The Derbyshire Ornithological Society

All the information for this article has been taken from old Minute Books, Bulletins and Annual Reports, correspondence from members (who are thanked), and personal knowledge.

At times, the events which took place in the Society are by no means clear, so if any reader has better or different information, please contact Steve Shaw by tel 01246 236090 or by e-mail Steveshaw@ornsoc.freeserve.co.uk.

In the early 1950s Captain W.K.Marshall, ornithological county recorder from 1940 (but always acting under the auspices of the Derbyshire Archaeological and Natural History Society) and Stanton Whitaker, who was to become Chairman of the new society, wished an organisation to be formed which would be separate from the existing DANHS. The original (hand-corrected) LIST OF MEMBERS of Derbyshire A&NHS INDICATING INTEREST IN ORNITHOLOGICAL SECTION - UP TO & INCLUDING June 15th 1954 still exists and is reproduced below. As can be seen, they were mainly from the south and east of the county, a situation still reflected in the present membership list.

What followed was a more 'colourful' meeting than the rather prosaic report in DOS Bulletin No.1 would imply. At this open meeting convened by the DANHS on 30th October 1954 to discuss the possibility of forming a sub-section for ornithology ("more redolent of a boardroom" to quote a late member who was present on that day) by a majority vote of the 35 persons present, it was decided that the interests of ornithology and ornithologists in Derbyshire would best be served by the formation of a separate society devoted entirely to the study of birds. It would seem that at this point the Chairman vacated his seat, whereupon further discussions took place without him.

Also, it would appear that it was considered that the practical, and particularly the financial, aspects of such an arrangement would be better, as the nub of the matter was, that the DANHS wanted a general subscription from members plus an additional subscription from the birdwatchers to finance an ornithological sub-section with a more extended report.

Thus, a number of individuals organised a meeting to try and bring about the formation of a separate society, the Agenda for which is reproduced below.

The minutes (with the typing errors and hand-corrction) of this meeting are also reproduced below.

Fortunately, those present were asked to sign a Members Present sheet, reproduced below. Investigations have failed to identify one or two of the signatories, but most are known.

Happily, the Society has always been run on a democratic basis, as might be expected, by a Committee (sometimes referred to as the 'Executive Committee' in the early years), and it is interesting to note that the Rules in the first Annual Report (1955) state that "the management of the Society shall be vested in the following officers: President, Vice-President(s). . . . . . " as if the President and Vice-Presidents would be expected to take an active part in the running of the Society. This concept was abandoned at some point, and these posts became purely "figure-heads", as probably was the generally accepted practice for such organisations at that time. It was also the practice for meetings to be held in members' own homes for many years, but as the Committee grew this stopped and accommodation was hired. Unfortunately, the Committee Minutes book covering the period from the formation of the Society up to a meeting which took place on 21st November 1957, a period of some three years, was mislaid and has never been found.

The early to mid-sixties were a very difficult time for the Society, with few members willing to take on the various tasks. For example the Committee did not meet at all between the tenth, eleventh and twelfth AGMs, and the minutes book does not record that an AGM took place in 1968. This unsatisfactory state of affairs culminated in an Extra-ordinary General Meeting on 22nd November 1969, with some 55 members present. In this meeting, the idea of a Steering Committee (later known as the Sub-committee) consisting of six members was suggested. This was agreed and it first met on 15th January 1970, and thereafter fairly frequently (eg: October and November 1970 and January 1971). At the beginning, the Rules stated that the officers should be elected annually. Various ideas, for changes after three years, for example, were tried, but in 1975 it was agreed at the AGM that all officers should be elected annually and this has remained the system. The principal posts were held as shown below. In more formal times forenames were not used, of course, and generally did not appear in the various minutes of meetings, Annual Reports and Bulletins, but where these are known they have been introduced here for the sake of completeness. The Society, being somewhat traditional and perhaps less than "politically correct", has never introduced terms such as 'Chair-person'. Decorations and qualifications have been omitted for the sake of space.

Rt. Hon. Viscount Scarsdale 1954-78

Mrs. Marjorie H. Mills 1978-87

Barry C. Potter 1989-date

Capt. W. K. Marshall 1954-70

Capt. W. K. Marshall and F. Gordon Hollands 1970-78

Capt. W. K. Marshall, F. Gordon Hollands and Richard H. Appleby 1978-83

F. Gordon Hollands and Richard H. Appleby 1983-85

Richard H. Appleby 1985-2003

Frank Constable and Andrew Hattersley 2004-date

Stanton Whitaker 1954-65

F. Gordon Hollands 1965-70

Tony B. Wassell 1970-73

Frank Constable 1973-78

Barry C. Potter 1978-88

David V. Haslam 1988-95

Andrew P. Hattersley 1995-2003

Bryan A. Barnacle 2003-date

David V. Haslam 1985-88

Mike J. Cross 1988-2001

Bryan Barnacle 2001-2003

Dave A. Richardson 2003-date

F. Gordon Hollands 1954-71 (assisted at times by Richard H. Appleby)

Mrs. H. E. ('Gin') Roe 1971-87

Steve Shaw 1987-date

F. Price 1954-63

Conrad N. Whipple 1963-70

Mrs. P. Kerridge 1970-75

Alan Boiling 1975-83

Alan T. Scahill 1983-86

Mike Daykin 1986-2001

John Clark 2001-2004

Bryan Barnacle (acting briefly in 2004)

Malcolm Hopton 2004-date

Barrie Staley 2001-date

Capt. W. K. Marshall 1954-57

David R. Wilson 1957-60

Derek C. Hulme 1960-63

Norman A. Kerridge 1963-65

Conrad N. Whipple 1965-71

David Amedro 1971-80

Roy A. Frost and Rodney Key 1980-91

Roy A. Frost, Rodney Key, and Richard M. R. James 1991-date*

*During this period Rodney Key was responsible for Rare Birds, Roy Frost for Rare Breeding Birds and Richard James the editorship of The Derbyshire Bird Report.

Many of those above also carried out other functions at various times over many years, and their names and those of others holding posts such as Indoor Meetings Organiser, Field Trips Organiser, Ringing Secretary, Conservation Officer, etc, and also those serving on sub-committees, are not listed here. A curious phenomenon of the Minutes books is that persons' names suddenly appear as having been present at Committee meetings, without any prior mention of their having been elected into office. This may be partly explained by the fact that the Committee had the power to co-opt members between AGMs.

The functioning of the Society seems to have been a little haphazard at times. The 1965 AGM ratified the introduction of area Representatives making a Committee of 15, and also introduced the concept that "the remaining six general committee (no longer being referred to as 'Executive' at this point) members should serve for no more than three years, two members falling out each year and being ineligible for re-election until a year had elapsed". This was surely well-intentioned at the time, but it seems that there were never sufficient willing hands to make this a practicable proposition, and many Committee members served for long periods, particularly in the late 1990s. It seems that the concept was abandoned from about 1980, by which time the ideas of 'continuity and experience' were more appreciated.

The minutes of the Extraordinary General Meeting of 22nd November 1969 contain the comment that "Mr F. G. Hollands (Secretary) suggested the Committee should make out a 'proper Constitution' " - presumably no formal document ever having been written before this date. By March 1986 the minutes of a Committee meeting show that it was by no means clear, even by then, if the Society had a formal constitution (as distinct from 'Rules'). However, the problem was addressed in lengthy discussions and by October 1986 a new set of Rules had been thrashed out and the idea of a 'constitution' had been abandoned. This was ratified at the 1987 AGM and although these have been slightly modified several times since, they are still essentially intact. By 1997, the Committee had grown to 24, with Independents limited to six. But as some members fulfilled more than one task, the maximum number of those present at any meeting was 21, and usually only about 16/17, by the end of the twentieth century. The size of the Committee was considered by some to be rather large, but the strategy was to have as many members familiar with the running of the Society as possible, should any major player have to drop out, for whatever reason, and avoid the inertia which befell the Society in the 1960s. A system of Sub-committees (Editorial, Rarities, Publicity, Conservation, Policy Review) was in place by about 1986, and these were intended to do the 'donkey work' on any problems, find a solution and report back to the General Committee for their recommendations to be 'rubber stamped'. This proved a reasonably effective strategy for some of the more complex problems in later years, such as those regarding insurance and our charitable status.

Since 1955 this Society has been responsible for publishing the Derbyshire Bird Report, under the supervision of, or edited by, the county recorder. The formation of a "Rare Birds Committee" to assist in the task of assessing the submissions on rare birds (an issue which is referred to many times in the Minutes over the years) was first mentioned in a meeting of the 'Executive' Committee on 15th September 1960, and was approved at the following AGM. It comprised F. G. Hollands, R. G. Hawley, S. Whitaker, A. A. K. Whitehouse and the Secretary. A Records Committee was seriously discussed much later, in October 1970. Reporting was by calendar years from 1st January 1958, with the previous edition covering the period from 1st November 1956 to 31st December 1957. The idea of a number of "Area Recorders" feeding information to the County Recorder, who would then write the Derbyshire Bird Report, was mentioned in the late 1950s, but seems to have been quietly dropped.

Financial difficulties in the 1960s led to various suggestions to cheapen the Report, for example by omitting the cover picture and publishing fewer records, but thankfully these were resisted by-and-large, thus maintaining the value of these editions for posterity, albeit that some were published very late. Three years were combined at one stage (1965/66/67) and sadly this combined volume was not published until 1972. Clearly, this was unsatisfactory, and happily since 1974 the Derbyshire Bird Report has been published annually in the year following that which it covers, except in one or two cases. 1978 saw the adoption of Voous (in favour of Wetmore) for species order and nomenclature, and in 2002 a new order (introduced by the BOU) was used, to the dismay of many. For a short time in the 1970s it was the practice to use the same cover illustration for two years, but from then on each year was unique in this respect.

The first edition to include vignettes was 1980, under the editorship of Roy Frost. A further improvement was the introduction of a colour cover in 1989, and two further changes took place in the next issue with the introduction of coloured plates, and the admission of a small amount of advertising to help pay for them. The feature of a General Secretary's Report (Roy Frost's suggestion), to record for posterity the activities of the Society each year, was introduced in 1987.

Because of the amount of work involved in producing a modern report, it was decided in 1991 that the Society should have an additional Joint Recorder, with responsibility for this task. 1994 was the first year in which the report was sent to the printer on computer disk, which saved the Society a good deal of money and also allowed greater control, with the ability to make very late alterations. This has continued to date. Since 1972 the Report has been printed by Higham Press, but always published by the Society itself.

From its inception, the Society has published a monthly newsletter, always known as "The Bulletin". This has been available to members every month (except July), despite numerous difficulties. February 2001 saw the publication of the 500th edition. The difficulties mentioned, included the typing on to wax-stencils in the early days, which were then run off on a 'Gestetner' machine, a time consuming business which meant that the publication was usually limited to four sides of foolscap. There were quite few occasions when the Bulletin was sent out late, and this made the deadline dates for the following edition and the confirmation of Trip and Indoor Meeting dates somewhat haphazard.

Having the Bulletin produced professionally was considered at one stage in the 1970s, but the purchase of a second-hand type-writer (for the then not inconsiderable sum of £15), was agreed. It was only in 1988 that a decision was taken to use photo-copying to reproduce the Bulletin. This allowed the introduction of some illustrations and advertisements produced by others, and as the first computers became available the quality was gradually improved. For four years in the late 1990s the Society owned a second-hand photo-copying machine, which kept costs well down, but after some 250,000 copies had been produced, it was decided that it was beyond economic repair, and a decision was taken to have the copying done professionally.

Finally, in 1999 the latest computer technology was purchased and with the desk-top publishing software included, this allowed a professional-looking document to be produced. The possibility of sending some members the Bulletin by e-mail was talked about towards the end of 2000, but this had not happened by the new millennium, as it proved a little more complicated than had been anticipated and few members had the appropriate software to receive it. Certainly a positive response from only 13 members out of c550 killed the project over-night, although the possibility of using the website Yahoo Group system was looked into in late 2003. The Bulletins give a good picture of the month-by-month functioning of the Society, but there are few complete sets known to exist. A major part, perhaps the most important part, of every Bulletin has been the comprehensive Bird Notes, much more detailed than in the newsletters of many similar groups. This was of course made possible by the regular submission of records by the general membership, but its form was discussed more than once, with occasional pleas for a discursive view of the month's birds. It only settled into a steady format in about 1969, when a monthly 'highlights' was followed by a systematic list, and this has remained the accepted format.

The overall responsibility for producing the Bulletin has been carried out by:

Richard Appleby

Tony Davison

David Haslam

Steve Shaw 1994-date

The Bird Notes Editors have been:

Rodney W. Key 1967-89

Anthony P. Messeenger 1989-91

Martin Roome 1991-95

Mick Lacey 1995-97

Mark Beevers 1997-99

Bryan A. Barnacle 1999-date

The variation of size of Membership of the Society has at times been difficult to understand. It was at its peak in the mid-1980s [the 1986 AGM had "over 600" reported to it] but fell off most markedly in the early 1990s. However, following a strong recruitment campaign mounted by the Publicity Sub-committee, together with the strategy of offering sixteen month's membership for one year's subscription, membership began to recover. As the twentieth century drew to a close and the phenomenon of early-retirement and increased leisure time took hold, numbers remained at around 500, and by mid 2002 had topped the 550 mark. It is known that many more family members read the Bulletin and Annual Report than this, and a "true membership" figure could be regarded as about 700.

The possibility of a library was first suggested on 13th October 1962, as the Society owned a number of books, generously donated over many years. From 1975 to 1989 it was housed in Derby City Library, in two sections, one available to the general public and one to DOS members only. For a while books were taken to the various indoor meetings, but this seems to have stopped, presumably due to lack of interest. They were catalogued and moved to a member's private address in 1989 but despite being well publicised, borrowing of these has hardly ever been something members seem to have wanted. Their sale was discussed at various times, but possible legal difficulties under the various bequests meant that a decision on the matter has been had to be deferred. The books were held at Derby Library until c1973 and then at David Amedro's, Martin Roome's and recently Andrew Hattersley's.

The financial position of the Society has not always been as satisfactory as would have been wished, but thanks to the hard work of individuals, no crisis-point was ever reached, although the accounts indicate a loss and the end of some years. This prompted the proposal that subscriptions be increased from time to time, sometimes with counter-proposals that costs (and standards) should be cut instead. The subscription rates during the lifetime of the Society have been as follows: 1954:10/- (50p) 1970:£1 1975:£1.50 1976:£2 1981:£4 1987:£6 1991:£8 1993:£10 2004:£12. It is interesting to note that had the subscription rate been increased in line with (say) the Retail Price Index, they would have stood at about £45 by 2004.

Life membership was proposed on 21st November 1957 at the rate of £10 - excellent value for anyone who took advantage of it. This was later abandoned as it was realised that it was a costly idea as the years went on. Some donations were received from time to time, and revenue from advertising, both in the Derbyshire Bird Report and the monthly Bulletin helped to finance these publications, as did the considerable amount earned from sale of the DBR to non-members through local bookshops, and the kind donations of the Bird Races participants. The financial position of the Society was dramatically improved when the first monies were received for the carrying out of 'professional' survey work in the mid 1990s. This made the Society so financially stable that it was able to avoid an increase in subscription rates for ten years up to 2003, but in June 2003 the Committee voted to increase subscriptions to £12, keeping the Junior rate at £5, to encourage the younger members. Sale a data off the computer database (sometimes referred to as DORIS - Derbyshire Ornothological Records and Information Servce) to firms carrying out ecological impact assessments and surveys has also raised considerable funds. These have ensured the financial stability of the DOS for the foreseeable future.

This was the subject of a comprehensive article in the Derbyshire Bird Report 2000, [page 131].

The Website was worked on for a considerable time, almost single-handedly by Dave Richardson, and came on line on 1st June 2001. It quickly proved a popular site receiving over 60000 'hits' by late 2004. Dave worked hard to constantly up-date and improve it. It helped immensely to promote the Society [some members joining on-line] and to provide a service, not least letting members and other birders know of the birds seen in the county. Several members, such as Rodney Key, made a significant contribution to it. Almost overnight the site eliminated the need to set up a "Bird-line" telephone service.

By the end of 2003 many Committee Members were using e-mail, making the dissemination of information about the Society's work, contributions to the Bulletin and the Annual Report, and not least, exchanging information about the Avifauna, quick, cheap and easy. It has already become difficult to imagine how the DOS could function without it.

These featured in the Society's activities from the very start, and were an important aspect of the DOS for many years. But all was not well; the minutes of the 8th AGM for example, recording "surprisingly field meetings had been poorly supported", and over the years this aspect of the Society's activities has fluctuated in its success.

Over seventy venues have been visited, however, including most of the major sites of ornithological interest within a day's travel of Derbyshire. Some short breaks to Scotland were organized, and in the early sixties a very ambitious trip by 'plane was mounted to Holland and a sea-trip on the "Yorkshire Belle". The local hot-spots were not neglected and all Derbyshire's, and the adjacent counties', most interesting sites have been visited. But it seemed that bird-watchers preferred to gain information from the various 'pager' systems which became available in the 1990s, and latterly, off the Internet, and go in their own transport to where the rarer birds could be found, rather than spending many hours on a coach. So, from 1996 "away-day" trips were ended due to lack of demand and the ever-mounting cost of coach and mini-bus hire due to various new regulations. However, 2002 saw a revival under the leadership of Paul Dexter, with an experimental trip to The Brecks, and 2003 saw a repeat of this success. The local trips, with members using their own transport, remained reasonably popular and some were well attended. Over 300 species have been recorded on well over 400 filed meetings.

In the early years the problems of finding suitable venues for meetings seemed to be constant. The minutes of meetings endlessly refer to "why not try here" and "what about there". Derbyshire is a difficult county in which to organise an entirely acceptable set of meetings venues, being split by the Pennines, which are always a potential winter (when the meetings take place) travel hazard. Meetings have been held mainly in Derby and at places along the eastern side of the county, such as Alfreton and Ripley where the majority of members live, together with some at Bakewell and Buxton, and in the north-east, at Chesterfield.

One meeting in each month from October to March has been the norm since 1994, although September and April meetings were held for many years, and September has recenytly been reinstated. Speakers have been a mixture of National, local and the Society's own members, and although meetings have sometimes been poorly attended, the average over many years has made this a very worthwhile and important aspect of the Society's activities. These presentations were talks, generally illustrated by film in the early years or slides more recently (very occasionally with audio content). There have also been two videos shown. It should be mentioned that, in the early years, meetings were sometimes announced in the Bulletin without further mention that they had taken place, but with the speaker and subject being mentioned later, perhaps indicating that the original meeting was postponed. A small charge for entrance to Indoor Meetings was introduced in the early 1990s to defray the ever-mounting cost of providing speakers. But for this nominal charge, those attending received free tea, coffee and biscuits.

Dinners were held for many years and were often long drawn out affairs, on Saturdays, sometimes beginning as early as 3pm and not finishing until 11pm. One Committee in the mid-sixties had the minutes record that ". . . a few small snags were that some people had little tea"! Never mind about the birds, as long as there's enough tea! This aspect of the Society's activities gradually fell out of favour, and the last Annual Dinner was held in 1987, when 40 members attended. It was, in effect, replaced by the Members' Evening, introduced in 1986. with contributions from the Society's own members. This proved a popular event with members contributing food, slide-shows, quizzes, raffle prizes etc. and was usually combined with the DOS Award presentation. It has persisted to the present time.

These have always been a most important feature of the Society's activities and details may be found in the Derbyshire Bird Report for the appropriate year. They have generally been organised by the Field Officer. Those holding that post have been: Philip Shooter 1973-80, Geoff P. Mawson 1981-84, Richard R. M. James 1985-89, Anthony P. Messenger 1990, Brian Foster 1991-2004.

The Breeding Birds Survey of 1995-99 lead directly on to the writing of a new county Avifauna. For the history and details of this see THE BIRDS of DERBYSHIRE when it is published.

The DOS has had generally good relations with almost 50 other similar groups within the county and in adjacent counties. Some of these have sent in vital records for many years, but sadly formal representation on the DOS Committee by these groups has ended in some cases in recent years; and then more recently they have re-joined. From the mid-1990s a concerted effort was made to form stronger links with the Ornithological Societies of the neighbouring counties and three successful meetings were held to this end. However, a National Forum of many clubs and organisations held in Birmingham really made these redundant in 2004.

Taking part in the annual 'Bird Races', organised on a national basis, not only generated interest in the Society's activities but also raised a good deal of money; some of this was earmarked for particular improvements to the Society, for example colour plates in the Derbyshire Bird Report, while much found its way into conservation projects, both at home and abroad. Sponsorship was by many individuals as well as corporate sponsors. Latterly, some teams gained national recognition with substantial prizes. Details of their expoits can be found in various Bulletin articles.

Originally instituted by a former Chairman, Frank Constable, and bearing the title 'The Frank Constable Award' this feature of the Society's year had been allowed to lapse for some years, but was resurrected in 1988. The idea was to encourage and reward young members of the Society in what ever field they had chosen to help the Society, but it was always understood that it would not be awarded to a serving Committee Member. It was generously funded by Frank until 1991 when for one year it was financed by an anonymous donor (when it was re-titled The DOS Award) then in subsequent years by Barry Potter. It has been awarded every year since, except 1992 and 2003. Some 15 members of the Society have been presented with this Award, some of whom sadly left the Society shortly afterwards.

This has been organised for a considerable number of years by Mick Muddiman, who sadly left the Committee in 2003, but agreed to remain the Society's photographic advisor. Apart from the hand-written Minute Books (one of which is missing covering the period up to October 1985), very little in the way of archival material exists. One piece which came to light in 2002 was submitted by founder-member and ex-Recorder, David Wilson. This is his receipt for his subscription dated 18th December 1954. David wrote on the reproduction which he kindly sent to the Society: "I was the original (first) Life Member, but when receipts were sent out mine was No2 [the Treasurer having issued No1 to himself !!]." David makes no further comment !

The invaluable contribution made by many individuals to many aspects of making the DOS function over many years is far too large to catalogue, but the Society would certainly have ceased to function had it not been for their help: they are all sincerely thanked.

Top of Page