AGM and Summer Social - Saturday, 19 July 2008

12.00 at the QTH of our President,

Neville Cheadle, G3NUG,
Lower Withers Barns,
Middleton-on-the-Hill,
Leominster,
Herefordshire, HR6 0HY

Tel: 01568 750560

AGENDA

Committee nominations and items for AOB must be given to the Secretary prior to the commencement of the AGM.

Our Summer Social follows the AGM in the garden and all members and families are most welcome to what is always a very enjoyable occasion. As usual, we will be providing food and a barbeque. Soft drinks will be included but please bring your own wine and beer. Please also bring a folding chair as seating may be limited.

The star prize in this year's raffle will be a new Yaesu FT-897 transceiver, kindly donated by Yaesu UK.

A charge of £8.00 per adult will be made to cover the cost of the catering. There will be no charge for children under 16 and of course there is no charge for members who will only be attending the AGM. Please let our Secretary, Chris G3SVL, know as soon as possible if you will be attending so that we can plan the catering requirements.

Trish and I would like to welcome all members to our new home in the “sticks”. We realise that the journey to LWB is a somewhat lengthy one from parts of the South-East but, on the other hand, it is a convenient location for those living in the South-West, around Birmingham and the Midlands and even around the Manchester area. All are welcome of course and we hope that this year we can attract a new group of members who live in relatively close proximity. Trish and I would also love to see our friends from the South-East and elsewhere who have supported the CDXC socials at Felden for many years. All are welcome, caravaners too, do bring the family. There’s parking space for 500 cars!

A thought! Why not stay in this area for a few days and make a long weekend of it. This really is a most beautiful part of the UK, a wonderful countryside, more cows and sheep than people, light traffic and little litter. And there is so much to see and to explore.

Hereford is well worth a visit, particularly the area around the Cathedral and the Left Bank Village, The Mappa Mundi and Chained Library Exhibition are a must where one can see a spectacular medieval map of the world.

Ludlow is well worth a visit too, described by some as England’s most beautiful town with its Norman castle, market and excellent restaurants. There’s much to explore in Ludlow alone. Leominster is worth a visit too, particularly on Friday when it’s market day. It’s a bit quiet on Sundays tho’!

Hay-on-Wye, the town of books, is another place to visit. Hay is just inside the Welsh border and has over 30 bookshops with over one million books for sale on every conceivable subject. There is also a variety of galleries, antique shops and gift shops.

The countryside itself is magnificent. The Wye Valley and the Marches are steeped in castles, churches, rivers and trails. Visit the Golden Valley which is sheltered by the Black Mountains – this is the land where Norman and Celtic cultures have merged seamlessly over the centuries, a totally unspoilt landscape.

A little further away there’s Shrewsbury, a really beautiful City, much of it pedestrianised and the Ironbridge Gorge museums at Telford. There’s so much to see – many visitors stay in the area for a fortnight or more and see somewhere different every day.

For those wanting to stay for a few days, I can recommend the Travelodge at Wofferton, south of Ludlow (Tel: 0870 1911586.) - this is very close to LWB. There are also many local B & Bs and generally the standards are pretty good. Contact Leominster Tourist Information (Tel: 01568 616460) for further details about the area generally and for lists of B & Bs. Do book well in advance – they get busy in the high season.

That’s the end of the commercial – well almost! If the above hasn’t stirred members’ interests then a reminder that the major raffle prize, very kindly donated by Yaesu UK, is an FT-897 transceiver.

Frequency range:
Receive: 0.1-56 MHz, 76-108MHz, 118-164 MHz, 420-470 MHz
Transmit: 160 - 6 metres, 2 metres, 70 cms

Trish and I look forward to seeing many members here on 19 July. The AGM starts as usual at noon sharp and the BBQ will start around 1:30 pm. Mark Mann will again be i/c food and will no doubt do another excellent job.

Directions

Directions from the M40

Take the M40 to its end. Here keep in the RH lane and join the M42 West (also signposted M5). Follow the M42 to its end, keep to the RH lane and join the M5 South.

Turn off the M5 at Droitwich Junc. 5, the first junction after turning onto the M5. Follow the A38 signposted Worcester for around 2/3 miles and look for a signpost to "Ombersley". Take slip road left off the A38, up to roundabout, third exit to "Ombersley" and "Tenbury Wells".

Then follow the A4133, A443 and A456 passing to the north of Tenbury Wells. Eventually you will reach the A49, turn left. After about 4 miles pass through Ashton village and immediately turn left, signposted Middleton-on-the-Hill and The Hundreds. (This turning is on a sharp right-hand bend just after Ashton.)

Keep going (one mile) through the first village, down the hill to crossroads. Turn left signposted Middleton. Keep going another mile through the next village. Down hill past new barriers on right-hand side of sharp left-hand bend. We are next on the right signed Lower Withers Barns. Take the entrance at the corner and follow the red drive to the rear of our barns.

Directions from the M4 – London

Leave M4 at Junction15 (Swindon) and take the A419 north. This leads to the A417 and joins the M5 at Junction 11A. Go north on the M5 to Junction 7 (Worcester South). By-pass Worcester by taking the A4440 (look for the left turn). Join the A44 and follow this road to Leominster. At the roundabout at the end of the A44 take the third exit signposted A49 North (Shrewsbury/ Ludlow). Don’t go into Leominster.

After about 4 miles on the A49 turn right signposted Middleton-on-the-Hill and The Hundreds just after passing the Berrington Hall grounds on the left. (This turning is on a sharp left-hand bend just before the village of Ashton.) Keep going (one mile) through the first hamlet, down the hill to cross-roads. Turn left signposted Middleton. Keep going another mile through the next hamlet. Down hill past new barriers on right-hand side of sharp left-hand bend. We are next on the right signed Lower Withers Barns. Take the entrance at the corner and follow the red drive to the rear of our barns.

From the Ludlow area

Take A49 south by-passing Ludlow in the Leominster direction. After about 5 miles pass through Ashton village and immediately turn left signposted Middleton-on-the-Hill and The Hundreds. (This turning is on a sharp right-hand bend just after Ashton.) Keep going (one mile) through the first hamlet, down the hill to cross-roads. Turn left signposted Middleton. Keep going another mile through the next hamlet. Down hill past new barriers on right-hand side of sharp left-hand bend. We are next on the right signed Lower Withers Barns. Take the entrance at the corner and follow the red drive to the rear of our barns.

From the Leominster area

Take A49 north by-passing Leominster in the Ludlow direction. After about 3 miles turn right signposted Middleton-on-the-Hill and The Hundreds just after passing the Berrington Hall grounds on the left. (This turning is on a sharp left-hand bend just before the village of Ashton.) Keep going (one mile) through the first hamlet, down the hill to crossroads. Turn left signposted Middleton. Keep going another mile through the next hamlet. Down hill past new barriers on right-hand side of sharp left-hand bend. We are next on the right signed Lower Withers Barns. Take the entrance at the corner and follow the red drive to the rear of our barns.

Good Luck!! Phone if/when lost: 01568 750560