Draft Minutes of Special General Meeting held at the Crypt Room, St John's Church, Hampstead, on 20^th June 2024.

Present: 23 members. The Presidency is currently vacant.

1. Election of Chair

As Vice President and Secretary, Julie Atkinson noted that there was no current President to chair the meeting, but that as Council were responsible for the running of the Society she suggested that a member of Council be elected as chair. She asked Kevin Devine if he would be willing and he agreed as long as the meeting stuck to the agenda.

She then asked the members present to vote if they were in favour of Kevin Devine acting as Chair. 10 voted in favour. She asked for votes against and there were none. Therefore Kevin Devine was elected as Chair of the meeting.

2. Proposal for Change to Constitution and supporting remarks

The chair read out the proposal for the change to the Society's Constitution which had been the reason for this Special General Meeting:

To add at Rule para 6 after iv: "v. When the Council is unable to have a quorate meeting under very exceptional circumstances due to vacant posts or long term illness, then a Special General Meeting shall have the power to elect members to the vacant posts for the period up to the AGM." To add under Bye Law 4 a new para: "Under the special circumstances of a Special General Meeting called for the purposes of Rule 6v, these notice periods shall be three weeks and 10 days before the Special General Meeting, respectively."

(Post Meeting Note: The Proposal was made by Julie Atkinson, John Tennant, Jim Brightwell, Kevin Devine, and David Brandt and received by 3 May 2024.)

Julie Atkinson volunteered to give the supporting remarks, and said that:

There had been a number of resignations from Council. This itself indicated a problem with the running of the Society. It also left the remaining Council unable to have quorate meetings.

The Council as trustees of a charity nevertheless have duties and regulations we must comply with.

One is to present accounts to the membership and report on them to the Charity Commission. Due to Julia Daniels' illness and death, we were unable to access the Astronomy Section accounts in order to complete the Society accounts for last year 2022-23 and have them checked. To get access we need to ratify John Tennant's appointment as Astronomy Section Treasurer at a quorate meeting of Council and present the minutes to the bank as proof. We have still not achieved this and cannot while inquorate. Therefore we are late in submitting our figures to the Charity Commission for last year, and they are chasing us.

There are other things that the Council should do, such as put various policies in place to meet the latest Charity Commission requirements.

Therefore the proposal has been made to allow this meeting to elect members to Council so that it can have quorate meeting and resolve the issue.

We recognise that any member elected to Council becomes a trustee of the charity and therefore has duties to the beneficiaries, membership and the Charity Commission, and so is not a light burden. We would hope that the Charity Commission would not hold any new Council member responsible for any shortfalls of the past Council.

The consequences of not passing this proposal would be that we would not be able yet again to produce completed checked accounts to the membership at the AGM, and the Society would remain late for reporting last year's accounts until this could be resolved by Council after the AGM.

She reminded the membership that Council would be standing down as usual at the AGM, but would not be able to make formal nominations for next year's Council while inquorate. Members are able to make nominations for Council for election at the AGM.

David Brandt pointed out that there would be no President for the AGM and no-one to chair it. It was the duty of the Council to elect a President at the meeting before the AGM and this would not be possible. This would mean no President for the next session.

3. Counter Proposal and Supporting Remarks

The chair read out the counter proposal:

Given that long-term issues with the society have led to the Council being inquorate and that there is an overhanging, incomplete investigation into complaints, it is inappropriate and unnecessary to vote on a short term measure to restore the quoracy of the Council. Instead proper proposals for resolving the Society's issues should be considered by the membership at a full AGM in August.

(Post Meeting Note: The Counter Proposal was made by Andrew Rennie, Mercedes Giron, Kevin McNulty, Simon Lang and Ann Watson and received on 5 June 2024.)

Andrew Rennie volunteered to make the supporting remarks.

He said that the proposal was a short term measure only, and that the financial reporting issue was not a strong enough reason to make it.

He felt that the overhanging problems with the existing Council could pose a risk to any new Councillor in terms of their liabilities to the Charity Commission. This had meant some people were unwilling to volunteer.

He said that the Constitution needed reform to separate the trustee roles from the Council who do the work of the charity. Work was going on to present proposals for changes to the Constitution at the AGM in line with the Charity Commission recommendations.

4. Discussion and Vote

David Brandt pointed out that we are under a threat of sanction since we are late with the 2022-2023 annual report (and will be shortly for the 2023-2024 report). The present trustees are already in a bad position.

Andrew Rennie pointed out that there are concerns about safeguarding, and the proposal was made only to tackle the accounting part of the overall issues.

The Treasurer John Tennant pointed out that we don't know if there have been donations to the astronomy section made into the section accounts, though we suspect not. Julia Daniels had a cheque to pay in but we cannot check whether she had done it. Donations since have not been paid in. He clarified that other donations to the Society go to a different account.

The Secretary was asked whether the proposal wording about the circumstances for the SGM powers may be too specific. She responded that we did not want to have to call an SGM willy nilly. Council could co-opt a council member to fill a vacancy but if it was not quorate, they could not do that. She was asked why long term illness was raised and if that was a current issue. Julie Atkinson explained that a quorate Council meeting needed six members, and in principle there were six available. However, Doug Daniels. a Vice President and so a trustee, had a long term condition which meant he was unable to attend meetings. She clarified that Vice President is a role for life or until resignation.

Simon Lang said that some resignations were because the Council had had problems keeping up with the latest Charity Commission regulations. We were at risk of getting a sanction. If we arranged for proper training, safeguarding, code of conduct, etc. the Charity Commission could say that was OK but they could put us under "review".

The observatory is directly in touch with children and so has safeguarding obligations towards them. David Brandt said he believed the Society's current policy was only to allow children in to meetings or the observatory with parents, and for no volunteer to be alone with a child. Simon Lang confirmed that the observatory had a stricture on no one staff member being alone with a child in the Annexe. Andrew Rennie said we may need to consider DBS checks.

Simon Lang said that he had discovered an old document in archives left by Julia Daniels which implied that Jim Brightwell may be a signatory to the Astronomy Section Accounts. Jim Brightwell said he had not known about or had forgotten this, and it must have been a very old document. Simon Lang suggested that Jim Brightwell could visit the bank to check whether he was still a signatory, and if so, then he would be able to access the accounts to get the appropriate information for the financial reports. Jim Brightwell was willing if another member would accompany him. Melvyn Rees and John Tennant volunteered.

David Brandt noted that he had visited the bank more than once with proof that he was a trustee of the Society and had been unable to extract the account information from them.

Action SGM2024/1 Jim Brightwell to visit National Westminster Bank with his ID and the Astronomy Section bank details to try to obtain access to the Section accounts for financial reporting.

Simon Lang said that the Charity Commission should be lenient in the case of the death of a treasurer and allow the Society some leeway to sort out the accounts. It was suggested that the Secretary contact the Charity Commission to explain the current situation and the way ahead, by email to ensure there is a record.

Action SGM2024/2 The Secretary to contact the Charity Commission by email to explain the delay in reporting the Society's accounts.

The Council can carry on with meetings and administration, just not make decisions.

Kevin Devine indicated that if he was able to attend the AGM he would be willing to chair it.

The date for the AGM has not been confirmed.

Julie Atkinson suggested that if the Constitution was to be revised, then perhaps the President should be elected by members at an AGM. It had been mooted in the past. David Brandt said that subject to a check of the HSS constitution, leaving a President unappointed would be against the present HSS constitution. Also, there was nothing in the original proposal that would prevent the members at the AGM from deciding to consider a process to change the constitution going forward, and of course appointing new Council members meanwhile.

Judy Hallgarten asked whether the minutes would name those present. The Secretary said she had intended to follow the previous AGM practice of minuting the total number of those present. John Tennant suggested that for the AGM we should put out the sign-in book as for our normal talks.

The chair asked the meeting to vote on either the proposal or the counter proposal, and counted 6 for the proposal and 14 for the counter proposal. Therefore the counter proposal was adopted.

5. Election of Extra Councillors If Possible

Since the proposal had not been adopted, this election of extra councillors was not possible.

6. Any Other Business

Simon Lang felt that the level of lectures may be too high for some members or the general public. How many come once and are put off? There was some discussion on the need for feedback at the talks. Kevin Devine said that the Royal Institution always asked for feedback and had gave out forms for it. Simon Lang said that there was generally instant feedback at the observatory.

Simon Lang suggested the Society should do more to reach out to the general public to interest them in science. Martin Williams commented that years ago we had worked with a couple of local schools to deliver their Science Week programmes. He also said that the Richmond Scientific Society do outreach. We should consider it.

Martin Williams suggested that it would be good to see the different parts of the society acting more as one. He noted that not many astronomy section members had come to astronomy talks for instance. David Brandt said that he would like to see the two sections operating together. Andrew Rennie said that things would be easier if they were together. It would be complex from a charity point of view to divide them.

Martin Williams asked if the Society should remain a charity. Andrew Rennie said that it would be hard to dissolve the charity and to move the charity's assets. He wondered if there was a way to limit the liabilities as well as satisfy the Charity Commission.

As no other business was raised, the chair closed the meeting.

Julie Atkinson, Hon. Secretary, 0118 977 5192

Draft Minutes of Annual General Meeting held at the Crypt Room, St John's Church, Hampstead on 24^th August 2023.

Present: Simon Lang (President), plus 15 members and one guest.

1. Minutes of A.G.M 28^th July 2022

The Secretary asked for comments on the minutes of the previous AGM of 28th July 2022. None were received. Simon Lang proposed acceptance of the minutes with John Tennant seconding. The minutes were accepted with 12 votes for and 0 against.

The President signed the minutes on behalf of Council.

The actions from the 2022 AGM were:

Action AGM2020/1 Jim Brightwell to liaise with Paul Clements on the telescope drive system.

This drive is currently working. Paul Clements has produced a new drive with a ‘Go To' system. The meeting felt the action should continue.

Action AGM2020/2 Simon Lang to ensure Martin Williams is involved in live feeds of video from the observatory.

In Council Simon Lang had said he suspected that live feeds would not happen in the near future as volunteers were too busy and it would be too problematic. Martin Williams had pointed out that the observatory gives people the opportunity to look through a telescope live. Camera views are available elsewhere. Kevin McNulty said the issue had been live when we were in Covid lockdown. He would talk to Martin Williams, and if justified, consider using 5G mobile connections. Action complete.

Action AGM2022/1 The Secretary to ensure the independent checker issue is on the Council meeting agenda.

She had, but the Council had not resolved the issue. Action complete.

Action AGM2022/2 Julia Daniels to enable the independent checker to check the Astronomy Accounts.

She did, and the accounts were approved and we were able to make our annual return to the Charity Commission. Action complete.

2. President’s Remarks

The President reported that this year, we had lost member Robert Hatch in October, and also Vice President and Astronomy Section Treasurer Julia Daniels this year. She would be very much missed by all and this was the first AGM that she had not attended since she joined in 1957. Leo McLaughlin had checked the society's accounts for many years and she had made only made one mistake in over 40 years. She was a powerhouse who did no much for the society with her husband Doug Daniels. This included maintenance of the observatory, picnic lunches for staff, and the observatory roster. She made a point of knowing each member of the observatory staff and how circumstances affected their duties. She was involved in other things too, e.g. the Amateur Geological Society. She used to walk from Finchley to the observatory and back in her early days with the Society. There was no news of the funeral yet, and her husband was being looked after.

The President reported that now we were free of a certain virus restriction and it was good to have face to face meetings again. He hoped there would be no more pandemics for years. He noted that there were fewer speakers coming through for talks, though and asked anyone to report to Council if they heard any interesting talks.

He reported that the observatory was up and running again, though there had only been four sessions because the weather had been diabolical and the forecasts abysmal. The Annex had been rebuilt due to dry rot.

He thanked Julie Atkinson and John Tennant for their work in running the Society. Any offers for volunteering were welcome. He noted that John Tennant would be retiring next June and we were struggling to fill posts for Treasurer and Meteorological Secretary.

He also thanked Kevin McNulty and Jasmin Qureshi for their work at the observatory. Modern day life meant that a strict roster at the observatory was not possible any more. He noted that they had five new volunteers at the observatory so things were looking up. He introduced David Convery who had offered to take on the archivist role.

Finally the President apologised for his absence at events this year and said he planed to be around more in the new session.

3. Secretary’s Report and Trustees’ Report

The Council’s separate reports will be collated into a Trustees’ Annual Report as recommended by the Charity Commission. Since the Astronomy Section Treasurer had resigned earlier in the year and had not been able to compile a report or to hand over the accounts completely to a successor, the Society accounts are incomplete and so the Annual Report is a draft, but had been distributed to members as such. Sections would be presented separately to the AGM.

The Secretary went through the main body of the Trustees' report.

There were no comments.

4. Treasurer’s Report

John Tennant presented the Treasurer's report.

Martin Williams asked if the Society had security of tenure at the observatory. Simon Lang said no. but we have no problems with it at the moment. The site was under a threat once in the 1980's and we had campaigned to stay. We don't anticipate anything happening but need a contingency in case. Leo McLaughlin asked where we could move the observatory to, but Simon Lang could only say that was a good question.

Kristoff Bwek asked why we had not included claimed gift aid in the accounts, and whether it was because the accounts had not yet been validated? John Tennant said that it had not been claimed yet. He said that if we arrange to take electronic donations in future, the facilitator would collect gift aid on our behalf. Kevin McNulty suggested using Just Giving. The charity would just need to set up a Just Giving site. Donors would be able to opt out of paying commission on their donations. When a person donates £5 it comes out with £5.50, but the donor can specify £5 only. However, the site does have running costs and the charity does not pay a fee for administration. Gift Aid comes to the charity but with a delay.

Julie Atkinson asked what was needed to access the Astronomy Section accounts. The John Tennant said that he would be contacting the banks to ask what they needed, e.g. death certificate and accreditation for himself as the new Astronomy Section treasurer.

5. Archivist’s Report

Julia Daniels’ sad death means that there is no Archivist’s Report this year. There should be no change in status since last year.

6. Election of Officers and Council

The Secretary announced that Council had elected Simon Lang as President at the Council meeting on 11th May 2023.

The Secretary said that Council had announced its nominations for officers in the May newsletter. There was a vacancy for Archivist, and happily we received a nomination in time for this post: David Convery, proposed by Simon Lang and seconded by Kevin McNulty. As there were no further nominations, the following officers were declared as elected:

Hon. Secretary	Julie Atkinson	Hon. Treasurer	John Tennant
Hon. Programme Secretary	Jim Brightwell	Hon. Membership Secretary	John Tennant
Hon. Archivist	David Convery

The constitution requires at least one ordinary Council member to resign at the AGM. The Secretary reported that Jasmin Qureshi had resigned earlier in the year, so no further resignation was needed. Council thanked Jasmin for her service.

The following nominations were made by Council for the 5 ordinary members of Council and distributed in the May newsletter:

Nominee	David Brandt	Martin Williams	Nick Maslov	Anne Watson	Kevin Devine
Nominated by	Council	Council	Council	Council	Council

As there were no further nominations, these nominees were declared as elected to Council.

7. Election of Independent Checkers

A checker must not be a member of Council but must be a member of the Society. Simon Lang proposed Andrew Rennie, a member of the Astronomy section. He had helped with observatory maintenance, had worked in forensic accounting, had agreed to taking the role, but was unable to be present at the meeting. Martin Williams seconded. The meeting voted with 12 for the proposal and none against.

8. Astronomy Section Report

The Joint Astronomical Section Secretary, Simon Lang, had included the main points of the astronomy section report under item 1, President's remarks. The main body will be distributed as Annex 2 of the Trustee's report.

Astronomy Section Accounts

The Astronomy Section Treasurer's report was included under item 4 above.

9. Approval of the Trustee's Report

The Secretary said that we were again in a bit of a quandary on approval of the report. The Treasurer's report had been presented but had not been independently checked, so Council and the AGM only had a partial Trustees report here and now and could not approve it.

She suggested that when the accounts have been checked, the Trustees' Report could be completed and the Council should approve and distribute to the membership. The President agreed.

It was pointed out that if there were extensive changes, then it should go back to the membership, e.g. at a Special General Meeting.

Julie Atkinson proposed that the report be provisionally accepted, with proviso on not changing substantially and the accounts being independently checked. John Tennant seconded. The proposal was accepted with 12 votes and none against.

10. AOB

Meteorology

Martin Williams said that he would like help with meteorology equipment at the observatory as he was not a meteorologist, would need access to the site and should not work there on his own. He was also considering pollution monitoring equipment. Simon Lang suggested that we should contact a meteorological organisation as someone would need to be responsible for it, even if it ran automatically. He suggested that Martin Williams produce a concrete plan for the kit. David Brandt volunteered to assist in gathering costs for Council.

Non-Cash Donations

Kevin McNulty said we were missing out on fund raising opportunities. Generally donations are 50-50 cash and online. We need a bank account which is ring fenced for the Astronomy Section and linked to a Just Giving page. He suggested that we could easily raise £2,000 for the observatory that way. He noted that Simon Lang had personally put in a great deal of work on the building, but this could not go on forever, and is a risk if we rely on him. We need to be able to pay people to do some of the work, and we could put out an appeal for it.

Kristoff Bwek suggested just opening a PayPal account. Kevin McNulty noted that as a charity we are entitled to get Gift Aid and though some candidates would get it for you, PayPal would not. He said we could start a bank account now to get going.

David Brandt asked about contactless payment methods, and related fee and transaction costs. Kevin McNulty said that one option was to use a contactless payment method, but we could also use a QR code and link it to a Just Giving page. Whichever was better, we would need a link.

Communication Between Parts

Martin Williams said that he felt there had been a division between the lectures and the observatory. In the past, members using the observatory would meet up with others. We needed to reunite the Society.

David Brandt suggested that there could be an ambassador for talks at the observatory to make visitors aware of all our activities. He had been up there two or three times and could speak to those waiting about talks. This is a potential opportunity for mingling and spreading the word.

Kevin McNulty said that if there were a programme card to take away, then they would give them to observatory visitors as in the past. Simon Lang said that they do tell visitors that they are part of the Hampstead Scientific Society. Anne Watson confirmed that Kevin McNulty and Simon Lang made sure there was always someone to say that the observatory is part of the Hampstead Scientific Society and that we do talks, and she also said that volunteer trainees are always told the history of the Society. Martin Williams said if that was so, he apologised.

Simon Lang said that there had been a Society sign on the observatory wall but it had gone.

Kristoff Bwek noted that the observatory is rarely mentioned at lectures. The message needs to go out that way around too. It is on the website, but it gives the impression that the astronomy bit is separate.

Conclusion

The President announced the conclusion of the AGM, and then there was a general chat rather than a scientific entertainment.

Julie Atkinson, Hon. Secretary, 0118 977 5192

Minutes of Annual General Meeting held via Zoom, on 28^th July 2022.

Present: Simon Lang (President), plus 11 members (1 more appearing during item 1 and another during item 8 and 1 leaving during item 9).

1. Minutes of A.G.M 24^th June 2021

The Secretary asked for comments on the minutes of the previous AGM of 24th June 2021. None were raised so she proposed acceptance of the minutes. The minutes were accepted with 11 votes for and none against.

At the President's request, the Secretary signed the minutes on behalf of Council.

The actions from the 2021 AGM were:

Action AGM2020/1 Jim Brightwell to liaise with Paul Clements on the drive system.

No progress due to the Covid situation. The President hoped things would improve during the summer.

Action AGM2020/2 Simon Lang to ensure Martin Williams is involved in live feeds of video from the observatory.

No progress due to the Covid situation. The President expected to meet him during the summer.

Action AGM2021/1 Julia Daniels to enable David Woolley to check the Astronomy Accounts.

He had read the accounts and made several comments. He accepted the accounts with an amendment to replace 'BALANCE SHEET' with 'CASH AND BANK RECONCILIATION', and to replace 'Financial Examiner' with 'Checker'.

2. President’s Remarks

The President started by thanking Julie Atkinson and Jim Brightwell for keeping the ship upright during these very difficult times. He apologised that he had not been able to attend meetings due to domestic issues he was having to cope with. He was looking forward to 2022-23 being a much better year for the Society when we got back to face to face meetings, which he felt strongly that we must do. He felt that people were getting 'Zoom fatigue' which may explain reduced attendance at the AGM. He thanked all those who had contributed so much to keep things going, including the Secretary, whose apology for being late in arranging the AGM he dismissed, due to arranging extra zoom sessions.

He said that he was still having to shield from face to face meetings himself to protect his partner, but Kevin Devine had agreed to step in to chair face to face meetings when needed in the next session.

3. Trustee’s Report

The Council's separate reports will be collated into a Trustees' Annual Report as recommended by the Charity Commission, and this year the sections will be presented at the AGM.

The Secretary went through the main body of the Trustees' report.

4. Treasurer’s Report

John Tennant presented the Treasurer's report as contained in Annex 1 of the Trustees' Report.

He noted that next year's electricity bill would be higher as we had only had six months of the new double price, but next year it would be for the whole year, unless they raised it yet again.

The President felt that the electricity cost was a bit outrageous considering that we hadn't been using the observatory. He intended to read the meter to show that we should only be paying the standing charge. The Treasurer said that was the major part of the bill anyway, and we are charged commercial rates rather than domestic rates which are regulated. The President said we shall have to see about getting in donations to cover that.

He asked if there was a rent relief for this year and the Treasurer said no. The President thanked the Treasurer for his report.

5. Archivist’s Report

Julia Daniels report was very brief, as contained in Annex 4 of the Trustees' Report

She also said that it was time for the Society to start looking for a new archivist, preferably someone who would stay with the Society in the long term, to take on some of the role unofficially and take over officially next year, hopefully.

The President suggested Anne Watson who would now be staying in London. The Secretary said she had received apologies from Anne Watson who could not attend this evening.

6. Election of Officers and Council

The Secretary announced that Council had elected Simon Lang as President at the Council meeting on 31st March 2022, with the proviso that Kevin Devine would assist him when he was unable to attend a meeting, e.g. to introduce speakers.

The Secretary said that Council had announced its nominations for officers in the May newsletter. As there were no further nominations, the following officers were declared as elected:

Hon. Secretary	Julie Atkinson	Hon. Treasurer	John Tennant
Hon. Programme Secretary	Jim Brightwell	Hon. Membership Secretary	John Tennant
Hon. Archivist	Julia Daniels

The constitution requires at least one ordinary Council member to resign at the AGM. The Secretary reported that in the 2022-23 session, Kevin Devine was standing down as the longest serving member of Council, having served 11 years. Council thanked Kevin for his service.

The following nominations were made by Council for the 5 ordinary members of Council and distributed in the May newsletter:

Nominee	Kevin Devine	David Brandt	Martin Williams	Nick Maslov	Jasmin Qureshi
Nominated by	Council	Council	Council	Council	Council

As there were no further nominations, these nominees were declared as elected to Council.

7. Election of Independent Checkers

Council had failed to nominate a second independent checker this year. The first candidate David Woolley had only recently not received the Treasurer's accounts and had not received the Astronomy Treasurer's accounts, so they had not been checked yet. We had presented them unchecked as we were rather late in producing them. David Woolley has been kind enough to say he will check them this year. He had not received sufficient response to his comments on last year's accounts and so is not willing to stand again. That means that we don't have any candidates for independent checkers for this year, unless anyone present who is not on the Council would like to volunteer. No-one came forward.

A checker must not be a member of Council but must be a member of the Society. Last year we discussed whether being a member was necessary but have not made a proposal to change the constitution. We cannot make such a proposal now because a change to the constitution requires notice. We must either find someone in the Society or pay a professional auditor to do the checks.

The President said this would need to be discussed at the next Council meeting. Action AGM2022/1 The Secretary to ensure the independent checker issue is on the Council meeting agenda.

David Brandt suggested the he could resign from Council in favour of Kevin Devine, and he could then act as the independent checker. However, Kevin Devine said he would be unable to join this time and the President thought such a change could not happen quickly as it would need notice again, and was also reluctant to lose David Brandt from Council.

The Secretary apologised for not responding to the checker's comments in good time. Julia Daniels said she had not understood the comments and the Secretary noted that covid had prevented her from getting together with the checker to go through them.

8. Astronomy Section Report

The Joint Astronomical Section Secretary, Simon Lang, presented his report, as contained in the Trustees' report at Annex 2.

Julie Atkinson asked if the main Society could use the same technique for collecting donations as was proposed for the observatory. Simon Lang said that this was being looked into at the same time, as we ask for donations from non-members at meetings, and also having the card reader independent of a mobile phone

Jim Brightwell pointed out that the Astronomy Section kept its own bank account separate from the main Society account. Simon Lang confirmed that the Section raised and used its own funds and that therefore the accounts were kept separate. Julia Daniels explained the history of that decision, dating from 1970 when the Astronomy Section subcommittee was set up to manage the maintenance of the observatory and raise funds for that maintenance. The remit of the subcommittee was to keep the observatory and telescope in good repair using any funds they could raise themselves to buy materials and to run the astronomy section and its public open nights. They would do the actual work themselves where they could possibly do so. This is explained in the Society's history book.

David Woolley said one of his independent checker comments asked if this setup meant the Astronomy account constituted a 'restricted fund' in terms of the Charity Commission rules. If the funds are only for use by the Astronomy Section, then they would be and it should say so in the Society accounts.

Leo McLaughlin said as a former checker that there was one occasion when the Astronomy Section received a large donation and another when the main Society received a large donation. It was quite clear where each donation was going and they were ring fenced really. Martin Williams said the Society is one charity not two, and David Woolley explained that if some of the charity's money can only be used for certain purposes that has to be explained in the accounts. The President pointed out that the Charity Commission rules have changed over time said that the Council must address this issue with others issues raised on the accounts at the next Council meeting. He thanked David Woolley for raising points that the Society needed to address.

Astronomy Section Accounts

Julia Daniels said that she had not managed to complete the Astronomy Treasurer's report, but intended to shortly. She does them by hand rather than by computer. It should be presented in Annex 3 of the Trustee's Report. There were always urgent problems arising which prevent her from following her plans for the day and she was having difficulty keeping up. The Secretary noted that Julia Daniels had been suffering from health issues.

Simon Lang summarised the situation as with the observatory closed there has been no cash coming in, except for the very generous donation of over £460. He mentioned the expenditure on electricity, but Julia Daniels said that the Society had a meteorological section and shared facilities, such as rent and electricity, were not included under the Astronomy Section funds. Julia Daniels said that there had been no expenditure from the Astronomy accounts at all during the year, and only two items of income, one being the donation and the other being interest on the National Savings and Investments account.

David Brandt asked what using accruals accounts would imply. David Woolley said the Society probably does not want to use accruals accounts, but has used some terminology which only apply to accruals accounts, such as 'Balance Sheet'. We are not a company and so we are allowed to do income and expenditure accounts which are simpler and members probably understand better anyway The guidance for an independent examiner says that if you are presented with something labelled Balance Sheet you must process it as for accruals accounts. He is an independent checker rather than examiner, but the Society should beware of using those terms.

The Astronomy accounts had not been checked by the independent checker. The checking must take place after the AGM. Action AGM2022/2 Julia Daniels to enable the independent checker to check the Astronomy Accounts

9. Approval of the Trustee's Report

The Secretary said that we were in a bit of a quandary on approval of the report. The Treasurer's report had been presented but had not been independently checked and the Astronomy Section Treasurer's report had not been formally presented or checked, so Council and the AGM only had a partial Trustees report here and now.

If it were all here, then we could approve in two stages. The first would be for the trustees themselves to approve the report and the President or Secretary to sign it on their behalf. The second would be for the meeting to approve it. But approval was not appropriate when the report was only partial. The President agreed. David Brandt suggested holding an Extraordinary General Meeting once the report was completed. The President agreed and suggested after the August Council meeting, where we should sort out various problems. The Secretary proposed tagging it on to an ordinary meeting, at the beginning or end and notify members in advance. The President agreed.

10. AOB

Between 13-17 September, the British Science Festival 2022 will be taking over the city of Leicester with over 100 free, engaging and off-the-wall installations, performances, and activities.

Martin Williams said that the weather station had not been working at the observatory for a few years now. He took on the role to reinstate it. He has been getting feedback that a pollution station would be at least as useful as a weather station and intends to speak to one of our lecturers, David Rowley, to see what is involved and whether anyone could sponsor us for this because that equipment is more expensive than a simple weather station. He felt that any weather station should be calibrated and approved to Met. Office standards. To be complete it should have an anemometer and vane. He intends to link the station to the outside world using amateur radio, using packet radio onto APRS (Automatic Position Reporting System). He suggested that we then provide an APRS node with an internet connection via 4G or 5G. That could also be used by a credit card machine and also potentially for video from the telescopes or other uses. This is not a simple project and he asked for anyone willing to help in this to get in touch with him. David Brandt said he was interested in the pollution monitoring. Martin Williams said the whole thing would be done as a package. Simon Lang said he also knew people who would be interested. He suggested setting up a Meteorological Section, rather than just having a Meteorological Secretary. David Brandt asked if it should include Climate or Climate Change in the title, but the President thought meteorology included this connotation and added that funding of the meteorological station had been discussed at a Council meeting and so a proposal should be passed by Council. The Secretary recommended presenting costs.

Martin Williams asked if the Society had had an internet connection at the observatory or just a telephone line for sending out meteorological readings. Simon Lang confirmed it was just a telephone line. Martin Williams recommended getting a fibre line, Another way to achieve good connection would be to have a 4G or 5G base station with antennas pointing at the cells, rather than having what a mobile phone could achieve as the location is poor for reception. However, it would require more hardware and be more obvious. Simon Lang said that given the work to prepare for visitors in September, fibre connection would not happen in the next year, but seeing that it would be simplest, he then suggested that the Society approach fibre companies to see if they would connect us as a charity.

Eric Morgan said that a meteorological station would need a Stevenson screen and asked what other equipment we had. Simon Lang said we had a Stevenson screen donated by the Met. Office. They had left other equipment but he was not sure what was what. Martin Williams said he had looked at it and it was not viable to re-use. The Met. Office had paid for a commercial packet radio to transmit the information, whereas the Society has several amateur radio hams.

At this point the meeting became not quorate and so no further official business could be decided but discussion continued.

Martin Williams said that the first speaker in the next session would prefer to speak to a live audience. Counncil may also consider additionally putting the meeting on zoom or recording it for YouTube. That again will not be a simple job and he again asked for volunteers interested in helping.

Martin Williams said that there is a danger of low attendance and it would not be good if a speaker came some distance to give a talk. If we have zoom operational they know they are at least talking to a wider audience. He would look into it, though it would be difficult because of the size of the room.

The President asked if we should poll membership to see if meetings would be viable or not. Martin Williams recommended waiting. The Secretary felt we would need a publicity drive. Martin Williams said that Hillary Press would still be able to print our cards. Simon Lang said we could get both local papers on board. The Observatory Facebook page could also share other Society activities. He is concerned that only Julie Atkinson and Martin Williams are able to post on the website, and we need a way for anyone to put out a post straightaway. Some people who have reservations about Facebook would be happy to view a blog.

David Brandt suggested asking Jasmin Qureshi about starting a Twitter account. Nick Maslov suggested that he could do an Instagram page for the Society, as in his generation, no-one reads a blog, some use Facebook but not regularly, and everyone uses Instagram. It is focussed on pictures, and space pictures would draw people but one could also then add information about the latest Society event. There was discussion about Social Media and Simon Lang suggested the next Council meeting should have an item to sort out our Social Media profile. The Secretary suggested preparing something, perhaps a demo, in advance to give an idea of what it would look like.

The President announced the conclusion of the AGM, and then there was a general chat rather than a scientific entertainment.

Julie Atkinson, Hon. Secretary, 0118 977 5192

Minutes of Annual General Meeting held via Zoom, on 24^th June 2021.

Present: Simon Lang (President), plus 12 members (1 more appearing during item 1 and another during item 3, and 1 leaving during item 6).

1. Minutes of A.G.M 10^th December 2020

The Secretary asked for comments on the minutes of the previous AGM of 10th December 2020. None were raised so she proposed acceptance of the minutes. The minutes were accepted with 11 votes for and none against.

The actions from the 2020 AGM were:

Action AGM2020/1 Jim Brightwell to liaise with Paul Clements on the drive system.

No progress due to the Covid situation. The President hoped things would improve during the summer.

Action AGM2020/2 Simon Lang to ensure Martin Williams is involved in live feeds of video from the observatory.

No progress due to the Covid situation. The President expected to meet him during the summer.

2. President’s Remarks

The President thanked the Secretary for organizing the zoom meetings during the lockdown. He felt optimistic that we should re-open in September in person. We all look forward to things returning to normal next year. There has been very little happening in the Society apart from the zoom lectures. He had done a few things for the Astronomy Section, but there was nothing much more to remark on.

3. Trustee’s Report

The Council's separate reports had been collated into a Trustees' Annual Report as recommended by the Charity Commission, and this year it had been distributed to members by email only prior to the AGM.

The Secretary went through the main body of the trustees report.

She noted that Prof. Tony Freeth was hoping to give an in person talk on the Antikythera Mechanism in September.

4. Treasurer’s Report

John Tennant presented the Treasurer's report as contained in Annex 1 of the Trustees' Report. He noted that although the balance sheet in the report was not shown as signed, the original had now been signed. The examiner had checked the figures and believed them to be correct.

5. Archivist's Report

As Julia Daniels was unable to present her report via zoom as she was not audible, the General Secretary presented it on her behalf as contained in Annex 4 of the Trustees Report, with help from David Brandt when she mislaid a page.

Martin Williams noted that it would be good to have the Society's documents scanned and made available on the web site. The Secretary said she still had to upload some scans that Martin Williams had previously supplied.

Simon Lang said he is still waiting for access to the observatory to do the check on assets there. Now that he has had both Covid jabs he hopes this will be soon.

The Secretary thanked Julia Daniels for providing the report.

6. Election of Officers and Council

The Secretary announced that Council had elected Simon Lang as President at the Council meeting on 21st April 2021. She hoped that he would feel safe enough to participate in person in the coming year. The President apologised for not being more involved in the zoom sessions over the challenging last year, but things were looking better now.

The Secretary said that Council had announced its nominations for officers in the April newsletter. As there were no further nominations, the following officers were declared as elected:

Hon. Secretary	Julie Atkinson	Hon. Treasurer	John Tennant
Hon. Programme Secretary	Jim Brightwell	Hon. Membership Secretary	John Tennant
Hon. Archivist	Julia Daniels

The constitution requires at least one ordinary Council member to resign at the AGM. The Secretary reported that in the 2019-20 session, Anne Watson volunteered to resign as she may be moving to Germany later in the year, having served for 4 years on Council. Council thanked Anne for her service.

The following nominations were made by Council for the 5 ordinary members of Council and distributed in the newsletter:

Nominee	Kevin Devine	David Brandt	Martin Williams	Nick Maslov	Jasmin Qureshi
Nominated by	Council	Council	Council	Council	Council

As there were no further nominations, these nominees were declared as elected to Council.

The President said that Jasmin Qureshi was one of the observatory team and as a film producer had very kindly set up a YouTube channel for the Society on which we would be able to post any of our videos.

7. Election of Independent Checkers

David Woolley agreed to stand again as an independent checker, but Leo McLaughlin had decided to stand down after more than 10 years of serving. The President thanked him for his efforts.

The Constitution requires two checkers. Jim Brightwell asked what a checker needed to be able to do. A checker needs to be able to read account and must not belong to Council.

Jim Brightwell asked if the checker need be a member and the Secretary said they do according to the Constitution. Martin Williams recommended that the rules should be changed to allow non-members to be checkers. The President felt than an outsider would be more independent. The Secretary said that members would have the interests of the Society at heart. Kevin Devine said that we would be likely to be charged by non-members. David Woolley pointed out that if the turnover were more than £25K, it would need an independent examiner and while the Charity Commission didn't object to their being able to vote at an AGM (i.e. being a member) there was an implied preference for non-members. The constitution requires notice before any change can be voted on, so such a change cannot be made at this AGM.

Leo McLaughlin asked if Melvin Reece would be willing to be an independent checker, but the Secretary said she had contacted him and he was not. The President said that constitution changes and checker candidates would need further discussion in Council, as there was no volunteer at the meeting. The Secretary suggested an EGM could address these.

The Secretary proposed that David Woolley be appointed as one of the independent checkers. The proposal was carried with 9 for and one abstention.

8. Astronomy Section Report

The Joint Astronomical Section Secretary, Simon Lang, presented his report, as contained in the Trustees' report at Annex 2.

He also reported that the death of member Matthew Hepburn and asked Jim Brightwell to speak about him, as a friend of around 20 years. Jim Brightwell said they had first met at the Polytechnic of North London whose Astronomy Forum PONLAF was run by Matthew Hepburn. It later moved to the Irish Centre and then the Crypt Room at St John's Church. He remembered that Matthew had spoken to the Society before the transit of Venus and the many happy gatherings at Matthew Hepburn's home. He would be sadly missed.

The President said that more maintenance was needed. There is a problem with the telescope drive and Paul Clements is considering making a new one with encoders which would turn the instrument into a 'go to' telescope. As London goes over to LED lighting we would be getting a brighter rather than darker sky as they broadcast over all parts of the spectrum. This makes finding objects in the sky harder and so a 'go to' telescope would be very useful.

He hoped that we would have a new programme starting in September and would be able to answer all the people asking when we were opening.

Kevin Devine was willing to help out at the observatory if needed

Astronomy Section Accounts

Julia Daniels, though present, was unable to read out her report to the meeting due to technology issues, and so Julie Atkinson presented it on her behalf as in Annex 3 of the Trustee's Report.

The Astronomy accounts had not been checked by the independent checker due to Covid restrictions, and also she was not able to obtain a statement from the bank as there were no transactions on the account. The checking must take place after the AGM.

Action AGM2021/1 Julia Daniels to enable David Woolley to check the Astronomy Accounts

Leo McLaughlin asked if the BBC paid anything for their observatory session, but Simon Lang said no, as they are a public rather than private body, and the programme was for science education.

The President thanked Julia Daniels for the report.

9. Approval of the Trustee's Report

The Secretary explained that this would be done in two stages. The first was for the trustees themselves to approve the report and the President or Secretary to sign it on their behalf. The second was for the meeting to approve it.

She proposed that Council approve the report and Council approved by 7 votes to none. At the President's request, the Secretary signed the report on behalf of Council.

She then proposed that the meeting approve the report, and the meeting approved by 11 votes to none.

10. AOB

Martin Williams raised the question of zoom, whether its use should be continued, and for what. SysFix IT Support for IT Solutions?. A discussion followed.

Nick Maslov found zoom convenient, particularly for keeping in touch via informal chats. James Hilder enjoyed the zoom meetings from Scotland. Covid risks would make him reluctant to go to in person meetings at the moment, and he was not sure that the situation would improve soon, given the inaccuracy of past predictions. Neither would be able to attend all meetings in person due to not being permanently in London.

Should future meetings be both in person and streamed? To do both may require extra equipment such as extra cameras, to show both the slides and the presenter. It would not be straightforward. Martin Williams stated that streaming live was not practical - it would need good reliable internet connection.

The Secretary noted that this AGM currently had 14 participants rather than the usual 20 plus. This could be due to membership reducing during covid or to reluctance to use zoom.

The Secretary polled attendees informally on whether they wanted to continue zoom talks. The poll was 10 for and one against. The President asked whether zoom would be supplemental to the normal talks or not. The Secretary said not. The President said he and others had voted for supplemental zoom talks, and would not want to replace in person meetings. There was discussion on possibilities, and a suggestion for an annual zoom talk from a speaker from afar who could not come in person. The Secretary suggested the proposed Matthew Hepburn talk could be by zoom.

David Brandt pointed out that at least two attendees could not be present face to face due to staying far from London. He felt that we should try to do something blended, with the emphasis on the normal practice but taking the opportunity to showcase some of the advantages of zoom. Martin Williams agreed we should have a mix and match programme. Our programme secretary was not prepared to arrange additional lectures. The President said we couldn't therefore have two talks a month, one in person and one zoom unless there was a new volunteer to arrange the zoom talks. We wouldn't have to be as rigid with zoom talks as with physical meetings as we don't need to book a venue. A bit ad hoc might be practical. Communication to members by email would be OK as only members online would be able to attend zoom talks anyway.

Martin Williams said recording of lectures would be possible with agreement from the speakers, but would not be straightforward. It would need cameras, microphone and lighting. Kevin Devine said it would need a camera on the speaker, and be able to show the lecture slides, and to include questions and answers afterwards as well. There would need to be some editing of the recording, e.g. using iMovie on a Mac. You can compress video to e.g. less than 25MB which would be good enough quality for a talk.

Simon Lang said some people these days may only read the first line of emails to check whether the rest is of interest. We should not assume that important information in emails will always be picked up.

Martin Williams pointed out that the Society website news is fronted by obituaries which does not draw people in.

Kevin Devine said that a Pentagon report on unidentified aerial phenomena was to be released the following day. There was some discussion on what it might say and scepticism about any alien origins.

The President announced the conclusion of the AGM, and there was a general chat rather than a scientific entertainment.

Julie Atkinson, Hon. Secretary, 0118 977 5192

Minutes of Annual General Meeting held via Zoom, on 10^th December 2020.

Present: Simon Lang (President), plus 14 members (3 more appearing during item 1 and another during item 3).

1. Minutes of A.G.M 20^th June 2019

The President asked for comments on the minutes of the previous AGM of 20^th June 2019, and none were made. He proposed accepting the minutes of the previous AGM. The Secretary attempted to use the Zoom polling mechanism for the proposal, but failed. So it was agreed that members vote by a show of hands or appropriate Zoom symbols or Zoom chat depending on their available technology. The minutes were accepted with 12 votes for and none against.

The minutes were signed by the Secretary on behalf of the President as a correct record.

2. President’s Remarks

The President thanked all those who had helped in the background to keep proceedings running, particularly the Secretary. We had had to do everything by zoom, which made it complicated. He also thanked the Programme Secretary for persuading the speakers to talk to us online. And he welcomed Nick Maslov who had been co-opted to Council during the last year and was joining from University.

The President had set up WhatsApp groups for the observatory, mainly for staff training, as that couldn't be done at the observatory at present. Anyone from the society was welcome to join the WhatsApp groups and he gave his phone number to contact.

He thanked Julia Daniels for keeping eye on the observatory accounts. Of course this year saw a tremendous lack of income, but Thames Water had let us off some rental money and we would have to muddle through, for probably not too many more months. With any luck we would have the vaccines coming along. Re-opening by Easter would be highly optimistic but he hoped for some sort of normality to return by next summer and to aim to reopen the observatory next September and restart activities then, depending on how things go with Covid. We might have to review activities on rolling basis depending on how the vaccine rollout goes and whether or not Covid resurges in London, and this might lead to last minute cancellation. He hoped it wouldn't come to that.

Rumours of up to a third of the population not being confident in vaccines are alarming, given that we generally have good health due to the vaccines we all had when we were younger. The President felt we had a duty to remind anyone hesitant that we came across of this and persuade them otherwise.

3. Trustee’s Report

The Council's separate reports had been collated into a Trustees' Annual Report as recommended by the Charity Commission, and this year it had been distributed to members by post or email prior to the AGM. Individual reports would be presented separately and there would be a separate agenda item to formally accept the report. The General Secretary presented the main body of the Trustees' report.

Jim Brightwell asked what the risk of having to move the observatory was. The President clarified that we have no security of tenure with Thames Water, and they could evict us, though he felt it was very unlikely.

Martin Williams expanded on the plans for the weather station. If the Society is to publishes weather information it needs more professional equipment. Trevor Law had researched where best to purchase such kit and Martin Williams agreed with the recommendations. Publication of data could be by radio or 4G/5G mobile communication or both. A 4G/5G modem would cost, but could also be used for e.g. a card reader for donations, or for security, so could have wider uses. Since there is no access to the site until the summer, he was not intending to do further work until then, as the goalposts may move.

4. Treasurer’s Report

John Tennant presented the Treasurer's report as contained in Annex 1 of the Trustees' Report.

He noted that comparisons are somewhat invalid due to circumstances of the year. There were no comments on the report.

5. Election of Officers and Council

The Secretary announced that Council had elected Simon Lang as President at the Council meeting on 16^th July 2020.

The Secretary said that Council had announced its nominations for officers in the September newsletter. As there were no further nominations, the following officers were declared as elected:

Hon. Secretary	Julie Atkinson	Hon. Treasurer	John Tennant
Hon. Programme Secretary	Jim Brightwell	Hon. Membership Secretary	John Tennant

The constitution requires at least one ordinary Council member to resign at the AGM. The Secretary reported that in the 2019-20 session, Jonquil Florentin had resigned in September, having already served for just over a year, and suggested that this be counted as the required resignation. She thanked Jonquil for her service.

The following nominations were received for the 5 ordinary members of Council:

Nominee	Kevin Devine	David Brandt	Anne Watson	Martin Williams	Nick Maslov
Nominated by	Council	Council	Council	Council	Council

As there were no further nominations, these nominees were declared as elected to Council.

6. Election of Independent Checkers

Leo McLaughlin and David Woolley had agreed to stand again.

Julie Atkinson proposed Leo McLaughlin and Dave Woolley as independent checkers, with John Tennant seconding. The meeting agreed with no votes against, and so the nominees were duly elected as independent checkers.

7. Astronomy Section Report

The Joint Astronomical Section Secretary, Simon Lang, presented his report, as contained in the Trustees' report at Annex 2.

Martin Williams noted that there was quite a lot of mechanical work to be done, and asked if that included slack gears on the telescope drive. Simon Lang said that was Jim Brightwell's area. Both agreed he had done a fantastic job. Although there is some backlash, when the electronics and handset are sorted out that should be overcome easily. Jim Brightwell pointed out that when the motor was solid on the mount backlash should be much less, but if wear appears on the meccano elements we may need to 3D print replacement parts. The Section Secretary said they are changing the drive system and may also include encoders etc. Simon Lang asked Jim Brightwell to liaise with Paul Clements. Jim Brightwell agreed.
Action AGM2020/1 Jim Brightwell to liaise with Paul Clements on the drive system.

James Hilder said that there was no restriction on work during Covid, so asked why could repairs not proceed. Simon Lang explained the issue is that he wanted to use a carpenter who would work at cost but who comes from Canterbury and needs somewhere to stay during the works. Martin Williams offered accommodation.

Kevin Devine asked whether there were plans to capture a time lapse view of sunset to sunrise at the observatory over the winter solstice. Jim Brightwell said he had such a video on YouTube under boywithadolphin, though not from the observatory. Simon Lang said a volunteer, Yunus Nas, was planning on doing live feeds from the observatory with Kevin McNulty to the Facebook page and possibly a youtube channel. Martin Williams pointed out that the Society needs some form of internet connection at the Observatory for several things that it intends to do. The weather data would not take much bandwidth, but images would, and one way around that would be to use 4G or 5G. The President said that at the moment it is being done using Yunus Nas' mobile. He will ensure Martin Williams is kept involved.
Action AGM2020/2 Simon Lang to ensure Martin Williams is involved in live feeds of video from the observatory.

The Joint Astronomical Section Secretary also thanked all the volunteers who had helped out at the observatory over the last year.

Astronomy Section Accounts

Julia Daniels, though present, was unable to read out her report to the meeting due to technology issues, and so John Tennant presented it on her behalf.

Simon Lang asked if the accounts had been independently checked, and John Tennant confirmed they had been checked and signed off by Leo McLaughlin at the same time as the main accounts.

8. Proposal for Archivist Officer

The Secretary explained that Council had decided to have an unofficial position of HSS Archivist, occupied by Julia Daniels for the last year, as they recognised that the Society had accumulated a large quantity of archives in the 120 years of its existence, some of which have been lost. Council felt it was most important that someone was responsible for periodically checking their whereabouts and ensuring that they were kept safely. We had an archivist in the 1960s called Daphne Gloag, but when she retired she was never replaced. Council felt it was worth making the post official, which would be a change to the constitution.

Therefore Council proposes the following amendment to the Constitution, para 5a Officers: Add 'the Honorary Archivist' after 'the Honorary Programme Secretary' in the current para:

The Officers shall be the President, not more than six Vice-Presidents, the Honorary Treasurer, the Honorary Secretary, the Honorary Membership Secretary, the Honorary Programme Secretary and the Honorary Secretaries of such Sections of the Society as shall be constituted under Bye-Law 6.

Martin Williams thought it a good idea but we pointed out that we also need to keep electronic records. We should make as much as possible available for members to enjoy, rather than be sitting in vault somewhere. Kevin Devine agreed that we should have electronic copies of all documents though no-one knows what the perfect storage medium is. We actually need both. The President pointed out that someone has to take the time to do the electronic copying. Martin Williams said that he had recently found the electronic copies of the Society yearbooks that he had scanned some time ago. The Secretary confirmed that she now had copies which she had been wondering how to put online. The President said that issue could be dealt with separately.

A vote was taken and the proposed accepted by 13 votes and none against.

Since the new post was agreed, the President proposed Julia Daniels as the honorary archivist, with Julie Atkinson seconding. A vote was taken and she was elected by 10 votes with none against.

9. AOB

David Brandt asked if a fire-proof safe at the observatory would be an option for archives. The President said that we don't keep document archives at the observatory. They are spread out between members of Council, but we can't insist that they each have fire-proof safes. Martin Williams said that the best way to keep them safe is to make sure that there are electronic copies and distribute them as much as possible.

Jim Brightwell suggested having a zoom meeting for the forthcoming eclipse in Argentina.

Kevin Devine mentioned the forthcoming Great Conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn. Although it is causing a lot of fuss, the President felt it was almost guaranteed not to be clear enough for us to see it, as it is very low down in the sky and close to the sun. You need to look for a SW low horizon, and if it were clear, you would be able to see them in a low power telescope for three days in a row. On the night of the 21st, they are only 6 arc minutes apart so you could look through a reasonably high power telescope to see Jupiter with its bands and moons plus Saturn with its rings and possibly Titan. James Hilder said the tropics would have a better aspect.

Jim Brightwell raised the issue of not being able to go to lectures physically to find speakers for the next session. Simon Lang suggested that we may be able to call on previous speakers.

The President announced the conclusion of the AGM, and there was a general chat rather than a scientific entertainment.

Julie Atkinson, Hon. Secretary, 0118 977 5192

Minutes of Annual General Meeting held at The Crypt Room, St John's Church, Hampstead, on 20th June 2019.

Present: Simon Lang (President), 22 members and one visitor.

1. Minutes of A.G.M 21^st June 2018

The Secretary proposed accepting the minutes of the previous AGM, with John Tennant seconding. The meeting agreed with no votes against. The minutes were signed by the President as a correct record.

2. President’s Remarks

The President thanked the Council for their contributions over the last year and the speakers at our talks. He was looking forward to next year's programme which was already arranged.

3. Trustee’s Report

The Secretary explained that as for last year, the Council's separate reports would be collated into a Trustees' Annual Report as recommended by the Charity Commission. Therefore she would present the main body, the other reports would be presented separately as usual, and there would be a separate agenda item to formally accept the report.

She presented the main body of the Trustees' report.

Melvyn Reiss asked why the British Science Association (BSA) had decided to disaffiliate the Society. The Secretary said that the BSA had a new strategy which concentrated its efforts on engaging disadvantaged communities and those less likely to be engaged by the events that the Society and some of their own branches hold. John Tennant also suggested that Government policy to encourage science in groups would influence that strategy, and also their funding opportunities. The Secretary pointed out that the Society caters for those with an interest in science but also brings in visitors and the Society's aims do not stop us reaching out more widely as well.

4. Treasurer’s Report

The Treasurer, John Tennant presented his report as contained in Annex 1 of the Trustees' Report.

Julie Atkinson asked what the effect of claiming gift aid would have on the loss made this year. The Treasurer said that it would compensate for the loss.

Jim Brightwell asked how the value of the observatory had been obtained. John Tennant responded that it was his opinion on what could be achieved if it were sold.

Kevin Devine commented that the observatory site rent is low. John Tennant replied that we are a quiet tenant, and that a few years ago Thames Water had requested an increase over £192, but we had negotiated the lower figure. They are keen to keep us as tenants, as we are a community based charitable organisation. Martin Williams said it would be a loss of face for them to lose us.

Doug Daniels pointed out that the insurance cost is steep. He suggested negotiating or looking further afield, when it comes to renewal time.

5. Election of Officers and Council

The Secretary announced that Council had elected Simon Lang as President at the Council meeting on 4^th April 2019.

The Secretary said that Council had announced its nominations for officers in the April newsletter. As there were no further nominations, the following officers were declared as elected:

Hon. Secretary	Julie Atkinson	Hon. Treasurer	John Tennant
Hon. Programme Secretary	Jim Brightwell	Hon. Membership Secretary	John Tennant

The constitution requires at least one ordinary Council member to resign at the AGM. The Secretary reported that this year, David Markham was resigning, having served for 4 years. She thanked him for his service.

The following nominations were received for the 5 ordinary members of Council:

Nominee	Kevin Devine	David Brandt	Anne Watson	Jonquil Florentin	Martin Williams
Nominated by	Council	Council	Council	Council	Council

As there were no further nominations, these nominees were declared as elected to Council.

Jim Brightwell asked what holds members back from making further nominations. Council do not know but wonder if it was the significant commitment of time required.

7. Election of Independent Checkers

Julie Atkinson proposed Leo McLaughlin and Dave Woolley as independent checkers, with John Tennant seconding. The meeting agreed with no votes against, and so the nominees were duly elected as independent checkers.

8. Astronomy Section Report

The Joint Astronomical Section Secretary, Doug Daniels, presented his report, as contained in the Trustees' report at Annex 2.

The Joint Astronomical Section Secretary, Simon Lang, added further information about the state of the observatory.

The BBC had come to film at the observatory for broadcast in January 2019. The Section managed to get the observatory floor ready for their visit. 15 individuals had helped in the observatory work. Philip Roger had donated his time. Trevor Law had spent significant time helping out.

We have permission to lay down paving, and need approval for the technical details. Simon Lang was meeting the representative of Thames Water the next week and hoped to sort that out. If there were problems, another member of the Section was willing to strongly assert our case to the company. However, legally we have no security in our tenure. This also affects our ability to raise donations from local companies, who usually require such security.

Simon Lang had liaised with Thames Water, who understood the need to get at the base timbers of the observatory annex, and that they needed to barrier off the whole site to give access for the work and for future maintenance. This was feasible but the barriers needed to be obtained from a different department from the one liaising. He commented that their insurers were wary of people who were not Thames Water employees working on the site.

The building was functional, and we could open in September irrespective of repairs. However, the rot could progress and would need more drastic repairs if not addressed soon.

The last few things that need doing are technical and need professional expertise. Simon Lang hoped to have a professional colleague to help in the work as well as a contingent of volunteers. He intended to call an Astronomy Section meeting to arrange it. The observatory was online to re-open in September.

Martin Williams queried the legal position for right of tenure, but Simon Lang pointed out that as a utility Thames Water have rights of precedence.

Jim Brightwell asked if the membrane goes under the observatory. Simon Lang confirmed it does not, it just goes up to the observatory.

David Brandt asked what made the membrane smart. Simon Lang said that it had sensors that would recognise if and where it was holed, so that it could be repaired, and the cause investigated. The membrane itself keeps out such things as e. coli.

Trevor Law asked about a 16" Dobsonian and asked if it was practical to keep it in the observatory. Simon Lang explained that Dougie Burgess had donated it, as he cannot use it any more. It can be taken in and out of the observatory if carried carefully.

The Astronomy Section Treasurer, Julia Daniels, presented the Astronomy Section accounts as contained in the Trustees' report at Annex 3.

Julia Daniels pointed out that the closure of the observatory had meant three years with no donations box.

She pointed out that the two years' interest from National Savings was because she had not found the certificate in time for last year's accounts and so it was included this year.

9. Meteorological Section Report

The Meteorological Section Secretary presented his report as contained in the Trustees' report at Annex 4

He concluded with his resignation.

The General Secretary thanked Trevor Law for his service and investigation of options for obtaining a good quality meteorological station for the Society.

Martin Williams said that his friend Adrian Larkman, had been giving away possessions and had donated a weather station, on view at the AGM, to the Society. He proposed to use amateur radio (APRS) to transmit the data from the weather station and put it on the internet.

The meeting expressed its thanks to the donor, and the society will write to thank him.

Melvyn Reiss asked if it was worth sending the data to Weather Underground. Trevor Law said that was what he had had in mind. Simon Lang said that the Society is liaising with the Met. Office for putting back the old equipment, and were looking into finding another Met. Section Secretary.

10. Approval of Trustee’s Report

The Secretary called on the 2018-19 members of Council, as Trustees of the Society, to vote on accepting the Trustees' Report. The Trustees present voted unanimously in favour, and so the President signed the report on behalf of the Trustees.

The Secretary then proposed that the members accept the Trustees' report. The vote was carried with no opposition.

11. AOB

The Programme Secretary gave a brief indication of next year's programme so far, from Fish Oil in Plants to Pyrotechnics.

Kevin Devine gave a brief on the proposed visit to the Royal Institution. The secretary reminded members that an email for contacting him about the visit had been circulated in the newsletter.

Simon Lang said that Kevin McNulty has fund raising ideas for the observatory to allow for people to donate without cash.

Leo McLaughlin said that there is to be a Stargazing Live event at the Apollo Moon Landing anniversary. Simon Lang said that the Society would not be taking part, as we do not have the space to cater for very large numbers of visitors such as we had after BBC publicity. Then visitors would have very little time each at the telescope.

The Secretary announced that The British Science Festival in Warwick 10 - 13 September

Martin Williams announced that the Royal Society Summer Exhibition would be Monday 1 July - Sunday 7 July. He also said that there would be a group waiting to celebrate the summer solstice sunrise at Parliament Hill at 3:55am the next morning.

Lester Hillman announced that the Heath and Hampstead Society were organising a daylight Astronomical walk on the Heath in July, with details on their web site.

Martin Gough said that Pub Sci held scientific talks with a good range of speakers, on the first Wednesday of the month from 7pm at the Old King's Head, London Bridge.

The President announced the conclusion of the AGM, and since it was past 10pm, there was no time for a scientific entertainment.

Julie Atkinson, Hon. Secretary, 0118 977 5192

Minutes of Annual General Meeting held at The Crypt Room, St John's Church, Hampstead, on 21^st June 2018.

Present: Doug Daniels (President) and 25 members.

1. Minutes of A.G.M 22^nd June 2017

Simon Lang proposed accepting the minutes of the previous AGM, with Melvyn Reiss seconding. The minutes were signed by the President as a correct record.

2. President’s Remarks

The President remarked that members would be aware, if they read the Newsletters, which he was assured that some actually do, that this would be his last Presidential report. He had decided to resign from the position following a couple of health scares last Winter. He was now 78 and beginning to experience ‘brain fade’ and continued good health could not be guaranteed. It had been his pleasure to have served the Society as President for the last ten years during which time he had been well supported by our Council. He felt that it was now time to hand over the reins to a younger person and he was pleased to inform members that at the last Council Meeting, Simon Lang was proposed and he had agreed to fill the vacancy, subject to ratification by members at this meeting.

He wished Simon a long and happy Presidency and knew that he could count on the full support of Council.

The lecture programme was as usual varied and interesting with talks ranging from ‘Ancient Chinese Science’, to ‘Responding to Major Emergencies’ – very topical considering the recent attempted assassinations in Salisbury. Once again well done the Programme Secretary, and he understood that next session’s programme would very soon be complete.

But all has not been plain sailing. The two main problems facing the Society this session have been the continuing problems at the Observatory, which is still not up and running after a year’s closure. And the unwinding ‘red tape’ required to comply with the new laws on data protection. He feared that much of the work to resolve the latter had fallen into the lap (top) of our able Secretary, who had dealt with it enthusiastically! We are now fairly confident that we have all bases covered.

In past reports the President had been pleased to say that this was ‘another good year for the Society’, but it wasn’t. Last April, we were saddened to hear of the death of Brian Bond a member since 1980. Brian was our Solar Observer and you would find him up at the observatory on any sunny Sunday morning, showing visitors the true nature of our Sun with his hydrogen alpha telescope. Brian was an enthusiastic member of the observatory team and his passing is a great loss to the Astronomy Section.

We were further saddened to hear of the death of Philip Eden our ex–Hon. Meteorologist after a long illness. Our sympathy to Philip’s brothers.

Then to cap it all, we were informed of the passing of Prof. Heinz Wolff. Heinz was a member for more than 60 years and President from 1968 – 1987. His last lecture to the Society was in September 2017, in which he described the fun he had with spoof talks and practical jokes. A full obituary will be published in the September Newsletter.

In conclusion the President took the opportunity to thank all Council members for their continued help and support and all those members who assist at meetings lugging chairs and tables, and to all those contributing to tonight’s feast.

3. Secretary’s Report

The Secretary explained that this year, the Council’s separate reports would be collated into a Trustees’ Annual Report as recommended by the Charity Commission. Therefore she would present the main body, the other reports would be presented separately as usual, and there would be a separate agenda item to formally accept the report.

She presented the main body of the Trustees’ report.

The Secretary then thanked members of Council for their contributions, Doug Daniels and Peter Wallis for the newsletter and its content, all those who help with coffee and chairs at meetings and those who provided food, wine and arrangements for the AGM.

4. Treasurer’s Report

The Treasurer, John Tennant presented his report as contained in Appendix 1 of the Trustees’ Report.

Leo McLaughlin noted that the Society had suffered a double whammy with the observatory closure: no associated publicity or donations. There would be minor gain in a lower electricity bill. He noted that the deficit was not as bad as it seemed, as gift aid had not been claimed and would reduce it.

5. Election of Officers and Council

The Secretary said that Doug Daniels had decided to stand down as President this year after 10 years in the position. She announced that according to the Constitution, it is the Society’s Council that elects the President, at a meeting before the AGM, and the AGM then elects a new Council. The Council had elected Simon Lang as President at the Council meeting on 5th April 2018, and she handed over to him to say a few words.

Simon Lang said he wanted to say thank you to Doug Daniels for being the President for the past 10 years, when after all he’d reluctantly taken on the job providing it was only on a temporary basis! He said that Doug and Julia had done such a huge amount for the Society, having been running the Observatory for more than 100 years jointly! Most of all Simon wanted to say thanks to them for mentoring him since he joined the Society in the eighties, often having to be patient while he made mistakes and how it was a miracle he hadn’t found himself buried under the foundations of the Observatory!

He then proposed a toast of thanks from all assembled which was warmly supported.

The Secretary said that Council had announced its nominations for officers in the April newsletter. As there were no further nominations, the following officers were declared as elected:

Hon. Secretary	Julie Atkinson	Hon. Treasurer	John Tennant
Hon. Programme Secretary	Jim Brightwell	Hon. Membership Secretary	John Tennant

The constitution requires at least one ordinary Council member to resign at the AGM. The Secretary reported that this year, Martin Williams was resigning, having served for 8 years and being the longest serving member of Council. She thanked him for his service.

The following nominations were received for the 5 ordinary members of Council:

Nominee	Kevin Devine	David Markham	David Brandt	Anne Watson	Jonquil Florentin
Nominated by	Council	Council	Council	Council	Council

As there were no further nominations, these nominees were declared as elected to Council.

6. Proposal for Change to Wording of Auditing Requirement in Constitution

John Tennant said that a member had pointed out that the term audit usually refers to a formal professional inspection of accounts, whereas that is not what the Society has done. Also, that the Society’s audit is not independent when an auditor is one of the Council, who are the Society’s trustees.

The Constitution implies there is a difference between an audit made by a member and a professional audit, but the term auditing is generally taken as referring to a professional service.

The current wording of the Constitution is:

The Council shall present to each Annual General Meeting a Report of the Society’s activities during the preceding year, including a statement of accounts duly audited by two members of the Society, who shall be appointed at the previous Annual General Meeting.

Council shall have power to employ, if it thinks fit, the services of a professional auditor.

The Charity Commission does not require a charity with our income to have a formal audit, but accepts an ’independent check’. Council recommends that the Constitution is reworded to be consistent with the Charity Commission’s terms and require the check to be made by a member who is not on Council.

The proposed replacement wording is:

The Council shall present to each Annual General Meeting a Report of the Society’s activities during the preceding year, including a statement of accounts duly examined by one examiner chosen from two members of the Society, but independent of the Society’s governing Council, who shall be appointed at the previous Annual General Meeting.

Council shall have power to employ, if it thinks fit, the services of a professional auditor.

John Tenant proposed the change of wording. Julie Atkinson seconded. The meeting voted to accept the change.

7. Election of Independent Checkers

It was pointed out that although the Agenda Item was Election of Auditors, given the agreed new wording it should be election of independent checkers.

Julie Atkinson proposed Leo McLaughlin and Martin Williams as independent checkers, pointing out that since Martin Williams was no longer on Council he was eligible, with David Brandt seconding. He was not present, but David Brandt was able to contact him and obtain his consent to stand.

Julia Daniels was concerned that Martin Williams may not give a thorough check of the accounts, and the Secretary asked for other volunteers.

Melvyn Reiss was willing and was proposed by Julia Daniels, and seconded by Simon Lang.

A vote was held, with members having two votes each. The results were Leo McLaughlin 25, Martin Williams 11, Melvyn Reiss 10, and so Leo McLaughlin and Martin Williams were duly elected as independent checkers.

8. Astronomy Section Report

The Astronomical Section Secretary, Doug Daniels, presented his report, as contained in the Trustees’ report.

Simon Lang added that teams of volunteers have now completed the basic work on the outside of the observatory building, but need permission from Thames Water to lay a new paved area to avoid problems with their membrane. He was confident that the observatory should be able to re-open in September.

The Astronomy Section Treasurer, Julia Daniels, presented the Astronomy Section accounts as contained in the Trustees’ report.

9. Meteorological Section Report

The Meteorological Section Secretary presented his report as contained in the Trustees’ report

10. Approval of Trustee’s Report

The Secretary called on the 2017–18 members of Council, as Trustees of the Society, to vote on accepting the Trustees’ Report. The Trustees voted 8 in favour, and with three absences, and so the President signed the report on behalf of the Trustees.

The Secretary then called on the members to accept the Trustees’ report. The vote was in favour, with none against and 4 abstentions.

11. AOB

The Programme Secretary gave a brief indication of next year’s programme so far, from Water on Mars to Human Colour Vision.

He also noted that there would be a total lunar eclipse on 27th July.

Kevin Devine noted that Mars was in opposition, close but low down. Trevor Law said that a global dust storm was in progress on the planet.

The Secretary announced that

• The Royal Society Summer Exhibition would be Monday 2 July – Sunday 8 July.
• The British Science Festival in Hull 11 – 14 September.

The President announced the conclusion of the AGM, and since there was plenty of food left from the wine and cheese, the members retired to browse rather than having a scientific entertainment.

Julie Atkinson, Hon. Secretary, 0118 977 5192

Minutes of Annual General Meeting held at The Crypt Room, St John's Church, Hampstead, on 22^nd June 2017.

Present: Doug Daniels (President) and 31 members plus one visitor.

1. Minutes of A.G.M 23^rd June 2016

These were signed by the President as a correct record. The secretary reported on the matters arising:

AGM2016/1a Council	Council would look at a subscription increase in detail and make a proposal for the next AGM. See agenda item. Action complete.
AGM2016/1b Council	Council will confirm with Martin Williams that he is willing to audit for the Society. They did and he is. Action complete.
AGM2016/2 Astronomy Section Treasurer	Astronomy Section Treasurer to prepare the accounts in time for them to be published in the forthcoming newsletter. They were enclosed with the newsletter. Action complete.
AGM2016/3 Astronomy Section Secretary	The Astronomy Section Secretary promised to circulate the outcome of the meeting with Thames Water in the next newsletter. The status was reported in the newsletter. Action complete.
AGM2016/4 Council	Council will enquire about the health of Meteorological Section Secretary, Philip Eden, and about obtaining a report. They had, and the December newsletter had announced Philip Eden's severe illness and that he unable to continue as Meteorological Section Secretary or produce a Section report. Action complete.

2. President’s Remarks

The President remarked on yet another good year for the Society. Membership continued to remain constant, around the 100 mark and on at least two occasions, 60% of the membership turned up to enjoy talks on “Why planet Earth is habitable” and “Lost worlds of the Solar System”. Both meetings featured record attendances and must be viewed with considerable satisfaction by our Hon. Programme Secretary who always manages to put together a well-balanced lecture programme. The President noted that next year’s programme was now completed and he congratulated Jim Brightwell.

Looking back at last year’s report, accidents and illness seemed to be a feature of that session and unfortunately the trend continued this year, when our Vice President, Peter Wallis contracted a very nasty chest infection from which he has still had not fully recovered and presented his apology for absence. Just a year ago, Julia Daniels suffered a small stroke which has affected her walking and during the winter she suffered from number of chest infections as well. The President wished them both speedy recovery on behalf of the society. He supposed we must try to get used to such incidents as our membership ages but felt it was difficult to suffer the loss of long standing members such as Brian Bond who sadly passed away in April following a brief illness.

He also expressed sadness, for other reasons, to see the departure of Alexander Menegas, our youngest member of Council. Alex would depart these shores in August to study physics at Princeton (USA), and the President wished him every success in his studies and future career.

The major feature of the session was that the Observatory had been put out of action for a full year due to the work on the reservoir by Thames Water, more details of which will be in the Astro. Secretary’s. Report.

In conclusion the President thanked all members of Council for their continued help and all those members who assist at meetings with transporting chairs and tables etc. and for providing tonight’s refreshments.

3. Secretary’s Report

The Secretary reported another year of good lectures and reminded members of the topics. Jim Brightwell gave a taste of the lecture programme for next year. The Society had officially attended the British Science Association Branches Forum at the Science Festival in Swansea in September. The Secretary thanked members of Council for their contributions, Doug Daniels and Peter Wallis for the newsletter and its content, all those who help with coffee and chairs at meetings and those who provided food, wine and arrangements for the AGM.

4. Treasurer’s Report

The Treasurer, John Tennant began his report with expenditure. Bookings and expenses were down 9% from last year. The drop in the Observatory costs of 4.2% was due to a small reduction in insurance premium and cancellation of the telephone line. Administration was up 9.8% due to the bulk purchase of postage stamps before the price increase this year and an increase in printing costs. Refreshments total decreased by 11% this year. The annual cost of the website remained unchanged. With no miscellaneous expenditures this year, the resulting total expenditure was £30.67 (1.2%) up on last year.

On the income side, membership income decreased by 2.1% and Gift Aid recovery was not in by the end of this financial year. The donations were up by 30.5% from last year's level. No British Science Association grant was obtained this year. Sales income was down 47.5% from last year and interest on our savings account was further depressed last year and in the light of a reduction of the interest rate to 0.1% the account closed. Income overall was up by £25.63 (1.3%).

The outcome is we have a shortfall of income over expenditure of £624.32. The capital at year end 31/05/2017 is £22911.53.

The shortfall appears worse than it is as the gift aid for this year has not been claimed yet as it is earning interest. The overall loss is similar to last year's. In the light of this the Treasurer had recommended to Council and now to this meeting an increase to next year's subscriptions to be discussed under a separate agenda item.

Julie Atkinson proposed adoption of the report, and Doug Daniels seconded. The meeting agreed.

5. Election of Officers and Council

The Secretary announced that Council had elected Doug Daniels as President at the Council meeting on 6^th April 2017.

Council had announced its nominations for officers in the April newsletter. As there were no further nominations, the following officers were declared as elected:

Hon. Secretary	Julie Atkinson	Hon. Treasurer	John Tennant
Hon. Programme Secretary	Jim Brightwell	Hon. Membership Secretary	John Tennant

The constitution requires at least one ordinary Council member needs to resign at the AGM. The Secretary reported that this year, Alexander Menegas had volunteered to step down as he was moving to the USA to go to university. She thanked him for his support during the last two years and wished him well in his studies.

The following nominations were received for the 5 ordinary members of Council:

Nominee	Martin Williams	Kevin Devine	David Markham	David Brandt	Anne Watson
Nominated by	Council	Council	Council	Council	Council

As there were no further nominations, these nominees were declared as elected to Council.

6. Election of Auditors

Julie Atkinson proposed Leo McLaughlin and Martin Williams as auditors, with Doug Daniels seconding. They were both willing to. The meeting elected them both.

7. Astronomy Section Report

The Astronomical Section Secretary, Doug Daniels, presented his report, summarised below.

He said that he had, in the past, been criticised for the length of his Section reports. This year is totally different.

Last year the Society was informed by Thames Water that they were renovating the reservoir and that the site would be closed from 17^th July 2016 until about the end of March 2017. In the event, their estimate regarding completion was way out. In fact they were still working on it and expect to complete by the end of July. It had taken a full year to do the work and when we are allowed back on the site it will take us some time to re-site the Met. Instruments and restore the electricity supply and re-fit the telescope object glass currently in the care of Terry Pearce. We hope that we will be ready for the next session beginning in September. In conclusion: there were no public open nights during the 2016- 2017 session and no astronomical observations were made from the Observatory.

The Astronomy Section Treasurer, Julia Daniels, presented the Astronomy Section accounts.

She said it had been impossible to do anything at the observatory this year, because our landlord, Thames Water, had been doing major refurbishment to the site in order to protect the underground reservoir from the risk of contamination. The work started last autumn and was still in progress. Meanwhile we were unable to get access to the Observatory.

Before work started, we emptied the observatory fund box which contained public donations totalling £337. We also received £13.56 interest on our National Savings Investment Account. Our only expenditure was £4.50 (half price) on the BAA Handbook, which lists details of what can be observed during the year.

Our total income was therefore £350.56 (compared with £521.80 last year), and our total expenditure was £4.50 (compared with £36.15 last year). Our total income and expenditure appear again on the balance sheet at the bottom of the page, together with our opening balance of £19,476.92 and our closing balance of £19,822.98. This confirms our excess of income over expenditure of £346.06.

She thanked Leo McLaughlin for auditing the accounts.

Julie Atkinson proposed that the report and accounts be accepted. The meeting agreed.

8. Meteorological Section Report

The new Meteorological Section Secretary, Trevor Law, introduced himself, and reported that due to the works at the observatory site, the meteorological instruments had had to be removed, sadly breaking a record of more than 100 years of meteorological readings. Hence there was nothing further to report this year, except for an informal comment that this June was hot!

9. Proposal for Change to Subscription

The Treasurer reminded members of the loss of £300, as last year, and recommended an increase of next year's subscriptions to :

• Ordinary member £19 Standing order £18
• Family member £29 Standing order £25
• Junior member £5
• Country member £6
• Group membership £45

The reasoning for this recommendation is that inflation is increasing and expenditure is exceeding income consistently, the longer we leave the increase to balance them the greater the resulting increase will have to be.

Martin Williams suggested that if we invited donations instead, the Society might gain more. Doug Daniels pointed out that the Society already does invite donations. John Tennant pointed out that the Society could not rely on donations for basic expenses, which should be covered by basic subscriptions. We need to raise £300 400 to cover the loss and hopefully balance the books as long as membership doesn't decrease significantly.

The Treasurer explained that the current ordinary membership fee was £15 per year (£14 by standing order) and previously had been £10 (£9 by standing order). It was 5 years since the last rise. Then membership had dropped by 15%. This time the percentage increase in subscription is not so great.

It was suggested that £20 would be better than £19, as a round figure. £19 is not much compared to, e.g. a choral society which charges £100 per year.

Julie Atkinson proposed that the treasurer's proposal be amended by replacing the ordinary membership fee of £19 by £20. The meeting voted in favour.

Julie Atkinson proposed that the amended treasurer's proposal be accepted by the AGM. The meeting voted in favour.

10. AOB

Martin Williams announced that David Knight, the programme co-ordinator for the Richmond Scientific Society, had passed away unexpectedly a few days ago.

Jim Brightwell said that his latest balloon flight had recorded a trip over Hampstead, and there would be a link to it in the next newsletter.

David Markham announced that he had visited the Horniman Museum. The museum has been in Forest Hill for a hundred years or so, and is well known for its displays on natural history and evolution. The 'traditional' part of the Museum is free of entry, but small charges are made for modern additions or special exhibitions. In the modern lower level there is an Aquarium (entry by ticket), a Robot Zoo (until October, entry by ticket) and an impressive collection (free entry) of musical instruments including historic keyboard instruments and an assembly of string and wind instruments from Africa, Asia and elsewhere. In recent years the Museum has taken a strong 'ethnic' line, and there are frequent exhibitions and events featuring aspects of Asian, African and other cultures. The whole complex is welcoming to children. The gardens, being on a hill, afford clear views across central London. There is a café, as well as outdoor stalls in season, and (on Saturdays) a Farmers' Market.

David Markham had also tried to visit the Francis Crick Institute in St Pancras, but unfortunately it was not open at that time. It does, however, hold public activities, tours and exhibitions. Rob Grant said that he had visited on an open day and found the building itself quite astonishing.

Tim Bierman asked whether Gift Aid was no longer claimed if a member was no longer a tax payer. The Treasurer confirmed that any member who no longer pays tax should let him know so that he does not claim Gift Aid.

Martin Williams suggested the we need to publicise the Society better, and at the next session should ask members to distribute programme cards sensibly. He announced that

• WOLAS was holding a 50^th anniversary event on 10^th July
• The Royal Society Summer Exhibition would be Tuesday 4 July - Sunday 9 July.

The Secretary announced that

• The British Science Festival in Brighton 5-9 September.

The President announced the conclusion of the AGM, and since by then it was 9:45pm there was unfortunately no time for a scientific entertainment.

Julie Atkinson, Hon. Secretary, 0118 977 5192

Minutes of Annual General Meeting held at The Crypt Room, St John's Church, Hampstead, on 23^rd June 2016.

Present: Doug Daniels (President) and 28 members and 1 guest.

1. Minutes of A.G.M 25^th June 2015

These were signed by the President as a correct record.

2. President’s Remarks

The President remarked on how the Society continues to function well with little steering, on the good set of talks the Programme Secretary had arranged in the last session, and on how obliging lecturers were to come and address us. He noted that we have a fairly constant membership.

3. Secretary’s Report

The Secretary reported another year of good lectures and reminded members of the topics. Jim Brightwell gave a taste of the lecture programme for next year. Council had arranged a trip to the Horniman Museum in July. The Society had officially attended the British Science Association Branches Forum at the Science Festival in Bradford in September.

The Secretary reported membership as 111 of which 18 are family, 2 junior, 4 country and 2 honorary.

The Secretary thanked members of Council for their contributions, Doug Daniels and Peter Wallis for the newsletter and its content, all those who help with coffee and chairs at meetings and those who provided food, wine and arrangements for the AGM.

4. Treasurer’s Report

The Treasurer, John Tennant, reported that bookings and expenses were up from last year. The increase in the Observatory costs of 10.6% was due primarily to a raise in insurance from the inclusion of theft cover for the Coronado telescope and portable mount. Administration was up over 9.8% due to the bulk purchase of postage stamps previous to last year before the price increase. Refreshment total increased slightly this year. The annual cost of the website remained unchanged. With no miscellaneous expenditures this year, the resulting total expenditure was £127.56 (5%) up on last year.

On the income side, membership income increased by 4.4% and Gift Aid recovery was not in by the end of this financial year. The donations were down by 25% from last years level. No British Science Association grant was obtained this year. Sales income was down 33% from last year and interest on our savings account remains depressed. Income overall was down by £29.63 (1.5%).

The outcome is we have a shortfall of income over expenditure of £619.28. The capital at the year end 31/5/2016 £23,535.85 is down on last year.

The shortfall appears worse than it is, as the Gift Aid for this year has not been claimed yet as it is earning a better interest rate unclaimed than with our savings account. The overall health of the end of year balance indicates that an increase in the annual subscription should be considered as even with this year's Gift Aid, the deficit would be over £300.

Leo McLaughlin noted that the deficit was sizeable, and agreed that the subscription be increased. How much by would depend on whether it was better to go for a big jump to be stable for several years, or have several small increases over the same period. John Tennant said that the current deficit would be covered by an increase of approximately £3 per member, though £5 may be better if we went for the big jump.

Jim Brightwell felt that other societies had higher membership subscriptions already. Doug Daniels remarked that one was £25/year. Eric Morgan said that membership subscriptions were on average £15/year, and suggested that the Society offer a concession rate at e.g. £15. The President felt that most members would qualify for a concession and so that would not have the desired effect.

David Brandt suggested that the refreshment cost is low and suggested that it be increased. The President felt that members don't always pay up now, and one option might be to make refreshment free and cover it by the subscription. However, John Tennant said that this was not covered by the Constitution, and there may be a problem with our charitable status if we were to use our funds to subsidising refreshments.

The President agreed that a subscription increase was something to consider, but recommended not for this session. Council would look at the matter in detail and make a proposal for the next AGM.

Action AGM2016/1 Council

Julie Atkinson proposed adoption of the report, and Peter Wallis seconded. The meeting agreed.

5. Election of Officers and Council

The Secretary announced that Council had elected Doug Daniels as President at the Council meeting on 7^th April 2016.

As there were no further nominations, the following officers proposed by Council were declared as elected:

Hon. Secretary	Julie Atkinson	Hon. Treasurer	John Tennant
Hon. Programme Secretary	Jim Brightwell	Hon. Membership Secretary	John Tennant

The constitution requires at least one ordinary Council member needs to resign at the AGM. The Secretary reported that this year, David Brandt had volunteered to step down. She thanked him for his support during the last two years and hoped that he would return to Council in the future.

The following nominations were received for the 5 ordinary members of Council:

Nominee	Martin Williams	Kevin Devine	David Markham	Alexander Menegas
Nominated by	Council	Council	Council	Council

The Secretary noted that Alexander Menegas was too young to qualify as a trustee of the Society, but she believed he would be able to make valuable contributions to Council.

As there were no further nominations, these nominees were declared as elected to Council.

6. Election of Auditors

Doug Daniels proposed Leo McLaughlin and Martin Williams as auditors, with Julie Atkinson seconding. Leo McLaughlin was willing to act and Council will confirm with Martin Williams as he was absent. The meeting elected them both.

Action AGM2016/1 Council

7. Astronomy Section Report

The Astronomical Section Secretary, Doug Daniels, presented his report, summarised below.

The new session of open nights began on September 18^th but there were no bright planets to show as all the action was in the pre-dawn sky. In early October a brilliant Venus was in conjunction with Jupiter and Mars, and if you had a low clear horizon, you could also see Mercury joining in. At some stage the scene was accentuated by the star Regulus and a thin last crescent moon. With all that going on just before dawn, it was not surprising that the evening sky was positively dull in comparison – we had to show visitors double stars.

Towards the end of October, Doug Daniels was approached by the Daily Telegraph, seeking permission for a photographic session at the Observatory for one of their articles. The subject was to be an interview with Jon Culshaw the TV impressionist who, coincidently is on the Sky at Night team and a frequent visitor to the Observatory.

The group arrived at 3:00 pm and the session went on until 6:00 when due to darkness falling, the action continued at the Holly Bush.

The weather this session was the worst that the Astronomy Secretary could remember. Since opening in mid September, there had only been 4 clear weekend nights until February 16^th. Not surprisingly, people were becoming frustrated so Simon Lang & John Tennant decided to open the observatory when a clear night was predicted. As luck would have it we managed two nights in succession on 13^th and 14^th of Feb. The sky remained clear and we had a good Moon a few days before first quarter. A small contingent of visitors turned up but given the short notice this was to be expected, but it allowed time to look at the moon and some of the other interesting objects in the winter sky in an unhurried manner, which is as it should be.

Because of the poor weather it was decided to extend the open nights the Observatory until May 22^nd as Jupiter is now well placed for observation. Opening times changed to 9:00 pm until 11:00 pm as the sky is still light at 8:00pm. Apart from Jupiter we also have Mars in opposition on May 22^nd and Saturn on June 3^rd, but both planets will be very low in the south.

The last transit of Mercury took place on May 7^th 2003. On that date the weather was fine and the whole transit was observed. Having endured the cloudiest session of open nights in memory, we didn’t hold out many hopes of getting a good view this time. The day before – Sunday 8^th – was the warmest day this year (so far) with cloudless skies but the Met. Office was predicting total cloud cover for the 9th with rain by mid afternoon. In the event, the Met. Office got it wrong again and Monday 9^th dawned fairly clear with patchy cloud. As the transit lasted from 11:12:23 until 18:40:33 – fully a little over 7 hours, we expected to see at least some of it. We opened the Observatory to visitors and during the course of the day about 80 or so availed themselves with the opportunity to observe this uncommon event. By late afternoon, the Met. Predictions were realised and by 5pm it was raining. But we did see most of the transit.

Quite a few Members, Demonstrators and Assistants turned up during the course of the day and all who attended were rewarded with the sight of the diminutive disk of Mercury slowly progressing across the solar disk, reinforcing the comparison between the vast size of the Sun and the tiny planet orbiting it.

Many visitors came equipped with digital cameras and smart phones and they all went away with images of the event; how things have changed in the last few years!

The current session of open nights/days ended on Sunday May 22^nd with a last look at the Sun. Without doubt this session had experienced the fewest clear nights (at weekends) that the Astronomy Section Secretary could remember and consequently low visitor numbers. Was it the fault of ‘el-nino’? All being well the Observatory would re-open to visitors in mid September. Doug Daniels' attendance had also been poor this session since he managed to crack his left humorous in two places when he slipped on wet leaves on December 10th following an HSS lecture meeting. Coincidently, the Section's solar expert Brian Bond suffered a similar fate falling and hitting his face on the pavement. These accidents meant that other demonstrators had their workload increased as Brian and Doug were effectively out of action for much of the session. The Astronomy Section Secretary offered his sincere thanks to Simon and all our team for stepping in to provide cover. As usual he thanked all Demonstrators and Assistants for their continued help and Julia Daniels for looking after the roster and the section’s finances.

Unfortunately the Astronomy Section Treasurer, Julia Daniels, had recently been taken ill with shingles, and had been unable to prepare the Astronomy Section accounts. The President stated that he expected her to be able to prepare the accounts in time for them to be published in the forthcoming newsletter.

Action AGM2016/2 Astronomy Section Treasurer

The Astronomy Section Secretary announced that the Society had been contacted by Thames Water, who own the Observatory site, because they intend to lay a membrane over the reservoir beneath to prevent foreign material contaminating the water. This work would have an effect on both the Observatory and the meteorological station, and so would affect the Met. Office and the Dept. of the Environment as well. The work had been expected earlier in the year, but nothing had transpired. Now, a meeting has been arranged between the Astronomy Section and Thames Water, and we hope to learn the extent and timing of their works.

He said that the last time something similar happened was in the 1960's, and required the removal of the observatory and annex. However, to remove them this time would be harder and more costly, because of the age and state of the buildings.

The General Secretary recommended emphasising to Thames Water the charitable status of the Society, and the work we do for the public, to suggest that they may help with any removal costs. Simon Lang suggested that we might take up an offer from Jon Culshaw to give a benefit performance if it were to be very expensive. The Astronomy Section Secretary promised to circulate the outcome of the meeting in the next newsletter.

Action AGM2016/3 Astronomy Section Secretary

8. Meteorological Section Report

The Meteorological Section Secretary, Philip Eden, was unable to attend due to illness and had not prepared a meteorological section report. Council will enquire about his health and obtaining a report.

Action AGM2016/4 Council

9. AOB

David Markham remarked that he was in Southern Italy just after the conjunction of Mars and after a thunderstorm the Jupiter and Mars close together were quite a sight!

Clive Shortell announced that the new extension to the Tate gave fantastic views from the 10th Floor, and free.

The Secretary announced that

• The British Science Festival would be held in Swansea from 6th to 11th September.
• The Royal Society Summer Exhibition would be held on 4th to 10th July.
• British Science Week would be on 10th to 19th March 2017.

Jim Brightwell asked if there was to be a British Science Association Branches Forum again at the British Science Festival. The Secretary said she had not yet had a notice, but expected one. She explained that Council usually asked the Programme Secretary to represent the Society, so that he had the opportunity to network with other Branches and pick up news and ideas. Jim suggested that Ting Yashu should accompany him this year, as she was a family member of the Society with him.

The President announced the conclusion of the AGM, and it was followed by a resumption of the cheese and wine, as there was plenty left from earlier on.

Minutes of Annual General Meeting held at The Crypt Room, St John's Church, Hampstead, on 25^th June 2015.

Present: Doug Daniels (President) and 28 members and 1 guest.

1. Minutes of A.G.M 26^th June 2014

These were signed by the President as a correct record.

2. President’s Remarks

The President remarked on another interesting session of lectures all of which were well attended and covered topics as diverse as Black Holes to the Post Office Railway but not together! Alien Animal Invaders to Fracking and the truly inspiring talk on Bionic Hearing by Ian Shipsey, himself a sufferer from profound deafness. Then to round off the session Roger O’Brien reported on the highly successful Rosetta mission to land a space probe on the nucleus of a comet. The President thanked Programme Secretary Jim Brightwell for producing a lecture programme of such interest and diversity.

He noted that the Society was saddened to hear of the passing of both Joan Wolff, wife of ex-President Prof. Heinz Wolff, and also Dr. Jamie Nelson. They are greatly missed by family and friends.

He stated that the Society continued to flourish because of the interest and dedication of its members and its Council, so on its behalf he thanked them. He thanked those members who assist regularly at meetings and those who had brought contributions to the night’s refreshments, and also thanked Martin Williams and colleague Ian Lewis for the interesting display of 3D printing.

3. Secretary’s Report

The Secretary reported another year of good lectures and reminded members of the topics. Jim Brightwell gave a taste of the lecture programme for next year. There had been no trips this year, but the Secretary reported that Council were making enquiries to arrange something next year. The Society had officially attended the British Science Association Branches Forum at the Science Festival in Birmingham in September.

The Secretary reported membership as 106 of which 16 are family, 2 junior, 3 country and 3 honorary.

The Secretary thanked members of Council for their contributions, Doug Daniels and Peter Wallis for the newsletter and its content, all those who help with coffee and chairs at meetings and those who provided food, wine and arrangements for the AGM.

4. Treasurer’s Report

The Treasurer, John Tennant, reported that bookings and expenses were up from last year. The increase in the Observatory costs of 2.26% was due to a rise in insurance & cost of the telephone line. Administration was down over 34% due to the bulk purchase of postage stamps last year before the price increase. Refreshments total increased this year due in part to the donation of the wine & food in the previous year. The website subscription remained unchanged. Total expenditure was 0.14% down on last year.

Membership income fell by 9% and Gift Aid recovery was not in by the end of this financial year. The donations were up from last year's level (excluding John Hayden's legacy of over £12,000). No British Science Association grant was obtained this year. Sales income was up from last year and interest on our savings account remains depressed. Income overall was considerably down.

The outcome is we have a shortfall of income over expenditure of £462.09. The capital at year end 31/5/2014 is £24,155.13, down slightly on last year. The shortfall appears worse than it is as the gift aid for this year has not been claimed yet (in process at the moment) as it is earning a better interest rate unclaimed than with our savings account. The overall health of the end of year balance indicates no urgent action is needed to balance the annual income/expenditure but this will require regular reviewing.

Peter Wallis proposed adoption of the report, and Julie Atkinson seconded. The meeting agreed.

5. Election of Officers and Council

The Secretary announced that Council had elected Doug Daniels as President at the Council meeting on 9^th April 2015.

As there were no further nominations, the following officers proposed by Council were declared as elected:

Hon. Secretary	Julie Atkinson	Hon. Treasurer	John Tennant
Hon. Programme Secretary	Jim Brightwell	Hon. Membership Secretary	John Tennant

At the Council meeting on 9^th April 2015, David Markham was co-opted to fill the vacancy on Council for the rest of this year's session.

The constitution requires at least one ordinary Council member needs to resign at the AGM. The Secretary reported that this year, Roger O'Brien had volunteered to step down. She thanked him for his support during the last four years and hoped that he would return to Council in the future.

The following nominations were received for the 5 ordinary members of Council:

Nominee	Martin Williams	Kevin Devine	David Brandt	David Markham	Alexander Menegas
Nominated by	Council	Council	Council	Council	Council

The Secretary noted that Alexander Menegas was too young to qualify as a trustee of the Society, but she believed he would be able to make valuable contributions to Council.

As there were no further nominations, these nominees were declared as elected to Council.

6. Election of Auditors

Julie Atkinson proposed Leo McLaughlin and Martin Williams as auditors, with Elisabeth Fischer seconding. Both were willing to act. The meeting elected them both.

7. Astronomy Section Report

The Astronomical Section Secretary, Doug Daniels, presented his report, summarised below.

On the evening of January 10, the Astro Sec. found Comet Lovejoy using 7x50 binoculars at 212:15 hrs. It appeared as a small dim circular patch with a not very bright condensation and no evidence of a tail. It did not appear to be much brighter than about Mag.6 so it does not appear to have brightened to the predicted value. Observing from the darker skies of Weston Coleville (Cambs.), but still with a moon in the sky, Terry Pearce managed to get images of Lovejoy on January 6^th at 20:30 hrs. He described it as a pale disk with a distinct greenish hue resembling an out of focus globular cluster. On Sunday Jan. 18th, he took 2 images of Lovejoy as it passed close to the Pleiades.

On the evening of January 14^th, Venus and Mercury were in conjunction in the low south-western sky after sunset. A low cloud bank prevented observation. On the following evening, a very clear sky just after sunset presented the Astro Sec. with a clear view of the conjunction, with Venus and Mercury in the same binocular field of view. On the 15^th, Simon Lang, Kevin McNulty and John Culshaw watched the event from Parliament Hill and later got a view of Comet Lovejoy.

On the 24th-25^th of January, it was possible to view all the major planets. Mercury & Venus were visible at sunset, followed by Mars, Neptune and Uranus. Jupiter was visible for most of the night and Saturn was rising low down in Scorpio before dawn. There was also a 4 day old crescent Moon to add to the occasion and Comet Lovejoy was passing close to beta Arietis. The evening was particularly clear and some 100 plus visitors turned up to the Observatory. Such large crowds severely limit the number of objects that can be shown. All we could show them was the Moon until it set then M42 Orionis and finally Jupiter exhibiting all 4 moons. They all seemed to enjoy the experience.

On March 20 2015, there was a total Solar Eclipse – 87% partial from Hampstead. Unfortunately for us the entire event was obscured by relentless cloud. Because of the BBC's Stargazing Live, public interest was high. About 100 visitors turned up at the observatory but their only view of the eclipse was from many ipads and tablets. But all was not lost as Julia Daniels managed to recruit three possible assistants. Not all our members missed the main event. Kevin McNulty took to the ocean waves north of the Faroe isles on the good ship ‘Boudicca’ together with Paul Abel, Pete Lawrence and Jon Culshaw. They saw the total eclipse in its entirety and Kevin produced a report.

Kevin McNulty organized a member’s observing session on April 14^th, from which Paul Abel produced a series of excellent drawings of Venus, and some views of Jupiter showing a transit of Ganymede. Kevin organized another member’s observing session on April 21^st. Quite a few members turned up to view Venus, close to a crescent Moon and Jupiter. However, the seeing conditions were not as good as on the 14^th.

During April, Alexander Menegas proposed the construction of an illuminated weather-proof notice board that could be attached to the outside observatory wall. Alexander (aged 14) wanted to construct and finance the board himself and by the beginning of May, the work was almost complete. Simon Lang fitted an external plug point. Well done Alexander, we like to see our younger members getting involved in this way.

The current session of public open nights ended on 10th of May. Because the sky was still light at 8:00 pm, we opened from 9:pm - 11 pm. The 9^th was partially clear for a last look at Venus, bright in the western sky, and Jupiter still well placed for observation.

Although the weather was not particularly favourable during the ‘open season’, we still managed to attract close to 1000 visitors during the session, indicating that the Observatory remains as popular as ever. The Astronomy Secretary thanked all Demonstrators and Assistants for their continued support and Julia Daniels for taking care of the duty roster and the section’s finances. He also thanked Kevin McNulty for keeping the FaceBook link interesting and lively.

Jacqui Oppenheimer remarked that she had been on the 'Braemar' for the eclipse this year, but was clouded in. Her sister ship had had clear skies.

Martin Williams asked if the Section was going to work on lighting the steps to the Observatory, and suggested rope LEDs. Doug Daniels replied that they would agree a date for maintenance at the Observatory picnic on 12^th July.

Astronomy Section Treasurer Julia Daniels presented the Astronomy Section accounts.

The Astronomy Section has its own separate bank account and is financially responsible for keeping the Observatory building in a good state of repair, maintaining and replacing astronomical instruments, and raising the funds to pay for this. Insurance and electricity are shared with the Meteorology Section, so they are paid out of the Society's general bank account.

Our main source of income was the Observatory Fund Box, from which we collected £891 in donations, compared with £1,207 last year. We received £80 from an individual who hired the Observatory for a promotion. There was another donation of £10 and a £10 deposit on Observatory keys from a new Demonstrator. Finally our National Savings Investment Account earned a meagre £16.68 in 2014. This brought our total income to £1007.68 (compared with £1,648 last year).

Purchases were minimal this year. We bought a cheap pair of binoculars for £19.44, but the optics were inferior. A patio knife, a hand fork, and a broom were purchased for £33.13 for the summer working party at the Observatory. We also bought another extension lead for £10. Our expenses for organising a roster for the Observatory were £42.40 for postage and £15.10 for photocopies. The B.A.A. Handbook 2015 cost £4.50 (reduced) as usual. Finally a £10 deposit on Observatory keys was returned to a retiring Demonstrator, but the cheque was not presented.

Our total expenditure came to only £125.557, compared with £3,284.78 last year when we bought equipment for observing the sun. Our excess of income over expenditure of £882.11.

She thanked Leo McLaughlin for auditing the accounts.

Julie Atkinson proposed that the report be accepted, Elisabeth Fischer seconded and the meeting agreed.

8. Meteorological Section Report

The Meteorological Section Secretary, Philip Eden, was unable to attend due to illness and the meteorological section report was presented by Doug Daniels.

The Met Office's automatic weather station has functioned continuously throughout the year with no gaps in the record at all. The overlap continues between the old automatic station and the Met Office one, so our own automatic station continues to function. The ideal time scale for the overlap is 5% of the station record for long-standing sites, and never less than two years for shorter-lived sites. So that means ideally five years for us – of which we have now completed five years and 3 months.

Due to a combination of caring responsibilities and, latterly, ill-health, it has not been possible to update the website since early-2012. The intention remains to extend the data online further and further back when health permits.

The report briefly summarised the weather experienced during the last year.

SUMMER 2014 was both warm and dry, but August after the 9^th was cool and wet with rain on 12 days.

AUTUMN 2014 began with two weeks of dry weather, but from 18^th September the rains returned.

WINTER 2014-15 saw the rains continuing throughout December and January, but the weather changed abruptly with February; February were drier than average. However, they were also rather cold months with wintry episodes from December 29–31, January 16-February 12, and February 19-21.

SPRING 2015 began with six days of rather cold weather which encompassed the Easter holiday, then it warmed up with 25C on April 15, but became cooler again. April was dry and sunny throughout. (26C was reached on June 12.)

Julie Atkinson proposed that the report be accepted, Doug Daniels seconded and the meeting agreed.

9. AOB

The Secretary announced that

• The British Science Festival would be held in Bradford from 7^th to 10^th September.
• The Royal Society Summer Exhibition would be held on 30^th June-5^th July.
• British Science Week would be on 11^th to 20^th March 2016.

Leo McLaughlin noted that the lecture on bionic hearing was available online, and was very good.

Doug Daniels noted that there were Formula One races with electric cars taking place in Battersea Park on the following Saturday and Sunday.

The President announced the conclusion of the AGM, and it was followed by a continuation of the demonstration of a 3D printer by Ian Lewis of Replicat 3D.

Minutes of Annual General Meeting held at The Crypt Room, St John's Church, Hampstead, on 26th June 2014.

Present: Doug Daniels (President) and 23 members and no guests.

1. Minutes of A.G.M 20th June 2013

These were signed by the President as a correct record, with the following proviso pointed out by Leo McLaughlin:

• Patrick Moore died in 2012 and not 2013.

2. President’s Remarks

The President remarked that Prof. Robert Weale had found it increasingly difficult each year to say something new in his Presidential Report because the Society seemed almost to ‘run itself’. The apparent ‘surface calm’ belies the activity, sometimes frenetic, below the surface, and we are very fortunate to have an enthusiastic Council whose members devote many hours ensuring that the Society continues to deliver the aims of its founders. He thanked the Programme Secretary, Jim Brightwell for producing an interesting and varied series of lectures, and also thanked all those distinguished scientists who have given freely of their time to come and lecture to us, keeping us on the ‘cutting edge’ of scientific discovery.

In December Professor Weale passed away, and in February we also lost Gordon Harding FRAS. We extend our deepest sympathies to their families and friends, Obituaries were published on our web-site.

At the beginning of the year, we received the welcome news that the Society was to be a major beneficiary in the will of the late John Hayden. This bequest, together with the anonymous donation last year to the Observatory fund, puts our Society on a sound financial footing for the first time in its history.

Membership numbers remain fairly constant, at around the 100 mark and we are pleased to see some younger members and visitors attending lecture meetings.

Finally, the President thanked our Secretary, Julie Atkinson and our Hon. Treasurer, John Tennant for all the work that they do behind the scenes, and all members who help at meetings, putting out chairs and making coffee and to those who have contributed to the refreshments this evening.

3. Secretary’s Report

The Secretary reported another year of good lectures and reminded members of the topics. Jim Brightwell gave a taste of the lecture programme for next year.

The Secretary reported membership as 114 of which 14 are family, 2 junior, 5 country and 3 honorary. She reported our sadness to lose Prof. Robert Weale, Doug Daniels' predecessor as President, who ably ran the Society for 20 years, and who died at the age of 91, and also Gordon Harding.

Peter Stern organised a trip to the British Library in the autumn, and the event was enjoyed by all. The Society officially attended the British Science Association Branches Forum at the Science Festival in Newcastle in September.

The Secretary thanked members of Council for their contributions, Doug Daniels and Peter Wallis for the newsletter and its content, all those who help with coffee and chairs at meetings and those who provided food, wine and arrangements for the AGM.

4. Treasurer’s Report

The Treasurer, John Tennant, presented the Society's accounts and reported that bookings and expenses were up from last year. The increase in the Observatory costs of 6.4% was due to rises in insurance and telephone line costs. Administration was up 28% due to the bulk purchase of postage stamps before the price increase this year. Refreshments total decreased due in large part to the donation of the wine & food for the last AGM. The resulting total expenditure was up 15% on last year.

On the income side, Membership income fell by 6.5% and Gift Aid recovery was not in by the end of this financial year. No British Science Association grant was obtained this year. Our income was dominated this year by a legacy left to us in John Hayden's will of £12,850.39. Income overall was up due solely to J. Hayden legacy.

We have an excess on the year of £12,281.41. The capital at year end 31/5/2014 is £24,617.22 almost double last year's.

Peter Wallis proposed adoption of the report, and Doug Daniels seconded. The meeting agreed.

5. Election of Officers and Council

The Secretary announced that Council had elected Doug Daniels as President at the Council meeting on 10th April 2014.

As there were no further nominations, the following officers proposed by Council were declared as elected:

Hon. Secretary	Julie Atkinson	Hon. Treasurer	John Tennant
Hon. Programme Secretary	Jim Brightwell	Hon. Membership Secretary	John Tennant

After last year's constitution change, at least one ordinary Council member needs to resign either voluntarily or the one who has served for the greatest number of consecutive years, or where there is more than one who qualifies, the one selected by a ballot of Council members. At the Council meeting on April 10th by secret ballot, it was decided that Peter Stern should stand down on this occasion. We thank Peter for his support during the last four years and hope that he will return to Council in the future.

The following nominations were received for the 5 ordinary members of Council:

Nominee	Martin Williams	Roger O'Brien	Kevin Devine	David Brandt
Nominated by	Council	Council	Council	Council

As there were no further nominations, these nominees were declared as elected to Council.

Julia Daniels noted that that Council was left with one vacancy which could be filled by co-option at any time in the next year.

6. Election of Auditors

Julie Atkinson proposed Leo McLaughlin and Martin Williams as auditors, with Elisabeth Fischer seconding. Both were willing to act. The meeting elected them both.

7. Astronomy Section Report

The Astronomical Section Secretary, Doug Daniels, presented his report, summarised below.

Terry Pearce and he visited to the Festival of Astronomy at the old R.O.G at Herstmonceux and managed a look at Neptune, ‘Witches Broom’ – part of the Veil Nebula in Cygnus, M27, M57, M11 and M13. Glorious views of these deep sky objects which we never get in Hampstead.

On Friday13th Sept 2013 persistent rain and drizzle ensured that the Observatory remained closed on Friday but on Saturday and visitors were treated to some good views of the Moon – just a couple of days after first quarter. The weather remained unsettled for the following week-end, open on Friday and clouded out for the rest.

On Friday Sept. 27th the BBC used our Observatory as a venue for filming an item for the HORIZON programme and the paid £150 as a location fee.

A full report of the Sky at Night Magazine award made to Doug & Julia Daniels was published in the October edition of the magazine. It was in recognition of their combined total of 104 years as volunteers at the Observatory.

By mid-November we had hoped to be observing the ‘comet of the century’ a magnificent bright comet visible in daylight. Will we never learn? – comets are not to be trusted! ISON did not survive its perihelion passage and just fizzled out so we saw nothing of it.

During November/December, there were 3 other comets gracing our skies – Encke, Linear and Lovejoy. Of the three, Lovejoy was the most easily observed as it was at higher declination. On November 25 it passed a few degrees west of Cor Caroli (Alpha Canes Ven,) at a magnitude of +5.8.

In November we placed our order for a Coronado Hydrogen Alpha telescope and a HEQ5 computer controlled mount. These were delivered on December 3rd and on Sunday January 5th, we held our first training session for Demonstrators and Assistants so that they could familiarize themselves with the setting up and operation of the new Solar Telescope. It is now installed and fully operational and will add another dimension to our Sunday morning solar observation sessions. We had to wait until March 9th for a nice sunny Sunday to show visitors what the Sun really looks like! The Sun, however, was a bit quiet with a few small sunspots and a couple of small prominences and dark filaments visible.

Once again the BBC produced another two Stargazing Live programmes in early January. Once again the weather was appalling but we managed one clear night on Saturday 11th Jan. Despite not advertizing our participation in the event because of last year’s problems with crowd control, around 200 visitors still turned up and were treated to views of the Moon, Jupiter and M42 and the Pleiades. Well done all those who turned up to assist on the night.

Well done to Dr. Steve Fossey and his students at Mill Hill Observatory for their discovery of a Supernova in the galaxy M82 Ursae Majoris. The discovery was made on Jan. 21st during a training session with the Observatory’s Celestron 14 and was the first time that the students had used the telescope.

Towards the end of January and the early part of February, we experienced the worst weather for almost a century. Persistent rain and high winds blew in from the Atlantic. The high winds managed to dislodge the Observatory shutter.

On February 18th we heard of the sad passing of Gordon Harding (age 85). Gordon had been an Assistant demonstrator at the Observatory for many years. He was an enthusiastic amateur astronomer and was a Fellow of the RAS, a member of C.A.T.S and of the Harringay Astronomical Society. He will be greatly missed by his many friends.

Reports came in of strong auroral activity on the night of February 27th. The display was visible as far south as Jersey. From Finchley he saw nothing due to light pollution. Needless to say, it was totally overcast on 28th.

The Christchurch Scouts at last managed to visit the Observatory on the evening of March 7th and were able to view a near first quarter Moon and Jupiter under clear skies. We decided to extend our opening season up until 18th of May because Jupiter was still on view, Mars was well placed for observation and we could get a brief glimpse of Saturn before it was lost to view. Because ‘summer time’ was by then in force from April 25th we opened at 9:00 pm - 11:00pm. The last weekend opening sessions were blessed with clear skies and about 150 visitors turned up on 16th for a final glimpse of Jupiter, Mars and Saturn.

Responding to some midweek clear nights, we decided to open for members to observe Mars. Two sessions were arranged on April 24th and again on May14th. Considerable surface detail could be seen together with a small northern polar cap.

The session ended on Sunday May 18th. The Astronomy Section Secretary thanked all Demonstrators and Assistants for their continued support, and commented that the Observatory is becoming ever more popular with visitors. He also thanked Kevin McNulty, Cara Christie and Simon Lang who keep our Face Book entries up to date – we have over 800 regular readers, some from abroad and well out of our ‘catchment’ area. Finally, he thanked Julia Daniels for organizing the roster and looking after the section’s finances which thanks to our anonymous benefactor has ensured that they remain in a very healthy state.

Martin Williams proposed a vote of thanks to those running the Observatory, and the meeting concurred.

Astronomy Section Treasurer Julia Daniels presented the Astronomy Section accounts.

The Astronomy Section has its own separate bank account and is financially responsible for keeping the Observatory building in a good state of repair, maintaining and replacing astronomical instruments, and raising the funds to pay for this. Insurance and electricity, however, are expenses which are shared with the Meteorology Section, so they are paid out of the Society's general bank account.

The Observatory Fund Box collected £1,207 in donations on public open nights. The BBC televised two programmes from the Observatory, for which they paid £350. Canadian TV also paid £50 for use of the Observatory. We received a late donation of £25 to the Observatory Appeal Fund towards repairs in 2012. Our National Savings Investment Account earned a meagre £16.56 in 2013. This brought our TOTAL INCOME to £1,648.56. This compares with an exceptionally large income of £16,887.27 in 2012-13 due to an anonymous donation of £15,000.

The aforementioned donation was intended to be spent in part on buying new equipment for the Observatory, with a hope that it might be of particular benefit to children. With this in mind, a decision was made to buy some equipment for observing the Sun, since it is easier for children to visit the Observatory during the day than at night. A Coronado Solar Telescope was purchased for £2,159, together with a computerised mounting, a set of eyepieces and a power supply, the total cost for this equipment beign £3,087. We also bought a pair of binoculars for £30. On the more practical side, a Grass Strimmer and cable cost £37.98 and an Extension Lead cost £11.99.

Our admin. Expenses were £42 for postage and £31.90 for photocopies. The B.A.A. Handbook cost £4.50. Finally we spend £38.94 on soft drinks for our summer party at the Observatory for demonstrators, assistants and other helpers.

Our TOTAL EXPENDITURE came to £3,284.78, compared with £7,664 last year when we had to do a lot of repairs to the Observatory building. Our Excess of Expenditure over Income of £1,636.22.

The Astronomy Section Treasurer thanked Leo McLaughlin for auditing the accounts.

Martin Williams asked whether the telephone expenses in the main account included the link with the Meteorological Office. The Treasurer replied that the Met. Office line was separate, and the telephone line was the Society's.

Julie Atkinson proposed that the report be accepted, Elisabeth Fischer seconded and the meeting agreed.

8. Meteorological Section Report

The Meteorological Section Secretary, Philip Eden, was unable to attend due to illness and the meteorological section report had not been received. The President promised that it would appear on the web site when received.

9. AOB

The Secretary announced that the British Science Festival would be held in Birmingham from 6th to 11th September. The Royal Society Summer Exhibition would be held on 1-6th July.

The Treasurer was asked whether the Astronomy Section was covered by the Society's charity registration given that it maintained separate accounts. He confirmed that it was.

Doug Daniels asked when Science Week would be. It will be on 13th to 22nd March 2015.

Martin Williams asked if members could make use of the telephone at the observatory and pointed out it would be useful for incoming calls and possibly could be linked to an alarm. Doug Daniels said that a normal phone would be open to abuse and he wouldn't like to leave it open. The observatory is covered by a surveillance camera now, but he will consider the incoming calls option.

The President announced the conclusion of the AGM, and it was followed by a Scientific Entertainment comprising Which Scientist Said That?

Minutes of Annual General Meeting held at The Crypt Room, St John's Church, Hampstead, on 20th June 2013.

Present: Doug Daniels (President) and 25 members.

1. Minutes of A.G.M 21st June 2012

These were signed by the President as a correct record.

2. President's Remarks

The President remarked that for him, the session had been one of extreme contrasts – misery at the beginning, sadness in the middle and great joy at the end.

He had been unable to attend meetings until after Christmas due to an agonizing back problem. However, Julia Daniels 'filled in' for him admirably for which he thanked her.

The sadness came on December 9th 2013 when we received news of the death of Sir Patrick Moore. Patrick had long term associations with this Society and we were featured on the Sky at Night programme several times.

The great joy came at the end of the session when a visitor at the Observatory was so impressed by what we are doing to nurture interest in astronomy and science that his company made an anonymous donation of £15,000 to the Observatory fund.

The President said we are still receiving donations from members as a result of our general appeal, and expressed the Society's gratitude for all this generosity. It would allow us to obtain some specialized equipment for solar observation and other projects and has more than made up for last year's expensive renovations.

In all other respects, our Programme Secretary continued to provide us with lectures to expand our minds.

The President thanked Council for their continued support, all members who help at meetings, and Simon Lang for making his home available for Council meetings.

It seemed that members were reticent to join Council and this would create a problem at the end of the year, when 4 serving members would be forced to retire under the '4 year rule'. The President remarked that we may have to revise that part of the Constitution to enable willing members to continue to serve on Council beyond their 'sell by date'.

3. Secretary's Report

The Secretary reported another year of good lectures and reminded members of the topics. She gave a taste of the lecture programme for next year.

The Secretary reported that membership is 123, of which 16 are family, 4 junior, 5 country and 4 honorary. The Society was sad that both John Hayden and Alfred Oppenheimer had passed away this year.

The Society had officially attended the British Science Association Branches Forum at the Science Festival in Aberdeen, in September. And we had received a grant from them to help with the printing costs of the programme cards.

The Secretary added her thanks to the President's to Members of Council for their contributions running the Society, to Doug Daniels and Peter Wallis for the newsletter and its content, to all those who help with coffee and chairs and to those supplying the food and wine for the evening.

4. Treasurer's Report

Unfortunately the Treasurer, John Tennant, had left the copies of the accounts and report at home. Nevertheless, he reported what he remembered.

Expenditure included:

• Room booking fees of approximately £450 this year,
• but lecturers' expenses were slightly down.
• Rent for the observatory and meteorology site was approximately £175, the same as before,
• but insurance was £710, 4% up.
• Electricity was £96, the same as before,
• the telephone line cost was approximately £50.
• This is the first full year of paying for the web site: approximately £150.
• Postage was down slightly, around £100, using pre-bought old rate stamps,
• stationery was £26.

On income:

• Subscription income increased from around £1200 to around £1700 up 40% because of the rise in subscriptions
• There is a Gift Aid claim to come of around £250.
• The British Science Association grant has reduced from £210 to £185 this year.
• We received £150 in donations, down from £250 last year.
• Sales were down slightly and the profit was in the 10's of pounds
• Total income was around £12,000 by the end of the year.

Leo McLaughlin confirmed he had audited the account figures on 15/06/2013.

Peter Wallis asked if the Society could recover tax from the donation of £15,000 this year. The treasurer replied no, because the donor was a company rather than an individual, and one of the conditions was that the donor be anonymous.

Peter Wallis proposed adoption of the report, with the proviso that copies be distributed with the August Newsletter, and Elisabeth Fischer seconded. The meeting agreed.

5. Vice President Proposal

Doug Daniels proposed that Julia Daniels be made Vice President of the Society, in view of her long standing work for the Society: Julia Willcox joined the Society aged 18 in 1956 and was first elected to Council in 1959. She became an Observatory Demonstrator in 1960 and made observations of Mars and variable stars. She married Doug Daniels in 1965. She has been Astronomy Section Treasurer for 41 years so far (since 1972) and Roster Secretary for most of that time. She wrote the 16-page history of the Astronomy Section in the Society's history, from the Society's year books and from personal memory and records. Although physical frailty prevents her continuing as a regular Demonstrator, she is still a very active member of the Society and the Astronomy Section, and she helps out wherever needed at meetings.

The proposal was put to the vote and carried.

6. Proposal on Council Membership Tenure

The Secretary explained that Council had recommended to the AGM a change to the Society's Constitution concerning the tenure of members of Council. The aim was to avoid losing all or nearly all ordinary members of Council in one year, and to maintain some continuity, while ensuring a turn-over of Council members.

The Proposal was to change Constitution Clause 5b to:

The Council shall consist of the Officers of the Society, as defined in 5a above, and five ordinary members, of whom at least one shall retire each year, either voluntarily or the one who has served for the greatest number of consecutive years, or where there is more than one who qualifies, the one selected by a ballot of Council members. Any ordinary member of Council retiring under this rule shall not be re-eligible to serve on Council as an ordinary or co-opted member during the subsequent year, but shall be immediately eligible to fill any office as defined in 5a above.

Leo McLaughlin had stood down in 2011 to start the process, but with no change, there would be four out of five retirees from Council in 2014. Julia Daniels said this proposal would ensure there was at least one new Council member per year. Martin Williams agreed that this would bring in new blood.

Council's proposal was put to the vote and carried.

7. Election of Officers and Council

The Secretary announced that Council had elected Doug Daniels as President at the Council meeting on 11th April 2013.

As there were no further nominations, the following officers proposed by Council were declared as elected:

Hon. Secretary	Julie Atkinson	Hon. Treasurer	John Tennant
Hon. Programme Secretary	Jim Brightwell	Hon. Membership Secretary	John Tennant

There were no ineligible Council members under the four year rule this year, but Julia Daniels resigned as an ordinary Council member following her acceptance as Vice President. The following nominations were received for the 5 ordinary members of Council:

Nominee	Martin Williams	Roger O'Brien	Peter Stern	Kevin Devine	Julia Daniels
Nominated by	Council	Council	Council	Council	Julie Atkinson and Doug Daniels

As there were no further nominations, these nominees were declared as elected to Council.

8. Election of Auditors

Julie Atkinson proposed Leo McLaughlin and Martin Williams as auditors, with John Tennant seconding. Both were willing to act. The meeting elected them both.

9. Astronomy Section Report

The Astronomical Section Secretary, Doug Daniels, presented his report, summarised below.

The new session of public open nights began on October 19th. The weather was not particularly helpful for the first few weeks, except for the Sunday session on November 18th which featured a cloudless sky for Solar observation.

The weather deteriorated further in December for 3 weeks. When skies did clear, visitors were able to observe Jupiter presenting much fine detail in the cloud belts.

On Sunday December 9th 2012 we received the sad news that at the age of 89, Sir Patrick Moore had passed away. Patrick had a long standing association with our Society from the 1950's with a visit to our Observatory, up to the Sky at Night team's visit in October 2011 although Patrick was not well enough to attend on this occasion.

Just before Christmas, the telescope drive packed up. Jim Brightwell was soon able to discover that the stepper motor itself was faulty. It was installed in 1992. Jim has volunteered to build a simplified version using easily obtainable and inexpensive components. In the meantime, Jim had built a stand-by unit using a components from an old printer and Meccano. On Sunday morning January 6th, Jim, Simon and Doug fitted the 'new' drive unit to the telescope, and it worked. The Astronomy Secretary thanked Jim for donating it to the Society.

The BBC decided to 'keep the ball rolling' with another session of Stargazing Live in January. Due to being somewhat overwhelmed by visitors on the two previous sessions, we kept a low profile this year. The weather was again appalling but visitor numbers were still high when we did get a clear night.

On Feb 15th a massive fireball was reported over the Ural Mountains in Russia close to the city of Yekaterinburg. Also, Near Earth Asteroid 2012 DA 14 made a close approach to Earth at 19:26 hrs. UT to within the orbits of geostationary satellites. The event took place on an open night, but the skies clouded up shortly after sunset and remained overcast for the entire evening.

Braving a viciously cold day, some 25 former friends of the late John Hayden gathered for a remembrance walk on the Heath on Saturday February 24th , John's birthday.

Braving freezing temperatures and wintry snow showers, Simon organized a session to observe comet pan-STARRS. Seven hardy souls turned up in the 'old sand pit' field at the end of Judge's Walk. After a brief snow shower, the sky cleared and the comet was picked up by Jon Culshaw using a pair of Patrick Moore's binoculars. Ennio Tabone, now living under the darker skies of Dorset, managed to get a decent image through his 4-inch refractor on March 31st. On the 7th of April, well over 40 visitors just managed to make it out as it has faded considerably.

The Society was well represented at a special reception to celebrate the life and work of the late Sir Patrick Moore on Wednesday 1st May at Broadcasting House.

Due to the fact that Saturn is now descending into the low declination Summer constellations, we decided to extend our opening season until May 12th. We changed the opening hours to 9:00pm – 11:00 pm. This gave visitors the chance to take a last look at Saturn with its rings well displayed. The Observatory is scheduled to re-open on September 13th.

During mid May, Doug Daniels received a telephone call from a visitor to our Observatory. He was so impressed by what he had seen that he told Doug that as the director of a finance company that made donations to deserving causes we might benefit from this scheme. Our application was successful, the donation must be described as "an anonymous donation" and it was £15,000. We received a cheque for that amount on May 24th. The Astronomy Secretary expressed the Section's big "Thank You" to our anonymous benefactor. This sum would allow the Section to purchase some new equipment that has long been on our "wish list".

At the beginning of the session the Observatory joined FaceBook. This has enabled us to post 'up to the minute' news about the Observatory's opening status and to post other articles of astronomical interest. We must thank Kevin McNulty for initiating this and for the work that he puts into uploading items of interest and to Simon and all those members of the section who do the same.

The Astronomy Secretary thanked Simon and the team of Demonstrators & Assistants for their continued support. He also thanked Julia for managing the roster and looking after the section's finances.

There were no questions.

Julie Atkinson proposed that the report be accepted, John Tennant seconded and the meeting agreed.

Julia Daniels presented the Astronomy Section accounts.

The Astronomy Section has had its own separate bank account since 1971 and is financially responsible for keeping the Observatory and astronomical instruments in a good state of repair. It is also responsible for raising funds to pay for this, and we had gradually built up a balance of over £10,000. This year so much work was needed to renovate the Observatory that we had no alternative but to employ and pay for a carpenter named Peter Gould to do the bulk of the work, always assisted by Simon Lang and a number of volunteers.

Peter Gould's professional expenses came to £7,440.38, paid in 6 instalments. There were also a couple of expenses for Simon and Doug: £87.67 for steel bars and £28.86 for plywood. In recognition of the amount of time Simon gave he was presented with an Astronomy book at a cost of £45.99.

Our regular expenses were £36 for postage, £22.60 for photocopies and £4.50 for the B.A.A.

Our total expenditure was £7,664.00.

Interest on our Savings Account was a mere £26.87. We had a donation of £50 after a talk to the Totteridge Women's Group, £100 from Juniper TV for use of the Observatory, and £100 from friends of John Hayden in his memory Members of the Society responded to our Observatory Appeal to help pay for the cost of repairs with a total of £1,135. The public gave a total of £475.40 in the Observatory Fund Box. Then literally on the last day of our financial year, we received a donation which we could not believe, when a cheque arrived in the post for £15,000. This magnificent donation brought our total income to £16,887.27.

Our Total Income and Expenditure appear again on the balance sheet at the bottom of the page, together with our Opening Balance of £10,522.11 and our Closing Balance of £19,745.38. This confirms our Excess of Income over expenditure of £9,223.27.

Julia Daniels thanked members who donated to the Observatory Appeal Fund, members who gave their time to help with the renovation work, and Leo McLaughlin for auditing her accounts.

Julie Atkinson proposed that the report be accepted, John Tennant seconded and the meeting agreed.

10. Meteorological Section Report

The Meteorological Section Secretary, Philip Eden, was unable to attend and so Trevor Law presented his report, summarised below.

The Met Office's automatic weather station has functioned continuously throughout the year with no gaps in the record at all. The overlap continues between the old automatic station and the Met Office one, so our own automatic station continues to function. The ideal time scale for overlap for us is five years – of which we have now completed 3 years and 3 months.

Due to a combination of caring responsibilities and, latterly, ill-health, it has not been possible to update the website since early-2012. The intention remains to extend the data online further and further back when health permits.

The report then briefly summarised the weather we'd experienced during the last year.

SUMMER 2012 was both cold and wet although the weather relented somewhat after July 20, just in time for the Olympics. June was exceptionally wet with 151mm of rain setting a new record in our 103 year history, and July wasn't much better with 114mm though August was much drier with just 36mm. Overall, the summer quarter was also the wettest on record, and had the least sunshine since 1987.

AUTUMN 2012 began with three weeks of dry weather, but from 22nd September the rains returned. With a total of 353mm of rain it was the wettest autumn since 2002. Temperatures were rather below the normal.

WINTER 2012-13 saw the rains continuing throughout December, but the weather changed abruptly with the year, and both January and February were drier than average. However, they were also rather cold months with lengthy wintry episodes.

SPRING 2013 began with six weeks of exceptionally cold weather. It was the coldest March since 1962, and there were further snowfalls around March 12, and from March 23 to the end of the month. The weather improved in mid-April giving us three weeks of tolerably warm weather, but from May 8 onwards conditions again became cool and cloudy.

Trevor Law commented that Stephen Burt in Berkshire reported that the last 10 days in March were the coldest in Southern England since the 1780's.

Peter Stern asked if there was a case for measuring atmospheric pollution. Julie Atkinson responded that we had asked the question of Philip Eden and he thought not, because the site is not suitable, and the Council is measuring pollution at the heavy spots. Trevor Law commented that CO2 is measured on Mauna Kea, and the government records the rest.

Julie Atkinson proposed the report be accepted, Peter Stern seconded and the meeting agreed.

11. AOB

David Markham recommended visiting the National Maritime Museum, at Greenwich, where they have a Vision of the Universe exhibition with phenomenal photography.

The Secretary announced that the British Science Festival would be held in Newcastle from 7th to 12th September. Royal Society Summer Exhibition would be held on 2-7th July.

The President announced the conclusion of the AGM, and it was followed by a Scientific Entertainment comprising Animal, Vegetable, or Mineral.

Minutes of Annual General Meeting held at
The Crypt Room, St John's Church, Hampstead, on 21st June 2011.

Present: Doug Daniels (President) and 22 members.

1. Minutes of A.G.M 16th June 2011

These were signed by the President as a correct record.

2. President's Remarks

The President reminded members that at last year's AGM our Hon. Treasurer warned about the Society's financial health. Just about everything is costing more – insurance, postage, venue hire charges, printing, lecturers' expenses and the web site. The Society is very grateful to Martin Williams who initiated the web site and donated its running costs for some years. The Society is now taking over but we may have a sponsor lined up. The only thing that has not increased in recent times is the annual subscription. This would be discussed when we came to the Hon. Treasurer's report.

Apart from financial considerations, the Society has continued to flourish. Membership has remained stable at about 120 members and lecture meeting have been very well attended throughout the session. This was due in no small measure to the interesting and varied programme of lectures arranged by the Programme Secretary – Jim Brightwell.

The President felt very fortunate to be supported by an enthusiastic Council and particularly by our Hon. Secretary Julie Atkinson who keeps him up to speed and edits the main part of the Society's web-site. Our Hon. Treasurer and membership Secretary, John Tennant strives to maintain the Society's financial health and members can assist him greatly by paying subscriptions on time.

The President thanked all those members who assist at meetings, putting out and putting back chairs and making and dispensing coffee. And Martin Williams for hosting post meeting gatherings at the Flask. He also thanked those members who had supplied food for this event, Peter Wallis for the acquisition and dispensation of the wine and Simon Lang for hosting council meetings. And he thanked Peter Wallis for the regular supply of interesting articles for inclusion in the Newsletter and reminded members that he was always pleased to receive such material.

3. Secretary's Report

The Secretary reported another year of good lectures, and reminded members of the topics. She gave a taste of the lecture programme for next year. Although we were again not able to produce a science week programme, the schools we usually collaborate with both produced their own programmes, most of which were open to the public.

The Secretary reported that membership is 130, of which 19 are family, 2 junior, 1 country and 4 honorary.

The Society had officially attended the British Science Association Branches Forum at the Science Festival in Bradford, in September. And we had received a grant from them to help with the printing costs of the programme cards.

The Secretary added her thanks to the President's to Members of Council for their contributions running the Society, to Doug Daniels and Peter Wallis for the newsletter and its content, to Martin Williams for being a long standing – around 15 years - sponsor of the web site – which he has now surrendered to the Society, to all those who help with coffee and chairs and to those supplying the food and wine for the evening.

4. Treasurer's Report

The Treasurer, John Tennant, distributed copies of the accounts and gave his report.

Bookings and expenses were up less than 1% from last year's level. The increase in the Observatory costs of over £200 (28%) were due to rises in insurance, and an increase in our public liability cover. Administration was up 11% due to an increase in postage, with an increase in refreshment costs of 46% and the first quarterly payment of website subscription of £38.88. The resulting total expenditure was up 3.3% on last year.

On the income side, membership and gift aid recovery rose 3%. The donations were up from last year's level largely due to the generous donation of £200 by a member. Sales income had increased 180% and interest on our savings account remained depressed. Income overall was up by about 16%.

The outcome is we have an excess on the year of £99.37. But for the donation of £200 we would have made a loss of about £100. Next year with a full year's subscription for our website, the increase in the cost of post, a 3.5% rise in the hire of the Crypt Room and a similar estimated value for general inflation would result in expenditure rising by about £200 on this year's figures. The decline in our tax recovery rate for the next claim period from 27to 25 pence in the pound and without sizeable donations, with our current revenue stream we would make a loss of the order of £300.

In the light of this situation the Treasurer had reluctantly proposed to Council a rise in the Society's subscription rates and recommended them to this meeting. Peter Stern commented that he could not read the signature at the bottom of the accounts and he recommended printing out the name too. There were no questions. Peter Wallis proposed that the Treasurer's report be accepted, Elisabeth Fischer seconded and the meeting agreed.

5. Increase in Subscription

The Treasurer's recommended increase in subscription was discussed:

	Standing Order	Cash/Cheque
Ordinary	£14.00	£15.00
Family	£20.00	£23.00
Junior (Country and Student)	£5.00	£5.00
Group		£35.00

Country membershiphad been omitted from the April newsletter notification, but all agreed that it was consistent with current practice to make it equal to the Junior subscription.

Peter Wallis, the predecessor as Treasurer, said the recommendation sounded reasonable. Tim Bierman asked if there had been any estimate of the impact in terms of member drop out? John Tennant had considered, and recognised it would occur. Leo McLaughlin asked what should happen for standing order payments? John Tennant said that members would have to cancel their standing orders and redo them, either by going to the bank or sending details to the Treasurer. He would include a form for renewal with the August newsetter. Doug Daniels commented that it means making a positive change. Martin Williams warned of the consequence of natural inertia. Doug Daniels agreed it was a problem, and there would be a lag this year, but we had to hope members would respond quickly.

Peter Stern asked if the Society had a record of the bank from which standing orders came? John Tennant said no, we didn't keep a copy, though we could in future. Julie Atkinson asked if there would be a benefit? The Treasurer thought not necessarily, and it would be better if subscriber made the change.

When asked how long the subscription had been unchanged the Treasurer replied it had last gone up in 1996, with a reduction in cash rates two years later, and that was last change, so it had not gone up in 16 years. John Tennant praised his predecessor, Peter Wallis, for that achievement. Jim Brightwell asked what happened if members overpaid? John Tennant said the Society treated the extra as an added donation. Jim Brightwell suggested adding a prompt to donate to the newsletter.

When asked what the renewal date was, John Tennant replied 1st October. Peter Stern asked if all subscriptions come in at same time? John Tennant replied not always. The first year may be different, e.g. for new joiners. They have to be careful not to keep that date for subsequent years, but if they do, then after 2nd year, they and the Society do know.

Martin Williams asked if the Membership Secretary/Treasurer held members' email addresses? John Tennant said not at the moment, but he will add a field onto the new form, so that it could be used for communication. Martin Williams suggested adding Skype and Facebook but Tim Bierman queried whether the Society wanted to be another Social Network.

Council's proposal was put to the vote and was carried.

6. Election of Officers and Council

Council meeting on 12st April 2012.

As there were no further nominations, the following officers proposed by Council were declared as elected:

Hon. Secretary	Julie Atkinson	Hon. Treasurer	John Tennant
Hon. Programme Secretary	Jim Brightwell	Hon. Membership Secretary	John Tennant

There were no ineligible Council members under the four year rule this year. The following nominations were received for the 5 ordinary members of Council:

Nominee	Julia Daniels	Martin Williams	Roger O'Brien	Peter Stern	Kevin Devine
Nominated by	Council	Council	Council	Council	Council

As there were no further nominations, these nominees were declared as elected to Council.

7. Election of Auditors

The President proposed Leo McLaughlin and Martin Williams as auditors, with the Secretary seconding. Both were willing to act. The meeting elected them both.

8. Astronomy Section Report

The Astronomical Section Secretary, Doug Daniels, presented his report, summarised below.

There was a total lunar eclipse on the night of June 15th at moonrise. Despite cloud and rain Simon and Ennio were rewarded with a brief view from Parliament Hill. Jim Brightwell made a flying visit to Rhodes (Greece) to view the eclipse at a greater altitude and in perfect weather.

Eighteen members of the 'Friends of the R.A.S.' visited the Observatory on June 18th, for a viewing and a short talk.

Thirteen members attended a weekend astrocamp near Lewes Sussex. The site has a good dark sky for observing fainter deep sky objects but the weather restricted the viewing to the brighter objects.

On Saturday Sept. 3rd. Doug Daniels and Terry Pearce travelled to the Annual Festival of Astronomy held at Herstmonceux Castle. But by nightfall the cloud cover was total and they returned on Sunday without having had a look through the telescopes or the old Greenwich instruments that still function, to a limited extent.

Seven members helped prepare the Observatory prior to the start of the new session, Before the work began, 30 visitors from the Hampstead Walks came for visit and a short talk by Doug Daniels on the history of the HSS and Observatory.

The new session of public open nights began on September 16th 2011. About 20 visitors turned up and a couple of hours were spent discussing things astronomical, a pleasant evening despite the poor weather preventing any observations. On the evenings of 31st Sept & 1st of October, the Observatory open nights were both well attended. Over 50 visitors on Oct. 1st were able to see Jupiter's Great Red Spot and considerable detail in the cloud belts.

Ten students from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts visited the Observatory of the evening of October 4th. No observations were possible through overcast skies. However, the President entertained them with a talk.

Unseasonable fine weather meant that the Observatory was in great demand on the weekend of 14th, 15th and 16th of October, with Jupiter, the Moon close to full, a shadow transit on Jupiter of Io and a crop of sunspots being viewed.

On the 19th of October, the BBC Sky at Night team visited the Observatory to film for a programme on November 6th featuring Mars, which came to opposition in March 2012. The presenters interviewed Doug Daniels who showed them the Society's archive of Mars observations which span a century. They interviewed John Culshaw (the impressionist) about his experiences visiting the Observatory. Fortunately we had a clear night and later were able to observe Jupiter.

The BBC arranged another series of Stargazing Live and we agreed to participate. It provided excellent publicity and the Camden New Journal featured an interview with Doug Daniels. Our involvement consisted of opening the Observatory from Jan 13th through to Jan 22nd and sending several representatives to the BBC's event at Charlton House Greenwich on Jan 17th. The first weekend was blessed with crystal clear skies and very low temperatures which did not deter visitors from the Observatory – 50 plus on Friday, over 100 on Saturday and a similar number on Sunday.

We had to close the Observatory at the weekend of Feb. 10th – 12th as the dome and shutter were frozen solid and it was judged that ice on the steps rendered them hazardous. The cold weather did not last and we had some very clear nights during the month. Visitor attendance remained high – too high at times, thanks to the publicity in January. Jupiter, Venus and Mars were well placed for observation with Mars soon to be in opposition in early March.

On March 8th, a BBC2 film crew came to the Observatory to film for 'The Culture Show', aired on 16th March. The programme discussed the Voyager Space Mission as Voyager 1 is about to leave the Solar System. It was a fine night so we were able to show the visitors Venus, Jupiter approaching conjunction on 13th, Mars and a Full Moon.

During March 2012, Venus and Jupiter dominated the western sky after sunset, coming to conjunction on March 15th. An alert of enhanced solar activity raised expectations of possible Auroral activity, but none was seen from our latitude. Towards the end of March a spell of settled fine weather with record temperatures for the time of year, together with the proximity of Venus to Jupiter in the western sky and the publicity we had received, resulted in large crowds. On Saturday 24th March, over 100 people turned up to observe Venus, Jupiter and Mars. Towards the end of the current session, the number of visitors began to fall towards 'normal' levels. The last open weekend was on the 20th, 21st and 22nd of April. Without doubt, this session has seen a dramatic rise in visitor numbers and to cope with this, demonstrators and assistants have had to cover more duties.

Last year the Astronomy Secretary reported that the section experienced its busiest session ever recorded, but this year exceeded that with over 1000 visitors. However, there were times when we were almost overwhelmed and it is fortunate that we have so many enthusiastic amateur astronomers willing to share their knowledge and experience, for which we thank them. We also thank Julia for keeping the Section's accounts in order and Leo for auditing them. We also thank Julia for organizing the Observatory roster this year when circumstances prevented Simon from doing it. Sadly, at the end of the session, we said farewell to Ennio Tabone who is moving to Dorchester. We thank Ennio for his good work.

On June 6th 2012 Venus again transited the Sun. This was the second of the pair of transits separated by eight years. In 2004 we had ideal conditions but this event was not observable from the Observatory. Simon Lang decided to try to observe it from Alexandra Palace, but due to cloud he had only a brief view of Venus at the last stage of the transit.

There were no questions. Julie Atkinson proposed that the report be accepted, and the meeting agreed.

Julia Daniels then presented the Astronomy Section accounts.

The Astronomy Committee is responsible for maintenance of the Observatory building and astronomical instruments and for raising the necessary funds, and has its own separate bank account for the Astronomy Section. The Society also has a Meteorological Station on the site and HSS general funds pay for shared expenses such as rent and insurance.

The largest single source of income was the observatory fund box, bringing in £400 more than last year, due to Stargazing Live. Although we are keen to encourage more visitors to the Observatory, our Demonstrators and Assistants were overwhelmed by the large crowds, visitors had to queue for a long time while waiting for their turn to look briefly through the telescope, and Assistants had their work cut out collecting donations and trying to entertain people while queuing. To avoid repeating these problems, we may decide not to take part in Stargazing Live next year.

We also received a number of special donations from organisations wanting private visits to the Observatory There was no Ham & High Festival this year, whereas last year the Festival enabled us to raise £218 for our Night Skies events. Our total income for the year was £1,749.78, higher than anything in the last seven years and probably a record.

Our expenditure however was only £58.10, deliberately kept to a minimum because we are planning to do some expensive work this summer. There are an increasing number of holes in the dome which we cannot ignore while we are getting so much rain, so we plan to recover the dome with roofing felt during the summer break. Maintenance work on the Observatory didn't happen last summer because Simon Lang was not available. Ennio Tabone returned his Observatory key, so we returned his £10 key deposit, although he immediately gave it back to us as a donation. Our main expense was for circulating the duty rosters and Observatory newsletters. The expenses totalled only £58.10, leaving us with an excess of income over expenditure of £1,691.68.

Peter Wallis gave his congratulations to Julia Daniels. Jim Garrod said if Stargazing Live contributes so well, couldn't we keep involved? Julia Daniels replied that the Observatory was small compared to the numbers coming – we couldn't really handle them. Doug Daniels felt it was taking too much time to circulate people through the Observatory, though there were willing demonstrators with binoculars and other telescopes to keep people occupied in the meantime. Peter Stern suggested the Observatory should expand but Julia Daniels replied that would mean the site owner, Thames Water, would review our rent. David Markham felt it was useful to have demonstrators point things out while waiting. He suggested imaging what is on the telescope and displaying it outside. Doug Daniels said we could use an Astrovid camera but the quality is not wonderful and nothing beats the eye – see the Sky at Night clip – a quick peek is not enough really. Tim Bierman suggested approaching the Baker Street Irregulars to share load, but Doug Daniels believes they have a relationship with The Widescreen Centre, a commercial organisation.

Doug Daniels had reported to BBC and asked why Stargazing Live was held in January, when the weather is generally bad. March would be much better, more things to see, higher ecliptic.

Martin Williams commented that although the Hampstead Observatory was well known, the main Society events were not so well known, and he suggested there be some means of publicising the website and telling people about these meetings. Doug Daniels said we do have programme cards which include the web site address . Martin Williams felt we need to restructure the web site. Tim Bierman recommended we don't fill it up with flash things – the current site is quick to load. Julie Atkinson and Simon Lang capture visitors volunteered email addresses.

Peter Wallis proposed that the accounts be accepted, Julie Atkinson seconded and the meeting agreed.

9. Meteorological Section Report

The Meteorological Section Secretary, Philip Eden, was unable to attend and so Trevor Law presented his report, summarised below.

The Met Office's automatic weather station (AWS) has functioned continuously throughout the year with no gaps in the record. The overlap continues between the old and the new AWS, so our own automatic station continues to function. The ideal time scale for the overlap is ideally five years for us – of which we had now completed 2 years and 3 months. Monthly reviews of Hampstead's weather had been posted on the Secretary's website, and linked to from the Society's website, usually by the 5th of the following month, though this has slipped a little recently. The summaries extend back to the mid-1950s. The intention remains to extend the data online further and further back as and when time permits.

The report summarised the weather we'd experienced during the last year.

SUMMER 2011 was not a good one with temperature and sunshine duration both below the long-term average, and rainfall well above it. There were short warm spells early and late in June and in early-August, but overall this was the coolest summer since 1993. Sunshine hours were the lowest since 2008, and rainfall the highest since 2007.

AUTUMN 2011 was exceptionally warm with a record-breaking heatwave during the closing days of September and the first few days of October. It was also drier and sunnier than average. Overall, this was the warmest autumn, by just 0.2degC, in the entire 102-year long Hampstead record.

WINTER 2011-12 was mostly mild and dry, though there was one very wintry spell during the first half of February, bringing our lowest February temperature since 1991 and a couple of notable snowfalls, one on the 4th, and the 10th.

SPRING 2012 was a season of contrasts. March was exceptionally dry and sunny with an extended heatwave during the last ten days. April was Hampstead's wettest on record, as well as being rather cold and cloudy. The mean temperature for April was lower than that for March – a rare event. The cold and dull weather continued for three weeks in May, then we enjoyed a further 10-day spell of warmth and sunshine from the 22nd onwards.

Julie Atkinson proposed the report be accepted, and the meeting agreed.

10. AOB

The Secretary announced that the British Science Association Festival of Science would be held in Aberdeen from 4th to 9th September. Royal Society Summer Exhibition would be held on 3-8th July.

The President announced the conclusion of the AGM, but due to the discussion arising, there was unfortunately no time for a Scientific Entertainment.

Julie Atkinson, Hon. Secretary, 0118 977 2192

Minutes of Annual General Meeting held at The Crypt Room, St John's Church, Hampstead, on 16th June 2011.

Present: Doug Daniels (President) and 31 members.

1. Minutes of A.G.M 17th June 2010

These were signed by the President as a correct record.

2. President's Remarks

The President thanked all present for attending the AGM and particularly those who had contributed the food and he thanked Peter Wallis for obtaining and distributing the wine.

The Society's involvement with the BBC 2 'Stargazing Live' saw membership of the Society increase to 130, a record for the Society, and attract some younger members. Donations to the Observatory fund also attained record levels.

Our programme of lectures were well up to standard, thanks to the diligence of the Programme Secretary Jim Brightwell. There were two 'glitches' when booked speakers unexpectedly pulled out, but the replacement lectures given by Dr. David Rowley and Prof. Michael Crawford, were amongst the best of the session and all lectures were very well attended with capacity audiences on several occasions.

Our involvement in Science Week was reduced this year, but nevertheless, Simon Lang the assistant Astronomy Secretary gave a talk to University College School on the History of the Telescope and the schools produced their own series of talks.

On Jan. 8th we visited the RAS library at Burlington House by kind invitation of Peter Hingley, and then on 18th of May, to the clock tower at the Houses of Parliament. Thanks to Peter Stern for arranging this trip.

There were two sad events during the session. In June 2010 we heard the sad news of the untimely death of Cezary Ludwik Kamieniecki – affectionally known as Caesar K. who was a demonstrator at the Observatory and minutes Secretary of the Section for 36 years. And in April 2011 we were saddened by the news of the death of Betty Weale, wife of our last President Robert Weale. Obituaries were published on the web site. The President sent the Society's deepest sympathy to Robert and to Caesar's families.

All in all, the 2010-2011 session had been yet another record year for the Society. The President thanked all members, and members of Council who have given their time so freely to continue the aims of our Society – to promote and encourage interest in all branches of science.

3. Secretary's Report

The Secretary reported another year of good lectures, and reminded members of the topics. She gave a taste of the lecture programme for next year.

Membership was 133, with 6 juniors, as the President said, a record.

We had officially attended British Science Association Branches Forum at the Science Festival in Aston, Birmingham in September. Some members also went to the Festival itself. And we received a grant from the Association to help with the printing costs of the programme cards.

Following the President, the Secretary thanked Council, in particular those who were standing down. She thanked Doug Daniels and Peter Wallis for the newsletter and its content, Martin Williams for continued sponsorship of the web site, all those who help with coffee and chairs at the meetings and those who had contributed food and wine for the evening.

Elisabeth Fischer proposed that the report be accepted, Tim Bierman seconded, and the meeting agreed.

4. Treasurer's Report

The Treasurer, John Tennant, distributed copies of the accounts and gave his report.

Bookings and expenses were down over 8% from last year. An increase in Observatory costs were due to rises in telephone and insurance.

Administration was up a third due to increased membership and leaflet production. Miscellaneous had over a tenfold increase due to the purchase of a new digital projector for £281.99 when the old one broke down. The resulting total expenditure was up 20.5% on last year.

Membership income and Gift Aid recovery rose by over a third. Donations were down from last year. Sales income had decreased and savings account interest remains depressed. Income overall is up by about 10%. Despite this we made a loss on the year £140.94. Except for the one off emergency purchase of the projector, our balance on the year would have been in the black. The capital at year end 31/05/2011 is £12,218.09.

There were no questions. Julie Atkinson proposed that the report be accepted, Philip Eden seconded and the meeting agreed.

5. Election of Officers and Council

The Secretary announced that Council had elected Doug Daniels as President at the Council meeting on 21^st April 2011.

As there were no further nominations, the following officers proposed by Council were declared as elected:

Julie Atkinson	Hon. Secretary	John Tennant	Hon. Treasurer
Jim Brightwell	Hon. Programme Secretary	John Tennant	Hon. Membership Secretary

There were no ineligible Council members under the four year rule this year. However, Leo McLaughlin had decided not to stand this time. The following nominations were received for the 5 ordinary members of Council:

Nominee	Julia Daniels	Martin Williams	Roger O'Brien	Peter Stern	Kevin Devine
Nominated by	Council	Council	Council	Council	Council

As there were no further nominations, these nominees were declared as elected to Council.

6. Election of Auditors

The President proposed Leo McLaughlin and Martin Williams. Both were willing to act. The meeting elected them both.

7. Election of Honorary Members

The President proposed that Ray Softly be made an honorary member, for his long service as Natural History Section secretary and long membership of the Society. Julie Atkinson seconded. The President was asked how long Mr Softly had been a member, and answered that it was many more years than him. The meeting elected Ray Softly as an honorary member.

8. Astronomy Section Report

The Astronomical Section Secretary, Doug Daniels, presented his report, summarised below.

The 2010 session ended on May 16th. We had extended the session in order to continue observation of Saturn and give visitors the opportunity to view the exhibition celebrating our centenary.

On Monday May 17th , in collaboration with Chris Hatherill of 'Super/Collider', the section put on an observing evening in Shoreditch, East London. The donation to our funds was much appreciated.

The summer programme of site maintenance at the observatory began on Sunday July 4th. The railings had not seen paint for more than two decades and were in a poor state of repair. Simon Lang recruited a large task force of volunteers to chip off the rust and loose paint prior to re-painting. Eight sessions later on September 12th the last working party attracted just 4 members. All the jobs scheduled for this Summer were completed, the railings were painted, the building was painted, the Met Station barrier was moved to provide extra room for additional tripod mounted telescopes and a proper side gate was built to give easy access outside the enclosure for maintenance. The path and steps were given their final de-weeding and the whole observatory compound looked very smart for our centenary year. Thanks to Simon and to all members who gave up their Sundays to complete this work.

In July 2010 we received the sad news that Caesar Kamieniecki had died aged 60 following a long illness. Caesar was a long standing member of the Society, and an obituary was published online.

On the evening of July 31st, the planets Venus, Mars and Saturn were aligned in triangular formation in the western sky after sunset. Simon Lang arranged a viewing session in the guise of a picnic to be held. Due to cloud Simon decided to postpone. However, at 6pm the sky cleared and conditions became good enough for around 30 visitors to see the conjunction. The proposed second try was totally cloudy.

A group of 9 members watched the Perseid Meteor Shower from Hertfordshire. They arrived at around 22:15, just in time for some to witness a bright fireball. The sky was clear with a little haze initially, but by 03:30 became totally obscured.

The new session at the observatory began on Friday September 17th and shortly afterwards we opened the Observatory for three extra nights as part of the Hampstead & Highgate Festival.

In early December, Pioneer Productions used the Observatory as a location for a filmed interview with Ian Ridpath for a programme they were making for the National Geographic Channel on the subject of UFO's. Pioneer made a donation of £60 to the Observatory fund.

There was a total Lunar Eclipse on December 21st. Unfortunately from London totality occurred at moonset between 07:40 – 08:53 am. At Hampstead the sky was totally clouded over and no part was observed.

2011 began with a major astronomical event, Stargazing Live. Between the 3rd and 5th of January 2011 the BBC put on a special series of programmes aimed at increasing the public's awareness of astronomy. The dates chosen were to include the annual Quadrantid meteor shower, the partial Solar Eclipse at sunrise on Jan. 4th and also the close conjunction of Jupiter and Uranus. We were asked to participate in this event and, to help with the publicity, the President was interviewed for an article that appeared on the BBC London website. The BBC also gave us a banner to put up at the Observatory, some posters and a huge quantity of Star Guides to be handed out. We also had several entries detailing our events on the BBC website.

Simon Lang recruited a good number of volunteers and opened the Observatory on Monday 3rd until 04:00 hrs – the peak time for the Quadrantid meteors. The night remained relentlessly cloudy. As the Solar eclipse occurred at sunrise on the 4th of January, it was decided to observe from Parliament Hill. A tiny part of the eclipse was glimpsed for about 5 seconds through a hole in the cloud cover. To observe the conjunction of Jupiter and Uranus, we opened the Observatory from 6:00 pm – 8:00 pm from the Monday to Thursday. The weather did not co-operate but visitors still turned up. We had to wait until Saturday 8th for a clear night and about 100 visitors arrived, and by then we also had a crescent moon on view. The Sunday morning was also clear and about 50 visitors came to view the Sun. Frustrated by the lack of clear skies during the 'Stargazing' event we decided to open the observatory from 6 pm – 8 pm on Monday – Thursday during the following week as well, but again we were frustrated by poor weather and had to cancel.

The 'Stargazing Live' event was a limited success and the publicity certainly raised the Society's profile. Our participation meant that many members of the section worked long and hard to man the observatory and entertain visitors. Our thanks to Simon and all demonstrators and assistants who gave up their time.

Eight members of the Society visited the library of the Royal Astronomical Society at Burlington House at 3:00 pm on Saturday January 8th. Peter Hingley treated us to a two hour tour of the library and showed us many of its treasures including rare first editions by such luminaries as Copernicus, Herschel and Newton.

The bad weather continued throughout January and people were still clamouring to get a last look at Jupiter and Uranus before they descended into the horizon murk. Simon Lang opened the observatory on Friday Jan. 21st in the early evening and around 100 visitors turned up. We estimate that about 400 visitors came to the observatory during January. Due to this demand, many extra open sessions were planned during the early evening up to the end of the month, but due to persistent cloud cover, most were cancelled.

Twenty five children from Christchurch (Cricklewood) Cub-Scouts and their group leaders turned up at the Observatory on Feb. 11th as part of their studies for the 'Astronomer' badge. Unfortunately, the sky remained totally cloud covered. Nevertheless, they stayed for an hour and a half, asking many questions.

March 19th was at last a clear night and so Simon Lang organized a special session to view Mercury and Jupiter. About 20 people were rewarded with a good view of the elusive Mercury. Over 100 plus visitors turned up at the Observatory to view the Full Moon at perigee. Those arriving later also got a look at Saturn.

Saturn was gradually descending and would only be visible during the summer months when the observatory is closed. Accordingly, we decided to open the observatory for extra viewing nights over the Easter weekend and also the following Bank Holiday weekend. The extra openings over Easter were very well attended.

Unfortunately, the drive system began to give trouble. The stepper motor and gearbox had suffered damage over the years and needed replacement. Various repairs were done but more work was needed. Eight members attended the section sub-committee meeting at the Observatory at on May 15th to discuss further maintenance work, including the necessary repair to the dome rotation pulley and the re-covering of the dome, possibly using thin aluminium sheeting. But this will not be attempted this year.

On Friday May 21st 60+ visitors took a last chance to observe Saturn before the observatory closed for the summer break. The night was fine and clear and many stayed until past 11:00pm.

The last public opening of the session took place on Sunday morning May 22nd. 35 visitors came with the 'Hampstead Walks' group and later about ordinary 10 visitors. The day was partially cloudy but all visitors managed to see one sunspot and later some large prominences with Brian Bond's H alpha kit. Afterwards a dozen or so Demonstrators and assistants arrived for an end of session picnic at the Observatory.

Sourav Sen, who had been a visitor to the Observatory, donated his telescope to the Observatory. The instrument is a Celestron 114 mm reflector on a portable equatorial mount. We thank Sourav for his generous donation. The instrument will join the other portables for use by visitors.

This had been one of the most active sessions on record at the Observatory. Contributions to the observatory fund box totalled in excess of £870 for the session –by far a record. The Astronomy Secretary thanked Simon Lang and all Demonstrators and Assistants for their willing involvement and hard work to keep the Observatory and the Society in high profile with the public.

There were no questions. Julie Atkinson proposed that the report be accepted, Tim Bierman seconded and the meeting agreed.

Julia Daniels then presented the Astronomy Section accounts.

The largest single source of income was the observatory fund box, which brought in a record £972.90 from donations on public open nights. Interest on our National Savings Investment Account had dwindled to £12.31. The Society was one of the beneficiaries at Caesar Kamieniecki's funeral and received several cheques, of which £30 was paid into the Astronomy Account and the rest into the General Account. The Observatory received £60 for a TV interview, and £216 for the annual Ham. & High. Festival. Unfortunately there will be no Festival this year. Our total income for the year was £1,291.21, probably an all time record.

Simon Lang claimed only £51.71 for the materials used by the Summer Working Party, but should have claimed almost twice as much. We had paid Terry Pearce £35 for fitting the 6inch Cooke telescope with a right-angled diagonal and returned Caesar Kamieniecki's £5 key deposit to his wife. The Section bought a copy of the 2011 B.A.A. Handbook for £4.50. Then there were the usual routine expenses: £15.36 for postage and £19.55 for photocopies. Our total expenditure for the year was only £ 131.12.

The Opening Balance was £7,670.34 and the Closing Balance £8,830.43. The excess of income over expenditure was £874.09. These additional funds would be needed as we plan to carry out major work on the Observatory dome over the next two summers.

David Brown pointed out an inconsistency in the accounts: the excess of income over expenditure did not match the difference in income and expenditure figures by £286. The auditor, Leo McLaughlin, gave his opinion that the income and expenditure figures were correct and the error was in the calculation of the difference, which was not material to the accounts themselves. Doug Daniels proposed that the accounts be accepted with the proviso that Julia Daniels confirm this was the case, Elisabeth Fischer seconded and the meeting agreed.

9. Meteorological Section Report

The Meteorological Section Secretary, Philip Eden, presented his report, summarised below.

The Met Office's automatic weather station (AWS) had functioned continuously throughout the year, with the sole exception of the rain-gauge which was out of action for three weeks; it took three weeks before anyone spotted there was a problem because there was simply no rain at all during that period. But it does emphasise the value of having a traditional manual rain-gauge on site as well as the automated version.

The overlap continued between the old AWS and the new AWS. The ideal time scale for the overlap is 5% of the station record for long-standing sites, and never less than two years for shorter-lived sites. So that means ideally five years for us.

Monthly reviews of Hampstead's weather had been posted on the Meteorological Secretary's website, and linked to from the Society's website, usually by the 5th of the following month, and the summaries extend back to the mid-1950's. The intention remains to extend the data online further and further back.

The Meteorological Section Secretary briefly summarised the weather experienced during the last year.

SUMMER 2010 began well with a warm, dry, and very sunny June, and the dry and warm weather (though with less sunshine) continued for most of July. August, however, was the coldest for 17 years and the wettest for six. Taken as a whole, the summer quarter was the warmest since the hot summer of 2006.

AUTUMN 2010 started well and finished badly. Most of September was fine and dry with several warm days. Five days of rain straddled the switchover from September to October, though it then turned a bit colder. November was a month of extremes ... an exceptionally warm start, and an exceptionally cold finish.

WINTER 2010-11 was a season of contrasts. December's frost and snow gave the coldest December in the entire Hampstead record, and probably the coldest in the London area in general since 1890. January was an average month, and February was very mild. All three months, however, had a marked shortage of sunshine, and the winter quarter was, overall, the gloomiest at Hampstead since that of 1971-72 ... 39 years ago.

SPRING 2011 was exceptional ... the warmest in the entire Hampstead record (and indeed the warmest by some margin in the whole of the Central England Temperature record which extends back 353 years), the driest for 21 years, and the sunniest for 16 years April was, by a wide margin, the warmest on record. But, as I've said before, dry springs are often followed by wet summers.

Peter Stern commented that there appeared to be less snow than there used to be – we did not often have to shovel our paths clear. Philip Eden agreed with the exception of the last three winters.

Doug Daniels proposed the report be accepted. Julia Daniels seconded and the meeting agreed.

10. AOB

The Secretary announced that the British Science Association Festival of Science would be held in Bradford from 10th to 15th September .

Martin Williams invited suggestions from members for improvements to the website, to be sent to webmaster@hampsteadscience.ac.uk or info@hampsteadscience.ac.uk.

Jim Brightwell suggested that the programme include postcodes for the Crypt Room and the Observatory, as they can be used by visitors to locate the events. There is no official postcode for the observatory and John Tennant noted that the electricity board has been querying our address. Simon Lang said that Camden has put up a sign to the observatory from Whitestone Pond.

There was a question about participation in Science Week next year. The Secretary responded that it depended on peoples' time and availability.

Simon Lang reported rumours that there may be two Stargazing Live events next year.

The President announced the conclusion of the AGM. There followed a Scientific Entertainment, which consisted of a Quiz.

Julie Atkinson, Hon. Secretary, 0118 977 5192

Minutes of Annual General Meeting held at The Crypt Room, St John's Church, Hampstead, on 17th June 2010.

Present: Doug Daniels (President) and 24 members.

1. Minutes of A.G.M 25th June 2009

These were signed by the President as a correct record with the following amendment:

The AGM was not held at The Crypt Room but at the Age Concern Resource Centre, Henderson Court, Prince Arthur Rd, Hampstead.

2. President's Remarks

The President remarked that the Society had again experienced a good year with a slight increase in membership. 2010 was a significant year in the Society's history being the centenary of the founding of the Society's Observatory and Met. Station.

Council had been sorry to receive the resignations of Hemant Desai and Elisabeth Davies, and thanked them for their past services. Council had co-opted Julia Daniels and Martin Williams to remain quorate.

The President thanked Council members for their continued enthusiasm and support and those members who had provided refreshments. He remarked that the Honorary Secretary, Julie Atkinson, put in an enormous amount of work, made more difficult this year by moving house.

The Programme Secretary, Jim Brightwell had completed next session's programme in record time, maintaining an excellent variety of lectures. The new programme cards were being printed and the programme was on the web-site.

The President thanked John Tennant our new Hon. Treasurer and Membership Secretary who had kept a firm grip on the Society finances. Members could assist him by paying their subscriptions in good time.

Finally, he thanked all members who help out at meetings, putting out and putting back chairs and assisting at coffee break, and Martin who hosts the post meeting social gatherings at the Flask.

3. Secretary's Report

The Secretary reported another year of good lectures, and reminded members of the topics. She gave a taste of the lecture programme for next year.

Membership was 119, a little up on last year, a steady progression.

This year, none of the usual members of the Science Week subcommittee were able to contribute to a programme, due to moving house, or illness, or other commitments. However, the schools we usually collaborate with had both produced their own programmes, most of which were open to the public.

The Society officially attended British Science Association Branches Forum at the Science Festival in Guildford in September. And we received a grant from them for the printing costs of the programme cards.

Following the President, the Secretary thanked Council, in particular those who had left or were standing down. She thanked Doug Daniels and Peter Wallis for the newsletter and its content, Martin Williams for continued sponsorship of the web site, all those who help with coffee and chairs at the meetings and finally those who had contributed food and wine for the evening- Elisabeth Fischer, Julia Daniels, and Peter Wallis.

Elisabeth Fischer proposed that the secretary's report be accepted. Julia Daniels seconded. The meeting agreed.

4. Treasurer's Report

The Treasurer, John Tennant, distributed copies of the accounts and gave his report.

The expenditure for the last year was down overall by 6% on the previous year. The refurbishment of the Crypt Room had lead to an increase in the charge of 25% for next year's booking and a supplementary charge for this year's programme. With the booking of one lecture at the Age Concern rooms and lecturers' expenses, bookings and expenses in total are up 47% on last year. The observatory costs were up 5% due to rises in insurance and telephone line rental. Administration costs were down, partly because the August newsletter postage was purchased after the 31st of May. There was an 8% saving on refreshments. There were no expenses or income for Science Week and no major expenditure under miscellaneous.

The membership subscription income had not changed appreciably. The tax recovery payment from the Inland Revenue was pending and expected to be similar to last year. Donations increased by 40% mainly due to an anonymous donation of £100. Sales of Centenary books were up but with no payment from Haycock Associates for meteorological data this year, sales overall are down. Interest rates this year have remained very low. Consequentially income for this year is appreciably down on last year's elevated figure.

Our financial capital at year end (31/5/2010) is £12359.03 marginally up.

Julie Atkinson commented that income and expenditure were pretty balanced, with £24 in credit, even without the tax recovery payment.

Doug Daniels proposed that the report be accepted, Peter Wallis seconded and the meeting agreed.

5. Election of Officers and Council

The Secretary announced that Council had elected Doug Daniels as President at the Council meeting on 20th April 2010.

As there were no further nominations, the following officers proposed by Council were declared as elected:

Julie Atkinson	Hon. Secretary	John Tennant	Hon. Treasurer
Jim Brightwell	Hon. Programme Secretary	John Tennant	Hon. Membership Secretary

Nayna Kumari retires from Council under the four year rule. Hemant Desai and Elizabeth Davies resigned from Council during the year, and Council co-opted Julia Daniels and Martin Williams to take their places.

The following nominations had been received for the five ordinary members of Council:

Nominee	Leo McLaughlin	Julia Daniels	Martin Williams	Roger O'Brien	Peter Stern
Nominated by	Council	Council	Council	Simon Lang, Doug Daniels	Julie Atkinson, Doug Daniels

As there were no further nominations, these nominees were declared as elected to Council.

6. Election of Auditors

The President proposed Leo McLaughlin and Martin Williams. Both were willing to act. The meeting elected them both.

Leo McLaughlin asked whether the 4 year rule applied to auditors, but it does not.

7. Astronomy Section Report

The Astronomical Section Secretary, Doug Daniels, presented his report, summarised below. (An expanded account is on the web site.)

On June 28th, the Observatory hosted a visit by the Flamsteed Society, based at the ROG.

On 22nd of July there was a total eclipse of the Sun. No part was visible from Hampstead, but Jim Brightwell, David Brown and Trevor Law journeyed to China to observe it. Unfortunately the entire eclipse was clouded out.

Towards the end of July, a possible comet/asteroid impact had occurred in the south polar region of Jupiter. Simon Lang opened the observatory on the 17th, 18th and 22nd of August. Simon reported that the impact site was plainly visible on the 18th. Plans were made to image it on the 22nd and 25th but skies clouded up.

Eight members of the section turned up for the annual working party on Sunday September 6th, a generally fine mild day. The steps and path were cleared of weeds, and the exterior of the whole building was given a coat of wood preservative. Simon Lang made mounting brackets for the new finder that he had generously donated to the Observatory. The Astro. Sec thanked Simon and all who took part and Julia Daniels for lunch.

Both Roger O'Brien and Ennio Tabone were made demonstrators for the new session and we welcomed new assistants Abigale Frost and Nik Beric. The first clear Saturday evening of the new session was well attended and apart from Jupiter, visitors were treated to views of the International Space Station passing overhead and some meteor activity. At the same time, Terry Pearce and the Astro. Sec. attended the astronomical exhibition and weekend camp at Herstmonceux. Castle Sussex, once the home of the Royal Observatory.

On September 18th the Astro Sec. and the Assistant Astro Sec. accompanied Terry Pearce to a meeting of the Hanwell Astronomical Society in Oxfordshire. Terry had recently completed the 30-inch mirror for their telescope and the meeting was to celebrate this and to show the progress on the huge new telescope.

On September 25th our observatory was visited by over 20 members of The London Appreciation Society. plus a dozen or so members of the public. We were fortunate to have a totally clear night and visitors were treated to views of a near first quarter moon, Jupiter and several Messier objects.

It was decided to open the observatory on New Year's Eve Thursday 31st of December to observe several interesting events, and again on New Year's Day but the weather prevented any observations and shortly afterwards snow began to fall. The heavy snowfall prevented any observations at the beginning of January 2010 and then it was discovered that the lock on the outer gate had jammed preventing our access to the site. The Astro. Sec. contacted Thames Water who gave us permission to do what was necessary to solve the problem. This caused the observatory to be closed for the whole of January. Once the snow had melted, the Astro. Sec. managed to sort out the problem with the gate lock and open nights resumed.

From April 15th for six days all aircraft were grounded due to a volcanic eruption in Iceland and it was a treat to experience clear skies free from aircraft contrails. The seeing at the observatory on the night of 16th April was superb.

On Sunday April 25th 2010, the Hampstead Observatory and Meteorological Station celebrated its centenary. A full day celebration at the Observatory consisted of a party and exhibition for members and guests from 12:30 pm until 3:00 pm after which time it was opened to members of the public. Our guests included Peter Hingley from the RAS, Richard Mc.Kim and Bob Marriott from the BAA and members of ASH, WOLAS and Loughton Astronomical Societies.

The President made a short speech detailing the early history of the Observatory and thanking all those who had helped, in particular Simon Lang. The President then handed over to the Meteorological Secretary, Philip Eden, who described how the Meteorological Section now boasted a century of daily readings from the same site. Philip was then presented with two commemorative plaques by Steve Haynes from the Meteorological Office, one for himself and the other to hang in the Observatory. All present then drank a toast to the Observatory's centenary with the hope that it would continue its contribution to astronomy and meteorology for at least another 100 years.

Upwards of 80 people, enjoyed the exhibition and party. The President thanked all those members who worked so hard to prepare the Observatory, and all those who donated food, and brought instruments, making this a very special, enjoyable and memorable occasion.

Public open nights continued until May 16th in order to give visitors the chance to see the exhibition and take a last look at Saturn with the ring system almost edge-on. During this session over 1000 visitors came to the Observatory – a great result in our centenary year.

Philip Eden asked if the Icelandic volcano ash itself had had a deleterious effect? Doug Daniels confirmed that it had not.

Doug Daniels was asked how the Observatory lock had been opened, and he replied that the lock was very old and actually didn't match up. It was fixed by filing. Peter Stern asked who owned the site. Doug Daniels replied that it was Thames Water. They don't use the gate, but since it was their property we had to let them know about the problem.

Julie Atkinson proposed that the report be accepted, Elisabeth Fischer seconded and the meeting agreed.

Julia Daniels then presented the Astronomy Section accounts.

The Section spent £192 on observatory maintenance, mainly for paint and brushes and wood preservative, for painting the building inside and out. She thanked the volunteers. We spent £20 on postage, and £26 on photocopies, which was roughly double last year's figure, but this was because we had extra circulars to send out in connection with the Observatory Centenary party. The centenary party cost us £280, bringing our total expenditure to £547.61 (compared with £448 last year).

The interest on our National Savings Investment Account was a paltry £17 compared with £172 last year. The bulk of our income comes from generous public donations in the Observatory Fund Box, which totalled £397 this year, not as much as the £566 donated last year. The Ham & High. Festival earned us £216 (compared with £180 the previous year). Two organised visits to the Observatory brought in donations of £75 and £10. Doug and Simon also earned us £50 from Supercollider Magazine. Other items of income were two key deposits of £10 a donation of £5, and £23 from sales of HSS engraved pens. Our total income was £813.01, less than last year, but our expenditure was only £547.6.

Our Opening Balance was £7,404.94 and our Closing Balance was £7,670.34. In conclusion we managed to fund a very enjoyable centenary party while still increasing our bank balance, thanks to generous donations.

Philip Eden proposed the Astronomy Section accounts be accepted, Julie Atkinson seconded and the meeting agreed.

8. Meteorological Section Report

The Meteorological Section Secretary, Philip Eden, presented his report, summarised below. (An expanded account is on the web site.)

A Met Office inspector visited last November and gave us a clean bill of health, but equally important, he invited Hampstead into the Met Office's fully automated station network. This involved the installation of a fully independent electronic weather station, powered by sonar panel, which transmits data to the Met Office at Exeter every hour, on the hour. The installation took place in early March, and the station has been functioning soundly for most of the time since.

It is, of course, important to have a lengthy overlap period between the old AWS and the new AWS, so our own automatic station continues to function. And it is also important to have traditional thermometers and a traditional rain-gauge in place in case the electronic station fails, so the old instruments will remain.

Monthly reviews of Hampstead's weather have been posted on the section secretary's website, linked to from the Society's website, by the 4th of the following month, and the summaries extend back to the mid-1950s. The intention remains to extend the data online further and further back as and when time permits.

The Society has continued to supply data to Haycock Associates, and payments received from them enabled us to afford the service and maintenance visit for our own automatic weather station last November.

Just before Christmas, our weather station completed 100 years of recording, unbroken, save for one day during the Blitz in 1940, and 100 years of association with the Met Office. During that period there were three Honorary Meteorologists -- Eric Hawke from 1909 to 1965, Robert Tyssen-Gee from 1965 to 1983, and from 1983 onwards your humble correspondent. At the event in April Inspector Haynes and his boss, Chief Network Manager Tim Allott, presented us with a certificate and a uniquely designed paperweight in recognition of our centenary.

The Meteorological Section Secretary then briefly summarised the weather experienced during the last year.

SUMMER 2009 will long be remembered as the Met Office's "barbecue summer". Most of us will remember it as anything but, but the bad weather was confined to a four-week period between 7th July and 3rd August. June and August were warmer, drier and sunnier than average in London and the Southeast.

AUTUMN 2009 started well and finished badly. September was mostly fine with plentiful sunshine and above-average temperatures, although there was one day, the 15th, when London caught a torrential downpour which amounted to just over 50mm at Hampstead. October was fairly dry and mild too, though with less sunshine than usual. But November was unsettled and very wet throughout, notching up almost twice the normal amount of rain, making it the wettest November for seven years.

WINTER 2009-10 was the coldest for 31 years - since that of 1978-79 which some of you may remember as the "Winter of Discontent". December started where November left off - mild and rainy - but cold weather set in mid-month and we had several notable snowfalls between mid-December and mid-February. Snow lay in Hampstead on a total of 17 days, deepest on Jan 14th when it was 13cm deep.

SPRING 2010 brought a mixed bag. Early March was dry and cold, but the second half of the month was warm and changeable. April was very sunny with warm days and cold nights. 67mm of rain fell on May 1st-2nd, but the rest of May was dry, very cold at first, but warmer after mid-month.

Martin Williams asked whether the Met. station should measure wind, for instance using ultrasonic anemometers. Philip Eden said anemometers need to be at the standard 10m above the general environment, given no trees or buildings. For the Met. station site it might need to be at 18m above ground level, which might require planning permission. The Met. Office were not interested in local wind speed. Martin Williams suggested that it may still be of interest to the Society, and the Meteorological Secretary agreed, and should be considered at the next upgrade. David Brown commented that there were Thames Water pipes which extended upwards at the site, and though not 18m, were a potential site for anemometers. Philip Eden will have a look at them.

Peter Stern commented that the previous two months had been dry and Philip Eden agreed, though other parts of the country, e.g. Wales, had been drier. He suspected that the summer would not be dry.

Rothampstead had claimed there were only two winters colder than the December - February period. Philip Eden asked if they were 1985-86 as that was when equipment had changed and may have affected the continuity of records. December had been mild, which had brought up the average. The urban effect was more pronounced now.

The report was accepted by the meeting.

9. AOB

The Secretary reminded members that The Royal Society's Summer Science Exhibition would be taking place on 25th June - 4th July 2010 at the Clore Ballroom at Royal Festival Hall. Eric Morgan added that there were some Royal Society Science Walks with Mike Howgate later in July and in August.

The Secretary also announced that the British Science Association Festival of Science would be held in Aston, Birmingham in September 14-19.

Rob Grant suggested that the web site home page be brought more up to date. Martin Williams commented that it does come up very quickly, now, and would take longer with photographs. But most people have broadband these days. Julie Atkinson agreed that the site could be improved, but it was a matter of time to do it. Martin suggested that there could be a photo page separate from the home page, it should have items of scientific interest, and better access to what was on.

The President announced the conclusion of the AGM. There followed a Scientific Entertainment, which consisted of Identify the Object.

Julie Atkinson, Hon. Secretary, 020 7328 0874

Minutes of Annual General Meeting held at The Crypt Room, St John's Church, Hampstead, on 25th June 2009.

Present: Doug Daniels (President) and 29 members.

1. Minutes of A.G.M 19th June 2008

These were signed by the President as a correct record.

2. President's Remarks

The President remarked that once again the Society had experienced a good year with the membership stable at a little over 100 members. The lecture programme had covered many aspects of science and he thanked the Programme Secretary for arranging this. Despite the fact that the meeting venue was disrupted for the last two meetings due to re-decoration at the Church, the move to Henderson Court had been made with little difficulty. He hoped that our regular meeting place would be ready for the new session in September.

Once again the Society had participated in Science week under the umbrella of the British Science Association and he thanked the sub-committee for arranging a first class series of lectures. He also thanked Hemant Desai for arranging a very successful visit to the Royal Greenwich Observatory. Next year, the Society would be celebrating the centenary of our Observatory and Met. Station and would be planning an event to mark this.

Following the retirement of Prof. Robert Weale at last years AGM, Council has decided to offer him Honorary Life Membership & Vice-Presidency. Last year Elisabeth Fischer retired from the position of Membership Secretary after 30 years, and Council proposed to offer Elisabeth Honorary Life Membership. According to our constitution this proposal must be ratified at an AGM. The President requested the meeting's approval for both.

At last year's AGM our honorary Treasurer Peter Wallis gave notice of his intention to retire at this AGM and throughout the past year he had been gradually handing over to John Tennant.

Before Peter became Treasurer, he was the General Secretary, serving in that position from 1974 — 1990, that is 16 years, the longest serving Secretary in the Society's history. Peter took control of the Treasury in 1987 and has served in that position for 22 years, only exceeded by Alec Benard who served for 25 years. During his tenure he oversaw the Society's conversion to charitable status and has always maintained a firm grip on the Society's expenses, ensuring that we were always in 'the black', and he hands over a healthy balance to our new Treasurer. Peter also produced the Society Newsletter, often writing most of the articles as well, from 1974 to date. He has also produced additional lecturers for the Society – his three sons, Charles, Graham and Jonathan! Peter took on the job of arranging the two celebration dinners marking the 90th and 100th anniversary of the Society, both of which required considerable organization and were both memorable occasions. For 35 years, Peter had made an unequalled contribution to our Society and as a vice-President, will continue so to do. The President proposed that he be granted Honorary Life Membership.

3. Secretary's Report

The Secretary felt that we had had another good year of talks, and gave a brief summary of the topics. The Programme Secretary had completed the lecture programme for the next year, and it was on the web site. In early May Hemant Desai had organised a trip to Greenwich, where we had had a very informative tour around the sites and telescopes, followed by a session in the planetarium.

The Society had contacted two local state schools this year about National Science and Engineering Week, but neither were able to join with us. However, we had contributed to the programmes at UCS, and South Hampstead High School. The Secretary thanked Michael Wynne, Simon Lang, and the others helping in the week itself. It was well received by the schools and we again got coverage from the Ham & High.

We had officially attended British Science Association events, in particular the Branches Forum at the Science Festival in Liverpool, and another in Manchester. This was a useful place to discuss the experiences of other scientific societies and exchange ideas for events and attracting members.

Membership was 114, a little up on last year.

The Secretary thanked Martin Williams for continued sponsorship of the web site, Elisabeth Fischer, Julia Daniels and Peter Wallis for food and wine and AGM arrangements, Doug Daniels who had taken over the newsletter, though Peter Wallis is still contributing, and Elizabeth Davies and helpers for providing members with coffee and tea at meetings.

Jim Brightwell proposed that the report be accepted, John Tennant seconded, and the meeting agreed.

4. Treasurer's Report

The Treasurer, Peter Wallis, distributed copies of the accounts and gave his report.

He started with last year's expenditure. Room bookings & expenses were higher than for the previous year; half was due to the need to move to the Age Concern Centre from the Crypt Room. Observatory costs were up by 9%, mainly for electricity and insurance. Administration was much the same as the previous year, but postage costs were now rising. The Society had made a saving of 20% on refreshment costs. For Science Week, donations covered most of the costs. The major item in Miscellaneous was the purchase of a presentation stand. Overall, costs were up by 16%.

Membership subscription income, including tax recovery under gift aid showed a 7% increase. Donations were only half of that in the previous year but coffees etc. sold at meetings allowed us to make a small profit. The Sales item was distorted because we received two payments of £500 from Haycock Associates for meteorological data, one of which should have fallen in the previous year. Philip Eden would be using much of this money to revalidate the equipment. Interest, not surprisingly, had reduced.

During the year the Treasurer had closed the Society's Investment Account at National Savings and Investments, transferring £892 to its account at the Charities Aid Foundation. The Society now had £12,333.79 capital which he would hand over to the new Treasurer.

There were no questions. Elisabeth Fischer proposed that the report be accepted, Simon Lang seconded and the meeting agreed.

5. Election of Vice President and Honorary Life Memberships

Council had proposed that Prof. Robert Weale be made Honorary Vice President and Honorary Life Member of the Society, following his 20 years of service as President.

The meeting approved the proposal.

Peter Wallis is already a Vice President of the Society, and Council proposed that he also be made Honorary Life Member for his 38 years service in the offices of Secretary and Treasurer.

The meeting approved the proposal. The President presented Peter Wallis with wine in appreciation of his service.

Council proposed that Elisabeth Fischer be made Honorary Life Member following 30 years of service as Membership Secretary.

The meeting approved the proposal.

6. Election of Council

The Secretary announced that Council had elected Doug Daniels as President at the Council meeting on 28th April 2009.

The Secretary expressed her thanks to the outgoing Treasurer, Peter Wallis. Since Membership Secretary and Treasurer need to liaise closely in their duties, and in order to pass on experience as Treasurer, Council had proposed that John Tennant take on both roles. The sitting officers were proposed for the other offices.

As there were no further nominations, the following officers proposed by Council were declared as elected:

Julie Atkinson	Hon. Secretary	John Tennant	Hon. Treasurer
Jim Brightwell	Hon. Programme Secretary	John Tennant	Hon. Membership Secretary

There were no retirements from Council under the four year rule. As there were no further nominations, the following members proposed by Council were declared as elected to Council:

Leo McLaughlin

Hemant Desai

Nayna Kumari

Elizabeth Davies

This left one vacancy on Council. The Secretary noted that the Council has the option to co-opt members.

7. Election of Auditors

The President proposed Leo McLaughlin and Simon Lang as auditors. Both were willing to act. The meeting elected them both.

8. Astronomy Section Report

The Astronomical Section Secretary, Doug Daniels, presented his report, summarised below. (An expanded account is on the web site.)

The Observatory was opened on the morning of August 1st. 2008 for the 20% partial solar eclipse. The eclipse began in fairly clear skies but soon cloud interrupted the event and after mid-eclipse turned to rain. Jerry Workman viewed the total eclipse under ideal conditions in western Siberia.

During early August, the Astro. Sec. talked to a reporter from the Evening Standard generally about astronomy and they managed a brief look at Jupiter. For this service the paper made a donation of £100. The event resulted in a full column report in the Evening Standard on August 12th.

Despite doubtful weather, the observatory was opened on the evening of August 16th 2008 a large (80%) partial eclipse of the moon. Unfortunately, the cloud thickened and by mid-eclipse it had started to rain.

The new session of open nights began on Friday 12th September in order to observe Jupiter before it finally sank into the murk.

By the end of October, Jupiter had set by 20:00 hrs. and major bright planets were absent from the night sky. November cloud persisted to ruin our chances to observe the occultation of Venus on December 1st. Observing from Hastings, with a sea horizon, Theon Pearce managed to secure an image shortly after the planet's reappearance.

On December 3rd over 30 cub scouts, parents and leaders descended on the Observatory. The telescopic view of the moon was greatly appreciated. Simon introduced them to some of the brighter stars and constellations and the event was proclaimed a great success by all concerned.

The full moon of December 12th was the closest and brightest for 15 years, however its increased radiance was totally obscured by unyielding cloud that persisted for the following week.

Venus was just 1.5 degrees north of Uranus on January 24th. Simon opened the Observatory early at 18:00 hrs. to give visitors the opportunity to see our nearest and most distant major planetary neighbours close together in the twilight sky.

On January 31st, the Astro Sec. & Assistant Astro. Sec. accompanied Terry Pearce to the Museum of the History of Science in Oxford, where in association with the Hanwell Astronomical Society, Terry gave a demonstration of telescope mirror making. This formed part of the celebrations for the 400th anniversary of the invention of the telescope.

The Astro.Sec. could not find Comet Lulin on Feb. 25th or Feb.28th but Terry Pearce had observed the comet from clear skies in Cambs.

Towards the end of March, Venus was finally lost to view. Shortly before this, the Astro Sec. managed to image the slim crescent with a 75 mm. apo refractor – through his bathroom window!

During the latter part of the session, Saturn was well placed for observation, coming to opposition on March 8th. The ring system was displayed almost edge-on and five of Saturn's satellites were seen on several occasions. To give visitors the opportunity to view Saturn, the observatory remained open until mid May.

Despite the fact that the new cycle was expected to begin last year (Cycle 24), and one or two very small sunspots were seen, the Sun has remained quite inactive during this session.

On the evening of 22nd April, a team of glamorous young ladies including fashion photographer Julia Kennedy, stylist Pandora Lennard and a top fashion model used the observatory as a location for a photography session for the Observer Fashion supplement magazine 'Tank O'. It was an unusual way of celebrating the 400th anniversary of the invention of the telescope.

During this session we welcomed several new assistants to our ranks. Ennio Tabone, Slim Loghmari, Agnieszka Fraszczka, Charlie Groome and Roger O'Brien. We are hoping to upgrade two or three of our new assistants as demonstrators early in the next session.

This year the Section purchased a 150mm. Schmidt/Newtonian reflector on a semi-portable equatorial mount. This instrument can be used outside the observatory, provides a wide field view of extended objects and gives members and visitors the opportunity to use a modern compact telescope. To introduce it to demonstrators and assistants and thank them for their continued support, Simon organized an informal pick-nick lunch at the Observatory on May 31st at which Doug Daniels presented a certificate for long service to John Hayden, a demonstrator for over 30 years.

The Observatory remains the Society's most important interface with the public and next year will be the centenary of its establishment. In order to keep it up and running, it requires a lot of people giving up a lot of their time and effort for no reward other than the acquisition of knowledge and the satisfaction gained by passing it on freely to others. The Astronomy Secretary thanked the Assistant Secretary, Simon Lang, the section Treasurer, Julia Daniels, Dan Pooley for the section's web-site and all demonstrators and assistants for their continued enthusiasm for the section's activities.

There were no further questions and the report was accepted.

Julia Daniels then presented the Astronomy Section accounts.

The Section started the year with a balance of £6,716 and ended with a closing balance of £7,404. Its income was £1,136 while its expenditure was only £448. The National Savings Investment Account gave £171. Public donations totalled £566 this year, which must be a record. We received our usual £189 for participating in the Ham. & High. Festival and raised some additional funds by various promotional schemes. The Section spent £275 on a portable richest field telescope. It is fitting the Cooke telescope with a new Finder telescope, which necessitated the purchase of some finder rings. We had the usual small expenses for photocopying and postage, but none for the summer maintenance work.

In conclusion the Section had a very good year, with £688 added to its balance in readiness for the day when they will need to spend a lot of money repairing or replacing the wooden dome.

Julie Atkinson proposed they be accepted. Tim Bierman seconded and the meeting agreed.

9. Meteorological Section Report

The Meteorological Section Secretary, Philip Eden, was unable to come due to a confusion over meeting dates, so the President presented his report, summarised below.

Both the electronic and traditional instruments at the Society's weather station have continued to function satisfactorily during the last twelve months and there have been no faults or breakages. As a result, the logging of data every five minutes has continued without a break since December 2002. The monthly summaries previously required by the Meteorological Office have been superseded by a more flexible approach, and the data is now sent online each day for most of the time, and in bulk after absences.

A request to replace the manual rain-gauge was declined by the Met Office. However, we are due one of our three-yearly inspections later this summer and the Met. Sec. will make the plea again.

Monthly reviews of Hampstead's weather have been posted on the Met. Sec.'s web site, and linked to from the Society's web site, by the 4th of the following month, and the summaries extend back to the mid-1950s. The intention remains to extend the data online further and further back when time permits.

The Society has continued to supply data to Haycock Associates and the Society has now received annual payments sufficient to cover the costs of servicing the automatic weather station.

The weather we've experienced during the last year was then summarised.

SUMMER 2008 was second successive poor summer with an excess of rain, a shortage of sunshine; daytime temperatures were slightly below the long-term mean but nights were often rather warm, so that mean temperatures for the quarter were close to the average. Though the wettest weather in 2007 occurred in June and July, those two months in 2008 were pretty average. August 2008 rainfall was 60% above normal, while the sunshine aggregate was barely half the normal amount, a mere 97 hours, and during 2008 only January, November and December brought less sunshine. The real statistical contrast was with February which had delivered 135 hours of sunshine in spite of a considerably shorter length of daylight and two fewer days.

AUTUMN 2008 began where August left off, and the first twelve days of September brought more heavy rain and a continued marked shortage of sunshine. But from the 13th, the remainder of September and also the bulk of October were characterised by spells of warm sunshine. On the evening of the 28th October snow fell heavily for three hours, leaving 5cm on the ground. This was Hampstead's first October snowfall since 1974, and was arguably the most widespread and heaviest fall in October in southern England since 1880.

WINTER 2008-09 was rather drier and sunnier than average with near-normal temperature. There were cold spells early and late in December, in early-January, and in early-February, which were balanced by lengthy mild periods in mid-December, mid to late-January and the second half of February. The most interesting feature of the winter was the heavy fall of snow on 2nd February when the maximum snow depth was 16cm. This was certainly our heaviest snowfall since 1991, when the snow depth at Hampstead Observatory reached 27cm.

SPRING 2009 was warmer, drier and sunnier than average. It was not uniformly so. Tthere were occasional interruptions of cool, blustery and showery weather. But the warmer periods were sufficient that the spring quarter ended up the fourth warmest in our 99-year history. It also ranked 10th driest, and 7th sunniest.

There were no questions and the report was accepted.

10. AOB

The Secretary reminded members that the Royal Society Summer Exhibition would take place in early July. She also announced that the British Science Association Festival of Science would be held in Guildford in September and would be worth visiting.

Doug Daniels invited members to submit articles for the newsletter.

Leo McLaughlin recommended members view images from the spacecraft Cassini on the BBC web site. Prof. Carl Murray would be talking to us about them in December.

The President announced the conclusion of the AGM. There followed a Scientific Entertainment, which consisted of Call My Bluff.

Julie Atkinson, Hon. Secretary, 020 7328 0874

Minutes of Annual General Meeting held at The Crypt Room, St John's Church, Hampstead, on 19th June 2008.

Present: Professor Robert Weale (President) and 31 members plus one guest.

1. Minutes of A.G.M 21st June 2007

These were signed by the President as a correct record.

2. President's Remarks

The President confessed that it was difficult to say anything original. Again, the Council were wonderful, the membership fantastic, and ever more helpful. Things seem to be going well, and there were no complaints, so he assumed the membership thought so too.

He was sad to report that the HSS was losing their Membership Secretary who had chosen to retire. The post had been in existence for 40 years, 30 of which were occupied by Elisabeth Fischer. In other words, she had been one of the longest postholders in the history of the Society. On his first trek to the HSS he walked to Burgh House through Flask Walk. Not far ahead of him there walked a person, fast in her step and firm of foot. He said to himself that such a determined woman must belong to the HSS. And when he caught up with her in Burgh House, she turned out to be firm and determined, in other words, Elisabeth. Keeping track of members is a minor part of being Membership Secretary. The major part is hauling in the lolly. Elisabeth is firm but tactful, flexible but determined, insistent but courteous. It is partly due to her that we have never been in the red. I am sure you will wish to join me in thanking her for the devoted way in which she discharged a sometimes difficult job, and to wish her the very best for the future, including a painless back.

At this point, Doug Daniels rose to present the Membership Secretary with boxes of chocolates on behalf of the Council and membership. Elisabeth Fischer thanked them both for their kind words. She had enjoyed her role of Membership Secretary, but felt that 30 years was long enough.

3. Secretary's Report

The Secretary felt that we had had another good year of talks, and gave a brief summary of the topics. The Programme Secretary had almost completed the lecture programme for next year. Several members had visited the Thames Barrier with Richmond Scientific Society.

We had intended to involve a state school in our National Science Week activities this year, but for various reasons we didn't manage to make contacts in time. However, we again arranged a special programme at UCS, and South Hampstead High School. Thanks to Michael Wynne, and Simon Lang, in particular, and to the others helping in the week itself. Topics included cooking, chemistry, fireworks, forensics, the brain and nuclear proliferation. It was well received by the schools and we again got good coverage from the Ham & High.

We had officially attended BA events, in particular the Branches Forum at the Science Festival in York, and another in Newcastle.

Membership is 108, a little down on last year.

The Astronomy Section launched a new revised section web site last summer, and immediately obtained a good response, even beyond the Society. Thanks to Martin Williams for continued sponsorship of the site.

The Secretary thanked Elisabeth Fischer, Julia Daniels and Peter Wallis for the food and wine provided. She also thanked Peter Wallis for producing the newsletter, and Nayna Kumari, Aileen Cook, Elizabeth Davies and Hugh Scaife for providing the coffee at meetings.

Peter Stern asked what had stopped the contacts with the state school for science week. The Secretary said it was a combination of work and study commitments and illness. He suggested that we make more efforts in future, and that he could help if needed. Martin Williams told how in an early attempt to contact a nearby state school, the teachers had felt unable to get involved because of lack of resources and time.

4. Treasurer's Report

The Treasurer, Peter Wallis, distributed copies of the accounts and gave his report.

On the expenditure side, the costs associated with the observatory (rent, insurance, electricity and telephone) have increased by 5%. Printing and postage have also increased, but this has been offset by the helpful donation from the British Association. There has been some increase in the cost of refreshments but this is still covered by the collection, shown under the "coffees" on the right.

On the income side, there has been a drop in subscription income, by some 7%, but interest on our capital has increased to offset this. The major improvement has come from an anonymous donation, for which the Treasurer thanked the donor on the Society's behalf. We still had money left for Science Week from the original BA grant.

Overall our income exceeds our expenses by about £1,000. We shall be able to afford extra expenses on lecturers in the coming year.

There were no questions. Elisabeth Fischer proposed acceptance of the accounts. Betty Weale seconded, and the proposal was carried.

5. Election of Council

The Secretary announced that since Prof. Weale had declared that he would retire as President at the end of the session, Council had elected Doug Daniels as President at the Council meeting on 10th April 2008.

She then handed over to Doug Daniels to give a tribute to his predecessor.

Robert Weale was the 11th President since the Society's foundation in 1899. He had served for 20 years, the second longest Presidency, only exceeded by Sir Flinders Petrie 1910-1933 = 23 years. Over the course of the 20 years he had presided over approximately 200 lecture meetings and over 80 Council meetings. The Society expressed its thanks for his long and loyal service, and presented him with a copy of 'Your Inner Fish' and an album of Society memorabilia.

And behind every great man is a good woman. The Society was also indebted to Betty Weale for her many years of providing the teas and coffee at meeting, missing the questions at every lecture. To say thank you on behalf of the Society, he presented her with a bouquet of flowers.

The Secretary expressed her thanks to the outgoing Membership Secretary, Elisabeth Fischer. Since Membership Secretary and Treasurer need to liaise closely in their duties, and in order to pass on experience as Treasurer, Council had proposed that John Tennant and Peter Wallis between share both roles. The sitting officers were proposed for the other offices.

As there were no further nominations, the following officers proposed by Council were declared as elected:

Julie Atkinson	Hon. Secretary	Peter Wallis and John Tennant	Hon. Treasurer
Jim Brightwell	Hon. Programme Secretary	Peter Wallis and John Tennant	Hon. Membership Secretary

There are no retirements from Council under the four year rule. However, Aileen Cook has resigned due to other commitments, and John Tennant has now become an officer. Thanks were given to Aileen and John for the work they had done on Council over the last couple of years.

As there were no further nominations, the following members proposed by Council were declared as elected to Council:

Leo McLaughlin

Hemant Desai

Nayna Kumari

Elizabeth Davies

This left one vacancy on Council. The Secretary noted that the Council has the option to co-opt members.

6. Election of Auditors

This year, Martin Williams had decided not to stand again as auditor. The constitution requires two auditors. Julie Atkinson proposed Graham Wallis and Julia Daniels proposed Leo McLaughlin as auditors and Elisabeth Fischer seconded. Both were willing to act. The meeting elected them both.

7. Astronomy Section Report

The Joint Astronomical Section Secretary, Doug Daniels, presented his report, summarised below. (An expanded account is on the web site.)

During the early part of the 2007 session, Saturn was still reasonably placed for observations, but its altitude is declining and like Jupiter it will soon be absent from the winter skies and only available towards the end of the session. The ring system is now beginning to close and the planet's prominent south equatorial belt had a distinct reddish tint.

After a gestation period lasting a full year, the section's new web pages were finally connected to the Society's web-site in late July. Our thanks to Dan Pooley for the enormous amount of work that he has put into this project which proved to be an instant success. We must not forget the contributions made by Martin Williams, for financing the site and providing unlimited space, and all the work put in to it over the years by Julie Atkinson to keep it up to date. The web-site has become an increasingly important for the Society.

Despite the fact that the 2007 Perseid meteor shower took place under favourable conditions, with no moon and largely clear skies, we decided not to open the Observatory. Simon Lang sought out a dark location in Sussex and was rewarded with fine views of the shower. He even managed to capture two Perseids on the same frame of a short exposure guided photograph.

The observatory working party took place in September. The volunteers consisted of the Astro Sec., the Assistant Astro. Sec., Nayna Kumari and John Tennant. The path and steps were cleared of weeds, the telescope was cleaned, the observatory and annexe, cleaned and tidied up. Simon fitted the refurbished illuminated 'Open' sign and replaced the step lights with low energy consumption bulbs.

During the last week in September, we received the sad news of the death of David St.George at the age of 87. David was a long-standing member of the Society, having joined in 1959. He served on the Society's Council and was an assistant demonstrator at the Observatory for many years where his technical expertise with electronics was put to good use maintaining the Observatory electrical installation.

The winter session of public open nights resumed on Friday October 12th, predictably a cloudy night. The weather improved slightly on the 13th but thin hazy cloud and high light pollution levels resulted in a limiting magnitude of +3. With no bright planets or moon on view, the 25 visitors who turned up had to be content observing a few double stars.

During early October, we were alerted to the discovery of Comet 2007 F1 (LONEOS), predicted to attain a magnitude of 6.3. Neither Terry Pearce nor the Astronomy Secretary could detect it in the twilight sky.

During October we received news that Comet Holmes had suffered a sudden outburst. Between 23-24th of October, it was reported to have increased in magnitude from 17th to approximately +2 rendering it visible to the naked eye. Unfortunately, cloud cover was total on the 25th and 26th. The sky finally cleared late on Sunday 28th. Comet Holmes was an obvious naked eye object not far from alpha Persei despite the presence of a moon two days after full and close by.

During November and December, Comet Tuttle was slowly moving south through Cepheus, Cassiopeia and Andromeda, passing Earth at .25 AU and reaching perihelion in Jan. 2008. It was only visible in binoculars with great difficulty.

Throughout November and December, Mars was steadily climbing away from the eastern horizon, coming to opposition on Christmas Eve when it presented a disk diameter of just 16 arc/minutes but well situated on the Gemini-Taurus borders.

Mercury's greatest eastern elongation occurred on 22 January when it was some 19° from the Sun. A bright, clear sunset on Jan. 21st allowed the Astronomy Secretary to find it with binoculars.

There was a total lunar eclipse in the early hours of February 21st, but in the event the weather prevented any observations.

During the early part of the session, the Sun was observed on several occasions and it continued to present a totally blank disk. However, towards the end of the session one or two small sunspots were seen perhaps heralding the start of the new solar cycle.

The session ended on April 27th, a wet Sunday morning, continuing the record of poor weather conditions that have been a feature of this session. Despite this, the public open nights that were clear attracted a total of around 500 visitors during the session, indicating that the Observatory continues to provide a valuable interface between the Society and the general public.

As usual, the Society participated in the annual Hampstead & Highgate Festival with three sessions at the Observatory all fully booked but unfortunately only one was partially clear. However, all those who attended seemed to enjoy the experience.

The Astronomy Secretary thanked the Assistant Secretary, Simon, for organizing the roster, the section Treasurer, Julia, for keeping them solvent, Dan Pooley, for the huge task designing the section web-site, and to all Demonstrators and Assistants for their continued support providing what may still be regarded as a unique service to the public.

Following his report the Astronomy Secretary was asked the web address. It was www.hampsteadscience.ac.uk, or google the Hampstead Scientific Society.

There were no further questions and the report was accepted.

Julia Daniels then presented the Astronomy Section accounts.

She noted that not much had been spent this year. There was the usual income - the observatory fund was a bit down, but interest was up to offset it. The chief difference was due to a one off donation last year. Little had been spent, as existing materials had been used for maintenance. However, the Section expects to have a big expenditure on the observatory dome at some point, and so is storing up funds in anticipation.

Peter Wallis pointed out that the main accounts rather than the astronomy accounts include the observatory site rental, as the site is used by the meteorological section too.

Martin Williams asked if the Section had any idea of the costs and materials for replacing the dome. Doug Daniels said that they would need to remove the roofing felt and may use sheet aluminium to replace it. This would reduce the weight on the supports and reduce the fire risk. Simon Lang added that the dome rails were getting looser. There were no further questions and the report was accepted.

8. Meteorological Section Report

The Meteorological Section Secretary, Philip Eden, presented his report, summarised below.

Data from the Society's automatic weather station had been logged every five minutes without any break during the previous twelve months, and summaries had been sent on-line to the Meteorological Office each month. The manual rain-gauge was beginning to deteriorate, and a new one would be sought from the Met. Office during the coming year.

Monthly reviews of Hampstead's weather had been posted on the Section website, and linked to from the Society's website, by the 4th of the following month, but the Meteorology Secretary hadn't had the opportunity to extend the on-line availability back beyond the mid-1950s (where it was last year).

The Society has assisted Haycock Associates establish a web-based system for collecting and displaying environmental data in respect of the Hampstead ponds for the City of London corporation. In return for an on-going supply of weather data from our site, the City of London will be paying for the annual service of our automatic weather station.

The Meteorological Section Secretary summarised the weather during the last year.

SUMMER 2007 will be remembered nationally for the widespread and repeated flooding episodes. The only serious flooding in London occurred on July 19 and 20, but this was largely the result of surface flooding following a heavy downpour which lasted no more than four hours - the lack of maintenance of drainage channels, together with the conversion of front-gardens into hardstanding, is as important a contribution as the actual rainfall to this type of flooding. At Hampstead, June was the wettest only since 1999 and July only since 1988, while August was actually the driest for four years. Taking the season as a whole, it was the wettest summer since 1997, the coolest since 1993, and the least sunny since 1998.

AUTUMN 2007 was a very dry season, though it was neither particularly warm nor particularly sunny. Overall, it was the coolest autumn since 1998 and the driest since 1997. The sequence of dry months actually began in August and ended in December, and in fact that 5-month period, August to December, was the driest such since 1947.

WINTER 2007-08 brought alternating periods of mild rainy weather, and sunny frosty weather, but warmer periods were much warmer than the colder periods were cold. Overall, it was not quite as warm as winter 2006-07 but it did rank second-warmest in the last 10 years. The aggregate number of sunshine hours of almost 250 contrasts with the long-term average of 170, so almost 50% above normal, and it was the sunniest winter on our 98 years of records.

SPRING 2008 was often rather cold until the beginning of May, and there were some notable snowfalls over the Easter Weekend, and again during the first week of April, but May itself was the warmest since 1992. In fact, May was the first month warmer than its namesake the previous year for a whole year.

Following the report Leo McLaughlin remarked that last year seemed very wet, but Philip Eden replied not in London. The only publicised statistics are national, but not all of the country deviates from the national average in the same direction.

Peter Stern asked if we were likely to have a hose pipe ban this year? The Meteorological Secretary replied that he did not trust the water companies - the drought a couple of years ago was 'spun'. His new book has a picture of two reservoirs from that period - one with dry cracked mud and another at a normal level. Jim Brightwell remarked that Britain didn't have climate, but weather. Philip Eden said we had both, and our climate was variable.

There were no further questions and the report was accepted.

9. AOB

Martin Williams noted that the observatory dome was our greatest asset. What were the likely needs to repair it and what about professional advice? Doug Daniels felt that the more the Section could do by itself the better, as professional opinions were expensive and not always necessary. The structure was sound. The shutter had been rebuilt recently and then we had experimented with aluminium sheeting, and found it very good. When asked about relative expansion, he said that the framework was wood, and also he had used aluminium on his dome at home and not found it a problem.

The President announced the conclusion of the AGM. There followed a Scientific Entertainment, which consisted of a Brains' Trust.

Julie Atkinson, Hon. Secretary, 020 7328 0874

Minutes of Annual General Meeting held at The Crypt Room, St John's Church, Hampstead, on 21st June 2007.

Present: Professor Robert Weale (President) and 33 members plus one guest.

1. Minutes of A.G.M 22nd June 2006

These were signed by the President as a correct record.

2. President's Remarks

The President first thanked John Oakes for his service on the Council, as he was due to stand down this year. He remarked that he believed that a chairman should be seen and not heard. The officers were highly efficient and the Council members exceedingly useful and enthusiastic, and the general membership was greatly assistive in getting meetings ready and tidying up afterwards. He had received no complaints, and so he gave a big thank you to everybody.

3. Secretary's Report

The Secretary felt that we had had another good year of talks, and gave a brief summary of the topics. The Programme Secretary then listed the topics he had arranged for next year.

The Secretary reported that in March, we had again arranged a special programme for National Science Week at UCS, and South Hampstead High School. It was well received by the schools and we again got good coverage from the Ham & High. She thanked Michael Wynne, Simon Lang, Nayna Kumari, who made most of the arrangements, and the others helping in the week itself.

There had been two trips this year: one in October to the JET Facility at Culham - arranged by Rob Grant and Hemant Desai, and another in May to the Regional Planetary Imaging Facility at UCL - with the Amateur Geological Society, organised by Julia Daniels. We had officially attended two BA Branches Forums, one at the Science Festival in Norwich last year, and another in Exeter in April.

She noted that membership was now at 113 paid up memberships, including families, meaning 116 members.

Finally, she thanked Elisabeth Fischer, Julia Daniels, and Peter Wallis for food and wine that evening, Peter Wallis again, for regularly producing a good standard of newsletter, and Nayna Kumari, Aileen Cooke and Hugh Scarfe for providing coffee at our meetings.

There were no questions and the report was accepted.

4. Treasurer's Report

The Treasurer, Peter Wallis, distributed copies of the accounts and gave his report.

On the expenditure side, we had small savings on the Observatory and Administration, offset by increases in the cost of booking the room and on Science Week. On the other side, our membership income was up by £100 and interest by £35.

Overall, our income exceeded our expenditure by £600. However, with inflation running at over 3%, our capital had only increased by half this in real terms. He concluded that there was no need for us to increase the subscription. Indeed, an Auditor had pointed out that we could afford some extra expense on lecturers.

He was asked if the next AGM should be held in the Bahamas, but declined the suggestion!

The President thanked Peter Wallis for his report.

5. Election of Council

The Secretary announced that Council had re-elected Robert Weale as President at the Council meeting on 18th April 2007.

As there were no further nominations, the following officers proposed by Council were declared as elected:

Julie Atkinson	Hon. Secretary	Peter Wallis	Hon. Treasurer
Jim Brightwell	Hon. Programme Secretary	Elisabeth Fisher	Hon. Membership Secretary

John Oakes retired from Council under the four year rule. As there were no further nominations, the following members proposed by Council were declared as elected to Council:

Aileen Cook

John Tennant

Hemant Desai

Nayna Kumari

Elizabeth Davies

6. Election of Auditors

The President asked why the accounts had been signed by Graham Wallis but not the second auditor. Julia Daniels answered that due to her and her husband's recent illnesses and hospital visits, she had been unable to complete the Astronomy Section accounts in time for Martin Williams to audit before the AGM. However, he would be completing the audit as soon as possible. The President thanked the auditors for their work.

Julie Atkinson proposed Graham Wallis and Martin Williams for next year's auditors, with Peter Wallis seconding. The meeting concurred.

7. Astronomy Section Report

The Joint Astronomical Section Secretary, Doug Daniels, presented his report, summarised below. (An expanded account is on the web site.)

The annual Observatory maintenance session took place on Sunday June 11th 2006, again on a day when temperatures soared. We confined ourselves to clearing weeds, repairing holes in the dome and generally tidying-up. Thanks to all who participated.

On June 17th, Simon Lang organized at special Planet Watch to observe the conjunction of Mars and Saturn (3/4 deg.apart) and also Mercury and later Jupiter. Mercury was not seen due to haze. On Sept. 7th there was a partial Lunar Eclipse occurring just after moonrise but cloud prevented observation. Cloud also prevented observation of the occultation of the Pleiades on night of Sept. 12th.

We delayed resumption of public nights until October, mainly due to staff shortages. This year we lost Garry Marriott as he is off globe trotting to Canada and China. We thank Garry for all his help in the past and hope to welcome him back in the future. We also unfortunately lost the services of John Hayden who has been a demonstrator for some 30 years and also Gordon Harding. We thank both John and Gordon for all their help in the past and wish them a long and happy retirement.

On Oct. 11 members of the section attended a presentation and party to honour Terry Pearce for 30 years service, running the telescope making class - closed down by Camden and re-opened as Camden Amateur Telescope Society, C.A.T.S.

On Nov. 9th, members finally saw Comet Swan, as an 8th magnitude object with no tail. In 2007, Comet McNaught far exceeded its predicted magnitude, attaining -2 on the evening of Jan. 11th when it was seen by Simon Lang and Dan Pooley. Its tail extended for at least 5 degrees.

On Feb. 7th there was a rare conjunction of Mercury and Uranus. Simon organized a session on Parliament Hill. Poor weather prevented seeing Uranus, but Mercury and Venus were well seen. On March 2nd, there was an occultation of Saturn. For once the sky was clear but it took place too late (02.43 hrs UT) to open the Observatory especially as on the following day there was to be a total Lunar Eclipse. This took place under cloudless skies and was enjoyed by more than 100 visitors to the Observatory. Thanks to all members who turned up to give support.

The Observatory was opened each night during Science Week 9th-18th March. There were few clear nights but those who attended were rewarded with some fine views of Saturn. The rings are beginning to close now and the South Equatorial Band was seen double and red tinted.

We decided to extend the public open nights until mid May to afford opportunity to observe Venus at a particularly favourable eastern elongation, and Saturn.

On Jan 16th, the Observatory was featured in the TV programme Disappearing London. The Astronomy Section secretary was interviewed by the presenter Suggs. Later in the year, the Section took part in the Ham. & High Festival. All three sessions were fully booked and despite generally poor weather, visitors were able to observe Venus close to dichotomy as well as Saturn.

The session's activities ended with a visit to the Planetary Imaging Facility at UCL. Our thanks to Julia Daniels for arranging this and to Peter Grindrod for giving up his Sunday to entertain us.

The Astronomy Section secretary concluded by saying that once again the section has enjoyed a very busy year both 'on stage' and 'behind the scenes' where, for example, Dan Pooley has expended much time and effort to re-design the section's website, shortly to be put in place. Simon has organized extra observing sessions and Julia has made sure that the section remains solvent. All these activities depend upon all section members freely giving their time and effort to the Society. On behalf of the Section, the Secretary thanked them for their continued generosity.

Alfred Oppenheimer asked whether the Section was moving with the times and offering things other than just observing. There are much more detailed pictures available on the internet, e.g. pictures from the Hubble Space Telescope that could be used for education. Doug Daniels replied that there are internet sites not generally known that he refers visitors to. Dr Grindrod had shown how to access and process Mars Observer images, for people wanting to do research.

Simon Lang said that when visitors want to know more, we provide sources. Doug Daniels said that he will add links to the new web site.

Leo McLaughlin suggested having an internet link in the observatory. Doug Daniels said that there would be security problems, but Martin Williams said that all we need is a telephone line, and we have one for the meteorological data. Martin Williams volunteered to sort out a connection, and Doug Daniels thanked him and will consider the use of a link.

The President thanked the Astronomy Section Secretary for his report.

Julia Daniels then presented the accounts of the Astronomy Section. She apologised for producing the accounts too late for auditing, as explained earlier.

She was asked how the observatory maintenance cost was zero this year. She said that last year the usual observatory maintenance group had expended £375 on materials and tools, but this year, the group had used the leftovers, so there was no expenditure. She noted that the extra postage cost this year was for circulating the Regional Planetary Imaging Facility trip.

There were no further questions and the report was accepted.

8. Meteorological Section Report

The Meteorological Section Secretary, Philip Eden, after apologising to the Astronomy Section for the weather, presented his report, summarised below.

Data from the Society's automatic weather station had been logged every five minutes without any breaks during the last twelve months, and the requisite summaries had been sent to the Meteorological Office each month -switching from ink-on-paper returns to electronic returns as from November last year.

In August 2006 the station was visited and examined by the Met Office's official inspector, Mr Stephen Haynes, and instrumental calibrations were checked, and damaged instruments replaced. This inspection is still officially called the “three-yearly inspection” although the last two were in 2001 and 1996.

Monthly reviews of Hampstead's weather were posted on the section secretary's website by the 4th of the following month, but he hadn't had the opportunity to extend the on-line availability back in time beyond the mid-1950s.

He had been contacted by Nick Haycock of Haycock Associates in January. They had designed a web-based system for collecting and displaying environmental data for the Hampstead ponds for the City of London corporation, with weather data from the Hampstead Scientific Society being an important element of the display. This system was due to go live soon. In return for making the data available to this website, Haycock Associates would be paying for the annual service and maintenance of the automatic weather station.

The Meteorological Section Secretary then summarised the weather experienced during the last year.

SUMMER 2006 was a very strange season. June was dry, warm and sunny; July was hotter than any other July - hotter than any other month of any name - in Hampstead's records, and as far as we are able to ascertain it was probably the hottest calendar month nationally in over three centuries of records. (It should be pointed out, though, that hotter 30-day periods straddling calendar months occurred in both 1995 and 1976). July was also the sunniest calendar month on record. Hot Julys are normally followed by warm or hot Augusts, but not so last year. The crash in temperature from July to August was the greatest ever recorded between those two months. August was also cloudier and wetter than average with frequent thunderstorms.

AUTUMN 2006 was the warmest on record, not just in Hampstead's 97-year history, but in the national record which extends back to 1659. September broke its record, October was the fourth warmest ever, and November was the warmest since 1994. Rain fell very frequently, and the seasonal total was almost 20 per cent above the long-term average. Nevertheless, sunshine duration was close to the long-term average thanks to a very sunny November.

WINTER 2006-07 was also exceptionally mild - the warmest in Hampstead for 32 years. Long periods of southwesterlies, with frequent and often heavy rain, and incessant wind, were punctuated by two or three brief cold snaps. The first of these occurred just before Christmas and brought four days of persistent fog, seriously disrupting holiday travel. The second brought sharp frosts and light snow flurries in late-January, and the third delivered the heaviest snowfall for ten years - 8cm deep - on February 7th. The season was also enlivened for some by the Kensal Rise tornado on December 7th, and a severe and damaging gale on January 18th.

SPRING 2007 has been a season of contrasts. The first week of March was very wet, but from then until the second week of May hardly a drop of rain fell. April was the warmest on record, and one of the driest and sunniest ever, but May (at least from the 6th onwards) was dull and rather cool with frequent rain. In fact May completely sabotaged the normal seasonal progression, being colder, wetter, and appreciably less sunny than April.

Martin Williams suggested that we link to Haycock Associates from our web site if the negotiation is completed.

Jim Brightwell said that in his records April had been the driest since 1990. Philip Eden said in Hampstead it was since 1994, but other areas had had no rain at all.

There were no further questions and the report was accepted.

9. BA Affiliation

The Secretary stated that the Society was due to review its affiliation to the British Association for the Advancement of Science. The memorandum of understanding between the Society and the BA had been on the web for a while. She listed the pros and cons as follows:

Any person whose subscription is in arrears for six months shall cease to be a member of the Society and shall only be re-eligible on payment of those arrears and the current subscription.

PROs	CONs
Potential new recruits via the BA.	We had feared overcrowding, but that hasn't happened.
Grants- need to be applied for, for events - not done but intend to. Average of £300 per branch available at the moment.	Work for officers to apply
Free affiliation	Reduced fee to attend HSS events for BA members.
Resources - advice and literature. Science Week help and speakers advice.
Contacts - with other similar societies. We have attended Branch forums	Work for officers
BA events, information and literature is available to our members.	Work for officers to advertise our events via the BA

She proposed that the affiliation be continued and the memorandum of understanding be ratified. Simon Lang and Brian Bond seconded. The proposal was put to the vote and carried with no objections.

11. AOB

The following forthcoming scientific events were announced:

• the Amateur Geological Society talks on magnetism in the solar system in July, and on catching and analysing micrometeorites in September.
• the Royal Society Summer Exhibition in the first week of July.
• a solar observatory at the Camden Festival in Camden Square in July.

Alfred Oppenheimer suggested a talk on Scientists for Global Responsibility. Jim Brightwell will make a note.

Luke Kurtulus announced that the recently started up Hampstead Junior Science Club, for 7-16 year olds would welcome any help from Society members. Their activity is from 4-5pm. Simon Lang will liaise with them for visiting the Observatory.

Martin Williams suggested we could get more involved with SHHS and UCS rather than just collaborating once a year. UCL lectures were another source of young visitors - they get a good supply of cards, but visitors usually come only once. We should ask why.

Simon Lang said that he had tried encouraging SHHS and UCS, but the paperwork involved with trips is a discouragement. Brian Bond said that adults working with children needed a certificate, which cost money to obtain. Luke Kurtulus agreed that it was difficult for schools to organise trips, and helpers had to go through bureaucratic checks too. The Church was able to pay for the check in his case. Simon Lang suggested writing to the Secretary of State for Education to abolish testing!

Martin Williams suggested that we invite suggestions from people for the web site. Doug Daniels thought not, as the Astronomy Section were just redesigning their part. Jim Brightwell recommended that we remove out of date information from the web site.

Jacqui Oppenheimer suggested that people like freebies, and we should offer something to youngsters, such as a map of the sky - it could be advertised. Doug Daniels said that he had tried giving away a simple moon map, but not very successfully. In fact, not many children came, because the Observatory was open at night. Brian Bond said that he regularly promotes Cartes Du Ciel http://www.stargazing.net/astropc/, a free program for download. We could do that.

The President announced the conclusion of the AGM.

There followed a Scientific Entertainment, which consisted of proposing solutions to doomsday problems.

Julie Atkinson, Hon. Secretary, 020 7328 0874

Minutes of Annual General Meeting held at The Crypt Room, St John's Church, Hampstead, on 22nd June 2006.

Present: Professor Robert Weale (President) and 33 members plus one guest.

1. Minutes of A.G.M 23rd June 2005

These were signed by the President as a correct record.

2. Presidents Remarks

The President remarked that the Society was doing well, with the number of joiners equalling the number of resignations, and he had no complaints about its running. He thanked the officers and members of the Council for their work for the Society, particularly those who were retiring this year, and sent his best wishes to Simon Lang, who was in hospital.

3. Secretary’s Report

The Secretary recalled some memorable features of the lecture series this year. She hoped members would find the lecture programme for next year, just being completed by the Programme Secretary, as stimulating, and listed some of the topics. Some members had joined Gordon Harding who arranged a visit to the library of the Royal Astronomical Society, which was most interesting.

She noted that we had again arranged a special programme for National Science Week at UCS, and South Hampstead High School. The observatory was also opened. She thanked Michael Wynne, Simon Lang, and Nayna Kumari for the arrangements, and those others who helped in the week itself.

Membership is 106, including a junior, and several young people visited for one or two lectures.

The web site now includes a subscribe facility, and the discussion forum had been changed to a new format.

The Society had officially attended BA events, in particular the Branches Forum at the Science Festival in Dublin last year, and another in London in May. This was a useful place to discuss the experiences of other scientific societies and see what they were doing that is successful.

Finally, the Secretary thanked Peter Wallis, Julia Daniels, Elisabeth Fischer and Betty Weale for providing the food and wine for the evening. She thanked Peter Wallis for his sterling work in publishing the newsletter, and Betty Weale and her helpers for providing us with coffee at meetings.

4. Treasurer’s Report

The Treasurer, Peter Wallis, distributed copies of the accounts and gave his report.

Our lecture expenses are higher this year, due to lecturer's travelling expenses and so are the costs of insurance, electricity and telephone at the observatory. But we have been able to hold down administration. We continue to make a small profit on refreshments. The miscellaneous item is zero this year; last year it covered the purchase of the digital projector.

On the income side, subscriptions are down slightly. Donations show a large fall from last year, but this is only because we were given a special donation of £500 towards the digital projector; which also affected the tax recovery under Gift Aid. The sales income is largely due to hiring it out to the Amateur Geological Society. Interest income shows a small increase. Surprisingly, Science Week finance shows a small profit, as summarised in the table below. There have been no costs or income related to our affiliation to the BA.

Overall, our income has exceeded our costs by some £500. This is a useful boost to our capital when we remember that inflation is gnawing away at to the tune of nearly £200.

There were no questions, and the reported was accepted.

5. Election of Council

The Secretary announced that Council had re-elected Robert Weale as President at the Council meeting on 12th April 2006.

As there were no further nominations, the following officers proposed by Council were declared as elected:

Julie Atkinson	Hon. Secretary	Peter Wallis	Hon. Treasurer
Jim Brightwell	Hon. Programme Secretary	Elisabeth Fisher	Hon. Membership Secretary

The following members of Council are due to retire under the four year rule:

Eric Morgan

Betty Weale

Simon Lang

An election was held for the five places on the Council, with nominations and votes as follows:

Proposed	By	Votes	Proposed	By	Votes
Aileen Cook	Council	19	Hemant Desai	Council	19
Nayna Kumari	Council	19	John Oakes	Council	15
John Tennant	Council	20	Michael Sabel	Mario Curati and Brian Bond	8

The following were therefore declared as elected to Council:

Aileen Cook

Hemant Desai

Nayna Kumari

John Oakes

John Tennant

Julia Daniels announced that she was retiring from her position as Joint Secretary of the Astronomy Section, and therefore from her place on Council. Simon Lang was taking the role of Assistant Secretary in the Section and hence on Council.

6. Election of Auditors

Unfortunately, the one of last year's elected auditors, Geoff Shelley, had moved away from London and was unable to audit the accounts this year. Graham Wallis had stepped in and performed the audit.

Peter Wallis proposed that Graham Wallis and Martin Williams for auditors, as both were willing. They were duly elected as auditors.

The President thanked Graham Wallis and Martin Williams for their work on auditing the Accounts.

7. Astronomy Section Report

The Joint Astronomical Section Secretary, Doug Daniels, presented his report, summarised below. (A full account is on the web site.)

The annual Observatory working party cleared the stairs and path and applied creosote to the building in June 2005. The main task, which took longer than the two days and was mainly accomplished by Simon Lang and Doug Daniels, was to totally restore the shutter frame and cover it with aluminium sheet. This was accomplished by the start of the new session.

Public demonstration nights resumed on 16th September. The weather was kind but there were no bright planets to observe and the moon did not help with faint objects. A large sunspot group was visible which the Astronomy Secretary managed to image. Total cloud cover prevented any sight of the Sun during the partial eclipse on 3rd October. Five of our members journeyed to foreign parts to observe it as an annular eclipse.

By the middle of October Mars was observable, approaching its opposition in November, and presented a disc some 20'' arc in diameter, large enough to reveal considerable detail. Attendance at the Observatory on the occasions when the weather allowed was good. However it was nothing like the volume in 2003, due to the media largely ignoring this opposition, despite it being better than that of 2003 for northern observers.

During November and December 2005, Venus was making its presence felt in the south western twilight, achieving its greatest elongation on November 3rd. By Christmas it had attained a reasonable altitude and was visible in a dark sky, rapidly heading for inferior conjunction on January 13th.

2006 began with a period of bad weather with few clear nights. Saturn came to opposition on Jan. 27th. The rings, still well displayed, were just beginning to close so that the pole of the planet could be seen above them. The view was much appreciated by a good crowd of visitors who gathered at the Observatory on the evening of Jan. 21st.

The weather throughout February was generally poor with few clear nights at the observatory. When the clouds parted, attendance was good, except for Sunday mornings. There were few sunspots, though Brian Bond observed some small prominences with his Coronado hydrogen alpha telescope.

In Science week the Astronomy Secretary gave an illustrated talk 'Welcome to the Universe' to the two schools we collaborated with, well attended at both sessions. The Section also arranged for the Observatory to be open every night with Simon Lang talking about telescopes when it was not clear. Only two nights allowed observations. Astronomy Secretary thanked those members who turned up to add their support.

On 29th March there was a total eclipse of the sun, observable as a partial eclipse from London, with about one third of the Sun obscured. At first contact, the skies were totally overcast, and the observers at Hampstead had to wait for the clouds to part to allow them brief tantalizing glimpses of the advancing Moon. There was a small group of sunspots close to the Moon's limb and Brian Bond's hydrogen alpha telescope revealed a number of short-lived prominences, but the skies remained relentlessly overcast at maximum eclipse. Classes of schoolchildren failed to turn up, but 40 or so members of the public attended. Colleagues who had travelled to Africa and Turkey fared better.

Public open nights at the Observatory ended on April 15th. However, from May 8th there was an opportunity to pick up comet Schwassmann-Wachmann, which is breaking up, with two main components. However, rain and poor seeing prevented the Astronomical Secretary from seeing it until 11th. Terry Pearce managed to see both components on 16th May on a particularly clear night in Weston Colville.

Following a protracted bout of ill-health, Julia Daniels felt it was time lessen her workload and, as reported earlier, has resigned as joint Astronomical Secretary. Simon Lang was appointed Assistant Astronomical Secretary at the Council meeting of April 12th. Julia will still look after the section's finances. She has worked tirelessly for the Society since the 1950's, and the Astronomical Section owes her an enormous debt of gratitude for the hours spent arranging the roster year on year, and ensuring that the section always s remain solvent. Doug Daniels thanked Julia and welcomed Simon Lang to his position. He also thanked Ron Smith, who has resigned from the section's band of assistants for all his help.

The Observatory re-opened in May for three sessions for the Hampstead and Highgate Festival. Unfortunately the weather was bad, but visitors had talks from the Astronomy Secretary, who was also interviewed on Radio London on 22nd May.

Also in May, Simon Lang organized a special session at the Observatory to observe Jupiter before it is lost in horizon murk for several years. It remained cloudy throughout the entire five nights, but this did not deter quite a few visitors some of whom managed a momentary glimpse of the planet through scudding cloud. He decided to try again in early June, and both nights were clear. The Great Red Spot seemed to have faded and a new spot was not conspicuous but the north equatorial best had developed into a very broad feature.

Terry Pearce's telescope making class, running for 30 years in Camden, was closed by the Council. It has now been loosely affiliated to the Society as the Camden Amateur Telescope Society (CATS).

Doug Daniels recognised that the eventful year had meant more work for Demonstrators and Assistants. He expressed the Society's indebtedness to those members who generously gave their time.

Martin Williams asked what maintenance had been needed for this year, 2006. Doug Daniels said that it had been done two weeks before, mainly plugging holes in the dome. Aluminium work had not been done this year, because of the cost.

The President stated that the Society owed Doug and Julia Daniels and colleagues a debt for their enthusiasm in running the Astronomy section.

Julia Daniels then presented the accounts of the Astronomy Section. There were no questions, and the report and accounts were accepted.

8. Meteorological Section Report

The Meteorological Section Secretary, Philip Eden, after apologising to the Astronomy Section for the weather, presented his report, summarised below.

It’s been another year of quiet consolidation for the Meteorology Section … there have been no problems with the Automatic Weather Station which has continued to function satisfactorily. Data has been logged every five minutes without a break, and the usual monthly summaries have been despatched to the Meteorological Office. We have now completed 96 years of unbroken records.

Following last year’s hard-drive failure and the loss of some data, the data logger and the web pages are now backed up regularly with no further disasters. During the last year the Meteorological Section had extended the archive pages back a few years, and annual summaries back to 1955 can be accessed, with 1954 soon to go up. There were very few weather station sites on the internet with more than ten years’ data online, let alone the 50-plus years that we have. His intention is to complete the online archive back to 1910 in time for our weather station’s centenary.

He then summarised the weather experienced during the last year.

SUMMER 2005 was another indifferent one, but – as we have come to expect for most seasons these days – it was a warm summer; that is, its mean temperature was above the mean for the standard reference period 1971-2000 by about a degree. There were, nevertheless, lengthy cool periods during early-June and late-July, but lengthy warm spells characterised the second half of June, the middle of July, and both mid and late-August. It was slightly drier than average, while sunshine duration was close to the norm.

AUTUMN 2005, some people say, never happened. Summer seemed to go on for ever, and September and October together comprised the warmest such pair by a long way in the entire Hampstead record. The warm weather continued until mid-November, at which point winter arrived with sharp frosts, thick morning fogs, but also abundant sunshine. November was among the three sunniest on record at Hampstead, but nationally it was the sunniest of in 130 years of records.

WINTER 2005-06 was the subject of much speculation, the Met Office predicted with much trumpeting that it would be colder than average, and their press office foolishly warned us to be prepared for much snow and ice (that was not what their forecasters were predicting). In the event the mean temperature for the entire season was exactly equal to the 1971-2000 norm, although it was the coldest winter for nine years – a measure of the warmth of recent winters rather than anything else. It was also a very dry winter, fuelling the water industry panic over impending shortages.

SPRING 2006 was a season of contrasts. For three weeks March was very cold and dry, but the ending was warm and wet. It became dry again for much of April and the first half of May – the first half of May was actually the warmest such for 61 years – but that was all forgotten when the rains came mid-month and the second half was the wettest since 1979. In spite of the dry periods, the entire spring quarter was the wettest since the year 2000.

Peter Stone asked what had happened to snow, which he was old enough to remember! Philip Eden stated that snow had never been common in London, only persistent in 1947, 62-63, 78-79, when there had been skiing on Hampstead Heath.. Once it had lain every 5-6 hears, but was now much rarer. Last winter was cold and dry here, but there had been snow in France and North Africa.

Martin Williams asked if his figures suggested global warming. Philip Eden said yes, all trends were up.

When asked whether the cold meltwater from Greenland would affect us, he replied that it might affect the North Atlantic drift, which would have some impact on us, but could not say what.

9. Proposal for Rule Change

Constitution Rule 4c is:

Any person whose subscription is in arrears for six months shall cease to be a member of the Society and shall only be re-eligible on payment of those arrears and the current subscription.

Peter Wallis introduced a proposal by Council to change this. Council felt that six months was a rather long time to be in arrears and to enjoy the facilities of the Society, particularly as there is a break over the summer, and proposes that it be reduced to four. Since subscriptions are due on 1st October this would mean that for those who were still in arrears in February would cease to be members. Elisabeth Fischer seconded the proposal.

Martin Williams asked how many were in arrears after six months, and was told double figures. It was suggested that 6 months was a long period, but so was 4, so should it be cut to 2 months? This would mean the membership would cease at the beginning of December.

The President felt we should allow for forgetfulness. Leo McLaughlin proposed three months as a compromise. Peter Wallis seconded, and a vote resulted in 26 for, and 6 against. This annulled the original proposal and the Constitution Rule 4c is amended to say 'three months' in place of 'six months':

Brian Bond suggested that we put a standing order form in with the August newsletter, whether or not it is used, as a reminder. The meeting agreed this was a good idea. Eddie Oates suggested that the standing order form should be separated from the joining form on the web site, to help renewal by standing order but also allow for payment by cheque.

10. BA Affiliation

The Secretary reported that the Society had received a revised draft memorandum of understanding between the Society and the BA. Its main features were that the affiliation fee which was charged when the BA charged for membership no longer applies. The Society will be able to bid for funding twice yearly from the "Strategic Grants" fund for events which promote the BA’s strategic objectives, and for a small grant from the fund for National Science Week events. The Society will be encouraged to send one or two delegates, expenses paid by the BA, to the twice-yearly Branches Forum of the BA. BA members will be entitled to attend the Society’s events and activities at a reduced rate, but will not be voting members of the Society. The Branch will post all events on the BA events listing part of the website.

Since it was only received the day before, and is still subject to change, as the BA are hoping to use the same format for all its affiliated societies acting as branches, we feel we cannot ratify it here. Council will discuss it at their next meeting.

11. AOB

Peter Stone pointed out that it was 100 years since Hampstead Tube station opened, and suggested a talk on the topic. Many people use it. It may be appropriate for Science week. The Programme Secretary had suggested this to Council.

Brian Bond announced that there would be a solar observatory at the Camden Festival on 1st to 2nd July.

Martin Williams commented that members who receive the newsletter by email rather than post could Subscribe to the website for updates.

Due to lack of time, there was no Scientific Entertainment this year.

Julie Atkinson, Hon. Secretary, 020 7328 0874

Minutes of Annual General Meeting held at The Crypt Room, St John's Church, Hampstead, on 23rd June 2005.

Present: Professor Robert Weale (President) and 30 members.

1. Minutes of A.G.M 24th June 2004

These were signed by the President as a correct record.

2. President's Remarks

The President remarked that he felt the Society was running well, due to the efforts of the very able officers. He thanked all those who helped put out and cleared away the chairs at meetings, and those helping with the tea and coffee, though one of the ladies was laid down by a bad cold this evening. He noted that Jim Brightwell had finally learned how to best use a computer by connecting to the internet and thanked him for again providing an excellent programme of talks.

He noted that the editor of the Ham&High was interested in our weather reports, thanks to being collared by Michael Wynne.

3. Secretary's Report

The Secretary said that we had had another good session of talks, and recalled some of their memorable features. She announced that the Society was close to completing the lecture programme for next year, hoped members would find it stimulating, and invited suggestions for the next session but one. We had again arranged National Science Week programme at UCS, and South Hampstead High School. Michael Wynne did most of the work, with other members helping during the week itself. We used a previous grant from the British Association, and also had good coverage from the Ham & High. The Secretary thanked Doug Daniels for arranging a most enjoyable walk around the city last month, with Mike Howgate pointing out the biological, geological and scientifically historical features on the way. The Society had officially attended the BA Branches Forum at the Science Festival in Exeter last year, and another in London in May.

The Society was very sorry to lose a long-standing member and member of Council. Many would remember Angus McKenzie and his dog Wardie and have read the tribute to him in the newsletter. We were also sad to hear of the death of Michael O'Gara, a regular attender from Streatham.

Finally, the Secretary thanked Peter Wallis, Julia Daniels, Elisabeth Fischer and Betty Weale for providing the food and wine for the evening. She thanked Peter Wallis for his sterling work in publishing the newsletter, and Betty Weale and her helpers for providing us with coffee at meetings.

Julia Daniels commented that Michael O'Gara had been a frequent visitor to the observatory despite living in Norwood. There were no further questions and the report was accepted.

4. Treasurer's Report

The Treasurer, Peter Wallis, distributed copies of the accounts and gave his report.

On the expenditure side there had been significant increases in costs, particularly in administration where printing, postage and stationery were more than £100 higher. Although observatory insurance had risen by nearly £20, this had been largely offset by reductions in telephone and electricity. The biggest extra expenditure this year, shown as miscellaneous in the accounts, was £705 for the purchase of the new digital projector, but members will already have seen what an improvement this has provided.

On the income side we had a useful increase in interest by nearly £100. Subscription income is broadly similar at £1015 but we had a valuable increase of £140 in tax recovery under the gift aid scheme, arising from a member's donation of £500 to help in the purchase of the new projector. Our affiliation to the British Association had helped our finances somewhat over the two years, but we were not eligible for a further grant next year. A decision whether to continue was on the agenda for this meeting.

The Treasurer provided a summary of the balance for science week: we would be able to support this for the next few years without adding to the 2003 grant from the BA. Overall the Society's reserves had risen by £546 over the year, so he did not think an increase in subscriptions was needed.

Doug Daniels asked how we had got the extra £100 interest, and the Treasurer replied that it was due to bank rate changes and cutting down in the National Savings account.

Michael Wynne asked whether the Science Week expenditure of £68.68 was almost covered by the income of £50. The Treasurer replied that the £68.68 was the amount spent beyond the £50 income, see Scweek column under expenditure. There were no further questions, and the report was accepted.

5. Election of Council

The Secretary announced that Council had re-elected Robert Weale as President at the Council meeting on 11th May 2005.

As there were no further nominations, the following officers proposed by Council were declared as elected:

Julie Atkinson	Hon. Secretary	Peter Wallis	Hon. Treasurer
Jim Brightwell	Hon. Programme Secretary	Elisabeth Fisher	Hon. Membership Secretary

The following members were proposed for Council and as no further nominations were received, were declared as elected:

Eric Morgan

John Oakes

Betty Weale

Simon Lang

Michael Sabel

6. Election of Auditors

The President thanked Geoff Shelley and Martin Williams for their work on auditing the Accounts.

Peter Wallis proposed Geoff Shelley as auditor for next year, and confirmed that he was willing to continue. Julie Atkinson seconded. Elisabeth Fischer proposed Martin Williams as auditor, and Doug Daniels seconded. They were duly elected as auditors.

7. Astronomy Section Report

The Joint Astronomical Section Secretary, Doug Daniels, presented his report, summarised below.

On 24th of July (2004) there was a burst of solar activity accompanied by a Coronal Mass Ejection. Thin diffuse cloud hampered observation. On the evening of the 27th around midnight, towards the north, the sky appeared quite bright. This might have been air glow but was more likely light pollution.

On Sunday August 1st, the volunteers cleared the path and stairway to the Observatory. Repairs to the observatory included refitting part of the circular guttering, refitting the fraying shutter cords and patching numerous holes in the dome fabric. The fabric is in a poor state and will soon need to be renewed. This was last done over 20 years ago and it will be a major job and expense! The section purchased a metal locker for the Wildey telescope. It was screwed to the floor and bolted to the existing cabinet.

The section received a request to host the Association of British Science Writers at the Observatory on the evening of August 12th to hopefully observe some Perseid Meteors. With heavy rain falling intermittently on the day, they cancelled. The Perseids went unobserved for yet another year.

The regular public open nights at the Observatory resumed on September 17th, but the sky was totally overcast. The following night allowed some observations but there were no bright planets to observe at the beginning of the new session and the increasing sky glow makes locating fainter interesting objects to show to visitors ever more difficult. During September and October 2004, Comet NEAT (C/2001 Q4), slowly traversed the sky. Its rapidly decreasing magnitude at around 9-10, made it difficult to locate from the light polluted London skies. In the early morning hours of 28th of October, the Moon was again totally eclipsed, but that night was totally overcast and no sight of the moon at all.

Once again the Leonid meteors remained unobserved due to poor weather. During the early part of December the skies remained overcast but on the evening of 17th. Simon Lang and Daniel Pooley were able to show visitors Comet Machholz (2004 Q2), which was close to gamma Eridani. Doug Daniels managed to record images with a Minitron ultra sensitive CCD video camera. The comet appeared as a small diffuse patch of light with an unresolved nucleus at about 6th magnitude or less. He could detect no tail. He observed it again in the early hours of the 21st. but conditions were unfavourable.

By 31st of December, comet Machholz had moved further up into Taurus and continued to brighten to about mag. 4.5 and allowed the Astronomical Secretary to secure images which revealed a thin tail extending to the east at an angle of about 45 degrees. In the early evening of Jan. 1st 2005, comet P/2004 V4 was supposed to be within the coma of Machholz but at Mag. 17.1, it was invisible on his images. Machholz passed close to the Pleiades on the evening of Jan. 8th, but the sky was covered by thin diffuse cloud driven by high winds. Nevertheless, Doug Daniels obtained images and so did Terry Pearce from Cambs. using conventional film.

During January and February 2005, there were few clear Friday and Saturday nights. The poor weather continued into early March. However, on the very last day of Science Week, Friday March 18th, the weather changed completely, providing us with a clear night. It was also during this week that the Observatory played host to two television companies, in connection with some programmes, one featuring Prof. Colin Pillinger and the 'comedian' Vic Reeves. This brought in donations to the section in excess of £100. He thanked Radar Television and to Endemol Entertainment.

Throughout the session, Saturn was the main object of interest, being well placed for observation. The ring system is still well open and the public's interest in the Saturnian System, always high, was further raised by the successful landing of the Huygens space probe on Titan on 14th of January. In late March Jupiter, now lower down in Virgo, became accessible, but the weather remained poor and consequently there were few opportunities to observe it. Jupiter is now moving into the low declination zodiacal constellations of the Summer sky and will be missing in the Winter sky for the next few years. The session concluded on Sunday April 17th, a beautiful warm sunny day with one fair sized sunspot.

Once again the Observatory took part in the Hampstead and Highgate Festival, opening on three evenings in May. This year, the weather was kind to us with clear nights on all three occasions and the demonstrators were able to show visitors Jupiter, Saturn and a near 1st quarter moon. This event is a useful fundraiser.

The Astronomical Secretary paid tribute to Angus McKenzie and also to Michael O'Gara.

He welcomed two 'new' assistants to the section: Tristan Oppenheimer and Daniel Pooley, and wished them both a long and happy association with the Society. He took the opportunity to thank all demonstrators and assistants for their support of the section, for their time and labour freely given and their continued enthusiasm for the Society.

Martin Williams asked what the long term intentions were for the dome, to patch or replace. Doug Daniels replied that safety was an issue. They were currently engaged in replacing the shutter. They intended to replace the roofing felt first. There was a discussion on the relative merits and costs of aluminium and fibre glass as a replacement material. The wood base of the observatory was sound. Jacquey Oppenheimer suggested applying for lottery funding. Doug Daniels said that he had tried that once. There were no further questions and the report was accepted.

Julia Daniels then presented the accounts of the Astronomy Section. She noted that due to the repairs mentioned above, there had been some heavy spending since the accounts had closed. There were no questions, and the report was accepted.

8. Meteorological Section Report

The Meteorological Section Secretary, Philip Eden, presented his report, summarised below.

It had been a year of quiet consolidation for the meteorology section. There had been no problems with the Automatic Weather Station. Data had been logged every five minutes without a break, and the usual monthly summaries had been despatched to the Meteorological Office. The section has now completed 95 years of unbroken records.

Last October Philip Eden had a catastrophic hard-drive failure on his computer and only part of his backup was up-to-date. Among the losses were the original page drafts for the Hampstead metereorological web pages. Since then he had caught up, plus the pages for each of the last twelve months, but he had not extended any further back into history the data online. Nevertheless, monthly summaries of Hampstead data is available online from 1961 to date.

He then summarised the weather we'd experienced during the last year.

SUMMER 2004 was indifferent. There were lengthy warm periods in early-June, late-July and early-August, but there were cool interludes too, and it was a very wet summer with a shortage of sunshine. At Hampstead it was the wettest summer since 1977, and the ninth-wettest in 95 years of records, but it was one of the warmest summers in that period, only eight warmer.

AUTUMN 2004 was mixed ... the three months were dry, wet, dry, and warm, cool warm. Arguably the best weather of the year came in the first 10 days of September which were warm and sunny, with low humidity levels, and therefore much more comfortable than the humid heat of July and August.

WINTER 2004-05 was dry. January had been warmer than any other January for 15 years. But after mid-February northerly and easterly winds set in and delivered the longest period of wintry weather for almost a decade.

SPRING 2005 continued the dry weather. There has now been a shortfall of rainfall for eight successive months. May brought several night frosts, something we have not seen since 1996, but it also brought the highest May temperature, on the last Friday of the month, since 1947.

The Meteorological Secretary noted that the reports had been continuous for 95 years, the longest for any Greater London meteorological station. Peter Stone remarked that he was old enough to remember snow - where had it gone? The Meteorological Secretary said that since 1988 our winters were dominated by Westerly and South Westerly winds from the Atlantic. Whether this is a response to global climate change is not a simple link.

Jim Brightwell said that the press advertised this as being the driest year. He had measured 583mm of rain, compared with an average of 600mm. It didn't seem too bad. Philip Eden said that Novembers had been wet but were recently dry. There were no further questions and the report was accepted.

9. BA Affiliation

The Secretary reported that the Society had been affiliated to the British Association for two years, and it was time to review the affiliation. She summarised the pros and cons as follows:

PROs	CONs
We had hoped for new people, but that hasn't happened.	We had feared overcrowding, but that hasn't happened.
Grants- the initial grant has ended, and new ones need to be applied for, for events. Average of £300 per branch available at the moment.	Three Memberships. This had cost £90 and was covered by the initial grant. Now it is free (donations welcomed), but three officers must become members.
Was reduced cost of membership of BA, but now it is free anyway.	Free atendance for BA members at HSS, not taken up much. We ought to encourage HSS members to take up free BA membership.
Resources - advice and literature. Science Week help and speakers advice.	Card and letters to all NW London BA members. So far expenses covered part of the cost. Perhaps request cover for the rest or only email.
Contacts - with other similar societies. We have attended Branch forums
BA events, information and literature is available to our members.

Ron Smith suggested that the Society carry on with the affiliation for a year or two to see how it settles down with the new arrangements. Peter Stone asked how many cards were sent to BA members in the catchment area. Julie Atkinson replied around 250-300. There are links both ways between the BA website and the Society's. John Oakes suggested email instead of card distribution if possible, and asked how BA members would find out about us. Julie Atkinson replied that we are listed as a branch, and are on their web site as a London branch.

Doug Daniels suggested that if the main objection was paying £90 and we no longer have to, then there was no objection to remaining affiliated. Elisabeth Fischer said that we had joined for two years to see how it went. There had been five BA members attending. She suggested another two years and a review. Michael Wynne asked if Highgate were also affiliated to the BA. No, but Richmond Scientific Society were.

The President proposed that we remain affiliated for another two years and then review. A vote was taken and the proposal agreed.

10. AOB

Martin Williams reminded members that the Royal Society Summer Exhibition was being held on 4-7 July with the open evening on the 4th. Brian Bond pointed out that the Camden Festival was being held on 17th July, in Camden Square. It would include a solar workshop at 10am.

The Society had been contacted by the Royal Institution, and copies of their flyer granting members a concessionary attendance fee for one of their meetings was available. We had also been contacted by the Institute of Biology about joint membership concessions. The Council would discuss it.

Michael Wynne said he had helped organise events for 3 Science Weeks. It had been hard to get help from other members. He recognised that those in work would find it hard. However, unless there was more help for future events, he would not be organising any more.

Peter Stone commented that he had attended one at UCS, but felt that we were limiting ourselves to one sector of the education system. Michael Wynne replied that other schools were invited but found it a problem to arrange visits because they needed adequate notice and we were generally late in firming up the programme. Also, visitors would need space, and UCS and South Hampstead now had pretty full attendance from their own classes filling most of the venues. The President suggested moving around from school to school if there were more helpers.

The AGM was followed by a set of talks from various members

• Alfred Oppenheimer - How and Why Did Diana Die?
• Doug Daniels - the Science in the City walk
• Jim Brightwell - unusual photographs and obtaining the vantage points
• Michael Ross - Alfred Russell Wallace

Julie Atkinson, Hon. Secretary, 020 7328 0874

DRAFT Minutes of Annual General Meeting held at The Crypt Room, St John's Church, Hampstead, on 24th June 2004.

Present: Professor Robert Weale (President) and 22 members, plus three visitors.

1. Minutes of A.G.M 26th June 2003

These were signed by the President as a correct record. There were no matters arising.

2. Presidents Remarks

The President thanked everyone who had helped to make a successful year, Julie Atkinson who is the glue of the Society and Jim Brightwell, for producing another excellent year of lectures, and for being the Society’s lubrication. He congratulated Jim for moving into the 20th Century (at least) by acquiring a new computer, and connecting to the internet, despite the dangers of obsession. He thanked to John Oakes for organising a trip to the Wetland Centre, which was a great success, with a very knowledgeable guide, and he recommended it to all members.

Finally he thanked the membership as a whole, remarking that he had felt a change with more of us engaged with helping out, e.g. moving chairs, and which he much appreciated.

3. Secretary’s Report

The Secretary said that we had had another good session of talks, and briefly ran through the topics covered. In Science Week, Dr Roland Jackson unfortunately couldn’t be with us, but instead some members presented their views on Science in a Democratic Society, and there was a good discussion afterwards, concluding that we ought to proselytise Science.

Jim Brightwell commented that he was close to completing the lecture programme for next year, with one more space to fill. He had found that his old method of finding speakers was not working well any more, and when he first went ‘on-line’ it wasn’t much better! But now he has got to grips with the technology and promised topics varying from stem cells to nanotechnology for the next session.

The Secretary reported that in March, we had again arranged a special programme for National Science Week at UCS, and South Hampstead High School. Michael Wynne did most of the work, making contacts and arrangements, with other members helping during the week itself, and she thanked them all. We were able to use money from last year’s grant from the British Association to support advertising and expenses. We also had support and good coverage from the Ham & High.

Membership is just over 100, at 110. Despite last year’s agreement to allow students in free, hardly any took advantage, and we still have no junior members.

She hoped members found the web site useful.

The Secretary added her thanks to the President’s and also thanked Peter Wallis for providing the newsletter, to which he would welcome contributions from members, and Betty Weale and her helpers for supplying the coffee. Finally, she thanked Betty Weale, Elisabeth Fischer, Julia Daniels and Peter Wallis for providing with a good spread of food and wine at the AGM.

John Phillipi announced that he had just joined the Society, making the total membership 111. He was particularly interested in Astronomy, and the President welcomed him.

There were no further questions and the report was accepted.

4. Treasurer’s Report

The Treasurer, Peter Wallis, distributed copies of the accounts and gave his report.

Some increases in costs have occurred this year, in particular the charges for this lecture room and charges for the safe-keeping of the Society’s archives at the bank. He had been able to reduce the cost of the telephone at the observatory, however. Overall our expenditure has only risen by £12.

Our income has, however, been buoyant, with a £500 legacy from Henry Wildey – something the Treasurer recommended to members – and a starting up grant from the British Association. A small increase has been achieved in our membership and hence subscriptions. All in all, the excess of income over expenditure is over a thousand pounds.

He had included a summary of the position on Science Week expenditure, towards which we received a BA grant in the previous year. There was also a summary of the Astronomy Accounts, but this would be covered by the Astronomers as their figures are not in the main account.

The treasurer saw no need for any change to the subscription rates.

Jim Brightwell asked why refreshment costs were down this year. The treasurer explained that this was an artefact, as last year he had bought wine for the AGM before 1st June, but not this year.

There were no further questions, and the report was accepted.

5. Size of Council

The Secretary said that the Society Council comprised a President, Vice President, 4 Honorary Officers, 2 Joint Astronomical Section Secretaries, a Meteorological Section Secretary and 8 Ordinary Council Members, making 17 in all, which was a large number to gather for a Council meeting. She appreciated the help that members gave to the Society, but Council felt that it was a larger proportion of the membership than was usually needed to run a Society, and so proposed the following:

To amend Clause 5b of the Constitution to reduce the number of ordinary members on the council from 8 to 5. The reduction would be effected by natural wastage as members retire from Council under the four-year rule.

Martin Williams supported the proposal, saying that it was better to have a leaner Council, and also that there was room for volunteers or appointees to help on subcommittees for special cases, e.g. Science Week. The President concurred, saying that had been done for the Centenary.

Julia Daniels said she felt that the proposal was a mistake. In practice Council meetings never had anything like 17 members present, more like 8 to 10. She felt that 8 heads were better than 10 when it came to ideas for the lecture programme. Doug Daniels pointed out that few people volunteer for Council, and there were currently a number of places unfilled. The President pointed out that the Astronomy Secretariat had doubled in numbers, and there were at least 10 at each Council meeting. John Oakes said the matter should be judged by how many is the optimum number, and he supported the proposal.

The proposal was put to the vote. It was carried 11:2 with 2 abstentions.

6. Election of Council

The Secretary announced that Council had re-elected Robert Weale as President at the Council meeting on 21st April. 2004.

As there were no further nominations, the following officers proposed by Council were declared as elected:

Julie Atkinson	Hon. Secretary	Peter Wallis	Hon. Treasurer
Jim Brightwell	Hon. Programme Secretary	Elisabeth Fisher	Hon. Membership Secretary

The following members were proposed for Council and as no further nominations were received, were declared as elected:

Eric Morgan	Proposed by Council	Betty Weale	Proposed by Council
Brian Bond	Proposed by Council	Simon Lang	Proposed by Council
Angus McKenzie	Proposed by Council	Michael Sabel	Proposed by Council
John Oakes	Proposed by Council

7. Election of Auditors

The President thanked Geoff Shelley and Martin Williams for their work on auditing the Accounts.

Doug Daniels proposed Geoff Shelley to continue, Elisabeth Fischer seconded. Julie Atkinson proposed Martin Williams, and Michael Sabel seconded. They were duly elected as auditors.

8. Astronomy Section Report

The Joint Astronomical Section Secretary, Doug Daniels, presented his report.

Once again the date chosen for the annual observatory working party was unfortunate as it coincided with the beginning of the hottest summer weather on record. He thanked those members of the astronomy section who braved the heat to help prepare the observatory.

Unfortunately, this year the maximum of the annual Perseid meteor shower on Aug. 13th, coincided with a full moon. It was decided not to organise a watch.

This year National Astronomy Week took place from 23rd - 30th August, to coincide with the close opposition of Mars. The Observatory opened to the public every clear night during the week, just three. About 100 or so visitors turned up each night. It was particularly gratifying to see so many children excited by such a ‘late night’ adventure. The Astronomical Secretary thanked all those demonstrators and assistants who volunteered to help during the week and those members who turned up ‘impromptu’ to assist by engaging the visitors in interesting discussions.

When the regular session of public open nights resumed on the 12th of September, public interest in Mars had not waned and a good crowd turned up. On the following Saturday night the crowd was even greater, swelled by about 45 people from the ‘Hampstead walks’. During October, Mars began to recede but public interest did not and attendance on public nights remained high making the most of the unusually clear conditions.

On the 19th of October Julia and Doug joined with other members, guests and relatives to celebrate Henry Wildey’s 90th birthday. It therefore came as a tremendous shock to receive the news of his sudden death on October 21st. Henry had been a member of this Society for 69 years and was Astronomical Secretary from 1946-1988. A full obituary appeared in various places. Henry made a generous bequest of £1000 to the Society, to be shared equally between the general fund and the Astronomy section which has used part of this bequest to obtain Henry’s short focus 6-inch refractor, to be known as ‘the Wildey Telescope’.

Towards the end of October, we were alerted to a huge naked eye sunspot group which had developed despite it being 3 years past solar maximum. The Sun was undergoing an unusual and dramatic burst of activity. Doug managed to secure a nice sequence of digital images. Terry Pearce and Paul Clements reported strong Auroral activity on the night of 29th visible from Weston Coleville Cambs.

A few members of the public joined Gary Marriot, Leo McLaughlin, Simon Lang and Doug Daniels to observe the total lunar eclipse on the night of 8th-9th of November. November was also the month of the annual Leonid meteor shower. However, the weather put paid to any observations. By December, the frequency of clear nights coinciding with weekends had declined significantly and the pattern was continued into the New Year.

There were a few clear ‘open nights’ in January 2004 but in general the weather was poor. Venus was attaining greater altitude heading for its greatest eastern elongation on March 29th, followed by a rapidly fading Mars, then Saturn and later, Jupiter. On the evening of 7th of February over 50 visitors enjoyed fine views of Saturn and Jupiter and even the Orion Nebula, despite the presence of a nearly full Moon. Just one week later on the evening of 15th of February, Doug suffered a mild heart attack and was carted off to hospital!

His temporary incapacitation unfortunately coincided with Science Week, which commenced on March 12th. However, the weather remained poor and only the session on Friday 19th of March was well attended. John Tennant and Terry Pearce were able to show some 25 visitors Venus, Mars, Saturn and Jupiter. By late March, Mercury joined the planetary ensemble, attaining its greatest eastern elongation (19 deg.) on March 29th.

The session of public open nights finished on 18th April. May featured yet another total lunar eclipse, on the 4th, occurring at moonrise with the moon very low on the horizon and the sky not dark, and we did not open the observatory. During May there were actually three comets in the sky simultaneously, Comet Bradfield, Comet LINEAR and Comet NEAT. The Observatory was opened on the nights of the 15th and 16th of May, as part of the Hampstead and Highgate Festival, and this year we were fortunate to have clear skies on both nights. Terry Pearce observed Comet NEAT it on 16th and 17th May using 10 x 70 binoculars. He reported a dim diffuse low contrast fan shaped coma, the merest hint of a tail and a tiny ‘spark like’ nucleus. Doug observed it on 18th May with 7x50 binoculars.

As if to provide a ‘grand finale’ to an eventful session, Venus transited the sun on 8th of June. Simon Lang produced a useful information sheet and some advance publicity appeared in the Hampstead and Highgate Gazette. On the preceding day, Simon, Ron Smith and Gordon Harding put in an enormous effort and a considerable number of man hours to prepare the Observatory. Simon worked all through the night to erect a series of sun screens to provide shade for the visitors. We set up the Wildey 6-inch telescope and Doug’s 6-inch Helios refractor equipped with safe objective solar filters made by Terry Pearce. Simon also bought along his 4-inch refractor and Jacquey Oppenheimer her 8-inch Meade Schmidt Cassegrain. All these instruments were put to very good use as we were at times almost overwhelmed by the sheer number of visitors. The Astronomy Secretary thanked all demonstrators who manned their instruments throughout the long hot morning. We estimated that in all about 200 children observed it together with about 300 adults.

The large crowds were very generous with donations, encouraged by Michael Wynne and later Ron Smith, the total exceeding £500. The whole event was a total success and certainly raised the profile of the Society. Doug thanked all those who came to assist on a long, hot, exhausting but exciting day, especially Simon Lang who took on the ‘lions share’ of the hard physical work.

Finally, the Joint Astronomy Secretary thanked all demonstrators and assistants for continuing to give so generously of their time and Julia Daniels for sorting out the roster and looking after the finances. He thanked all those who helped in any way behind the scenes to keep the observatory up and running for the benefit of members and visitors alike.

Martin Williams said he also had brought photos of the Transit of Venus which people could look at. Robert Weale said that he had been in Norway at the time, and watched via CNN, noting that in one bulletin the transit passed clockwise and in another anti-clockwise! He was glad that Doug Daniels’ affair of the heart has passed satisfactorily.

There were no further questions, and the report was accepted.

The Joint Astronomical Section Secretary, Julia Daniels, presented the Astronomy Section Accounts.

She noted that interest was slightly down, and that fees for the Ham & High Festival were more than last year. The normal fund box revenue was similar to last year, but extraordinary events, the Mars opposition and the Transit of Venus, had brought in an extra £138 and £505 respectively. Henry Wildey had left £1,000 in his legacy, of which £500 had been transferred to the general accounts, and £400 paid to his children for the telescope to bear his name. Further monies had been paid to obtain a locker and tripod to house and use with it.

Postage etc. was similar this year with purchase of a new accounts book for £15 increasing the expenses over last year. But she was pleased to report an excess of income over expenditure this year of £869.

There were no questions and the report was accepted.

9. Meteorological Section Report

The Meteorological Section Secretary, Philip Eden, presented his report.

The automatic weather-recording station continues to function satisfactorily, and no calibration drift has been identified during the last 12 months or so - no re-calibration or other servicing was required. Occasional manual readings (averaging once every two weeks) were taken to confirm the readings from the AWS. There were no interruptions to the operation of the station at all during the year.

In November 2003 Philip contacted the Met Office to determine whether they had any interest in accessing data from the station on a daily basis, in addition to receiving the regular monthly reports. They said yes, and two of their technical staff visited the site earlier this year to discover whether any changes needed to be made to the instrumentation, modem, or comms software. Little progress has been make since then, but the project is still “on”. We get two things out of the proposed relationship: our phone bills paid, and all routine maintenance and servicing carried out free.

The HSS website now has a link to the Hampstead section in Philip’s own weather information site. So far he has added daily and monthly pages covering the last eighteen months, and yearly summaries going back to 1961. This represents substantial progress on this time last year, and no doubt future additions will appear in fits and starts.

The Meteorological Secretary gave a quick look at the weather of the last twelve months:

SUMMER 2003 … the centrepiece was the early-August heatwave when the temperature climbed above 28ºC daily for almost a fortnight, reaching 35ºC on August 6, and 36.8ºC on August 10 … a new record for Hampstead. The summer as a whole was the warmest since 1976, but notwithstanding the August drought, it was neither very dry nor very sunny.

AUTUMN 2003 brought many contrasts. September was very dry and sunny, and it was unusually warm by day, though rather cold at night. The drought continued until the last few days of October, although October itself was the coldest for ten years. November was an unsettled, mild, and often windy month, and the second half was exceptionally wet with almost 60mm of rain falling during 48 hours over the penultimate weekend. (That’s a month’s worth in two days.)

WINTER 2003-2004 was slightly colder than most recent winters, and there were brief cold episodes in all three months, bringing appreciable snow in late-January, and again at the very end of February. There was also an exceptionally mild week at the beginning of February when the temperature reached 16ºC.

SPRING 2004 was mixed … a cool but dry March followed by a warm and wet April … then May after a dismal first week turned out to be dry, warm and sunny.

Philip Eden also commented that there had been three intense record breaking depressions affecting the country this year, the previous day’s being the worst since the 19th Century.

Eric Morgan asked how the temperature on 10th August last year compared with that on 9th August 1911, the previous record. Philip Eden replied that that had been 100?F at Greenwich under non-standard conditions – a Glasher stand rather than a Stevenson screen had been used, and this measure could have included additional reflective radiation. Tunbridge’s record was next, and that could be similarly discounted.

Martin Williams asked how up to date the daily figures were on the web. Philip Eden said adding data to the web was not fully automated, and he updated the daily figures at the end of the month. Martin asked if we could sell the daily data, but Philip Eden said there was not necessarily a market.

Jim Brightwell said on the 22 June 2004 he recorded 22mm of rain in Edgware. This was the wettest day since 22 November 2003 which also had 22mm of rain. The wettest day he had recorded in Edgware since Jan 1990 was 22 Sept 1992 with 75mm of rain. The longest period of wet days was Feb 9th - March 2nd 1995 with 22 consecutive days of rain. Philip Eden replied that there were so many figures in meteorological data that co-incidences like that were bound to occur.

Julia Daniels asked if we were in danger of another hot summer. Philip Eden thought not this year.

Eric Morgan asked if the prevalence of extreme weather was due to global warming. Philip Eden was cautious on this, as some models predicted it but not all.

There were no further questions and the report was accepted.

10. BA Affiliation

The Secretary reported that we had been affiliated to the British Association for one year. Fears of being overwhelmed by BA members attending our meetings have been unfounded. In fact not many have come along, which is a pity, as we had hoped to attract some new blood.

She recommended the BA’s own events as of interest, however, and said that they had recently revised their membership schemes, to include email notification of events and email newsletters. There were leaflets available about it.

She reported that the Society had officially attended a couple of BA events, in particular the Branches Forum at the Science Festival in Salford last year. This was a useful place to discuss the experiences of other scientific societies and see what they were doing that is successful.

In all, the Society had originally voted for a two year trial with the BA and Council felt that should stand.

Peter Stone said that he had been disappointed that Roland Jackson had been unable to come along for the Science Week lecture, and asked if we could invite him again.

This year the programme is almost complete, but we could try him again for Science week.

Ron Smith said that he had been a member of the BA for some time and enjoyed it. He had only had one communication about the Society, and wondered if we could send our programme information twice a year. The Secretary said that it was quite costly to send letters to all the BA members in the catchment area, but she tried to add our events into their on-line events database. That was only useful for members on-line. Ron Smith suggested that we should try to be included in the national newsletter and ensure that our web site was linked to from their site. Action 2004/1

11. AOB.

Martin Williams pointed out two events that might be of interest to members:

• The Royal Society Summer Science Exhibition, to be held on 5-8th July (7 displays to be on astronomy)
• A talk on Selling Technology, the Psychology of Advertising, by Fairfid Caudle, at the IEE Highgate Branch, Jackson’s Lane on Tues 29th June

Robert Weale said that he had received notice of Nominations for the Council of the BA for the forthcoming year, of which two were to be nominated by Branches. He suggested that if we were to nominate a member, that might bring the Society’s interests more to the fore in the BA.

He asked for volunteers, and Martin Williams and Jim Brightwell were proposed. There was an election in which Jim Brightwell was elected 12:5 as the Hampstead nominee. The Secretary will nominate him. Action 2004/2

The AGM was followed by a Quiz organised by Michael Sabel.

Julie Atkinson, Hon. Secretary, 020 7328 0874

DRAFT Minutes of Annual General Meeting held at The Crypt Room, St John's Church, Hampstead, on 26th June 2003.

Present: Professor Robert Weale (President) and 35 members, plus two visitors, including Julian Jacobs, Manager of the Regions and Branches of the BA.

1 Minutes of A.G.M 20th June 2002

These were signed by the President as a correct record. There were no matters arising.

2 President's Remarks

Prof Weale remarked that the Society had passed a very good year, due to Jim Brightwell's programme arrangements. He thanked all those contributing to the Society, not just those on the Council. He thanked those Councillors standing down this year for their service.

Despite our planning there occur times when speakers cannot come on the night, and it had happened once this year. Although the situation was dealt with, he welcomed any suggestions for dealing with these emergencies in future. Martin Williams volunteered a speaker on Bluetooth, the wireless equipment connection system.

3 Secretary'’s Report

The Secretary started by saying how sorry Council were to lose one of their members, Juliette Soester, at the beginning of the session.

She was pleased to report good attendances at most of our talks in the year, and thanked Jim Brightwell and the speakers. She remarked upon interesting facts from the year's lectures. Unfortunately we weren't able to Learn from Nature in December as Prof McGlade had been ill, but the President stepped in to tell us about recent approaches to ageing and life expectancy.

The Secretary reported that the lecture programme for next year was complete, and advertised first two talks.

In March, we had again arranged a special programme for National Science Week this time at two schools, UCS as before, and South Hampstead High School: Martin Williams had showed film of the 'As If By Magic' talk before the AGM. Michael Wynne did most of the work, making contacts and arrangements, with other members helping during the week itself.

Generally the week went well, and audiences were appreciative. We were particularly pleased with the turnout for the evening talk on whether or not we should make conscious robots.

We were given a generous grant from the British Association to support advertising and expenses. Printing was cheaper than last year, and we managed on less, so have enough to try again next year. We also had support and good coverage from the Ham & High. We did have some outside interest, and raised our profile, but I don’t believe we gained new members.

Membership was reported to be over 100 this year. We had had some interest from our web site, but not many contributors to the Forum.

The Secretary noted that the Council had followed up the approach from the British Association last year, to be discussed further under a later agenda item.

Finally, she thanked those who had provided the food and wine preceding the AGM.

There were no questions. Angus McKenzie proposed the report be accepted, Peter Wallis seconded, and the report was accepted.

4 Treasurer’s Report

The Treasurer, Peter Wallis, gave his report.

There had been some increases in expenditure since the previous year. The cost of booking the Crypt Room remained the same but repayment of expenses incurred by lecturers has increased by £43. The cost of insuring against theft or damage to Astronomical and Meteorological equipment and for the Society’s Public Liability had risen by £52. During the year a telephone line was installed in the Observatory to permit remote access to the weather data and this had added £85; the Treasurer had recently changed the telephone regime from BT Standard to BT In Contact Plus, which will reduce the charge in the coming year to £36. Members might wonder why the Miscellaneous item was so high in the previous year but nil now: the main element had been a transfer to the Astronomy Section of the one-off £500 received from the Environment Agency as a compensation for telephone costs.

On the income side, he was glad to report an increase in membership from 98 to 105, raising subscription income by £112. Sales of our Centenary Book had inevitably fallen as has interest obtained on our capital. We were fortunate to be awarded a grant from the British Association of £500 towards the costs of running the National Science Week for youngsters. The accounts included a table showing what remained for future Science Weeks.

Overall we had achieved a surplus over expenditure of £838. However a substantial part of this was the residue of the BA grant and we should also take into account another £200 for loss in capital at the current rate of inflation, 3%.

The Treasurer considered that there was no need to recommend an increase in subscriptions, which could well be counter-productive. Instead, he encouraged an increase in voluntary donations, particularly if affiliation to the BA lead to extra expenses or if charges for the room increased.

Elisabeth Fischer proposed accepting the report and accounts, with Doug Daniels seconding. The report and accounts were accepted.

6 Election of Council

The Secretary announced that Council had re-elected Robert Weale as President at the Council meeting on 9th April. 2003

As there were no further nominations, the following officers proposed by Council were declared as elected:

Julie Atkinson	Hon. Secretary	Peter Wallis	Hon. Treasurer
Jim Brightwell	Hon. Programme Secretary	Elisabeth Fisher	Hon. Membership Secretary

There were 8 vacancies for ordinary members of council. Martin Williams and David StGeorge had to stand down under the 5 year (next time to be 4 year) rule. Juliette Soester had sadly died in August last year. The following members were proposed for Council and as no further nominations were received, were declared as elected:

Eric Morgan	Proposed by Council	Betty Weale	Proposed by Council
Brian Bond	Proposed by Council	Simon Lang	Proposed by Council
Angus McKenzie	Proposed by Council	Michael Sabel	Proposed by Council
John Oakes	Proposed by Peter Wallis,	seconded by Elisabeth Fischer

7 Election of Auditors

The President thanked Geoff Shelley and Martin Williams for their work on auditing the Accounts. Peter Wallis proposed them both to continue, Julie Atkinson seconded Geoff Shelley, and Doug Daniels seconded Martin Williams, and they were duly elected as auditors.

9 Astronomy Section Report

The Astronomical Section Secretary, Doug Daniels, presented his report.

Although the Observatory was closed to the public during the summer months, the work of the Astronomy Section still carried on. The Secretary and Simon Lang went to Paul Clements’ cottage in Herts. to observe the annual Perseid meteors. For once conditions were ideal with a fairly dark sky, a rare clear night and no moon. A fairly good display was seen and two meteors actually photographed.

Also in August on the 17th - 18th, the Section were alerted to an Earth grazing asteroid 2002 NY40, which was expected to be visible as a 9th mag. object. The asteroid approached the Earth at a distance of 530,000 kms, at a speed of 5 arc mins./min. The Section Secretary prepared to photograph it as it was due to pass south of alpha Vulpeculae. it but of course it was CLOUDY.

The session of open nights began on September 13th and Meteorology had been its main feature! From mid September until the New Year, there were a possible 48 nights when the Observatory could have been open. In the event 42 nights were totally clouded out. From October 18th to December 28th there was not a single Friday or Saturday evening or Sunday morning that was clear. From Jan. 3rd 2003 to closure at Easter, out of 46 possible open nights, 27 were clouded out. This was a great pity as both Jupiter and Saturn were well placed for observation and Saturn’s ring system was fully open.

Once again the Society participated in Science Week, which began on March 7th. The Section’s contribution to this event was to open the Observatory on every clear night during the week, which together with the two weekends gave a total of 10 possible openings. Once again the weather limited our activities to just 3 nights. This was however, an improvement on last years’ effort.

Despite the appalling weather, public attendance at the Observatory had been very good on the few nights that were clear and this was reflected in the fund box takings which were surprisingly good.

On May 7th Mercury transited the Sun. Simon Lang kindly volunteered to open the Observatory and several members took advantage of it. For once it was actually clear and Doug Daniels managed to secure some nice digital images. The early part of the transit was however, ruined by aircraft contrails, several of which criss crossed the Sun and persisted for a very long time.

The Observatory was once again opened for two nights on May 10th and 11th as part of the Hampstead and Highgate Festival. This event raises funds for the Observatory as the visitors actually pay for the privilege of attending and it raises the Society’s profile by introducing some science in to what is predominately an ‘artistic’ event.

The Total Lunar eclipse of May 16th turned out to be a non-event. The sky was reasonably clear at midnight and we had had high hopes but it clouded up totally before the umbral stage began at 02.03 hrs. and it was raining before totality commenced at 03.14 hrs.

May 2003 had been a busy month and at sunrise on the 31st there was an annular eclipse of the Sun. From London only a partial eclipse was observable at sunrise. Simon Lang observed a thin crescent rising above the sea horizon from Flamborough Head and Martin Williams saw the partial eclipse from High Point in Highgate.

This Society has always supported the efforts of the Campaign for Dark Skies. The Section Secretary was more than happy therefore, to be invited to submit evidence to be presented to a Parliamentary Science and Technology Committee inquiry into ‘Light pollution and Astronomy’, and to attend a meeting at which amateur and professional astronomers presented to members of the Committee. They put forward their views deploring the lack of legislation and control of street lighting, security lighting, sports floodlighting and advertising lighting, pointing out that the night sky was a ‘Site of Special Scientific Interest’ (SSSI) which has as yet, no laws formulated to protect it.

As you can see from this report, despite bad weather the section has had a fairly busy year and this has, at times meant extra manning at the Observatory to cover the extra events. He thanked all demonstrators and assistants for taking part and for their continued enthusiastic support.

10 Meteorological Section Report

The Meteorological Section Secretary, Philip Eden, presented his report.

The automatic weather-recording station continues to function satisfactorily, and no calibration drift has been identified during the last 12 months. Regular manual readings (averaging once per week) were taken to confirm the readings from the AWS. There were no interruptions to the operation of the station at all during the year.

Towards the end of 2002 we installed a phone line and in December 2002 a modem was acquired to enable the remote interrogation of the system. The software now logs every five minutes instead of hourly. As a consequence, it is now possible to construct graphs of temperature, humidity, rainfall, barometric pressure and radiation which appear to show continuous monitoring of each element.

From April 2003 work has been proceeding to develop some web-pages with data from the last few months, and these pages should be linked from the HSS website in the near future. The long-term intention is to put summaries of Hampstead’s weather data all the way back to the beginning (i.e. 1909). The ambition is to try to do this by 2009 – to mark the weather station’s own centenary.

Now a quick look at the weather of the last twelve months:

SUMMER 2002 was rather warm, but also wet, and with a marked shortage of sunshine. A remarkable storm hit Hampstead on the early evening of 7th August, dropping 70mm in an hour.

AUTUMN 2002 was a season of contrasts. An exquisite September was followed by an execrable late-autumn; the rains finally set in on October 13. Rainfall was 291mm, 63 per cent above average, while the aggregate sunshine of 292 hours was just one per cent above average.

WINTER 2002-2003 began with a gloomy and often very wet December, but both January and February were sunny. A snowstorm on the afternoon of 30th January led to gridlock on roads throughout London and the Home Counties.

SPRING 2002 was exceptionally dry, sunny and warm. The temperature reached 25.1ºC on 16th April, the highest for that month since 1949. The rainfall of 88mm was 43 per cent below normal, and the sunshine total of 529 hours was 20 per cent above.

Angus McKenzie asked whether the enormous variations were due to global warming. Philip Eden thought not for individual weather events. The British weather always showed extremes over decades.

Martin Williams asked when the meteorological data would be available for the web. Philip Eden said it would be a couple of weeks yet.

Was this years snowfall the most disruptive ever? Philip Eden replied that snow had started to fall at 0.5? above freezing, while the dew point was at -2. As it fell, the air temperature dropped and the dewpoint rose, to -0.4. So, the snow started to fall wet, but as it got heavier, it had a lower water content. The water on the ground froze, so with snow on top it became a skating rink, resulting in the traffic gridlock reported in the news bulletins.

Answering a query, Philip Eden expected that at the Cricklewood Festival it would stay fine until lunch.

11 BA Affiliation

The President said that the BA had approached us some time ago, to become affiliated Society, and act as a Branch to their members in North London. He then introduced Julian Jacobs, Manager of the Regions and Branches of the BA, to explain why the BA came to the Hampstead Scientific Society.

Julian Jacobs congratulated the Society on its impressive year. He had found the Society through its web site, and had seen that we were offering a programme of events in line with their ideas for a branch.

The BA organises an Annual Festival, National Science Week, and award schemes for school science clubs. It is a national organisation with local branches, but branch cover is weak in the South East and it needs North and South London branches. It values collaboration and partnerships. Hence he suggested affiliation with us to provide a branch function. He had negotiated with the Society, and they had drawn up a draft contract. The intention was that the Society be a net beneficiary, through a development grant and discounts, and advertising through the BA.

The Secretary explained that the draft contract had been discussed in Council and copies were available in the room for perusal. In brief, it states that there is a mutuality of interests between the Society and the BA, that the Society would pay £90 per year to affiliate, but in the first year would receive £250 to provide branch functions for BA London members in an agreed catchment area, thus benefiting overall in the first year. The Society would retain its independence, but both sides would be able to review the agreement annually, and possibly terminate it.

Council were concerned by possible overcrowding in the Crypt Room, but Richmond, which has affiliated as a South London branch, has not had a large increase in numbers. The Society would benefit by contact with other BA branches, to learn from their experiences and hear of new speakers. There may be new blood coming in to the Society. Individual members would be eligible for a discount on BA membership. Council had decided to propose affiliation to the membership.

Michael Wynne asked whether, since the Society had received a grant for Science Week this year, they would be eligible next year too. Julian Jacobs replied that the pot was not usually oversubscribed, and there should be a good chance.

The motion was put to the members, and the vote was 29 to 0 in favour, so the motion was carried.

12 AOB.

Julie Atkinson said that many speakers these days asked if we had a powerpoint projector available. Martin Williams said that the one used to show the Science Week film was available to the Society.

Julia Daniels has been carefully copying the Society's early Year Books, and Martin Williams has arranged their scanning and intends to put them on the web at some point. He asked anyone who wishes to contribute to the web site, please email info@hampsteadscience.ac.uk

Michael Wynne said that the Society had at most one young person. We should be encouraging them. The current student membership fee of £5 had not attracted youngsters, nor the school membership fee of £25. He proposed that students be members for free. John Oakes said that membership that was free would not be valued. Elisabeth Fischer was concerned that meetings could be swamped by students coming for free, not letting our own members in. There are various reasons why school pupils would find attending our evening meetings difficult. Even during Science Week only 10 youngsters came to the evening lecture. The last Council meeting had considered a similar proposal to request reduced donations of £1 from visiting students. After discussion, the proposal was made that students of 18-21 should be offered free admission to meetings for a trial period of one year. The result of a vote on this was 22 to 3 in favour, so the proposal was carried.

There was unfortunately no time left for the Scientific Entertainment Martin Williams had prepared.

Julie Atkinson, Hon. Secretary, 020 7328 0874