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The AGM of the Association of Freemen of England and Wales 2009

This event was hosted by the Freemen of Stafford

from 4th to 6th September 2009.

An Event Report by John Edwards,
Deputy Master of Stafford Guild.

Well it’s all over bar the finances, (to me the worst job of the lot!). The feedback has been very good and many expressions of thanks have been received, so we must have done something right. Sadly, you cannot please everybody, but I will settle for over 90%.

As most of you know, the Yarnfield Conference Centre was an emergency measure, but I now think that the Quality Group going into receivership did us a favour. The members of staff were friendly, helpful and very competent, which made life a lot easier for the delegates. Indeed, one of them said that the assistance and service of the staff were willingly given, rather than the grudging attitude encountered elsewhere. The facilities were excellent and the rooms were adequate, if a little small for those used to staying at the Jumeira Beach hotel. The only real downside was the absence of twin rooms which caused some delegates to stay elsewhere.

On Friday afternoon some delegates arrived a little earlier than we had anticipated, but by about 3.30 the Stafford reception table, covered with copious information sheets, brochures and badges was operational. For Burgesses of Stafford, the new enamelled badge was available for the first time. This is only provided for Freemen of Stafford and, despite several requests, they could not be purchased by other delegates.

Having sorted out rooms, walked about the grounds or tested the beer at the "Labour in Vain" people gravitated to the bar for chats, introductions, reunions and reminiscences. In fact, by the time the buffet was served, half of them were so deep in conversation that they forgot about the food and needed Paul Morgan to rustle them up to the balcony. I was concerned that I had not experienced the catering at Yarnfield, but if the buffet was anything to go by, I need not have worried.

The majority of delegates then moved to the Howden Room. There, Jack Kemp, our historian, Honorary Member of the Stafford Guild and former Mayor of Stafford, gave us an interesting talk on the Freemen of Stafford. He also explained the methods he used to unearth some 7,000 names and the many interesting stories about them. Despite getting close, he did not steal the President's thunder for his speech at the dinner. Sadly, as neither Jack, (for protocol), nor Colin, (for propriety), told us what Jack's wife's great, great uncle did to get himself disenfranchised, I still do not know! Jack's Talk was well received, as were the Danish pastries that one of the Chefs had cooked specially, when he found that a lady had missed out on the cakes.

After the talk the company returned to the Bar to be entertained by the Deacons, a versatile local folk band. Many of the delegates enjoyed singing along and were quite impressed when Ant Piddock of Stafford Guild was prevailed upon to sing a number with the band. The Deacons said later that they too had enjoyed the event.

And so to bed, For most, that was about midnight, but it was nearer 3.30 a.m. for some of the organisers, who had tables to prepare, seating plans to finish and transport to organise for the next day.

Saturday morning saw the group convening in the restaurant for a rather splendid breakfast, which set them up for the day. The "Happy Days" bus duly arrived on time and, thanks to the cooperation of a number of people who agreed to use their cars, we were able to avoid the double journey that we had paid for. Sadly, with so many late and missing bookings, it was impossible to fully plan the transportation. With a bit of time in hand the coach driver kindly took the scenic route to Stafford.

Coffee was waiting on the Refectory Table at Martin Street and by 10.15 the team photos on the magnificent staircase of the Staffordshire County Buildings were complete. (see at top of page.) The Open Forum started slowly, but soon there was a lively discussion about several topics that FEW would need to address in the near future.

After a further coffee break, the delegates were ensconced in the Council Chamber for the Annual General Meeting itself. The proceedings were opened by the Mayor of Stafford and the President presented her with an FEW plaque to commemorate the visit. The actual proceedings of the AGM will appear in another forum, but suffice it to say that informative reports, animated debate, contentious proposals and complex elections made the time flow quickly.

The tellers, appointed by Stafford Guild, found that they had much more to do than count a show of hands. Armed with a calculator, a pile of guild votes, a pile of individual votes, a sack of postal votes and a rule book they retired to the Oak Room to ensure that the democratic process was duly applied. The President made it clear that he only wanted the final results not the numbers. After declaring the outcome of the voting, Richard and Ian resolutely refused to say what the margins had been. Despite certain delegates claiming such things as: "It was marginal", or "It was a landslide", in fact they had no idea.

The main effects of the elections were: to endorse Gordon Vandell as Vice-President and instate Allan Fallows as Deputy President. Although the process seemed complicated it did avoid the problems of 2008, when candidates seemed to appear out of nowhere. Most of the remaining offices were confirmed for another year. Lessons were learnt about how the procedure could be improved in future. The only comment made by the tellers was that they were surprised at the number of spoilt and incorrectly completed ballot papers!

The Deputy Master of Stafford Guild was moved to make a public apology to Mrs Eley, the wife of the Stafford Master, who he had sent to Yarnfield to get the copies of the Accounts that turned out to have been in his car all the time. All very embarrassing, but the accounts were presented at the predetermined juncture.

The AGM being over delegates joined their colleagues and consorts for another excellent buffet, with rather nice deserts, before setting down to hear William Reed, another Stafford historian, talk about the buildings in which the AGM had been held. Yet more fascinating snippets of information were disseminated by the tour guides who took delegates on the tour around Stafford Town Centre. Nobody saw everything, but we hope you saw enough to realise the extent of Stafford's main features ancient and modern. We also hope that this will not be your only visit to the town which has a lot to offer.

By 3.30 all roads led to St Chad's Church for TIMEWALK a sound and light history of the church and the town. After an introduction by Father Michael Fisher, the Guild Chaplain and Priest in charge of St Chad's the audience were guided by the capable hands of Izaak Walton. However even he was not expecting the appearance of "Knotty", the current Stafford Hobby Horse, who trotted round the aisles as his ancestor of 1595 may have done. FEW delegates witnessed something that evidently happens about once every 400 years! (That’s about every 20 Preston Guilds)

Having collected the robes from the vestry, it was a short walk to the bus and a more direct return to Yarnfield. After a short hour and a half to pretty themselves up for the Banquet, the delegates gathered in the foyer and the bar ready for the evening session.

This began with a visit from the Stafford Morris Men who danced a number of Cotswold dances with sticks and hankies to drive away any evil spirits from the Banquet. This was more or less successful. They also elected to dance a Rapper Sword Dance from Winlaton in County Durham, but being short of a leader, spotted one amongst the Stafford Guild Members. So, just as on the night before, the freemen and performers were united. The complex flexible sword routine was well received by those delegates who had been able to escape from the Bar.

The Morris Men's last dance, “Bonny Green Garters”, also needed some input from the audience, but only Paul Morgan had the courage to join in. During that last dance, our President and the Mayor made their formal entries, having both arrived by chauffeur driven limousines. 

The party then made their way to the Knighton Room, where the tables for over 100 diners had been set out. Personalised menus with some details of Stafford Guild and their predecessors adorned the tables, as did a 'Proverbs quiz ', which was ignored by some tables and became an obsession for others. Musical accompaniment to the dinner was provided by Jenni Dandy, B Mus., who was appreciated by the vast majority of the diners, once the technological aspects had been resolved.  

Having dispensed with the “Shake hands with everybody” routine, it fell to Ant to do the introductions. He realised that a gathering covering the country, from Sussex to Berwick and from Pembroke to Grimsby, involved quite a lot of dialects and endeavoured to make the welcomes fit the guests. This was very successful until he got to Shrewsbury, which seems to lack any accent. Even the meal itself reflected the rich range of dialects on offer with the title of “Bostin Nosh”, a Stafford amalgamation of Potteries and Black Country words.

The meal progressed well with jovial conversation, until one member made himself the object of ridicule by his unseemly behaviour.  Few people realised that this was specially arranged by the host guild, to ensure that everyone had something to talk about for the rest of the weekend.

Following the meal, the traditional toasts and speeches were well received, as were the various presentations at the end of the event. (Even the organiser's cats were remembered, despite their poor performance in answering the telephone.)

After the VIPs had been clapped out, the diners moved to the massive bar area where “Prinkum-prankum” gave low-key performances on recorders, whistles and English bagpipes, leaving those who wished, to continue nattering, or proverb solving. After a while, other members of FEW were prepared to demonstrate their entertainment skills. Ron Leek, our Secretary, and his wife Janet, are street organ enthusiasts, so they brought Janet’s beautiful House Organ, to provided alternative and more modern music. By about 1 a.m. most delegates had retired, or returned home, having had a full and enjoyable evening.

Sunday saw another full day start with the same splendid breakfasts, then furious packing and robe arranging, for the check out at 9.30 and the journey to Stafford. Fortunately, there were sufficient ”Good Samaritans” around to get the Alnwick lads to town, but they were a bit like wartime evacuees sitting in the foyer, waiting to be chosen for transportation. Howard Crapper kindly took Tony Sharp, the only remaining train traveller, to the Civic offices where the group gathered for the next event.

Having been joined by Her Majesty’s Deputy Lieutenant, Her Worship the Mayor, The Leader and The Chief Executive of Stafford Borough Council, plus a number of Stafford Burgesses, the group formed up beside the River Sow, so beloved of Izaak Walton many centuries before.

Led by a solitary drummer, the procession made its way via the normally picturesque GreengateStreet, which sadly was the victim of substantial road-works. Even those did not slow down the marchers, walkers and we arrived at St Mary’s on time, but a little too soon for the folk attending the previous service. Fortunately, the weather was excellent, (as contracted by the Rev John Davis, who was to later give the address), so it was no hardship to wait in the peaceful surroundings of St Mary’s Gate. On this occasion, there was no Prince Rupert testing his new pistol on the weather vane!

St Mary’ was proud to host this unique civic service and the practices and walks-through of the previous week worked well to get all the people to their appointed places. The order of service can be found on another web page, as can the texts of the readings. They were selected to show that St Paul, some 2000 years ago, also recommended the values of Freedom and Courtesy. John Davis, the newly appointed Town Centre Chaplain, brought out the relevance of those ancient texts to the citizens of today.

Prebendary Graham Fowell, Rector of Stafford, conducted the service and the Churchwardens and Choir were able to add yet more pageantry and content to the service. Sadly, the 'New Organ' by the west door, which is normally used for services decided to opt out of performing for us. This caused some problems for the Organist and Choirmaster, as he had to use the older 'Great Organ' for the service. (How many churches keep a spare in case one organ fails?)

Most of the hymns were lustily rendered by choir and congregation, but “Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau”, which was much enjoyed by the Welsh speakers, caused the rest some difficulties, despite the phonetic alternative transcription. It was not helped by the organist playing a version that would never be tolerated in the Millennium Stadium.

The return procession was led by the drummer, then the Stafford Guild Banner, then the FEW Mace bearer, followed (with their Consorts), by the President, The Mayor, The Deputy Lieutenant, The Chief Executive, Borough Councillors, The Master of Stafford Guild, The Deputy Master of Stafford Guild, FEW Executive members, Area Wardens, Representatives of Visiting Guilds, The Stafford Guild Flag, then Stafford Freemen. In all, well over 100 participants.

On returning to the Civic Offices, the group gathered in the Craddock Room for another dissertation by Jack Kemp. This time the subject was The Borough Regalia, which had been brought out from the Mayor’s Parlour for our benefit. The Maces, The Chains of Office, and the mayoral robes were all covered, but pride of place went to two documents.

First, the Original King John Charter, in a remarkable state of preservation considering it is over 800 years old. The other document, which is seldom seen, was the early "Freemen’s Book" with entries from 1757. It is too fragile to be used currently, but it is an important piece of history for the Freemen of Stafford. It was certainly of great interest to the assembled company.

After Jack’s expert explanations, it was time for a few words from the Mayor, who presented a plaque of the Borough Arms to the President. Mr Alan Fallows, newly appointed a Deputy President, then gave a vote of thanks to the Stafford Guild and all the other people from the town who had made the weekend events possible.

The final ceremony was the passing of the AGM Baton to the Berwick Master. Their AGM will be held from 10^th to 12^th September 2010 and hopefully many of those present in Stafford will meet again for a similar weekend of culture and fun.

Finally an excellent buffet was provided courtesy of the Stafford Borough Council and most delegates said their goodbyes and headed for home.

Eight people took advantage of the optional visit to Stafford Castle and those who did, enjoyed a tour led by Alan Cartwright, one of our newest Burgesses. The weather was kind and the spectacular views over Staffordshire and Shropshire were very enjoyable. Penny, who was keeping the general public away from the keep, due to some damaged gratings, decided we were sufficiently responsible not to fall out of a window, and kindly took us on a tour of the keep.

As the last of the delegates made their way home, we all reflected on what Mr Fallows correctly called a “Bostin Do”!

Pictures Courtesy of Ray Spurway, Ant Piddock and Penny & Alex Christison.