The reports for the Annual General Meeting on Saturday 10th April can be viewed / downloaded here.
Amateur astronomy in Cheltenham, Gloucester and environs
Entries are now closed for the CAS annual astro-photography competition 2021.
All photos received are in the gallery at https://cotswoldas.org.uk/galleries
All members who intend to vote on these at the AGM next Saturday 10th April are requested to view them in advance. Each photo is numbered for ease of reference. Only attendees of the zoom meeting will be able to cast a vote on the night.
The latest Mercury newsletter is now available, the March / April 2021 issue can be downloaded from the Digital media | Mercury page.
Each year, CPRE asks the nation to help measure light pollution in their area by getting starry-eyed with us and counting visible stars. Ready to help out and have fun?
Star Count: a lockdown-friendly stargazing activity for the whole family
The latest Mercury newsletter is now available, the January / February 2021 issue can be downloaded from the Digital media | Mercury page.
In this issue:
The latest Mercury newsletter is now available, the November / December 2020 issue can be downloaded from the Digital media | Mercury page.
Neil Havard (Coordinator)
The following article by Tony was published in Mercury Volume 34 Issue 3, Sept / Oct 2016
The photo above was taken by me at a reunion of founding members of the CAS gathered at John Fletchers home in Tuffley on July 3rd 2016. The gathering was the idea of Trevor Talbot, second from the right who approached John Fletcher (kneeling) and the rest, as they say, is history. John is to be congratulated in organising this happy event, though whether he has yet eaten or drunk all the food and wine we brought is another matter ! The weather was kind to us so that we could explore John’s, always neat, garden and admire his birds in their deluxe aviary, plus of course The Tortoise. But it was indoors as we all renewed acquaintances from many many years ago that the greatest pleasure was obtained. Yes we had changed a bit, put on weight a bit, even grown beards but the original spirit of comradeship, humour and pleasure in remembering old times made for a very enjoyable couple of hours.
In the photo you can see a who’s who of the CAS as follows (left to right) and the dates they joined..
Graham Messenger 1988
Fred Watkins* Founder Member 1982 (Fred is Member No 1 as he was the first to pay his Subs !!)
Derek Maskell 1990
John Fletcher * 1984
John Rock 1988
Dick Warden* 1982 and creator of the CAS first mooted in 1981.
Andy Packer 1984
Bernard Abrams 1982
Trevor Talbot 1986
Tony Ireland * 1982
*Life Members
For the record in our first year to 31 March 1983 we had 15 members and a money surplus of £18. (We now have a surplus at the last count of over £4000. Not many Societies can boast that ! )
Subsequently our membership grew as follows:
31 March 1984 18,
1985 20,
1986 31,
1987 28,
1988 40,
1989 41, and
1990 39.
As the wine flowed we reminisced on weekends at the BAA annual binge at Winchester with its ghastly dinosaur stews, John’s huge pork pies, late night drinking sessions, our appearance on BBC Radio 4 at the time of Halley’s Comet, our TV appearance with Heather Couper when Mount Tuffley was opened, meetings held in private houses even taking doors off hinges to accommodate everyone, romantic encounters which led to marriage of members (!), etc etc.
Looking back from today’s gatherings and with a membership well exceeding 120 it is hard to balance this with those far away days. But if it hadn’t been a chance meeting between myself and Dick Warden back in 1981 when he relieved me of over 200 copies of SKY AND TELESCOPE then his idea of forming a Society would not have borne fruition. And we can all congratulate ourselves in realising that the first planet the Society viewed through Dick’s C8 was MERCURY !!!!!
TONY IRELAND
From Neil Havard, CAS Coordinator.
The latest Mercury newsletter is now available, the September / October 2020 issue can be downloaded from the Digital media | Mercury page.
In this issue:
The latest Mercury newsletter is now available, the July / August 2020 issue can be downloaded from the Digital media | Mercury page.In this issue: