The AGM of the National Traction Engine Trust will be held on Saturday 15th November at the Grocott Heritage Centre Brookdale, Station Road, Prees, Whitchurch, Shropshire, SY13 2DW. and virtually as a Zoom webinar, commencing at 2.30pm.
Formal notice of the meeting, along with the Agenda, Reports & Accounts, together with the names of those
standing for election and a voting form, has been distributed with the Autumn issue of Steaming.
There will be no ‘live’ online voting although attendees in the meeting itself are able to vote on the day.
Members are encouraged to exercise their votes by submitting their ballot forms either electronically or by post in advance of the meeting. The results will be announced during the AGM. A voting form is published in the AGM Booklet. If submitting by email, please use the form and scan it as an attachment. Please return it by Wednesday 13th November via the postal address stated in the booklet, or email it to: general.secretary@ntet.co.uk
The Albrighton Hall and Spa, Ellesmere Rd, Albrighton, Shrewsbury, SY4 3AG.
Reservations: 01939 733109
Dinner will take place here at 7pm for 7.30pm on Saturday 15th November (See below to book)
The hotel has a free car park.
We have a special rate – please quote NTET when booking. The special rate only applies to rooms booked more than three weeks in advance.
£125 per night Bed and Breakfast – double room.
£117 per night Bed and Breakfast – single room.
The Albrighton Hall and Spa, Saturday 15th November, 7pm for 7.30pm.
Starter
Main Course
Dessert
Tea & Coffee served after the meal.
Please email your choices to treasurer@ntet.co.uk or complete the online form.
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeA0OxL4xarp8n2ExCSnoYJVWharW6GKBtzHwy3ohlqSDunqw/viewform?usp=sf_link
PAYMENT
Please return menu choices and payment of £40 per head no later than Saturday 1st November 2025
Payment ideally by BACS:
Name: National Traction Engine Trust
Account number: 97898473
Sort code: 56-00-60
Please put “AGM” and your surname as a reference
Alternatively please post a cheque with the menu choices to:
Amy Reynolds, Virginia Cottage, Upper Vobster, Radstock, ВАЗ 5SA
SATURDAY
Grocott Heritage Centre Brookdale, Station Road, Prees, Whitchurch, Shropshire SY13 2DW.
Established in 2023, the Grocott Heritage Centre, showcases the 76-year history of the former storage and distribution company Grocontintental, which was owned by three generations of the Grocott family until 2017.
If you wish to attend with an engine, please contact Tony Seddon.
The centre and cafe will be open from 10am – car parking is limited, so do please try and lift share and park sensibly. Next to the exhibition is a café, The Old Piggery, Brookdale.
The AGM itself will be held at the Grocott Heritage Centre.
SUNDAY
Will be a very interesting visit to and the “Sentinel” Waggon Works meet at 10am at the waggon works. Parking in Morrisons car park. (Whitchurch Rd, Shrewsbury SY1 4DL)
1. President’s Welcome – Andrew Semple
The President welcomed all to the meeting and commented it was marvellous to see a great turnout.
2.1 Chairman’s Welcome – Rob Clifford-Wing
The Chairman welcomed all to the meeting and thanked everyone for taking the time to join us.
2.2. Apologies received from:
Anne Preston MBE, John Hunt, Steve Durrance, Robert Herring, Martin Clarke, Anthony Coulls, Andy Smith, James Wren-Davis, Della Fagg, Ben Brown, Jack Ayland, Roger Page, Mike Deering.
3. Minutes of the previous Annual General Meeting held on 18th November 2023
Approval of the minutes was proposed by Rob Clifford Wing, seconded by Anne Whittingstall, and was accepted by a vote of 35.
3.1. Matters Arising from the previous minutes.
No matters arising.
4. To Receive the Chairman’s Report – Rob Wing
As your Chair I am pleased confirm the aims and objectives of our Trust remain unchanged over the past year, they are, to encourage and promote public interest in the preservation of historical steam powered road vehicles, fairground and agricultural equipment and, to promote safe operation, maintenance, repair and exhibition of such equipment by organising training programmes, publication of books and codes of practice and, by supporting skills development programmes for youngsters and adults.
The 2023 season saw a stabilising of events and there were signs of a new normal rising from the remnants of Covid-19. The previous closed years of lockdowns were totally disruptive to Rallies. Looking forward to the season just closing and the 2025 year, there appears to be an ever-increasing optimism across the movement. We must guard against underestimating the ‘long Covid’ effect that has plagued open air events. Fuels, whilst no longer being produced in South Wales are becoming more affordable, this will ease the overhead which in previous years was becoming impossible to bear.
The financial year which closed on 31st March 2024 saw a healthy operating year’s activities. The trading year produced a Surplus of £1,943 after postings to the Trust’s restricted funds. This surplus whilst modest indicates the Trust in on a sound financial footing, but continues to face inflating overhead costs. I don’t propose to say much more on the accounts as Treasurer Amy will deliver a full report later in this Meeting.
The only Section Leaders to report to the Meeting in full will be our Treasurer Amy and Engine Owners Chair Bob. Detailed accounts for the year were shared with members in the booklet included with the latest copy of Steaming if you haven’t seen a copy there are ones available in the room. Other section leaders’ written reports are included within the AGM booklet.
The Chairman shared the three words that the GC chose as their focus some time ago: COMMUNICATION – COLLABORATION – REGULATION
The chosen three focuses will continue to be addressed in the forthcoming year. Communication remains a primary concern for Trustees. I would like to thank the ‘comms group’ for its time and commitment focusing on the flow of information to members.
There is still a need for a Marketing/PR Trustee to head up this particularly important Trust work. To this end, we have retained a Marketing agency to fully understand the views of members, lapsed members and other folks from road steam and the wider steam family to get an idea of what members and others view are. The information from this study will shape the future for our communications with members and interested parties, be it traditional print, digital or social media based. The aspiration being to better communicate and to grow the Trust’s membership for the benefit of all and to focus on what the Trust can do to support non engine owning members.
One strong message from members was their appreciation of the new Steaming profile. We embarked on a programme to improve the magazine and with the help of Paul Ritchie and others we are well on the way with this journey.
The Trust continued to actively encourage collaboration with other likeminded organisations. A weather eye continued to be focused on potential changes in regulations which might affect Road Steam. This watching brief would remain a long-term commitment for the Trust.
Our membership has increase by 5% during the year, even with the impact of the loss of large events such as GDSF.
TSU lead by Tony Seddon with a focus on spreading the load following the sad loss of David Smith. Charlotte specifically has focused efforts in engaging with the authorities and as you have read in Charlottes’s report there has been much work done within this critical area of concern. Members will be aware of the passing of David Smith, Alan Holmes and the retirement of John Wye. This has left the Trust with gaps in its committee numbers, and a reduction in the Rally Authorisation cover, which we wish to restore it as soon as possible.
As a Trust we are proud to have supported over 7000 new entrants to our hobby, be they young or mature in age. This year we have continued to focus on growing this valuable section of the Trust. Without the support of Nick Bosworth sitting as interim Chair for many years we would not be in the position we are now. Likewise, Louise Maunder with her small committed band of volunteers has delivered over and above the impossible. Subject to their appointment later in this meeting I look forward to appointing a new Chair in Paul, supported by Gareth. Together this strengthened team will allow Nick to step back from the SAC and revert to ONLY doing all the other invaluable support he delivers for the Trust.
We are in discussions with organisers of Appleford to collaborate with their 75th celebrations of the first steam event which started the movement as we know it today. We hope this will prove to be a special event and weekend of celebrations.
Since I took the Chair and as a result of Covid-19, your General Council and sub committees have met on a monthly basis. This regularity of contact has served us well in keeping the momentum going on projects in hand.
The commitment Trustees give, in both their time and expertise is humbling. The loss of key former Trustees has challenged the Trust greatly. Sadly, we lost a number of skills and positions as I mentioned earlier.
Huge thanks to Tony Seddon and his TSU Team, Charlotte (law & regulation), Tom Atwood (fuels), John Durling (FBHVC), John Hunt (V765) who have picked up the challenge of running this newly formed Team.
Thanks also, to all the section leaders who work quietly and efficiently to deliver the Trust for its members and also extended to Keith Reynolds who has organised our visits over the weekend.
Finally, we are desperately short of support within the Trust. Please help us if you can!
My thanks to all members, be they Trustees, volunteers, engine owners or enthusiasts as without your support and commitment we would not exist today. We are a community and a family.
The chairman shared that in his family they have a saying “fish and family should stay for 3 days” and altered this to share that he has stayed for more than 3 years, almost at 5 and it is about time for someone else to take over.
The chairman thanked those present for listening to his report.
5. Questions from Section Head Reports
Engine Owners report – this was not included in the booklet, so please see below – BOB SENDING REPORT VIA EMAIL
Charlie Cribbes asked: with the Code of Practice, have we any impact from that? Bob- Yes, some areas are not relevant, but a lot of the experience of the boiler repairers, inspection companies and others’ knowledge is pulled together and published in a series of guidance notes which would be published in a 3 year cycle.
No further questions raised from the floor for the section head reports contained within the AGM Booklet.
Approval of Chairmans Report (to include the sub section reports) was proposed by Rob Clifford-Wing, seconded by Nick Bosworth and approved by the members votes of 36
6. To Receive the Full Accounts & Balance Sheet – Amy Reynolds
Looking back over the last 12 months, we have the new set of published accounts for 31 March 2024, which are audited and ready to file. During those 12 months we had a very large donation from the Estate of Shirley Capel, which came to us for safekeeping for a very specific legacy. It was to be donated to NTET to be used solely for the maintenance and upkeep of the archives of John Fowler & Co (Leeds) Ltd at the Reading University Rural History Centre. If this is not possible, the legacy is split between some other specific charities. Due to the specific nature of the gift, we could not accept the legacy unless we were 100% certain that it was something that we, as a trust, can do.
We explored the possibility of this project with Reading University and agreed terms: In 2024, the National Traction Engine Trust (NTET) and the Museum of English Rural Life (MERL) at Reading University announced a partnership enabled by the generous bequest from Shirley Capel, specifically designated for the maintenance and preservation of John Fowler records. The legacy, totalling £130,000, is to be allocated in stages, with each phase of funding supporting the archiving and digitisation of the remaining John Fowler records. To date, the first £19,000 has been put to use hiring an archivist, and work is well under way to scan and digitise engineering drawings. This staged approach, agreed upon by NTET and MERL, ensures compliance with the terms of the bequest, allowing for thorough, responsible preservation of these historically significant documents. This project honours Shirley Capel’s wishes and ensures the records will be accessible for future generations.
Other than that – it’s pretty much been business as usual with a few challenges! Direct debits continue to bed in – we need to stop the standing orders as we still have lots going through for much lower than the actual subs amount. We need to think about what we are going to use the cash for – and I will come back to this.
Turning to the statutory accounts, they cover the year to 31 March 2024. The profit was £139k – which is not a true profit due to the S Capel legacy that I mentioned previously. If we take that out, the actual profit was around £7.5k, of which costs covered by designated funds were £4,942 and £10,500 was transferred to designated funds for future use. Leaving a residual profit of just under £2k
Income was £83k, this was a decrease from 2022 of £10k primarily due to a large decrease in sales (the previous year having included GDSF 2022).
Direct costs were £54k, which is similar to 2023, made up of COS £21k and steaming/conferences /training £33k, leaving gross profit of £29k. This is a decrease from £38k in 2023 resulting primarily from the decrease in sales.
Operating costs were £42k, which is an increase in costs of £3k in 2023. The increases were general increases across a number of areas in Raising Steam, professional fees, milestone badges and AGM costs, offset by a decrease in website costs.
Other income was £152k which was a large increase of £106k on 2024 due to the large donation from S Capel Estate (remembering we had a c.£25k legacy last year as well) and an increase in interest income due to the general rise in interest rates. Out of the profits, transfers were made to dedicated funds of £1k to the SAC Burrell Project fund, £2k to Fuel & Environmental fund, £5k to SAC website development fund and £2.5k to the 75th anniversary fund.
The balance sheet shows our assets – trophies, stock of sales items, debtors (which are mostly prepayments) and cash, less our creditors at the year end, which consist primarily of payments received in advance re rally authorisation, supplier creditors outstanding at the year end and accruals. This gives a general fund of £83k, designated funds of £125k which are the funds where profit has been allocated for a specific use, and restricted funds of £165.5k, which are the funds specifically used for trophies and the new S Capel restricted fund. The reason this legacy has gone into a specific restricted fund is because of the specific instructions which came with the legacy which means it can only be used for that purpose.
Copies of the accounts are available on request.
6 months into the 2025 Financial year, and the results are looking healthy with a profit of £16k.
After investigating various types of investment portfolios that we could invest in, I proposed that we instead use high interest accounts which are currently giving a better income return than we would get from a low-risk portfolio investment. Therefore, during the last 6 months I have set up 3 separate high interest accounts – one with 35 days’ notice, one a 3-month bond and one a 12-month bond. Each account has the maximum amount covered by the financial compensation scheme – £85k, whilst still leaving sufficient liquid cash reserves in the current account to meet our ongoing costs and activities.
As I have mentioned in previous years, as a club we have a significant amount of cash in reserves, aside from the c.£130k which is of restricted use.
As a charitable organization we should always be considering how our cash can be invested for the future of the trust. We have to ensure everything we do meets our charitable aims.
Our charitable aims are to:
1. Secure for the public benefit the preservation, restoration, improvement, enhancement and maintenance of steam traction engines and other steam road vehicles, including portable steam engines of historic and educational value;
2. Further the education of the public in the historical and general development of steam traction engines and other steam road vehicles.
We have been discussing ideas as a board of trustees, but are open to ideas from the membership if there is something you think we should be investing in for the future of the club.
Any questions?
The Treasurer’s Report was proposed by Amy Reynolds, seconded by Anne Whittingstall and approved by the members who voted – 36.
7. To Appoint Independent Examiners Charles Lovell & Co.
Proposed by Amy Reynolds, seconded by Rob Clifford-Wing and approved by the members who voted – 35.
8. To Elect / Re-elect General Council Members in Accordance with Article 19.
Election Results:
General Council members re-elected: Nick Bosworth, John Durling, Tony Seddon.
General Council Members elected: Paul Stingmore, Gareth Ellis
9. AOB
BESTT: Andrew Semple
The President reported that BESTT meetings are held by Zoom mostly now and is often ribbed during the meetings for having small boilers which received a suitable rebuke. BESTT’s routine embraces the railway scene quite a bit more than us, hence the courses that they do tend to be more towards railway qualifications. Boiler washouts is a course which is run fairly regularly by BESTT. An interesting development being trialled has been online tuition, followed by a practical day in re-tubing, which seems to have been successful. Staying and patch screw course is also being trialled, again via online tuition and a practical day. The President invited the members to get in touch with himself or Gordon Newton if they would like to become involved in BESTT or have any questions about what they do.
Douglas Hynd thanked the committee and membership for visiting the Brickworks.
Steven Parrot noted he had spoken with a number of people to ask if they would like him to share their apologies and had got a lot of responses of ‘I’m not a member but I should be’. He thought that all of us know of these people and he urged anyone here to encourage their contacts to join.
David Loader asked about the likelihood of a NTET tent at other large events now that we no longer have GDSF as felt people feel more inclined to join, having had a cup of tea from the Trust. He also highlighted there were some difficulties with joining online. Also suggested a two-tier membership for engine owners/non-engine owners. The chairman confirmed he would take these points to General Council for discussion.
Stephen Hirst asked for those who have Rally Authorisation scheme- if they could have their money back for it not being delivered for his event this year? The chairman replied that only one part of the scheme was paused.
A member asked if the trust received responses from the online survey – the chairman responded that yes we have had back the initial results of the survey at a high level just recently and will be reviewing this.
All comments were noted for review at General Council meeting.
The chairman formally closed the meeting to enable the President and Keith Reynolds to conduct the trophy presentations.
Meeting Formally Closed at: 15:27
