New Chairman for the Trust
The Trust’s Annual General Meeting on 11 November saw the retirement of Eric Braim, who had been our dedicated honorary secretary for over 40 years. Taking over the the chair is John Holmes, previously vice-chairman of the Trust, and taking over Eric’s role as secretary is Archie Sinclair, our chairman for the last 28 years. We hope that the re-shuffle can be a “seamless” change.
Archie thanked Eric for his loyal service to the Trust, his dedication to local architectural and social history, and to getting things right. His research into local streets, spaces, architects and their buildings is a wealth of information. It has already been widely used by others, and will continue to be a wonderful resource in the future. Many of his display boards on local buildings were on show at the Local History Fair in September.
Eric was presented with a recent book by architect Ptolemy Dean, Britain’s Buildings, Places and Spaces, a collection of pen and wash sketches. Eric, never one for any fuss, thanked the Trust and was sure it would be in good hands.
Outgoing chairman Archie Sinclair remarked that Eric’s service amounted almost to a career of some 40 years, and, had it been paid and not voluntary, he could have now retired on a full pension. But he was pleased with the book.
After the AGM business, members enjoyed a talk with slides by Colin Bycroft, where he compared images of the town photographed by Luke Bagshaw in the early part of the 20th century to the same views he had taken recently. “The Vanishing Streets of Doncaster” was a very interesting look at the impact of changes to parts of the town mostly in the 1960s and 70s. Comprehensive re-development and dual carriageways were usually behind the vanishing of the streets.