Guildford Travel Club – Timeline

Inaugural meeting held at the Rowing Club with 50 attendees.

Bay Hyde enumerated possible activities: speakers/writers, themed evenings on regions or countries, members own slides, holidays etc.

Formal proposal to form the club was agreed and a steering committee elected. Club to meet fortnightly on Wednesdays, 27 people joined.

First meeting to be a wine-tasting to be held on 27 April.

First Steering Committee meeting - problems with finding hall for 27 April, date changed to 4 May and subsequently postponed to October.

Committee meeting – agreed that membership cards would be produced, members evenings to be organised.

Club Meeting in St Saviours Hall – Programme proposed up to December.

Barbecue.

First ‘Formal’ meeting of club – French Wine Tasting in St Saviours Hall.

Committee meeting – looking at buying projector and reported membership of 82 and average attendance of 115 at each meeting.

First newsletter – questionnaire about members interests, planning members evenings, setting up a break at meetings ‘for a chin-wag’ with refreshments (cost one shilling) with a rota of helpers.

97 members with couples paying a sub of £1.1.0 (a guinea) per couple, visitors two shillings and sixpence per meeting

Second newsletter. Arrangements for Dinner Dance, and proposal not to hold an AGM in 1967. Steering Committee to continue for a further year - agreed.

Open-air camping and caravan rally with barbecue.

Second season newsletter. Formal meetings at St Saviours, plus outside social activities.
In the early days of the club there were as many if not more social activities than formal talks.

First meeting of second season - Wine and Cheese tasting‘a la francais’.

Newsletter: nearly 200 members, with average attendance of 150. Plans for Amsterdam spring holiday, and autumn trip to USA both by chartered flights.

First mention of walking group to be set up – led by Geof Hollis with its own printed programme of walks; this continued until 1996.

Third season - club buys its own projector. Outings start to be arranged e.g. to Leonardslee Gardens May 1969, June - steamer trip, etc.

Annual subscription raised to 30 shillings individual, 50 shillings husband & wife. Visitors 4 shillings per meeting, and only one visit allowed per season.

Fourth season with meetings now on the 1st and 3rd Wednesdays of the month October – May.

Helpers rota for various tasks. Members evenings introduced. Outdoor activities – excursions, rambles, plus information from members on holidays.

Season started with the by now ‘traditional’ wine-tasting.

Newsletter – 243 members and a waiting list.

Meeting at Civic Hall – Chris Bonnington on Annapurna

Membership increased to 250.

Members invited to wear name tags to help identify each other.

Bay Hyde made Vice President for life at AGM.

Operation Drake announced – see separate poster.

250 members and waiting list of 40.

Fund-raising evening for Operation Drake at the Civic Hall.

Quote from Newsletter: In these dark cold snowy days, beset by shortages and strikes, how nice it is to escape to those strange faraway places our visitors take us to...

Quote from Newsletter requesting more members evenings: Travel is becoming more difficult and expensive with ever increasing problems of petrol, terrorism, revolution etc...

Moved to the Methodist Church Hall in Woodbridge Road.

Membership restricted to 200, with 26 on waiting list.

25 member evenings held – roughly one a week and the highest of any season.

Moved to Onslow Village Hall and meetings changed to Tuesday evenings.