OUR 2009 ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING AND SEMINAR  

Held in Coventry and the West Midlands

On the 9th to 11th OCTOBER   

 

 

Every October, the Network organises what is usually the main event in its calendar – our Annual General Meeting and Seminar Weekend. The event is hosted by a different member-organisation each time and, for 2009, the honours were done jointly by Coventry Transport Museum, West Midlands Fire and Rescue Service and the Fire Service Preservation Group (Midlands).

 

This year some 42 delegates from 20 separate members groups across the country assembled in the excellent surroundings of Coventry Transport Museums’s Starley Suite for a varied programme of presentations on fire heritage related themes, as well as the AGM business itself.  

 

 

Subjects covered by the speakers included the History of Birmingham Fire Brigade, introductory talks by both the Motor Museum and the WMFRS Community Heritage Group, the restoration of a Shand Mason steam fire engine, Health and Safety at Major Events, and the Historic Ships project in London.

 

 

Saturday evening was our eagerly-awaited Network dinner, along with yet another illustrated talk on Coventry at War, by Phil Consadine, with some amazing images

 

The following morning, delegates were given a tour of W.Midlands Fire and Rescue Service Headquarters at Vauxhall Road, in particular the “Safeside” suite, in which young people are given instruction in fire, road, rail and other safety topics within a realistic townscape, enhanced by superb special effects. Later in the day, members reassembled at the Transport Museum, Wythall, to see how a large transport collection is run by volunteers.

 

All in all, an excellent weekend combining education, sightseeing, business and the all-important “networking.”