SHEFFIELD ASTRONOMICAL SOCIETY - Key Persons


Adam Sutcliffe

Job Titles:
  • Member of Committee

Andrew Gilhooley

Job Titles:
  • Secretary of the 20172018 Committee
  • Member of Committee

Andrew Noble

Job Titles:
  • Member of Committee

Brian Walters

Brian Walters had disappointing news for us at the next committee meeting, as he had received an unexpected promotion which entailed him moving to London. So, once again, the Society was without a Treasurer.

Callum Bellhouse

Job Titles:
  • Member of Committee

Carl Davies

Job Titles:
  • Member of Committee

Chris Lamb

Chris Lamb was our contestant for the Astra-mind competition which was held in October at Bradford. Seven other societies took part and as usual, all contestants were of high calibre and marks were very close. Chris did not come back with the cup, but he represented us very well. It was a very enjoyable occasion.

Chris Walker

Job Titles:
  • Member of Committee

Craig Toulson

Job Titles:
  • Member of Committee

Darren Swindells

Job Titles:
  • Secretary
  • Vice President of the 20172018 Committee

Derek Liddell

Job Titles:
  • Member of Committee

Dr Heinz Muller

Dr Heinz Muller was elected Society President in May 1967 and served four years after which he was made Honorary President. A very successful symposium attended by fifty three people representing six societies was held at the Friends Meeting House in Sheffield in 1968.

Edwin Colton

Job Titles:
  • Member of Committee

Geoff Charlton

Job Titles:
  • Treasurer of the 20172018 Committee
  • Member of Committee

George Benedik - VP

Job Titles:
  • Vice President

Gillian Finnerty

Job Titles:
  • Member of Committee

Ian Knowles

Job Titles:
  • Member of Committee

James O'Neill - VP

Job Titles:
  • Vice President
  • Member of Committee

Ken Eastburn - Treasurer

Job Titles:
  • Treasurer
  • Member of Committee

Kevin Deakes - VP

Job Titles:
  • Vice President
  • Member of Committee

Lewis Sadler

Job Titles:
  • Member of Committee

Louise Rogers

Job Titles:
  • Member of Committee

Mike Gover

Job Titles:
  • Member of Committee

Mike Mills - VP

Job Titles:
  • President of the 20172018 Committee
  • Vice President
  • Member of Committee

Nora Betts

Nora Betts was first elected to the committee at this time and at the AGM, host of the attendees were committee members so the situation was somewhat desperate at this time. Over the next two years, membership began to grow again until there were 20-25 regular attendees, but there was no suggestion of visits or other activities. The Secretary, Mr Reid passed away suddenly in March 1977 at a comparatively early age. As Nora was already a committee member and was in possession of both a telephone and a typewriter, she was asked to serve as Society Secretary. For some time, the Society had been managed in a haphazard fashion with only one committee meeting each year, poor financial record-keeping and no structure on which to build. Somehow, the Society plodded on and gradually more active younger members joined. Stuart Lonsdale became curator of the Observatory and began the long task of refurbishing the telescope and Observatory. Various members were interviewed on local radio and Mark Ashforth won the Astro-Mind trophy at the event in Pontefract with a lead of nine points. More regular committee meetings were held which enabled the Society to plan more events and activities. The first sponsored meteor watch was held at Norton and raised £50 over two evenings. Public Liability Insurance was taken out to cover members while at the Observatory or on outings. At this time, the Society could not afford to insure the Observatory or equipment. The Society funds stood at £36 in January 1978 and this would not meet expected expenses. The Junior members maintained their own accounts and donated £5 to assist. At the AGM in May 1978, it was proposed that the subscription be raised to £3 for seniors and 50p for Juniors. The Junior meetings on the 4th Friday of each month were to be retitled "Junior and Informal Meeting" to encourage senior members to chat and mix more - something there was no time for at senior lecture meetings.

Paul Tracey

Job Titles:
  • Member of Committee

Robin Winstanley

Job Titles:
  • Member of Committee

Rosemary Naylor

Rosemary Naylor started the year off well for us with a most comprehensive talk on the life of Edmund Halley, which was very well received. The meeting in April was joined by members of the Sheffield Photographic Society to listen to Mike Maunder lecturing on astro-photography. He is well- known as an amateur astronomer and a photographer who has travelled world-wide to study his subject. Having several qualifications in chemistry has enabled him to invent simpler methods of developing and printing films, without a lot of expensive equipment, to a very high standard. His audience of over 80 people gave him their full attention as he showed high quality slides of constellations, eclipses and deep sky objects, some of which had earned him high financial rewards and which appeared regularly in publications around the world. After a busy question and answer session, the President of the Sheffield Photographic Society thanked the hosts and the speaker for such an interesting evening and Derek Fellows gave a vote of thanks to Mike, saying that as a professional photographer, he had now been inspired to go home and

Russell Atkin - Treasurer

Job Titles:
  • Treasurer
  • Member of Committee

Steve Adams - President

Job Titles:
  • President

Steve Margerison

Job Titles:
  • Member of Committee

Stuart Lonsdale - President

Job Titles:
  • President
Stuart Lonsdale was now giving a monthly talk on Radio Sheffield and efforts were made to publicise the Society. Four members visited the 75th Anniversary of the Manchester Astronomical Society on 7th October 1978. Almost as enjoyable as the very interesting programme during the day was the stop at the top of Woodhead Pass to view a beautiful dark, clear sky full of stars. Mark Ashforth had to be dragged away even though he had no telescope with him! The same month, a friendly quiz took place at Chesterfield with Sheffield being the winners and in November, Mark once again claimed the Astro-Mind trophy after a very competitive competition. The start of 1979 was noteable for the severe weather which caused the cancellation of meetings in January, February and March. Each of these weekends were followed by a thaw which allowed the Junior and Informal meetings to take place and helped to maintain continuity. The 1979 AGM held in May marked an important moment for the Society as Stuart Lonsdale became President - one of the youngest Society Presidents to hold office. From the very first committee meeting, decisions were made to move the Society from just ticking over into top gear. In future, the Treasurer would sit in an obvious position at the door at all meetings so members would know who was responsible for collecting subscriptions and recording attendance. It was decided to run a monthly raffle, and have a donation box for visitors. An auction was planned for the Christmas meeting before the showing of the film. The holding of meetings during June, July and August was considered, as it had been noted that after this bread, some members did not return, especially the Juniors. It was agreed to conduct a valuation of all Society instruments with a view to selling the little used items to enable to Society to purchase more useful ones. At the next committee meeting the Secretary was able to confirm that the museum authorities had agreed to the meetings during the Summer months. A discussion took place on the valuation received for the surplus equipment. This led to a very acrimonious exchange on the part of the of the older committee members, the same ones who had opposed the changed the Juniors hoped to make in the past. They rarely attended meetings and this did not help with the running of the Society. The Secretary remarked that these items had been stored in the Museum for a number of years unused, and were is a disgraceful state of neglect. Stuart Lonsdale had methodically traced these items and spent a great deal of time and effort cleaning and repairing those it was possible to improve. Eventually it was agreed that another valuation would be obtained. The fact that 1984 would be the 50th Anniversary of the founding of the Society was mentioned and that the committee should start to think of a suitable celebration to mark the occasion. At the monthly meetings, Kim Lindley started to give talks on the monthly notes, copies of which he produced himself. Questionnaires were circulated at the September meeting on 1979 to research what members preferred on the programmes. In October, a very enjoyable visit was made to Greenwich Observatory. The journey was memorable as the driver had never visited London before. Without the guidance of a knowledgeable member, the visit would have been delayed by more than an hour for the meeting with Heather Couper. In her usual lively manner, she gave us a tour of the Observatory and a programme in the Planetarium. The Vice-President, Frank Cooper introduced a monthly newsletter at the October meeting asking members to submit articles for future copied. This meeting took place at the Physics Department of Sheffield University where David Cotterill gave us a very interesting lecture on telescopes. He also showed us some impressive slides of the latest Jupiter fly-past. A tour of the laboratory and an inspection of the re-assembled 24" telescope given by Edinburgh University and transported from Italy followed. Sheffield University installed this telescope at the Bole Hill Observatory. Bad weather spoiled the December meteor watch, but the auction was a success raising £60. The membership had risen to 33 by January 1980, while sales of surplus equipment raised a further £150. Society funds were £300 at this time. A competition was organised for the design of a logo for the Society. Unfortunately, there was no response to this. Kim Lindley submitted his own effort which was unanimously approved. Later in the year, letterheads carrying this logo were purchased from a local printer. For a lecture by Dr Heinz Muller in March 1980, there were 42 members present. At this time, discussion was taking place about acquiring a meeting room for the Soceity so activities could be held each evening such as building telescopes, photographic work and so longer meetings could take place. Members were on the look-out for land in which to build, or for existing premises to renovate and many approaches to different people were made. A superb set of plans for the proposed building was drawn up by an architect friend of Stuart Lonsdale. Unfortunately, in spite of visits to various sites and continual badgering of local authorities, nothing suitable was found. During these years, building costs escalated tremendously, as did the cost of heating, lighting and power. Eventually it was decided to concentrate on running the Society as well as possible under the existing conditions until such time as better opportunities present themselves. David Hughes gave at talk to the Society on the preparations that were taking place in the hope of launching a European spacecraft to Halley's Comet in 1985, a project with which he was closely involved. As usual, he gave a fascinating talk, but little did Society members realise at that time how this project would one day generate such world-wide interest and participation. The President, Stuart Lonsdale, retired from office at the AGM in May and the Secretary presented him with a Certificate as Honorary President for Life. She stressed the continuous hard work that he had done on behalf of the Society and said whilst they had not always been in complete agreement at committee meetings, this had not affected her opinion of his vision and drive

Sue Benedik

Job Titles:
  • Member of Committee