Peter Chappell will very soon complete what is now over 40 years' work of looking after our club. Members are invited to come and drink a toast to him this coming Sunday evening (5 September) in the main pavilion. Peter will be there from around 5, with a small presentation due at around 5.30.
After being Brondesbury Sports Club groundsman for over 40 years, Peter Chappell has decided to retire this summer. Peter will continue to perform his duties until a successor commences, probably in September or October.
Nobody else comes close to Peter’s experience of serving the club. We all owe him a debt of gratitude and wish him all the best. In my own time at the club I have always found Peter to be friendly and helpful, and that is the experience of everyone I have spoken to. We will arrange an occasion to toast his future before he goes!
Club News? But the Club has been closed for weeks – what news can there be? Indeed, nothing urgent, so if you have better things to do, please get right on with them.
But behind the closed gates, life still moves on, and you might be interested in this update on what’s happening. For example, as part of an effort to make members more attuned to the Club being one for three sports, not only the one covered by your particular section, Club News should now be going automatically to all Tennis, Cricket and Squash members.
You will possibly have noticed a singular lack of action on the car park. You have to take my word for it that it is more complicated than it might seem. We need to consider the interaction with the planning permission for the new court – the one that was to be on the bowling green, but which now we may delay or not go ahead with, not to mention the planning for the floodlights on tennis courts 1-3 which (oddly) could affect things. Notwithstanding, I am now working with Martin Rizk to see if we can arrange for resurfacing of the current car park as is, possibly expanded slightly, and do so before the cricket season starts in (we hope!) May. No promises.
Cricket, having managed just half a season last year, is of course in the winter lull anyway. Hopefully our members are buoyed up by the stunning English test victory, and will be inspired to achieve even greater success in 2021. (I realise that other clubs could be similarly inspired, but we must Root for our own side. Now there’s an idea…) Some remedial work should begin soon to correct minor issues on the cricket nets. The outfield has been thoroughly waterlogged with all the recent rains, and we would have had to cancel Schools’ use – were it not that nobody is at school! The Board has considered drainage works for the outfield, but the quotation proved to be prohibitive.
The planning application for floodlights on Courts 1-3 went in last week. You can easily view it on the Barnet website; just search for ‘Harman’ within planning applications. Why would you do want to do that? Because it is a surprisingly good read! All sorts of detail about modern floodlighting and lack of light ‘spill’ to neighbours, how the floodlights will be used (timing and other restrictions), power usage – a mine of information. We can reasonably hope for approval, but it will take time, so I guess we are looking at installation in time for next winter.
Tennis remains at a standstill, of course, and we should have particular sympathy for our superb coaches whose whole livelihood is suspended. The papers suggest a return to singles play at the end of March, but it’s all guesswork at the moment. I’m afraid that is unlikely to extend to squash, which has been affected so badly by being an indoor sport. I hope that meanwhile members are well and managing to keep fit (excluding those who regularly beat me on court, for whom I can recommend some excellent TV series to watch all day).
A MESSAGE FROM THE CLUB PRESIDENT
Dear all
With great regret, following the government announcement on Tuesday evening, the Club is closed with immediate effect until further notice.
We all hope that the vaccines will see the back of this awful virus, but it will take time. Until we can meet again, best wishes from everyone in Club management and we wish you and your families well.
Richard Abramson
Dear Brondesbury members,
Wishing all members, staff and coaches a wonderful festive season and a happy and healthy 2021.
We would also like to take this opportunity to remind members that the Club House and Tennis Pavilion will be closed on 25th, 26th December and on 1st January.
At the AGM on November 29, Martyn will be taking us through the accounts on screen. There is therefore no necessity to download them but you may wish to do so. Two documents are available for members to view/download:
- The 2020 AGM agenda
- The 2020 accounts
To access these, log on to the Brondesbury website, click on documents -> club documents -> AGM.
As a reminder, the link for the AGM, commencing at 6pm, is below.
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82837762683?pwd=WXEvVTVpVnJHUGpFUTQ1ZWd0OFpmUT09
Meeting ID: 828 3776 2683
Passcode: 589625
The Club’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) will take place on Sunday 29th November 2020 at 6pm. Due to the pandemic the meeting will take place via video conferencing (Zoom). As well as Club matters such as the President’s and Treasurer’s reports, it is an opportunity to hear an update from Tennis, Cricket and Squash on their activities over the past (very difficult!) year.
The Zoom link will be as follows:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82837762683?pwd=WXEvVTVpVnJHUGpFUTQ1ZWd0OFpmUT09
Meeting ID: 828 3776 2683
Passcode: 589625
Phone in: 0203 901 7895
The Club Officer roles have to be approved at each AGM. There are currently individuals proposed for each of these roles, as set out below.
| Position | Current | Candidate | Proposed | Seconded |
| President | Richard Abramson | Richard Abramson | Beverley Bamford | Martyn Webb |
| Hon. Secretary | Lara Greenfield | Lara Greenfield | Beverley Bamford | Adrian Fletcher |
| Hon. Treasurer | Martyn Webb | Marina Heritier | Richard Abramson | Edward Ben-Nathan |
| Cricket Director | Bob Baxter | Bob Baxter | James Overy | Beverley Bamford |
| Squash Director | Vacant | Adrian Fletcher | Laura Rakos | Adam Lennox |
| Tennis Director | Beverley Bamford | Beverley Bamford | Edward Ben-Nathan | Martin Rizk |
Should any other member wish to be considered for a Club Officer position, they should advise me by Sunday 15th November along with the names of two members to propose and second the nomination.
Meanwhile, if you have any questions or require any additional information please don’t hesitate to contact me on [email protected].
Kind regards
Lara Greenfield
Secretary
Message from Richard Abramson, Club President
I am so sorry to once again announce the closure of the Club with effect from this Thursday, 5 November. Members will no doubt be aware that this a government requirement as part of the new lockdown. Arguments have been and are being put that singles tennis should be allowed, but so far the government has held firm that no exceptions will be allowed.
We will be in touch again once activities can resume. Meanwhile I hope that everyone keeps up their spirits and their exercise. (The amount of exercise needed might depend on the quantity of spirits involved.)
With best wishes
Richard