Our Events

Biennial General Meeting

Dear Members,

I give notice that our 2023 Biennial General Meeting will be held on Saturday 9 September 2023 at 10.30am in the Music Room of The Storey Building, Meeting House Lane, Lancaster LA1 1TH.

Full details of the timetable and agenda are after this introduction.

We are looking forward to a good turnout from members as this will be our most ambitious programme to date. Not only will the day include the BGM but also a speaker and visit to Lancaster Castle and Lancashire Police Museum have been arranged. As the Police Museum is normally open only on Thursdays and Fridays, we are encouraging members to make the most of this unique opportunity on a Saturday to visit this historic castle when guided tours will be available.

A cold buffet lunch will be provided at only £15 which we are subsidising for members and their guests. May I take this opportunity to thank you for your continuing support. Our membership is vital to our cause, not least as an avenue for the important message that the Historic/Traditional County of Lancashire still exists, and that no legislation has ever been enacted to abolish it or to amend its geography.

Yours sincerely Philip Walsh

Chairman

Email: chairman@forl.co.uk

Friends of Real Lancashire 2023 Biennial General meeting

Date: Saturday 9 September.

Venue: Music Room at The Storey, Meeting House Lane, Lancaster LA1 1TH.

Access: There is wheelchair access via the lift to the Music Room on the first floor. Hearing loops installed, Assistance dogs welcome (which must be marked as assistance dogs as no other dogs allowed in the building).

There is no parking on site, nearest spaces are 200 metres from venue at Dallas Road Car Park or disabled on-street parking in the city centre.

Taxis may drop off and pick-up at the building entrances.

 

Location: The venue is 5 minutes’ walk from Lancaster Railway Station and 10 minutes from Lancaster Bus Station.

Train: Regular Avanti West Coast, Northern and TransPennine Express trains all stop at Lancaster.

Bus: Regular services from Preston, Blackpool, Morecambe, Heysham, Knott End, Carnforth, Keswick, Kendal, Kirkby Lonsdale, Skipton, Hawes , Settle & Bentham.

Car: We recommend you check car parks on the Lancaster City Council Website. https://www.lancaster.gov.uk/parking/car-parks

By far the cheapest option if travelling by car, is to use the Park and Ride Facility. The site is located at the junction of Caton Road with the M6 J34 Sliproad offering an ideal location to those travelling to Lancaster to park outside the City Centre and finish their journey by bus. The Sat Nav Postcode is LA2 9HG

There are 650 spaces available on the park and ride site. Buses travel between the site and the city centre. Car parking is free but the Bus return fare is only £1.70. A bus pass may be used after 9.30pm for free travel. The best stop for The Storey and Lancaster Castle (just a 5 minute walk) is China Street outside Atkinson’s Coffee Shop or the bus station which is further down the hill. https://www.lancashire.gov.uk/roads-parking-and-travel/public-transport/park-and-ride/

Refreshments Tea and Coffee will be served on arrival.

A Cold Buffet lunch is provided with and Lunch sliced and cured meats | sliced applewood & Emmental cheese | savouries | hummus, mixed raw vegetables & pickled gherkins |artisan breads | sourdough crackers | dressed mixed salad. Drinks. All refreshments have been subsidised by FORL.

The cost is just £15 each. Payment on booking please.

Booking: If you wish to attend the meeting, please contact our treasurer, William Lloyd, by email - enquiries@forl.co.uk, or phone 07960 762074 a.s.a.p and preferably before 26 August.

If space permits, guests may be admitted but only paid-up members of FORL may vote at the meeting.

The officers are willing to stand for re-election. There are vacancies on the committee, but, as there is no restriction on its number, we invite those who are interested to signify an expression of interest to the chairman. Philip Walsh, Chairman Email: chairman@forl.co.uk Phone: 07486 687879

Timetable:

10.00am. Arrival, informal chats with members and refreshments. The FORL shop will be open.

10.30am. BGM

1. Welcome

2. Secretary’s Report

3. Treasurer’s Report

4. Chairman’s Report

5. Election of Members to the Committee

6. Question and Answer Session

11.30am Speaker: Steve Williams, who will give an entertaining illustrated talk on “Unsung Lancastrians”.

12.30pm Talk about Lancaster Castle

1.00pm Lunch

1.45pm Visit to the Castle including Police Museum.

It is the first day of Heritage week and the castle is likely to be busy. Guided tours run throughout the day on a first-come-first served basis. However, our Chairman, Philip Walsh and a retired Prison Officer (both volunteers at the Police Museum) will be on hand as guides to the museum and the former prison wings.

Unfortunately, there is currently no wheelchair access to the Police Museum.

The Priory Church next to the castle will also be open.

3.30pm Finish, although you are free to stay later if you wish

Martin Philips Secretary Email: liverpool.lancashire@hotmail.co.uk

The Storey, formerly the Storey Institute, is a multi-purpose building located at the corner of Meeting House Lane and Castle Hill in Lancaster. Its main part is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II listed building, with its back entrance being listed separately, also at Grade II.

The building was constructed between 1887 and 1891 as a replacement for the Lancaster Mechanic's Institute, to commemorate Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee. It was paid for by Thomas Storey, a local businessman who had been mayor in the year of the Jubilee, and was renamed the Storey Institute in his honour in 1891.

Its purpose was "the promotion of art, science, literature, and technical instruction". The building was designed by the architects Paley, Austin and Paley whose office stood nearby. It contained a reading room, a library, a lecture room, a laboratory, a music room, a picture gallery, a school of art, and accommodation for a caretaker.

The building cost about £12,000 (equivalent to £1,390,000 in 2021).

Over the years, the building has housed the City Art Gallery, the public library, a girls’ grammar school, and from the 1950s to 1982, Lancaster College of Art. The art collection was moved in 1968 to Lancaster City Museum. By the 1980s the gallery was rarely used, but in 1991 a group of local artists re-established it as the Storey Gallery, and delivered a continuous programme of over 100 exhibitions of contemporary art until 2013.

In 1998 the walled gardens behind the institute were laid out as an artwork, The Tasting Garden, by Mark Dion. In the early 21st century the institute was converted into a multi-use building by Lancaster City Council, and was renamed The Storey. It has provided accommodation for small businesses, a café, galleries and exhibitions areas, workshops, and an information centre. The architects were Mason Gillibrand Architects of Caton.

2023 Biennial General meeting BOOKING FORM

Name………………………………………………………………………………………

Address…………………………………………………………………………………..

……………………………………………………………………………………………….

………………………………………………………Postcode ………………………. Phone…………………………………..

Email……………………………………….. Names of patrons, members / guests attending

………………………………………………… ……………………………………………….. Please tell us if you have mobility or dietary restrictions. Lunch with refreshments on arrival is £15. Please pay when booking.

Please contact William Lloyd by email - enquiries@forl.co.uk, or phone 07960 762074 a.s.a.p and preferably before 26 August. He will advise for payment.

Monday 24 July 2023 03:10 pm Share this: