CHAIRMAN'S REPORT

Chairman’s Report 2007

It is hard to believe that it is twelve months since we gathered here for the last Annual General meeting at this excellent and welcoming venue.  We are grateful to the Minister and the congregation of Drumnadrochit Church of Scotland for allowing us the use of this Hall and its facilities. We are also grateful to the ladies for providing us again with a wonderful array of goodies to follow our sandwiches.

It has been another interesting and busy year in the life of HDR.  Our scooters are still giving cause for concern, and your committee has had to try to arrange a programme that does not put excessive stress on them.  The Shire scooter, which was bought last year with a grant from SNH and the generous assistance of City Mobility, proved to be unfit for our purpose, and has been returned to the manufacturer.  However, with the ongoing help of City Mobility we have replaced it with a Mini-Crosser, a very robust Swedish-made machine.

During the last year we have visited the Newtonmore Folk Museum, the Highland Game Fair at Moy, and have rambled alongside the River Nairn from its mouth, in company with Highland Council Ranger, John Orr.   We have been to Portmahomack, Fort Augustus, and on yet another visit to the Brahan Estate, Dingwall.

We had a tea at the Floral Hall and then in the company of Katy Martin, the Highland Council Ranger, we walked round the Ness Islands at dusk.  With the aid of bat detectors we could hear just how much activity there was in the bat world.  

We held a quiz night at the North Kessock Hotel, which included a very good meal and was enjoyed by many members and our friends and - thanks to Bill and Linda  - by half of North Kessock!   Our thanks go to Peggie for her hard work in setting up the quiz and for Rita who was MC.  A large raffle also helped to benefit our funds.

Our Christmas ramble took us from the Muirtown Basin to the seaward end of the Caledonian Canal, and involved the HDR using an unmanned level crossing for the first time.  Having safely negotiated that, we headed off to the Old North Inn at Inchmore for our Christmas lunch.

So far in 2007, we have visited Lochluichart Estate, Dingwall and Ferry Point with Highland Ranger Martin Hind and SNH’s Cattie Anderson.  This ramble was accomplished with the help of a friendly digger driver who saw us safely down a large pavement curb.  A few weeks ago we enjoyed a visit to Arbriachan , when Katy Martin stepped in at the last minute to be our guide.

As Chairman, I would like to express my thanks, and also yours, to our Management Committee for their hard work.  Martin has shuffled the pack to ensure that we always have drivers to deliver the scooters from the garage to the starting point of our rambles.  Rita has efficiently looked after the scooter bookings, Peter has looked after the finances and Margaret has ably recorded the Minutes.  Sadly during the year, we had to accept the resignation from the committee of Linda McCreight on health grounds.  Linda and her husband Bill are stalwart members, and have organised the raffle on most of our rambles. They have also run a book and video exchange, all with the aim of raising funds for HDR. 

City Mobility continues to help us by covering the costs of publishing and its distribution of our newsletter Rambling On….   Stuart Hendry and Andy Kennard at City Mobility also arranged a morning when the committee members were able to try out a number of different scooters on a steep and damp track above Craig Dunain.  As a result of this, we were able to identify the Mini Crosser, which I have already mentioned,  as one of  the machines which we would like to be at the top of our shopping list when we come to replace the Meteor fleet.  We send our thanks to Stuart, Andy and their entire team for their unfailing support over a number of years.

Everyone here knows that HDR owes a debt of gratitude to Michael and Marian Findon.  Without them there would be no HDR.  However, they now feel that the time has come, after 7 years, for them to step down and enjoy the pleasures of straightforward membership of HDR, ie simply enjoying the rambles in the company of others.  This is taking effect from today, and means that we have to look very closely at the future of HDR.  The committee has produced a mission statement, and we have already produced a draft application for funding. 

Elspeth Kennedy, who is a retired Forestry Commission Ranger and Allan Lemon have agreed to join the committee and to take on some of the work which Michael has been doing over the years.  Thankfully Michael will continue to be available for advice. 

There is still a great deal of work to be divided up between the committee members, and we apologise if, in the next few months, HDR does not run as smoothly as it has done in the past.  I am sure you will all join with me in extending to Michael and Marian our heartfelt thanks for all the work they have done.  Don’t forget the analogy of the swan swimming in a fast flowing stream. It looks wonderfully peaceful and serene, yet the underwater camera shows the furious activity that is taking place underneath so that the swan can stay in the same place.  I am sure that we do not know the half of what they have done.  I suspect that the committee will keep on finding just how much that is in the months ahead.  They have brought a great deal of pleasure into the lives of many, not simply by arranging rambles and setting up HDR, but simply by being the kind of people they are.  The committee members know that they have a hard act to follow.

In conclusion, we want you all to understand that we do not want to be a remote committee. Please bring your suggestions and comments to any committee member; suggestions for future rambles, for other activities, about policy, or any other thing.  This is not the committee’s HDR. HDR belongs to its members.  With the departure of Michael and Marian from the committee, the committee will need all the help it can get. The most important help it can get is the help of the members.

Sheelagh Mosley