1950

In the official 1950 Portsmouth and Southsea guide this year there were no less than five prints from members of the club. A letter from Mr Alex Kinnear, publicity manager, thanked the club for the pictures and asked that the members concerned be thanked. That was all, no remuneration or free tickets.

At the committee meeting held in January the following coach outings were arranged for the summer. 1st to the Isle of Wight, 2nd to Winchester, 3rd to Romsey and Stockbridge with finally a trip to Goodwood Races. There would be a prize for the best series of pictures taken. An observation that some members couldn’t or didn’t attend the outings thereby not being able to compete, was thrown out by the President, saying that the competition was for those that attended, if they didn’t attend that was their hard luck.

The quartet to visit Winchester would consist of Messrs RA Thomas, A Turtle, CH Guy, JA Hewes and HP Bishop. It would appear that the committee cannot count! Seriously, these quartet’s were very much part of club life in those days, with the three clubs Southampton, Winchester and Portsmouth exchanging with each other. They were usually very lively evenings with a lot of back chat between clubs.

February 1950
“Portrait Demonstration” by Jim Hewes.
Members brought their own cameras to these regular annual affairs. With Jim in charge, the evenings were very lively indeed. I can still visualise Jim charging about, giving advice, altering lights. He was a real dynamo. If you brought a camera with you, you had to use it, if you hadn’t, why hadn’t you and why did you bother to come at all. All this in a humerous vein.

March 1950
Many old readers of the Amateur Photographer will remember the print critic “Ricardo”, with his advice and diagrams. His real name was AJ Milne FRPS, and what a very prolific speaker he was. He had brought a series of prints with, over which he laid tracing paper with lines drawn on them, showing the faults and virtues of composition, he called it balance, saying that if a picture looked right it usually was.

October 1950
It was reported that we now had 100 paid up members, with 17 joining since the 1949 exhibition. The treasurer reported that the Annual Exhibition showed a profit of £2-18s-7d (£2.93p) and that to this should be added the subscriptions of the new members who had joined as a result of the exhibition. The outings showed a loss of l6s-7d (83p). The adverse balance was due to the coach not being filled on the last outing.

November 1950
“Intelligent Processing”. A return by Charles Duncan FRPS of Johnsons Ltd.
This was a talk on the use of chemicals used in every day photography. His advice on using various brews to change the colour of the image was extremely interesting. After a very informative and lively evening, Charles distributed some ‘freebie’s’ to the members.

1951
January 1951
“Experiences of a Press Photographer” by Alex Turtle.
Alex has a way of expressing himself that is wholly absorbing. His tales about going out with his plate camera to photograph the Queen arriving at the harbour early on a November morning, where the meter gives a reading some 4 stops or so above the practical exposure that can be given. The subsequent ‘whoosh’ development of the plate made members shudder a bit. ‘whoosh’ was using Johnsons press developer concentrated at around 85 Deg.F. and just ‘whooshing’ the plate through the developer. I have seen Alex do this, and how he got quality like he did is beyond me. Fratton Park on winters days at about 4 o’clock was another occasion when it was used. Dropping his bag and breaking all the plates but one! He was full of stories about the trials and pit falls of the day.
Mind you if Alex saw you with a camera at a venue, he would do his best to get you in a better position.

February 1951
“Using Multiple Flash” by Harold White.
A professional photographer, Harold had built his own ‘box’ with which he could trigger no less than 12 bulb flash guns at once. He showed members a number of church interiors where he had used all twelve. One that I recall was when he wanted a strong light on to the Altar, so he mounted a flash gun outside to flash through a window onto the Altar, then shook some cassocks to get dust into the light to give it some atmosphere.
It was at this meeting that Harold coined a phrase that he used for many years. To explain, Harold advertised a make of tripod, sitting on it when it was fully extended. Well, during question time, some bright spark asked “was his backside screwed English or Continental thread”. I cannot recall ever seeing a speaker completely dumbfounded or heard so much laughter in the club.
To explain to the present day workers, there were in cameras two tripod threads in use, one since having been discarded.

March 1951
At a committee meeting it was decided to introduce set subjects based on technical exercises, these would not be competitive, but would be discussed at the next meeting.
It was also agreed that we must seriously look for new quarters, the rent was increasing all the time. Although the room itself was adequate, it was not really what was wanted. It was agreed to try a meeting at Buckingham House, High Street, Old Portsmouth and go into the accessibility and financial aspect.

1952

Mr Hayward, the treasurer announced that the Club had made a profit on the surplus sale of £78-13s-0d (£78.65p), which was very welcome indeed.

The committee had received complaints about the overall quality and support of the first three competitions. It would appear that some of the senior members were refraining from putting in work. A suggestion that it was due to the poor summer last year was dismissed out of hand. Two suggestions were made to try to rectify the situation, firstly, to re-introduce member voting, as it seemed that this worked well in the past and secondly that there should be some sort of award. It was further decided to have two groups, advanced and beginners. In those days all print entries were no bigger than 10” by 8”. This was to allow any judges suggestions to be incorporated in the final exhibition print.

Norman Shuttleworth presented a very interesting evening on “correcting verticals.” He was a retired scientist, with a very enquiring mind. He had worked out a system which involved inclining the camera, noting the degrees of tilt and then by some very involved mathematics, which he told the club about, the negative and the baseboard were given a precise tilt. This was an extremely precise movement. The result was perfectly straight verticals. The only snag was acquiring an enlarger and tripod that could be altered so precisely.
Norman had modified his own equipment, from which he showed a number of prints, both before and after correction. The effect was remarkable.

Until this year, there had been a ‘free for all’ at the AGMs, which had been unsatisfactory and quite dreadful, with members being pushed unwillingly into post that they couldn’t fulfil. This year saw nominations correctly proposed and seconded, thus doing away with the previous ‘system’.
This was also the year that Wing Commander RD Coath arrived on the scene. He was a very funny character, who insisted on being addressed as Wing Commander, unless you received the accolade to call him Bob!
Big Deal, I am promoted from assistant exhibition secretary to joint secretary with “Pop” Edwards. Despite our great difference in age, we get on like a house on fire.

Jack Davies commented on the voting of prints by members. He had done an analysis of the voting, which showed a number of irrational points. A member challenged him with the reaction that Dave (Jack Davies) as he was known exploded with rage. He was a very touchy person at the best of times, but to challenge him was to receive his wrath. The club enjoyed the ensuing argument which ended in a draw.

I would like to correct an oversight. Our President, Cecil Guy, was in my opinion one of the real characters in the world of camera clubs. His methods were unbelievably primitive by present day standards. He used a really enormous horizontal enlarger, converted to electric light with a 150 watt lamp as power. He would also cover the lamphouse with a couple of old coats to keep the light in. He once gave a demonstration on enlarging at the Carnegie Library, when the coats started to smoke!
The lens was an old brass affair that he bought from a schoolboy for a penny. Cecil had painted out the various scratches with black paint, yet he produced pictures. He is one of the very few picture makers that I have seen, he seemed to have an instinctive eye for a picture.

1953

Around this time a number of premises were inspected with a view to moving the Club premises. Offers from Gales, Brickwoods and the Radical Club were looked at and rejected. Charles Fry mentioned that the Mayville High School had suitable premises for club meetings, and were available for Thursday evenings. The club subsequently took up the offer and were to meet here for the foreseeable future.
This was also the year that we exhibited a set of prints at the Annual Exhibition, showing the Royal Family on a recent visit to Portsmouth. The exhibition itself attracted well over 3000 visitors. It appeared that the Annual Exhibition at the South Parade Pier was getting earlier every year. Cumberland House was mooted as a- possible venue, Jim Hewes, a prominent photographer from Lawrence Road in Southsea, offered to explore the possibilities.
Frank Clements earned a nickname of “Carts” Clements, for the number of photographs that he produced featuring carts, big carts, little carts, dog carts and railway carts. His nickname was to change in later years to “Clouds” Clements owing to the number of prints in which he had put clouds into.
The Club at the AGM agreed to buy £300.00 of 3% Government Bonds. I wonder what happened to them.

A regular feature of club life around this period, was a practical portraiture evening, which for many years was run by Jimmy Hewes, it was an evening not to be missed. To just sit and watch James charging around, giving advice, changing the lights and explaining why, helping the novices, was really something. Jim was a very, very good member to have around.

I feel that I must mention a couple of refreshing evenings, both made an impression on me in different ways. The first was Karl Pollack, who originated from Poland and although he lectured in a marked accent, when I was fortunate enough to have dinner with him, his English was impeccable. His lecture this time was “Comparisons”, a series of portraits showing various sitters as a normal studio shot, then as Karl had taken it. His portraits with his lighting were superb, full of feeling and wonderful quality. The lighting that he used for all his work was three ordinary 150 watt lamps in simple shades!

The next was “The Art of Make-up for Portraiture” by Richard Blore from L Leinchners of London.
He wanted a model to demonstrate on, and somehow I got chosen! I’m not sure how it happened, but I found myself sitting on a chair, in front of everybody. Richard demonstrated the various methods of hiding defects, such as bags under the eyes, double chins and many others. He finished by making up one side of my face to make me look younger!!! Then made up the other side to look older!!! I can still recall the laughter when one of my ‘friends’ said in a loud voice “that one side of my face looked like a babies bum, the other looked like an Old Hag”

“Photographing out of doors” with Kevin Macdonald.
Kevin was a real live wire. He showed members some superb outdoor pictures, mainly of Land and Townscapes. He very clearly explained how he achieved the final negative. The evening was taken up producing the right negative for the final print. Kevin talked about the use of filters, lenses and viewpoint, all playing a vital part in the final print, BUT the most important thing was the light. To get the best result the light had to be RIGHT.
The way to success was attention to the care taken in the previous points. A lot of questions asked at the end, which Kevin answered thoroughly. His final comment was “To produce a negative that required the minimal fiddling at the printing stage”.

Councillor Leanord Evans offered a cup to the Club, to be used in whatever way they saw fit. The President, in accepting his kind offer, thanked Mr Evans, saying that the cup would be a grand reward for members to aim for.
The allocation of the cup caused a lot of discussion, in fact at one time it got rather heated. Finally, it was agreed to use it as an aggregate trophy, instead of the monetary awards given in the print competition. Mr Evans had asked that the cup be called the “Elizabeth Cup”.

I should mention here that in the past the awards given in the Annual Exhibition were given by the members, The Mayor and other local dignitaries and were retained by the persons who won them, (I have over the years acquired quite a collection of medals, cups, a spoon and a rose bowl). At a date that I have been unable to ascertain, trophies were awarded on an annual basis, I suspect that there was no definite date, but like Topsy “it just growed and growed”.

1954

The President told the committee that he was dissatisfied with the way committee meetings were being run, they were far too protracted. Mr Charlie Fry outlined the procedure that should normally be used and that he proposed to keep too! (‘I wish I knew what that procedure was, ‘cos they are still protracted. Trevor)

1954 marked the beginning of what would become for want of a better phrase “Rule changing mania.” It would seem to me that no sooner had a set of rules been decide upon, than a mood would start to change them.

There had been difficulty in arranging a satisfactory date for the exhibition on the pier, this had now been resolved for this year. It was decided to make a charge of 2/- (10p) for the tea this year on the pier. This tea had previously been free of charge to members and a partner, but one member had brought along nine friends and several others brought along three or more friends last year which made the catering costs extremely high. This, coupled with increasing costs of the exhibition made it difficult to stay in the black.

It is interesting to note that the cleanliness of the clubroom caused a lot of discussion. The habit of stamping out cigarette ends on the polished floor was to be deplored. It was agreed to purchase some ashtrays in the hope that they would be used, Mrs Livesley would be asked to supply a broom. Len Richards and myself offered to clean the room after meetings.
One thing that happened around this period was that pipe smokers were asked to sit at the rear of the hall on slide nights, because member’s vision was restricted from the resulting smoke that arose!

At the AGM, the clubs finances proved to be in a very healthy state. To be precise £452-9-0 (£452.45p), a profit of £36 on the year. Ron Cake was in the chair this year.
We finally heard about the tenancy of the Mayville High School, which as you recall started in the last season. The gist of the agreement was £20 per annum for the use of the hall from September 1st to May 31st inclusive plus one Monday per month.
The AGM also saw the end of Percy Bishop as secretary. He felt that it was time a younger member was given the job. He had been a tower of strength in getting the club back on its feet after the war.

Here’s another memory of some more meetings.
First Norman Shuttleworth. He told members some time ago that he was interested in the Carbro Colour Process and agreed to talk to members about it. He was challenged to reproduce a paint colour chart with ALL the corresponding shades identical. On the evening, he explained to members how he went about it. One had to be meticulous with the process and that it was possible to produce a print in eight (yes 8) hours, but the process could be split up. Norman showed members a number of prints that were not too bad. He was then asked about the colour chart. He reached into his case and produced the chart that had been supplied by a member, he also produced an absolutely perfect replica. When one considers the number of shades on a colour chart, it does seem remarkable.

Karl Pollock made a return visit to the club, this time he showed a collection of his work. This work had received acclaim all over the world, in all the main exhibitions. He had several prints of the same portrait which had been sent to different parts of the world although no two prints were exactly the same. He told members that it was not possible to reproduce an exact copy, because of manipulation under the enlarger. A marvellous evening with a marvellous set of pictures.
Sammy Samson and myself were talking only the other day (October 1992) about reproducing our “Master Pieces” for the same reason.

“Demonstration of Portraiture” by Don Herbert from the Southampton Camera Club.     
Don like Karl was internationally known in the photographic world. A delightful character, who showed the members how to transform a mediocre portrait into something quite different. After the demonstration he showed a number of his pictures, one of which I vividly recall as being titled “Cupids Girlfriend”, showing a young girl leaning against a triangle, it had been all over the world.

An item of interest regarding the Annual Exhibition. In previous years we had always displayed a panel in a shop window to advertise the exhibition, this year we had SEVEN!
It was the intention to have a separate judge for the colour section in the exhibition (an artist), but this proved to be totally impractical and was consequently dropped.

1955

This is a year that stuck in mine, and many other members minds for a very good reason. Wing Commander Coath was in the chair, and as I mentioned previously, he insisted on being called Wing Commander, with the exception of a favoured few, who could call him Bob. I had been invited to join the hallowed group but never availed myself of the honour! Anyway to continue, he was always changing his equipment and at a committee meeting he completely ignored procedure and the agenda and proposed from the club that we purchase a Kershaw slide projector. Well, a right old rumpus broke out I can tell you. When all the smoke had settled, the Wing Commander forced a vote on the subject ending in a complete rejection. The Wing Commander was not happy about this, getting up and stalking out, subsequently resigned from the club. Mr Mitchell, Senior Vice President, took over for the rest of the season. Happy Days!

The Exhibition showed a loss of 1/2d (6p). Ron Cake a stalwart member was posted to Malta.

This year saw a visit of one of the greatest, Press Photographers Lancelot Vining. He wrote a column for the Amateur Photographer for many years and was a real card. The title of his talk was “40 years in Fleet Street”, accompanied by a marvellous set of black and white lantern plates. Most of the plates had a story attached to them. One that really sticks in my mind was a plate taken around 1906 I think, and showed the Horse-­drawn Bow Street FIRE ENGINE going full pelt in the dark down the road to a fire. In those days Lance was a POWDER BOY for a press photographer. Apparently, if the Bow Street Fire Brigade had not had a call out that evening, at 10pm on the dot, they would race round the block at breakneck speed, to exercise the horses. Lancelot’s boss decided to photograph the occasion. This involved making the flash tray larger, and the pole longer.
On the night a pound of flash-powder was put on the tray and on the word NOW, Lance worked the flint, a blinding flash appeared and 10 seconds later, the horses with engine in tow disappeared through the nearest plate glass window. The thing that Lance remembered most was his boss saying “are you all right , son?”
What do I remember? An evening full of humour, advice and stories!

In those days the Club supported the Central Associations Exhibition, there are a couple of things that I recall from that exhibition. Firstly, we once won the switch shield for the best slide and secondly, we had a print back with a large “Uskide” soled footprint on the print. Jim Hewes copied it and we sent a copy to the Central Association with a note saying we were aware that it was not in the top class, but walking on it did seem to be a funny way of showing it.

At about this time the Club was always invited to the dress rehearsal of the pantomime, and on a number of occasions, pictures from members were used in the foyer. This was stopped because a number of members took someone along who were obviously not members and the theatre management objected to this.

1955 was the year when I first raised the subject of the Club history. Various members were asked to gather material so that a start could be made. I am afraid nothing very much transpired from this, it being left to yours truly to soldier on.

Here we go, rules, again. This time the print and slide ones. The rules today are very simple, but oh dear, this took practically the whole of a committee meeting, and covered nearly a page and a half in the minute book. Reading through the rules, it is a wonder that the Club ever used them. Of course, anything that our old friend Jack Davies had a hand in was always complicated.

The Treasurer reported that paid up members had now reached 124. In the Bank was £357/15/5d (£357.77p), with £136/12/10d (£l36.64p) cash in hand. A mystery has appeared. A member, Bradshaw-Bond asked whether colour prints could be accepted in the monthly competitions and that the word “monochrome” be deleted from the exhibition entry form. We had already had colour prints entered in both the monthly competitions and the exhibition. Nobody was quite sure what BB really meant. BB was a delightful character but was inclined to get his nickers in a twist sometimes, as has probably happened today!

1956

A miracle occurred this year, in that we had three Print Battles and won them all. I must confess that Frank (Carts) Clements was inclined to claim credit for the success, mind you he did do a fair bit of running around badgering people.
Here is a copy of the Print Battle Rules. No slides were accepted at this time.
1. The Home Club is the Host.
2. The entries for each Club to be judged and displayed at the meeting of the Home Club.
3. The maximum number of prints for each club is to be limited to twenty.
4. The maximum number of prints to be entered by any one worker to be two.
5. The Judge to be an independent person approved by each Club.
6. The Judges expenses to be borne by the Home Club.
7. The entries to be packed and sealed by each Club and sent to the Secretary of the Home Club, to reach him not later than 10 days before the date of the battle.
8. If required, the entries of the Home Club to be loaned to the visiting Club for display to their members. These prints to be returned within 14 days.
This is typical of how Clubs operated in those days. Surnames were used at all times, not like today when christian names are the norm, the formality could be a little forbearing to the younger members. I much prefer these days with the more relaxed atmosphere. Ron Cake and myself would trundle around the district digging work out of members for the battles.

It was about this time that a number of us headed by Jim Hewes started to do battle with the diehards, on the way that the exhibition was hung, to explain the prints in their respective sections, namely Landscape, Portrait etc. Portraiture was very strong in those days, and on the Pier, there was a long wall that took 70 Exhibition prints. Frankly, it was overpowering. I know that the arguments waxed and waned over many months, anytime that the exhibition was mentioned. Jim was on his feet ably supported by his disciples, putting his case and although it went on for a long time, eventually we achieved victory.

 “PEOPLE I HAVE SHOT!” by James Jarche. James was a world famous press photographer, and like so many of his contemporaries was another real character. Some of his candid shots were out of this world. On a couple of occasions he had to scarper away very quickly. One story was of when he photographed the Pope, when everyone else bowed down to the Pope, apparently he had to borrow dress clothes from a waiter in his hotel. The time schedule was very tight, so he arranged for the waiter to meet him at the station, where he would change into his own clothes and give the waiter his own back. Well, he attended the crowded meeting and ensconced himself in one corner of the Vatican near an exit. When everyone else bowed down to the Pope, he clicked his shutter and fled off through the exit followed by angry shouts. He was chased out of the Vatican and on arriving at the station, got on the train and changed in a carriage passing clothes through the window, but he forgot his braces and had to travel back to England with all his gear and hold his trousers up.
It doesn’t sound very much, but to listen to James telling it, was hilarious.

“Some Exhibition Prints” by Donald Allen FRPS, FRSA,FRES.
Donald was internationally known on three counts, judging, talking and exhibiting. He was the author of a number of photographic books. In fact he ate, slept and lived photography. He was a rather serious speaker who at times was inclined to be a little ‘School Masterish’. He showed the Club about 120, 16” by 20” prints, most of which were well covered on the back with what he called ‘Jam Pot Labels’. He stressed that the production of a first quality negative was of paramount importance. An interesting evening full of advice and tips, enjoyed by all.

1957

Gales Brewery from Horndean offered a £5 voucher to the Club, suggesting a competition with the subject to be the Inn at Chalton. After some discussion it was decided to have two prizes, 1st of £3 and 2nd of £2. The competition would close on June 15th with Major Gale selecting the winner. I remember the entries being displayed for judging and there were some wonderful prints shown. It was announced at the club that the winner was Madge Farrant with Cecil Guy second. They were presented with vouchers to be spent at the Country Stores. Major Gale was so pleased with the outcome, that he gave a bottle of Sherry to all the entrants.

Item of interest. Colour slides are coming up in the world. The exhibition Judge, Rex Verry told the Club that in his opinion it was time that there was an award for colour slides.

For a number of years the Club had supported the Central Association’s annual exhibition. This also included an entry for the Switch Shield. In the four years that we have entered, our record has been rather poor, with final positions of 11th, 13th, 10th and 14th respectively. The average entry was of 16 Clubs. When one analysed the catalogues over a period, most of the awards seemed to go to London and District Clubs.

 “The Best of both worlds” by GL Hawkins FRPS, FIBP,FRSA.
George showed a large number of impeccable 16” by 20” prints, a mixture of colour and Black and White. All were produced from colour transparencies. George was a happy soul with a very bright and breezy manner. He talked a lot about taking the transparency and producing the final print, but not too much about the middle bit. He showed members two negatives, both 5” by 4”, but was very hazy on how they were produced. We were left with the impression that they had been produced by Kodaks. A very enjoyable evening given by a very pleasant person.

The Pictorial Landscapes of the Late Mrs KM Parsons presented by Rex Verry FIBP,FRPS.
This gave members a chance to see the work of one of the finest workers in Landscape Photography. They were either 16” by 20” or 20” by 30”, all sweeping landscapes with magnificent skies, from all over the world. Mrs Parsons had been an intrepid traveller, using a quarter plate camera and either roll film, plates or film packs. Her mountain scenes were really out of this world, it was one of the evenings that one doesn’t forget.

“The Darkroom Technique” by OM Dell of Ilfords Ltd.
Oliver was a very quiet person who spoke very seriously and very sincerely about his subject. He had brought along with him a selection of prints to illustrate the points that he made. He stressed, as others had done in the past, that a good negative was essential if quality was required. The last part of the evening was question time, it was obvious that a lot of interest had been aroused, because we were late finishing. It was apparent that here was a man who enjoyed his photography.

One item from the syllabus, that I among others are glad that is no longer obligatory was the two “travelogues” each season given by Club Members. As one member put it to me one night “a mountain is a mountain is a mountain”. They did become rather boring.

This year was the first of a number of joint exhibitions with the Portsmouth and Southampton Photographic Societies. It was a rather uneasy partnership, with things always seeming to get a little mixed up. The biggest snag was a member of the other Club who promised a lot, then didn’t fulfil his promises, leaving things in a bit of a tangle.

Two battles this year against Chichester and Southampton, both successful. Wonders will never cease.

1958

A very interesting motion was passed at the AGM about exhibition prints. The judge was not selecting enough prints for the exhibition, in spite of being of excellent quality, rejecting them on the grounds of insufficient space. The proposers of the motion were of the opinion that we should exhibit as many prints as possible, bearing in mind that it was an exhibition of members work. After a rather stormy discussion it was agreed that the selection committee should ‘vet’ this years work and that the selected prints would be hung, in future exhibitions. The judge would be asked to select about 25 prints from this ‘vetted’ selection to be hung if space was available.
A comment from Rex Verry, one of our eminent Judges, that in his opinion the time had come for a trophy for colour slides to be considered, as they were beginning to make great strides in quality these days.

The Secretary announced that the winners of the Gales Competition previously mentioned had received their vouchers and that every member had received as promised, a bottle of Sherry.

Once more into the breech! At the AGM, two of the arch villains had a proposal passed that the Club rules be reviewed by a sub-committee for amendment, and to be presented at a later date to a Special General Meeting. Whenever the subject of rules was brought up, you could always rely on Jack Davies being amongst things, stirring them up. One or two members seemed to delight in altering the rules, no sooner are one set of rules agreed, that another set of amendments are suggested! Why they couldn’t concentrate on photography was beyond me!!!

My promotion to Club Secretary happened in the most odd circumstances. It was a few days prior to the start of the clubs winter season, when there was a ring at my front door bell. I went to answer the door and found there was no-one there, just a plastic bag full of books and papers and a note from Reg Portlock resigning from the Club for domestic reasons. This was the start of my reign as Club Secretary. It was a traumatic start I can tell you, but with the help of one or two people, in particular Jim Hewes, I managed to cope.

Commander Sterdale-Bennett told the club that his tour of duty was nearly over and that the club would need a new exhibition Secretary. He would be sadly missed as far as I was concerned. His running of the exhibition was impeccable, he used to publish what came to be known as “Orders of the day.” When I think of previous exhibitions when a crisis always arose, not so with “Mr Orders of the day.”

“Stereoscopic Photography in Colour” by the Marquis of Ely.
The Marquis had a stereo projector and issued glasses fitted with one red and one blue lens to look at the images through. When I tried it, my eyes were affected in such a peculiar way that I had to leave the room. Talking to members afterwards, they talked about a Giraffe and Lions heads which appeared to come right out of the screen and over their heads, whilst with the landscapes, one got the impression that you were right in the middle of the picture. As one member said to me afterwards it was ‘bloody’ weird. Unfortunately, the Marquis retired shortly afterwards, so we were not able to get a return visit from him.

“Colour Printing Photography” by Mr Bradshaw-­Bond BCCS BSc.
This was a part talk, part demonstration evening given by “BB”, as members knew him by. There was a large plastic waterbath, with seven small dishes filled with the necessary brews, warming to the required temperature. While this was going on ‘BB’ was explaining the whys and wherefores of the process, and that he had mixed the solutions himself. He stressed that rigid temperature was vital and that any contamination by carry over of chemicals was fatal. When all was ready he proceeded to produce two or three small colour prints in quick succession, for which he had the assistance of one or two member ‘volunteers. This was a fantastic evening, well organised by the Headmaster of Gosport High School. The amazing thing was that he was totally colour blind and relied on his wife for the colours.

1959

Now here’s a funny thing, a very funny thing. It was reported to me that Mr Tibble had passed on the History of the Club to Percy Bishop. When Percy was asked about it he was totally mystified as nobody had passed anything on to him. In spite of many enquiries that little mystery was never solved.

A serious discussion arose in the committee over exhibition judges. It was proposed to ask two artists to judge the colour slides, and two photographic judges for monochrome prints. This was not accepted as it was deemed to complicated to manage.
Another problem was the expenses of the exhibition, in spite of a lot of correspondence with owners of the Exhibition site, the previous years Exhibition had not been settled.

Jim Hewes reported that there was a vacancy at the St Mary’s Institute on Thursday evenings, which would suit the clubs search for new premises. The committee paid a visit to St Mary’s Institute, one evening after the club meeting. It was an extremely fine room, with ample cupboard space on the ground floor, but a few minutes after we arrived there was a dreadful noise from the second floor. Apparently they had old time dancing on the same night, it was a pity because it would have been a splendid place for the Clubs HQ.

I was part of a sub-committee, in which twice we had to hammer out a set of rules, both very stormy, then an equally stormy committee meeting. I am a bit fed up with rules, especially as I have been the ‘dogs body’, as assistant secretary and now secretary, every time that the rules problem comes up, forever it seems.

An outside Exhibition section was formed. Miss Madge Farrant was asked and accepted the post of Outside Exhibition Secretary, with complete control as to how she ran it. This has run for many years with great success.

“The Impudent Imposter” by Clifford Steinbeck ARPS (Bromoil printing, practical) Clifford was a weird character, eccentric in his attire, manner and of addressing members, but in spite of all this, he gave a superb display of the technique, whilst keeping up a barrage of very good commentary in a manner that had everyone tucked up in stitches of laughter. He had one or two members trying their hand at pigmenting the print. They were very brave members indeed! Everyone enjoyed the evening given by a man who was a Master of his craft.

“Floral Photography” by Eric Dash NDH
This was a slide evening, or rather a talk illustrated by slides. Eric was a very serious person, who was a gardener rather than a photographer. The evening changed around to a talk on gardening rather than the photographic side of it. All the questions asked were of a gardening nature. Obviously this proved very good value for money, two clubs for the price of one.

“Print Finishing” by Cecil Guy
Cecil does produce some magnificent prints, but my word, they are very dirty, requiring an enormous amount of retouching, at which Cecil is a master. Mind you he need to be to get rid of the literally hundreds of spots and scratches. He had a phrase that sticks in my mind “You can see the picture coming through the spots”. Cecil had asked members to bring prints and brushes with them, so that they could have a practical session towards the end of the evening.