After a poor attendance for Chairman Richard’s first meeting in September there was a good turnout for the October meeting with the dining room of Castle by the Sea full to bursting with 24 members and 5 guests in attendance.
Was this enthusiasm to hear the stirring words of Chairman Richard or even Vice Chairman Simon? Or had the members heard that there would be no report from Secretary Mike who had tendered his apologies?
No the real reason was that Catering Officer John had arranged an after dinner talk by local art expert Andrew Clay on the Scarborough paintings of the Victorian painter John Atlinson-Grimshaw affectionately known as Grimmy as we subsequently discovered.
Castle by the Sea was a new venue with amazing views of the North Bay even at night. This was an apt venue for a talk on the Leeds born artist who had rented the property for 2 years while he painted what are collectively known as his Scarborough paintings. Prints of the paintings even adorned the walls of the dining room.
In the absence of a convenient hostelry members and guests had gathered in the Castle by the Sea bar and were happily enjoying the view and a few drinks when they were disturbed by the Vice Chairman who was anxious to begin the meeting so that the evening’s business could be dealt with before the meal was served. Reluctantly everyone vacated the bar and took their seats in the dining room complete with a very ornate fireplace.
After welcoming the guests including the guest speaker the Chairman invited the Vice Chairman to provide a report on the final arrangements for the 70th Charter Night on 21 March 2026 following a meeting of the Charter Night Organising Committee only for the members to overrule the Committee passing a resolution fixing the ticket price for the event at £40.00 per head.
The Vice Chairman was more successful in obtaining a resolution to donate £250.00 from the monies raised at the Charter Night to the National President’s chosen charity Andymansclub. The National President will of course be a guest at the Charter Night.
The Catering Officer reminded members that the November meeting was on 27 November being the last Thursday in the month and would be a Chinese Banquet at TOPS Chinese Restaurant on Falsgrave Road. The meeting includes partners. The usual apology rules will apply to members with provision on the website to provide details of partners who will be attending the event.
Despite the absence of the Secretary he still managed to give a report via Treasurer Iain confirming that the members of RoundTable were due to hold a meeting to decide whether or not to run Santa’s Sleigh in December.
With the business finished the Chairman invited the Treasurer to say grace which he did albeit with the need of some prompting from other members. Following the meal the Chairman introduced Andrew Clay who gave an interesting and informative talk on the Scarborough paintings of Grimmy complete with images of some of his Scarborough paintings and by way of comparison several other artists.
At the end of the talk Andrew took questions from several members and guests before the Chairman gave a vote of thanks with members invited to express their appreciation in the usual way.
The meeting concluded at the unusually late time of 10.30pm with a toast to RTBI.
During the evening it was noted that the Chairman’s xylophone was missing. Does this mean that the Chairman’s chain of office has also gone missing for the second time in less than a year?
Arts correspondent
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