An Editor’s lot is not always a happy one! Persuading people to write articles is one thing, but getting finished articles is another. I started speaking to some of the potential writers for this year’s magazine in 2012 and thought that I probably had sufficient material earlier this year, but then two contributors dropped out, and I began to get worried. However some others have stepped into the breach, and I think we have some really interesting articles for you to read. I have tried to make some changes to the routine and have strayed out of the Colne- Stour area as far as South Africa! I am already working on 2015, and if you think you have an article you could write, please let me know.

I would like to thank all those who have written this year. As usual I would like to thank Rory O’Brien for proof reading and correcting poor English and grammar!

I would like to thank the advertisers, several of whom have been supporters for a number of years.

Adnams were featured in articles in the last three magazines and their wine buyer has written a short piece about the Red Burgundy they have been seeking for some time. I have given it to guests and it has been given due credit. If you go to the Hadleigh shop, remember that as a Member of the CSCA, you are entitled to a 10% discount. The Manager, Luke, is very helpful and he has a list of members. Whilst in Hadleigh why not go and have a look at the Jim Lawrence showroom? It is just up the road.

A & G have continued to service and repair my mowers and hedge cutters very efficiently.

Assington Mill continue to feature on our website and they continue to run some very challenging and interesting courses.

Bates Wells & Braithwaite are long term supporters and are my solicitors.

Savills have been very loyal in their support and will be well known to all Members.

Jim Lawrence are featured in an article I have written. They make some excellent products and if you are thinking of redecorating then go and have a look at their showroom. If you do buy anything please say that you read the article and were persuaded to go to see their showroom as a result of reading the Magazine. They are very keen to know where their enquiries originate.

The Pheasant at Gestingthorpe. This is a very good watering hole and has an excellent restaurant, and I speak from experience.

Ken Forrester Wines. You may have noticed, or even read, the article on Stellenbosch wines. When in South Africa I have a penchant for Ken’s wines and if you want to try them then they are available through his UK Agent (or M&S!).

Whites Farm. This advertisement only covers the swimming pool, which I can vouch for as being an excellent pool, ideal for aiding recovery from injuries through swimming and walking in water. I was strengthening a quadriceps muscle that had been repaired after it had snapped. The pool is kept at 31.2 degrees centigrade and is 4ft 1 inch deep throughout, so it is perfect for exercise and confidence building. Whites Farm also offers Pippins Nursery and Baby Nursery for 0-5 year olds which has been operating successfully for over 21 years. Whites Farm is also known for its beautiful paeony flowers, harvested during June and also for its apple and pear juice produced from the apples and pears grown there. This fruit is available from late August through to early in the new year. Although under different ownership, there is a very good “baby shop”, selling anything from nappies to prams.

NFU continue to insure my house and contents. Interestingly, last year at The Dedham Vale Summer Party, there was an insurance broker offering to give money to the DVS for every person who was prepared to let them quote for their insurance. I gave them my name and they came out and went through all my details. However they could not match the NFU terms.

Charles Stanley have been my stockbrokers for a long time and I have found them, not only successful, but knowledgeable. They have a free hand to invest as they wish within my agreed guidelines.

Deputy Editor
I have had a look back at the old magazines from when I first was asked to help get it printed when the Chairman was away. That was in 2005. The magazine only had 12 pages, of which two were Minutes of the previous AGM, and over half a page was blank. How things have changed!

I have been asking for someone to become Deputy Editor for the last two years but no-one has volunteered. I really would appreciate some assistance and I need to find someone who will be prepared to take over from me at some stage in the future. If you feel you would like a challenge, then please do get in touch with me.

Website
This has been fairly busy with information being regularly added on the Pylon situation and the Bunting saga. You can read the latest in Charles Aldous’s Members letter. The Magazine will be on the website from May, so if you would like a friend to read an article please direct them to the website www.colnestour.org

Email
This continues to be the most efficient way of keeping Members up to date on matters where the CSCA are involved. Once again Pylons, Buntings and Solar Farms have been matters that have been drawn to Members’ attention. No-one is too old to learn to use a computer and I do encourage those of you who are not yet using one to see if you can master what is a very logical system. Why not go to PC World or any other computer store and give it a try? Email is the only way we can keep in touch with Members during the year.

AGM Speaker
Michael Kuhn was educated at Dover College and Clare College Cambridge and qualified as a Solicitor. He joined Polygram N.V. in 1975 and in 1991 set up Polygram Filmed Entertainment, which made and distributed over 100 feature films, and which between them won 14 Academy Awards. These films included Four Weddings and a Funeral, Notting Hill, Dead Man Walking, The Usual Suspects, Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, Elizabeth, Trainspotting and Priscilla, Queen of the Desert.

He set up Qwerty Films in 1999, producing features including I Heart Huckabees, Kinsey, Severance and the The Duchess. The company’s current projects include The Last Days on Mars (a Sci-Fi Horror based on a Sydney J. Bounds short story) and is set for worldwide release, coming to the UK in April 2014, having completed shooting in Jordan and Elstree Studios. The company’s next film, Suite Francaise, is based on the novel by Irène Némirovsky, directed by Saul Dibb and starring Michelle Williams, Matthias Schoenaerts, and Kristin Scott Thomas, and is currently in postproduction.

His book 100 Films and a Funeral was published in 2001, and a documentary based on it was released in 2009.

BAFTA awarded him the Michael Balcon Award for outstanding contribution to British Film, in 1998.

Among other positions, he is a Patron of Skillset, and Chair of the Independent Cinema Office, and is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. He was appointed Chair of the National Film and Television School in 2002, and awarded a fellowship in 2008. In addition to Qwerty Films, he is on the boards of Northern Ireland Screen Council, and UK Jewish Film.

AGM replies. Garden Party replies.
This will be the third year when you can let me know if you are coming to these events by going to the website and then going to the drop down menu on the left hand side of the opening page. Click on Events Sign Up and enter the names of the attendees in the appropriate part. DO NOT WRITE COMMENTS! Once again we have sent you a Reply Form, but you will have to use your own envelope. DO NOT TELL ME THAT YOU ARE NOT COMING! My address is Cooks Green, Lamarsh, Bures, CO8 5DY.

2013 AGM Minutes
This will be the second year when we have purposely omitted the Minutes from the Magazine, as no-one ever managed to bring the Magazine to the meeting, so they were pointless! Minutes of last year’s meeting will be handed out at the AGM together with the Agenda.

Mark Dawson