The Barwick Men's Friday Club.
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The Barwick Men's Friday Club.
from The Barwicker No. 72
Dec. 2003
Our recently opened Resource Centre with
its security, clear indexing, controlled access
and carefully regulated temperature and humidity,
is the ideal place to store historical documents.
We were delighted when John Tinker passed on to
us some records concerning a past local
organisation, the Barwick Men's Friday Club,
which operated in the 1970s and early 1980s.
These, along with the memories of some of those
concerned, enable us to record something of the
activities of one of the many organisations which
added to the rich mix of social, sporting and
cultural life of the village.
The records include an account book, which
dates from June 1972 to March 1982, the effective
life of the club. It also records a few lists of
names of members, some still with us, some dead
but well-remembered. The syllabuses of events for
the years 1980/1 and 1981/2, six annual balance
sheets and about a couple of dozen receipted
bills complete the collection, enough information
for us to recapture the flavour of the life of
the club.
The club met in the Methodist Schoolroom
twice a month during October to March. Most
meetings involved a speaker on subjects usually
of local interest, served up with coffee and
biscuits, the purchase and sale of which made up
the majority of entries in the account book.
There was an annual quiz competition played
against Garforth for a 'challenge shield'
purchased by the club for £2.46 and engraved annually. A pitch
and putt competition was also held each year.
Each November there was a 'men's weekend',
including a social, at least one being of the
'fancy hat' variety. Before Christmas the club
held a dinner dance.
There were usually two visits during the
year, the venues included Leeds University, the
Industrial Museum, Essay Printing, the Abbey
House Museum and Black's Museum. Theatre visits
included in 1976, 'The White Horse Inn' at the
Grand Theatre followed by a fish supper at Nash's
Tudor Restaurant on Merrion Street, Leeds.
Another theatre visit was to see 'How the Other
Half Lives' by Alan Aykburn at the Theatre Royal,
York, in November 1973. On such occasions the
ladies also were invited to attend. A number of
local coach firms were used for these visits.
The driver's supper often formed part of the
expenses noted in the account book.
The membership of the club was usually
about 20, subscriptions going up in 1978 from 50p
to £1. The other important source of income were
coffee mornings. A main item of expenditure was
an annual donation, usually of £10 to the
Methodist Chapel Fund. In March 1979, £37.95 was
donated to the Youth Club at the Church.
Speaker's and officials' expenses made up most of
the rest. DM Binns was Treasurer during the
1970s.
In the 1980/1 season, the committee was
Alan Brining, Ted Chippindale, John Tinker and
Barry Burton. The following season the first
three only served. The syllabuses for the
seasons 1980-81 and 1981-82 have been preserved
and help to show the extent and variety of the
subjects of the meetings. They are reproduced in
full below:
1980/1981
3 Oct. 'History of English Brickwork' Mr N Marsh
19 Oct. Visit - Industrial Museum, Leeds.
31 Oct. 'It's a Knockout'
14 Nov. Wetherby Silver Band. Barwick Village Hall
23 Nov. Men's Weekend
28 Nov. 'Unseen Leeds' Mr J Whitaker
12 Dec. Dinner Dance.
9 Jan. Mr J Rawnsley Chief Executive Leeds MDC
23 Jan. Mr T Exley Leeds Parks Department
6 Feb. Annual Quiz Night Barwick v Garforth
20 Feb. Visit Leeds University
6 Mar. Superintendent R Smith
20 Mar. AGM and Rev. G Buswell.
1981/1982
16 Oct. 'North York Moors Railway' Mr PN Trotter
30 Oct. Local History Cr. Sam Hood
13 Nov. 'A Day in the Life of . . . . . ' Mr Lowton Headmaster
15 Nov. Men's Weekend Services : AM Mr C Adamson,PM Rev. G Buswell
27 Nov. 'It's a Knock-out' The Committee
5 Dec. Annual Dinner Dance at 'The Allerton'
11 Dec. 'A World gone by' Dr. HSM Crabbe
8 Jan. The Rector of Barwick Rev. G Wilkinson
22 Jan. Visit to Essay Printing, Leeds.
5 Feb. Annual Quiz Night Barwick v. Garforth
19 Feb. Visit - Leeds University
19 March AGM and Rev. G Buswell
Alan Brining writes: "I remember
several of the visits listed in 1980-82.
Over the years we visited several of the old
established engineering companies in Leeds,
which I found of great interest as my
occupation involved engineering design. Like
the club, these firms have nearly all closed
- another industry gone forever!
The nights we met with Garforth were
always good fun - games nights or Quiz. They
were always very competitive - I seem to
remember Garforth always won - I could be
wrong but we were certainly outnumbered!"
The main aim of the club seems to have
been 'fellowship', with widening of the interests
of the members an important element. Inevitably
there were some deaths amongst the members,
including Mr Clarke, Harry Bucktrout and Fred
Scargill, the club providing flowers at the
funerals. The membership seems to have dwindled
to about 10 by 1982, when the club was dissolved.
Alan adds: "I think one of the main
reasons the club finally wound up is in its
name. Friday evening at the start of the
weekend is always in very high demand when it
comes to socialising. It was also becoming
increasingly difficult to put together a
'fresh' syllabus - to find new speakers and
places to visit.
However the club was boosted during
the time Barry Burton was a member. His job
in marketing seemed to give him a natural
talent when it came to new ideas.
Unfortunately his stay was short-lived as he
emigrated to South Africa."
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