At our previous meeting in April, the Trustees discussed at length, the Rolls-Royce Heritage Trust and its work, and the advantages to both our organisations if we were to have a close working relationship.  Many ASOC members are also R-RHT members, and are therefore aware of the wide range of successful activities and projects that R-RHT undertake.  With this in mind, we approached them for discussions and as a result we invited Ron Frost, a former AS employee and staunch member of R-RHT to attend our July meeting as an observer.  Ron is keen to encourage cooperation, and is prepared to support us with his time.  He will report to R-RHT on this first meeting and without pre-empting his recommendations to them, we believe that this will be the beginning of a very useful relationship.

A further feature of the meeting was a decision to formalise the ASHT structure at least for the present.  We currently have eight trustees as previously reported and we have now decided that we shall have two more levels of involvement for those who would like to volunteer assistance, namely, Trust Representatives and Friends of the Trust.

Trust Representatives

Our representatives will be the key to the success of the organisation, working in a given area or even a state or country, and they will be our eyes and ears – our link with members and all things Armstrong Siddeley.  We will endeavour to define the role more fully but there are some obvious needs.  For example, if there is an item that should be preserved, restored or displayed, it will need to be viewed.  If it is to be placed in a museum, then the museum should be assessed for suitability, and if a loan is made then there is need for periodic supervision of the item.  In each area/country the issues will vary but importantly what is happening on the ground needs to be reported back for recording so that we can achieve one of our main objectives, that of creating a database of all A.S. artefacts, and to have a plan of what is important to preserve for posterity.  We already have a couple of volunteers for this role but we are now calling for more Armstrong Siddeley people to come forward to help.  Call me, Bill Brenchley, on 01803 752455 if you are interested and would like more information.  It is not anticipated that the job will be large or onerous and help will always be on hand.

The Friends of the Trust will allow Armstrong Siddeley owners and others to be involved in a practical way supporting the Heritage Trust and its goals. They can offer support, opinions and information, to keep the Trust focused and vibrant.

We will endeavour to keep everyone informed of issues and developments through Sphinx and the Siddeley.net web site and we hope that this will prompt Friends to refer information about people and artefacts of interest to the Trust.

We hope Friends will be pleased to help with costs and we suggest that an annual subscription of £10 should not be too onerous.

Donations

We are delighted to have received another large donation to Trust funds.  A very active A.S.O.C. member, who asked not to be named, has presented a cheque for £1000.00, which will be gift aided to produce a further tax refund.  Whilst preserving our benefactor’s anonymity, I can say that in his letter, he says he has done this to say a big thank-you to the two A.S.O.C. members who worked very hard on his car and would not accept payment.  I quote “I could not have done it without them”, a marvelous illustration of the spirit that exists within the AS clubs. We send the donor, and those who helped him, our most sincere thanks.

The Work Begins

I have previously mentioned that one of our most important early tasks is to gather information.  Bill Smith, A.S.O.C. historian, is working on collating information on the artifacts released by Rolls-Royce in 1972.  The A.S.O.C. committee is working to catalogue all the documents in the club library, and making plans to make it accessible.  In order that we can assess what else there is around the world that constitutes our history, we need to know what is held in other places.  This includes museums and peoples private collections.  If you have a collection, or a particular item of interest, or you know of a car or artefact not in any of the A.S. clubs’ domain, please would you tell us so that it can be included in our data, and so that we can ensure that it is not “lost” in the long term.  There is a lot that is not in any of the A.S. clubs records and it is important that we identify as much of this as we are able.  Only this month a 30’s 12hp in Cambridge came to our notice. Such information will be the lifeblood of our history in 50 years time.

Bill Brenchley (on behalf of the Trustees).