Friends of Blakers Park AGM

The sixteenth Annual General Meeting was held on 16 October 2008 by kind permission of the Stanford Avenue Methodist Church.  We much appreciate the facilities which they offer us.

Philip Smith was Chairman and there were thirty three people present - a very good turnout.
Margaret Bell, Membership Secretary, reported that there were 177 members, with an additional 48 who are behind with their subs.
Philip Smith, acting Secretary, gave an account of the year's activities: producing four newsletters, planting bulbs and flowers, organising the Community Picnic, and generally keeping an eye on the Park.
At present efforts were being made to get the Council to repair the gates to the dog-free area.
He was pleased to report that offers of help in running the Friends of Blakers Park had come from Max Glaskin, Sally Cranfield and Melanie Levy.
Our guest speaker was the noted local historian, Jacqueline Pollard, author of ‘The Vanishing Villas of Preston', and some twelve other books based on her interviews and researches into life in Brighton.
Jacqueline showed some marvelous photographs of the lovely houses built by wealthy Victorians near Preston village.  She told us also about the families who owned them, their quirks and eccentricities, and even the details of the auctions which sadly brought about the end of an era, followed by the building of blocks of flats for the middle classes.
One of the highlights came when Mary Reeves pointed out her mother as one of the servants in Jacqueline's photographs!
To finish there were refreshments and opportunities for chat with friends and neighbours - a very satisfying get-together at the end of the evening.

Posted: 31st of October 2008

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