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EDITORIAL STAN McMAHON Happy birthday to us, happy birthday to us, happy birthday dear Plymouth Fishkeepers, happy birthday to us! Well our 60th. Anniversary is here and to commemorate this milestone we have produced a “Diamond Anniversary Fishy News Special” magazine. It has articles from yesteryear for you to enjoy, even if you did get a chance to read them first time around. The front cover picture is from the original cover of the “Aquarist” June edition 1948. It is an honour to attempt to fill the boots of some of the great Editors of our Society from the past. Going through the past magazines I was able to capture a feel of the times over our 60 years. The times they sure are a changing (to miss quote Bob Dylan). The Interclub Show competition has now gone as we are the only general fishkeeping Society in Devon and Cornwall. Our own Open Show is now in the past and it is to their great credit that our Society members were able to stage these Shows. I have included an Editorial from John Rundle on our fortieth anniversary which crystallises the thoughts on our Open Show of that time. To celebrate our 60th year we have a diamond talk from the famous aquatic writer, Dick Mills, in June. This will be followed by a celebratory Bar-B-Q the following Wednesday. The celebrations will be topped off with our Anniversary dinner at the Marine Biological Association building by the Citadel at the end of June. I have been a member of our Society for over a quarter of a century now and I would like to raise a glass to our absent friends, of whom it has been a great privilege to have known them through our Society. I would like to thank Ted, Andy and Sara for all their help and three cheers to Celtic on winning their third consecutive SPL title (not been done since Jock Stein). We share our 60th. Anniversary with Israel and The National Health Service and The Federation of British Aquatic Societies is 70 this year too. So, I will look forward to seeing you all at our seventieth bash. Enjoy this nostalgia trip!
CHAIR’S CHATTER JULIE RUNDLE 60 years ago this month (June), this Society was formed and so for all past and present members this is a month. How many local groups manage to stay the test of time and hang in there! Not just hang in there …….. this group started in June 1948 and has gone from year to year and strength to strength. 60 years on and we can boast two meetings a month, an excellent magazine and a great new web page. This is certainly a time to reflect on the history of this Society and the people that have been involved in it. However, it is also a time to look forward and ensure that as a society we continue to encourage new members to join us. It is an honour for me, an ex junior member, to be the Society’s Chair at this time as we celebrate together through out June. The programme for June consists of the lecture from Dick Mills on the 4th June, which I am sure, will be excellent. Then, weather permitting, on the 11th we are having a Diamond BBQ at the Railway Club. So come along, if you can, for bangers, burgers and beer! Then we are ending June with our anniversary dinner at the MBA. There is going to be great food, great company and great entertainment (this is a closely guarded secret but I will share it with you – Shirley Bassey is being flown in to sing a special rendition of “Diamonds are Forever”). So……. Not to be missed!! I look forward to sharing this special month with you all. Happy 60th Anniversary.
PLYMOUTH FISHKEEPERS SOCIETY JOHN RUNDLE
60TH ANNIVERSARY At the 2007 AGM it was agreed to change the name of the society from the Plymouth and District Aquarists’ and Pondkeepers’ Society to the Plymouth Fishkeepers’ Society. With 2008 being the 60th anniversary this name change was quite an event in the history of the society. In 1948 a local newspaper carried an advert asking for anyone interested in the aquatic hobby to attend a meeting to be held in a Plymouth school. What follows are notes from the first two sets of minutes. On June 22nd 1948 a meeting was held for the purpose of forming the Plymouth and District Aquarists Society, there were 24 people present at the meeting. It was agreed that the subscription for adults should be 10 shillings (50p) plus an entrance fee of two and sixpence (12½p) and juveniles pay two and sixpence and no entrance fee. For husband and wife or two members of one family it would be fifteen shillings (75p). Then the following members were elected to the main offices for the first year: Chairman: Mr. F. C. Pawley Vice-Chairman; Mr. H. E. Ashberry Treasurer: Mr Ryder Secretary: Miss. M. Gunn Meetings would be held on the first Tuesday in the month at 7.30pm. It was thought interesting to note in which branch of the hobby the 24 people at the meeting were engaged in. Nine people expressed their preference for tropical fish, twelve for the cold-water species and three for marine life.
From L to R: Sam Ryder (Society founder). Annette, Joyce and Bill Rundle
The next meeting was held on July 6th 1948 and was the first official AGM. Society rules were set and an amendment was to the society name was made. It became The Plymouth and District Aquarists’ and Pondkeepers’ Society. At the end of the meeting Mr. Macy volunteered to give the very first lecture on Shubunkins. The only member alive from these meeting is John Stevens who is now a member of Bristol Tropical Society and an honorary member of Plymouth Fishkeepers Society.
From these early meetings the society has seen the hobby grow into the massive industry it is today. A point worth noting is that in 1948 and into the early 1960’s fish tanks were manufactured with a steel angle frame and the sheets of glass would be bedded into a special waterproof putty. Now we accept the silicone-sealed tank as norm. During the early 1960’s the society held its first open show and they were held annually until the late 1990’s. Using the main hall of the University of Plymouth that at times held up to 400 entries. The open shows stopped when the cost of running a large show became too expensive to run.
Also in the 1960’s the Devon and Cornwall Aquarist Society was formed with the six fishkeeping societies that were in two counties. Each society in the group held an inter-club show a smaller version of an open show. These shows were very successful and ran until 2005 when Plymouth became the only remaining society. PRESENT DAY The society now meets on the 1st and 2nd Wednesdays of each month at the GWR Staff Association Railway Club, Mullet Road, Laira, Plymouth. Annual fees are £8 Family Membership, £7 Double membership, £6 Single membership £3 junior membership. Country membership is available to those who live more than 20 miles from the society venue. Plymouth is affiliated to the Federation of British Aquarist Societies (FBAS) and at one time could boast four accredited FBAS show judges among its members, now there is only one judge. The society is proud to have one of its longest serving members Bill Rundle who is a Vice President of the FBAS and former President.
Another point to note is that the present Chairperson is Julie Rundle the daughter of John Rundle. At present there are 50 members with an attendance to meetings of 15 to 20, Mary Bailey and John Rundle are both honorary members. The society has formed close links with the University of Plymouth, The Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom and the National Marine Aquarium that are all based in Plymouth.
Menu cover for the 1959 Annual Dinner
The first meeting in the month is where guest speakers or society members give lectures on various subjects about the hobby. At the second meeting a table show is held with a different group of fish each month at the end of the year there is a social evening where winners from these shows will receive trophies. While the fish are being judged there is a short talk given by a society member. This meeting is more informal so it gives members time to talk and ask questions. The society has a website http://www.plymouthfishkeeperssociety.co.uk/index.html and contact can be made through the site.
AQUARIUM CLUB CALL 1992 STAN McMAHON The “Aquarium” magazine’s first issue had a feature called “Club Call” which highlighted aquatic societies throughout the country. This first “Club Call” featured our very own Society. It is a very good spread and was co-written by Dave Price and John Rundle, with a great title of “Fishes by the Sea”. “Aquarium” was the brain child of Dr. Dave Sands, the Corydoras specialist (he has spread his net - sorry! –wider and can be seen on television as a animal psychologist). Unfortunately the magazine only lasted twelve months and then folded, however, our Society did get a lasting feature. If you have never seen this article then I think you are in for a treat. It is unfortunate that this year of our 60th Anniversary we did not get the same support from today’s media.
The front cover of “Aquarium” magazine Vol 1, No 1.
ARTICLES THROUGH THE DECADES FROM STAN MCMAHON “FISHY NEWS” 1988 In this section I have included a “Chairman’s Chatter” by John Rundle which highlights what it is like to put on an Open Show. In fact this was our 40th year anniversary in 1988 and I will put extracts from our Show Schedule which had an Anniversary special. This piece is from “Fishy News” Edition number 64: Chairman’s Chatter, 1988 Open Show. “It seems to be a common occurrence now that after the Open Show I write a few lines, I have done this whilst holding various posts: Secretary, Show Secretary, Assistant Show Secretary and now Chairman in our fortieth year. It’s Sunday night after the Show and I am still feeling the effects of the Friday and the Saturday. This is the way I gauge the success of the Show, the more tired I feel, the more successful the Show. This Show was a success, and all those who helped run it will know this. We had a few scares along the way during the year leading up to the Show, and even on the day we had our problems. Problems which are solved by the members of our Society with the experience to handle whatever an Open Show can throw at them. Normally members you have voted on to the Committee, or members that have been in the Society for a few years, and they all know what is expected of them.
The new members who for the first time took part in the running of an Open Show, were the ones who came up trumps, and I am sure you know who they are. These members worked hard in the kitchen, sold draw tickets, did duty on the door, and they were there on the Friday working hard to prepare the Show and on the Saturday night helping to dismantle it all again. We had just over 300 entries, and again the quality was of a very high standard, the Judges this year finished well ahead of schedule, so we were then able to open the doors to the public half an hour early.
This being our 40th year, it was marked by a fine display put together by Joyce Rundle. The display covered the complete history of our club, and a very great interest was shown by the public. The Judges meal was of course again first class, prepared this year by my wife Eileen. Phil Smith, our Show Secretary, was running his last Open Show, a vote of thanks I feel must go to Phil from the Society for his work as Show Secretary. So thanks Phil for keeping sane during your period of office.
We have, over the years, gradually improved our Show by means of administration, staging, and work rate from members, but I think we are now coming to a point where we are becoming static and a little complacent, this has caused little errors, and in some areas bad management prior to and on the day of the Show. A few new ideas are needed, one being the forming of an Open Show Committee of four or five people who would plan and prepare the way, organise the Schedule advertisements, meals etc. and see that all the necessary thousand and one things needed for a successful Open Show were done. Once the Open Show had been taken down, staging loaded and stored, the hall locked up, some of us met up at around 9pm for a drink at the “Colebrook Inn”, we were all tired but felt it had been worthwhile, and after a couple of pints we rallied again. It would be nice to make this an annual event, a sort of winding down on a great day”. Well John I think you summed up the “Open Show” highs and lows in your synopsis of the event, an event we sadly do not have on our calendar.
MY FISHKEEPING EXPERIENCE SUE SHARP What have I got in common with Plymouth Fishkeepers’ Society? Why, we both have a 60th. Anniversary this year! I am just one month older than the club. I bought my 180 litre tank in October 2004, not having kept fish for about 25 years. It wasn’t until the following spring that I read an article in the Herald’s “Club News” which spurred me into coming along to the Club. The first talk I heard was by Monty Ray. How things have changed since I first kept fish. I so wish I knew about the Club before I made many expensive mistakes. I found the Club very welcoming on my first visit and since I joined I have only missed a few meetings. I really look forward to our get togethers and have learned so much. There is a wealth of experience in the Club and I have found that knowledge is willingly shared. I also enjoy seeing members fish when they show them. I had my arm twisted the first year to enter the Home Aquarium Competition. My sole reason for doing so was that I hoped when the judges came around they would tell me what I was doing wrong. Much to my amazement, and I think every one else’s, I won! So I suppose I couldn’t have been doing too much wrong, I do have a tendency to over stalk. I can walk past a sweet shop quite easily, but fish shops and garden centres are my weakness.
I (accidentally) bred some really nice Platies and was advised to sell them on. One which I sold was bought by another member and consequently won Best In Show, when the one I entered in the Show didn’t get a look in! I don’t want to breed fish as such, but I do enjoy seeing the little babies grow up. I can well remember how excited I was when I saw the first baby Platy in my tank. I called it PJ (Platy Junior) and used to sit in front of the tank for ages waiting for it to venture out from amongst the plants.
I did buy a pair of Spiked Tailed Paradise fish and was really excited when I saw the female laying eggs. I managed to save some of the eggs and quite a few hatched. Sadly, one by one they all died. More recently, seven of the eleven baby Bristlenosed Catfish survived. These are great catfish to keep as they are active by day.
I look forward to many years association with the Club.
OPEN SHOW SCHEDULE 1988 SPECIAL STAN McMAHON To mark our 40th Anniversary our 17th. Open Show Schedule had a special feature on the history of our Society to that date. I have taken some of the material and highlighted it in this section of our Anniversary retrospectives.
I think we can all recognise our Chair, Julie Rundle, as opposed to that contained in the text (“Julia” and “Rundell”). These are the days of the double sided sellotape but no sticky backed plastic, as in “Blue Peter”! The materials used also included “Letraset” which was reasonably versatile, if not a wee bit tricky (you find half the alphabet stuck to the inside of your arm!) and incredibly time consuming.
The Schedule also included extracts from members contributions to the local Newspapers. Topics such as favourite fish and also short descriptions of club events talks and descriptions of previous Shows. We certainly had a full and extensive calendar. With the demise of the Open Show and the greatly missed Interclub Show (no opposition, as the nearest club would be Bristol TFC.) we can still provide a full calendar to be proud of. Visits to the Marine Biological Association at the Citadel on the Hoe and The National Marine Aquarium at Coxside were a great success. Later editions of the Show Schedule would be taken over by Ted Sparrow and Bill Rundle, both professional printers, and a really brilliant job was created by them making our Schedules one of the best in the country. So it was fair ye well to the “John Bull” printing set (I knew it would come in handy some day). Bye bye to the “Letraset” and Hello to P.C.’s and Microsoft Word which is what I use now for the Newsletter and Magazine. The Newsletter is now sent to members by E-Mail, something well beyond our comprehension twenty years ago. Now we use “Power Point” for presentations and for the front cover of “Fishy News”. Enjoy the clips from yesteryear.
SOME THOUGHTS ON OUR BEGININGS JOYCE RUNDLE Joyce has written a brief history of the Society which is excellent. I thought I would keep it in its original form to give it a sense of history, enjoy:
THE HISTORY OF “FISHY NEWS” STAN McMAHON This article was first published in this century! Again the information was gleaned from the Oracle, who is the Oracle? I hear you ask, Joyce Rundle of course!
We are bang up to date now with our current Newsletter format
A poster advertising our special speaker, Dick Mills, commemorating our Diamond Anniversary
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