The Ordnance Society

Membership subscriptions were due on 1^st July, so if you haven’t already paid by standing order, please do so as soon as possible using the revised Membership Application/Renewal Form on the Membership Page.

You will notice a new name as Membership Secretary on the form, Graham Whittington, our former Newsletter Editor.

After 26 years in the post our long-serving Membership Secretary, Ian McKenzie is taking early retirement from work, giving up his Ordnance Society post, and retiring to the West Country.  Ian’s work in his role has been gruelling at times, recording members who join and leave, especially when the information isn’t easily forthcoming.  There was also the sometimes difficult task of informing the Treasurer which members had paid their subscriptions, and when.  He also took on the role of storing our archive Newsletters and Journals, and despatching these introductory items to new members, or to researchers who had purchased copies for their own use.

Thank-you very much Ian.

They are back!  With Covid restrictions now easing, our Visits Secretary Neil Grant has revived a number of the visits that had to be cancelled earlier this year, and is working on a full set of visits for next year.

Details are on the VISITS page; the first is to the Vickers Machine-Gun Collection on 26th September and bookings are already open!

The latest update includes 55 new guns that are mainly from the Royal Armouries collection at Fort Nelson.  They range from gun tubes for the Iraqi supergun project (Operation Babylon) to some very early breech-loading guns and converted 32 pr cannons.

The number of British B.L. and Q.F. guns reported from overseas continues to grow and will be published soon.

There are still unreported guns in the UK as well, and the Ordnance Society would be pleased to receive and publish their details.

At the recent board meeting the AGM was confirmed as a webinar event and will be held on Sunday 7th November. The starting time will be 14:00 GMT, which will give our many overseas members the opportunity of attending an Ordnance Society AGM.

Nominations for the Ordnance Society Board should be made to the Secretary, Nicholas Hall, as soon as possible and no later than Friday 17th September.  The relevant section from the constitution is as follows:

40. Nominations of persons for election to the Board of Management must be in
writing to the Secretary no later than 45 days before the meeting and contain the
name of the proposer and consent of the person nominated.

The Secretary’s postal address and e-mail are:

Mr N Hall

Walnut Farm
Pulham Market
Diss
Norfolk
IP21 4X

aghada_hall@yahoo.co.uk

Details of an Invitation to the English Civil War Earthworks Weekend at CEMA History are available on the ORDNANCE EVENTS page.

Newsletter No. 134 has now been posted.

The Ordnance Society’s new Newsletter Editor, Alistair Graham Kerr, has produced his first Newsletter No. 134 which is now available for download from the PUBLICATIONS page on the website.  The file is currently with the printer and the hard copy Newsletter should be available for posting by the end of next week.

Many thanks to Graham Whittington for his excellent work as editor in the past, and a big welcome to Alistair Graham Kerr with his future Newsletters.

There are a great number of new entries in this latest update, which has boosted the total number of guns listed from 191 to 275.  Many of the major collections have now had most of their guns recorded, but there are still a significant number to be added to the database.

An interesting range of British guns has been reported from overseas and this new database will be published on the website in the coming weeks.

At the recent Board Meeting it was decided that the Covid-19 future uncertainty meant that the 2021 AGM will be put back to a likely date of November 7th.  It may still have to be a webinar based event and we will keep members informed via the website and Newsletter.

The second update to the NATIONAL ARTILLERY SURVEY has just been uploaded and includes an additional 35 guns, making a total of 191.  Many of these new items are owned by the Muckleburgh Collection and some are scarce and unique.

Guns from the Royal Armouries at Fort Neslson, Portsmouth are planned to be added soon, as well as some fascinating examples from some smaller collections.

The database is freely available to download and is also open to additions and corrections by anyone with information to enhance it.  Updates can be submitted on input/update forms available for download from the NATIONAL ARTILLERY SURVEY page.

The NATIONAL ARTILLERY SURVEY page is within the ARTILLERY SURVEYS page.