Society meetings on hold until September

THE Newbury Society has announced it is cancelling all 2021 meetings until September, due to the coronavirus crisis.

The January edition of the society’s regular Bulletin tells members: “Now we are into 2021, and taking stock.

“To date, 176 people have died across West Berkshire of Covid19. The beginning of the change has been the arrival of vaccinations, which started locally this month at Newbury Racecourse, with nine surgeries working together, supported by volunteers.”

However, the announcement continued: “It looks as if it will still be some time before we can meet up again in person.

“The committee has decided to cancel meetings until September, by which time we hope that we will be able to meet at St John’s Church Room, as before.

“We have discussed possibilities for last year’s AGM [annual general meeting], but I am not confident about the skills or the hardware to hold it online (and I may not be the only one), so we shall send reports through to the Charity Commission and present a summary to the AGM this autumn, along with this year’s reports.”

The Bulletin contains a report on the funeral service for Bernard Eggleton, which was held on January 14 at St Nicolas’ Church, Newbury.

Mr Eggleton was a former Newbury town councillor, history teacher, committed Christian and lifetime Newburian who died on December 15 last year.

The Bulletin also reports that The Newbury Society has submitted its response to the “emerging draft” of the West Berkshire Local Plan 2020-2037.