Malcolm wrote, 'the last none London agm which was also held in Sheffield mostly at the behest of the then ED&S editor and at the school he happened to work at.'
Fact, Maltby, where the meeting took place, is in Rotherham. The rest is an 'assertion' which is made with no evidence to support it. You were not present when the request was made to me by the National Council to host the meeting at Maltby so why make an assertion you are not qualified to make?
There were no attendant events? Were you actually there?
What is most interesting is that the reason why Maltby was asked to host the meeting. This was so that the membership would be able to see the results of the society's initiative in South Yorkshire. The project was initiated by Mark Gibbons, who was then working for the society. The Generations Project was supported by EFDSS, Folk-South West, The Music Room, Sheffield Museums Trust, Rotherham Borough Council and SRFAN. It was driven by teachers from the South Riding Folk Arts Network (Ron & Jenny Day, Cath James and others) input was made by Pecsaetan Morris and musicians from Sheffield. The project reached into every school in the Maltby catchment area and lasted for a year.
The number of students from the various schools in Maltby who demonstrated their music and sword dancing on that occasion was considered too great to afford to move the children to London for the day. The catering was also prepared by the students of the school and many people commented on what a refreshing change the meeting had been.
'It was also the worst attended agm for many years and by a country mile.'
The event was well attended and a number of people expressed their gratitude at having the event in an accessible place having been unable to afford travel to London for many years. It is true that the London contingent and the Friends of Cecil Sharp House were conspicuous by their absence.
I am unable to comment (even with my tongue in my cheek) on the reasons for the current AGM being held in Sheffield – for the first time.
Paul