cromptonnut

It's​ been snowing now for a couple of hours. It's getting dark, and it looks really unpleasant out there. ​My wife has been staring through the window for an hour now. ​I guess I really should let her back in.

It'll depend how many of the item you buy...

Our local corner shop has recently been taken over by a German family. I went in this morning and noticed that he has rearranged everything inside and I couldn't find what I was looking for. In hindsight, yelling across the shop at the owner "where are your papers" was probably not my smartest move.

I wanted to say hello at Basingstoke but couldn't get close enough to do so. Sorry.

I personally would have no problem rejoining. However, 1) The benefits of membership as they stand currently to me personally are minimal, most of my needs can be met through other sources such as RMWeb and Facebook. The one lacking thing are the small traders who do not advertise outside of the Gazette and do not have a web presence of any kind enabling me to find them. 2) The Reading show, which is a non-Guild event, is convenient to me geographically, other Guild show locations are not. Therefore the penalty of paying a non-reduced entry fee is much less than the cost of membership. 3) Area groups are mostly irrelevant to me as my current employment has a shift pattern which means I'd only be likely to make it once every 3 weeks - assuming they meet weekly; otherwise it may only be once every couple of months; the same reason I haven't joined a local general model club. 4) I'm probably blackballed anyway so it's all cosmetic.

Many​ much larger organisations manage 'staggered renewal dates' of 12 months membership reoccurring on the day you joined, so there's absolutely no need for there to be this to be happening. It's simply a database management issue which is within the capability of even the most basic of organisational tools - let alone a 'professional company' that does it on behalf of the Guild?

There are discussions about in facebook about a more modern image based O gauge organisation which I am following with interest. Having volunteered myself in model organisations previously I know it can involve a lot of work. ​Until recently, O gauge has mainly been the domain of scratch builders and kit makers. It's only with the release of easy kits and rtr and more reasonable priced stock that "the average modeller" has been able to get into O gauge (which was always known as 'the senior scale' anyway) and that it's started to be anything but a specialist interest. ​

Exactly the kind of response that reinforces the reputation of elitism within the Guild. Non members are unimportant, and what you call an 'axe to grind' is simply a result of the appalling treatment, for which apologies were never forthcoming, I recieved. Didn't even get a refund of unused membership fees. It is a real shame that only one organisation dominates the club market for O gauge modellers especially for those under 70.

Why​ wait? Abbreviated accounting information for registered companies is publicly available at Companies House as they legally have to be filed each year. ​The link to the Guild - https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/company/02640556/filing-history Lots of unexciting things on there that all companies have - director changes and that sort of thing - but abbreviated accounts are downloadable (and should be available to members anyway). There are various ways to interpret accounts, as anyone will tell you - however the basic things such as cash in hand, and upcoming liabilities/expenses are summarised usefully. If you scroll down to "05 Jul 2017 Total exemption full accounts made up to 28 February 2017" you can see overall balance after liabilities of £105,899 and "cash in hand" at £146,543. page 2 shows an overall balance of £105,899 - down from £154,891 in 2016. If you go a little further back to find the 2016 accounts you see there is a balance of £175,748. 2015 shows £181,962. You can go back to 1996 and track it if you are so inclined. As a non member of course it's of no concern of mine, however I would expect a lot of members to be very interested as to where that £75,000 loss over 2 years has come from. It's quite concerning though to see 28 in the M&A which basically states members have no right to inspect the accounts.

A​h yes, accuracy. ​I remember a large club N gauge layout that was very detailed and based on a real location. On the backscene was a row of houses. One gentleman said that he lived in that particular cottage *points* at the time of the layout, and that they'd painted his front door the wrong colour. ​The fact that all they had to work from was black and white photos was, of course, irrelevant.

Interesting. "The Guild does not currently have a Facebook or other social media presence. We are currently looking for more volunteers to take this forward. If you feel you have the necessary skills and experience to handle this task please contact me." I offered to do just that during my membership... and there was little to no interest. At least they have realised that they need to catch up, hopefully the page will be open to all and not a 'show your card to get in' group otherwise it has little use. It's almost tempting to rejoin and offer my services...

Presumably​ advance ticket holders are not entitled to refunds for non-attendance?

You are probably right. Nothing at the Guild does seem to have changed.

As​ it's a few years since I left the Guild I haven't kept up with their shows way beyond my travelling area, so apologies for any confusion. ​However, never mind their other shows, shall we return to discussing Kettering?

Yet the Guild insist on Kettering, Telford and Cleckheaton (if I remember correctly), nothing in the south except for the Reading trade show which I have attended - and it's not a Guild show.

Maybe because the south is ill-supported by events by "national" organisations, despite being the most populated part of the UK.

Similar scenes here in Hampshire. I would have had to drive 7 miles on roads in that condition to get to the A303 (my nearest major road) - and when I drove home on the A303 Thursday evening we were down to 2 lanes, driving on snow, at 30mph. In fact, it was only Saturday morning I ventured out to the local petrol station (2 miles, 20 minutes) where roads were still like that. Some drifts were still around this morning although today's rain may well have sorted most of them out ... now we wait for the floods

True,​ and the vast majority of people it seems chose sensibly not to.

Not necessarily a printer but certainly other computer hardware can make music. Hence, the Floppotron. ... or if you prefer high voltage, may I suggest the musical Tesla coils:

A 300 mile round trip for me, hardly a day out distance. As for those in the south west, well...

Only a few tend to turn up as it's held as part of one of the Northern shows which many people down south can't get to. There are no Guild events, and only a few area groups, in the south of the UK.

I did read 75 visitors from a post on a facebook group, although this was just from a visitor. I don't know if official numbers will be released.

Kettering is the only one I can get to (and that's a 120 mile each way drive), the other shows are far too north to be viable for me. I'll stick with Reading I think.