May 2011 78th AGM

New Chairman

The AGM was well attended with Eric Thorndyke chairman elect being installed during the meeting. Robin Chesterman OBE continues President and Paul Blofield was elected Honorary Treasurer with Dick Abbott re-elected Hon. Sec. Geoff Corston continues to head up the Social Committee. Thanks to everyone who supported the association. The evening finished with the traditional sausage and mash supper ably provided by the staff of the Golden Hind.

April 2011
The visit to the Transport Museum was a very enjoyable evening, Brian Dyes and his two colleagues showed us around the various displays of Ipswich Engineering of the past and the old Trolley Buses. The Museum is home to the oldest trolley bus in the world and the whole centre is entirely run and managed by volunteers. It is well worth a second visit or on one of their open weekends when you can ride on some of the buses. Many thanks to Brian Dyes an his team.

March 2011
The lecture given by Mark Hadley New Product Research Manager for Megger Instruments Ltd. Originally Megger just produced insulation testers under the Trade name of AVO. In 2003 they changed all instruments to be branded as Megger. Other well known brands within the trade were Fluke and Robin. Fluke eventually bought out Robin and they now only brand instruments as Fluke. IEC 61557 is the standard for instrument accuracy and IEC 61010 is the design standard. Instruments are rated in categories Cat 4 being for use between a sub station and the first DB. DBs to socket / lighting outlets can be Cat 3 rated. Most confusion with instruments is caused by loop impedance testers. Robin first bought out the D lock facility on testers to stop the test instrument tripping RCDs, but with the rise in electronic RCDs the D lock is now not suitable to use. Clamp meters are now being designed for earth loop non contact testing. Regulations regarding the use of test leads have now also changed as from the beginning of March 2011 It was a most interesting lecture and following a question and answer session the members showed their appreciation in the normal manner.

February 2011
The lecture was given by Rob Guy from the Waste Recycling Group who operate household waste recycling on behalf of Suffolk County Council. The WEEE and UK packaging regulations came into effect in January 2007 to encourage people to recycle more. Collection points, organisations & businesses who dispose of waste must have transfer note or waste consignment note. Household WEEE waste can be disposed of at local authority waste sites or it can return to the retailer. Televisions and electrical items that are disposed of are tested and any that are found to be suitable and working are reused in third world countries. 10 million tons of packing waste is recycled a year in the UK. The regulations regarding the various ways of disposing and recycling are very complicated to say the least. A most interesting lecture and the members showed their appreciation in the normal manner.

January 2011
The lecture was given by Sharon Cozens RGN RM DMS MBA from Age UK Suffolk. Sharon started her career as a nursing cadet and finished in 2008 as a countywide Director of Health and Social Care. She also spent time in the Falklands with Queen Alexandra's Army Nursing Services. Following her retirement in 2008 she was bored and joined and volunteered as a Trustee for Age UK Suffolk and has subsequently has been employed as Director of Services on a part time basis at AUKS. Sharon at present looks after a budget of about £3.9 million which partly funded by Suffolk County Council for Care Services for the elderly, this is about to be cut due to all of the Government's cuts. AUKS run the Day Care Centres in Suffolk where the elderly can have the opportunity for a hot meal and meet with and make new friends. AUKS would not be able to run were it not for its Volunteers.

November 2010
"Made in Ipswich" The talk was given by Brian Dyes from the Ipswich Transport Museum.
Brian's talk covered the major manufacturing companies situated in Ipswich from the earliest existence of manufacturing by the Saxons through to present times. He was employed by the Post Office as was, now BT and is a founder member of the Museum.
The talk was not on transport itself but more about the engineering companies that we had or are still in the town. In 1290 Ipswich had a thriving port, with ship building, brick works and potteries.
In 1789 Robert Ransome moved to Ipswich from Norwich and started manufacturing plough shares. Over the years the company has made lawn mowers, electric trucks, and agricultural equipment including combine harvesters. During the war they made aircraft and munitions.
ER&F Turner started in the town in 1837 making motors and dynamos.
In 1869 Ransome & Rapier started manufacturing parts for railways and ended up making the world's largest walking draglines. They also built the first railway in China and parts for the revolving floor at the BT Tower in London.
Ipswich also had Cocksedge & Son who built sugar beet factories, providing steel work many industrial buildings including football stands.
Revells was another major company in the town building compressors. A number of submarines today still have Revells compressors in them.
It was a most informative and entertaining lecture and the Chairman asked the members to show their appreciation in the normal manner at the end.

October 2010
The lecture was given by Dr Rex Garrod, the TV Presenter and Inventor. Rex started by showing us how to make an ordinary crisp packet into a loudspeaker by using a coil of wire attached to the bag and a magnet. Rex is now in the process of making a new plaque for the Mendlesham Airfield memorial which is sited just alongside the A140. The original copper plaque was stolen, so he is making this one from non precious metals. He also makes lots of unusual trophies for people. He has made a paper rocket fired by compressed air which reached a height of 1500 ft. He has worked with Dave Bickers on a lot of car stunts in films and told us that often what you see on screen is filmed in reverse to get the correct ending. He was also a speedway rider for Scunthorpe and Ipswich, breaking a number of bones in the process. It was a very entertaining talk and at the end the Chairman asked the members to show their appreciation in the normal manner.

September 2010
The lecture was given by John Norman from the Ipswich Society about the old dock area. The Society monitors all planning applications in Ipswich and will write to the Council if they feel a development is not correct for an area. Ipswich is the only town with a northern quay with south facing quayside overlooking water. The old Burtons dockside building has been developed by Max Hanbury a local developer who only does the work when all the flats / apartments have been sold, he is now hoping to put a hotel on Burtons old car park. The renovation of the old Issac Lords building is one of the best examples of an old Merchants Quay side house and works building. Part of the area for the new University Buildings was from a land swap by APP the port owners and Ipswich Borough Council. When the old power station was pulled down this was on Council land and was swapped for the parcel of land near Copralite Street. The dock area is still in a flood area and any building of domestic properties has to start from first floor level. The traffic in the area caused much debate and John stated that there are no plans to install new roads or build a new bridge over the river. He stated that traffic in Ipswich was no worse than any other town, this caused more debate with the members. It was a very interesting lecture and the Chairman asked the members to show their appreciation in the normal manner.