of directly purchasing an item which would form a tangible gesture on our behalf to the old building. This took the form of a large glass chandelier which has been installed above the cross landing at the head of the twin stairs from the entrance foyer to the first floor. The need for a new feature light fitting had been mentioned in passing during a conversation between the President and the owners just after Christmas, and the President identified this as an opportunity to utilise an amount of money similar in size to our annual donation to create a visible feature about which the Association could feel a sense of ownership. The chandelier was purchased from former pupil Roy Dalton (1962), who owns West Midlands Lighting Ltd., a major wholesaler and retailer of light fittings. The chandelier is quite grand (photo later), and we could not have afforded the £2,200 to buy it without Roy's extremely generous gesture of allowing us to obtain it at below cost price.

The President was disappointed not to have been able to gain the support of the press to cover the planned ceremonial "switch-on" on the day - it had proven to be too difficult to obtain the attendance of a reporter and press photographer on a Sunday. It is planned, however, that the press will attend during the next few weeks to provide some reportage. In addition, we will be providing a plaque to commemorate the donation of the chandelier, which will record Roy's generosity. The President then invited Mr. Javed Arain (pictured above, right with Graeme Collins), representing the Moseley Muslim Community Association, owners of the building, to say a few words. Mr. Arain formally accepted the chandelier with gratitude, and addressed the meeting with some kind remarks, inviting us to continue to use the building for our future meetings and functions.

The President continued by saying that the present bank statement as at 5th. May 2009 showed a balance of £3,600. This remained roughly static from previous years through judicious management, although sharp upward trends in postal costs and the 20% rise in a single year of catering costs meant that our balance would diminish year on year without an amendment to the subscription. On a proposition from the floor, the annual subscription will be changed with effect from 1st. May 2010 to £17.50. On a proposition from Angela Morris (Hutchin)(1949) that we should provide free membership to overseas members, a discussion ensued which resulted in broad agreement that overseas members were not provided with good value for money, and that the measure would have only a marginal effect on our finances. It was felt that the measure would also encourage many more overseas contacts to come forward as joining members and become involved in our activities, albeit at a distance. With the exception of one vote, the proposition was carried unanimously.

Any Other Business Graeme Collins brought everyone up to date on the health of Terry Neal (1950), who suffered a severe stroke following a surgical operation last year. Terry has not, unfortunately made sufficient progress with his recovery to be able to return home, and is now resident at a nursing home. Graeme informed the meeting that Terry had been a very resourceful and committed member who had always been keen to make a personal contribution to the Association. His presence will be missed.

There was no other business.

The President, noting that Mrs. Nora Grimley, our most senior former student was not present, invited Ivan Haycock to present a lovely bouquet of flowers to Mrs. Ruby Colson (Summers) who left the school in 1935 as a token of our esteem for our senior members. Ruby accepted them with a very broad smile and a "thank you all". It was felt that the members should also show their appreciation of the continuing contribution made by former teacher Bob Ashby. Marie Haycock was asked to present a bouquet of flowers on our behalf to Bob for onward presentation to his wife, Joy, who was unable to join us on the day. * We would be grateful if the member who took photos of the presentations of bouquets could let us have copies for use on this webpage - thanks.

The President explained to those present that our reunions probably wouldn't be possible without the assistance and hard work undertaken by Wendy. Although not herself a former student, she had again unselfishly committed herself to making the day a success. Those members present showed their appreciation by sustained applause.

The AGM was closed by the President at 1.20pm., and there followed a presentation by Dave Allen, who was introduced by Graeme Collins.

"The Birmingham Grid" - Dave Allen ('75)

Dave Allen is now head of Art at a Yorkshire Grammar School, having left MSA in 1975 to embark on a career as a teacher. Those who attended our 2007 and 2008 Reunions will remember that Dave asked for volunteers to assist him in his major project to photograph all of the area of Birmingham within the No. 11 Outer Circle route based on a series of grid references. The project was successfully concluded, with our members having taken around one third of the total number of photographs.

Dave brought everyone up to date with progress, aided by a Powerpoint presentation, stating that the exhibition is now a permanently displayed feature at the Mailbox, Birmingham City Centre. The project was facilitated by the Covent Garden - based advertising firm of Beattie McGuinness Bungay, whose creative driving force is Trevor Beattie, a founding partner of the company and former classmate of Dave at MSA. More information about the Grid can be seen at Dave's website HERE

Dave concluded by saying that he is considering a new grid project, the location of which is yet to decided. He invited interested members to undertake some of the photography, and mentioned that Paris might be a shortlisted option . . .

"A Career Retrospective" - Bruce Sabin ('74)

Bruce left MSA in 1974 to study Fine Art at Falmouth College of Art, following which he had a complete change of direction, beginning vocational film & television studies in London. He has worked as a Television Cameraman for 30 years since 1979 and has achieved a professional status which places him alongside some of the best television crews in the world.

Bruce entertained the meeting with a journey through his life since Moseley. It began with a review of his early career at Thames Television with a humorous montage of  programmes worked on including Mr. Bean & The Bill. We then jumped to examples of his work from last year which has taken him to locations across the world, including China for the Beijing Olympics, where he was entrusted with a High Definition gyro-stabilised camera system worth £1/2 million. He was awarded the Golden Rings Award from the International Olympic Committee for  the best live sporting coverage with the Olympic Sailing at Qingdao. Among the other sporting events he has filmed, one of his favourites is the Oxford v. Cambridge Annual Boat Race, which he has shot from a pursuit catamaran the last 5 years for ITV. His well-prepared visual presentation was, needless to say, highly professional and saturated with high-quality video material which Bruce had shot at a large number of sporting and other events.

Bruce admitted to feeling quite challenged when asked if he would provide us with a presentation as it was something he had never done before, but he certainly rose to the occasion with a very entertaining package. Some HD video examples of his work can be seen on his website HERE 

It was a shame that we ran out of time to discuss another of his main interests, his "Grand Design", which was the conversion and rebuilding of a listed barn in Worcestershire where he now lives with his family. He has spent the last twenty years renovating this to his own high standards using skills he first developed at MSA. This might possibly be a presentation for the future.

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2010 Reunion The meeting was informed that the next Annual Reunion and AGM will take place at the old school on Sunday, 16th. May 2010 - a date for your diary.

Acknowledgements: Thanks to Dave Allen, Graham Williams and John Hill for forwarding photos used above