Historic Narrow Boat Club (HNBC) AGM in Whittington Tomorrow is Cancelled.

[alan_fincher]

Just in case anybody who might have been going has not yet seen this by any other route....
 

URGENT: AGM Postponed *

Unfortunately we have had to take the decision to cancel this Saturday’s AGM in light of the Coronavirus outbreak.

I initially resisted doing this but having watched BBC news channel all afternoon it is clear that the situation is deteriorating more rapidly. Indeed one of our committee has been in contact with someone who has been advised to self isolate. Bringing together a group of people, many of whom are in the most vulnerable category, is not a good idea. The medical situation nationally has moved today from ‘containment’ towards ‘delay’ and medical experts are advising people not to congregate in large groups and to avoid shaking hands or being too close.

Whilst this may be seen as an over-reaction it is a reasonable precaution as our meeting is not critical at this time and no-one will be hurt if we postpone it.

We will reschedule the AGM once we have seen what the trajectory of this virus is likely to be. Please refer to the blue band on the website for latest update.

Thank you for your understanding. I hope to see you later in the year.

Regards, Phil

[jam]

I suppose now that the meeting is cancelled that all the participants will go to their local pub somewhere. 160 odd cases ( some recovered ) out of nearly 70 million, someone needs to get a grip.

[Guest]

Was it crucial the committee member in question even attended, in person?

 

More of this nonsense to come folks, buckle up.

[Arthur Marshall]

Maybe it's the club members who are historic... although, to be fair, it is likely that the age range of historic boat owners is in the danger area. It would be interesting to have a survey of how many of us boat owners are over 70. The chance of someone in any large group carrying the infection in another week or so is going to be pretty high, and while the sprightly young ones will shake it off, us old farts may be better off not all huddling together in packs.

I mean,  three hundred old working boats coming on the market all at once, it doesn't bear thinking sbout...

[LadyG]

I'm afraid this is one of many cancelled meetings accross the UK.  It may seem as a bit of an over-reaction, but the nature of the beast means it will grow exponentially, and until a vaccine is designed [some say in six months], and then manufactured and made available, [possibly another year], the situation is going to be dynamic.

 Slowing the progress of the disease allows NHS UK, and The Vulnerable to prepare and re-organise, many of the latter will be over sixty, and have been thru the three day week, which was also a difficult time.

The recently retired nursing staff, while a possible army of suitably qualified personnel, also include quite a few at high risk.

Not everyone can live in a hygiene bubble, especially those crammed on to public transport, but puting the country into economic shut down is currently not the preferred option.

 

Edited March 7, 2020 by LadyG

[1st ade]

7 hours ago, jam said:

I suppose now that the meeting is cancelled that all the participants will go to their local pub somewhere. 160 odd cases ( some recovered ) out of nearly 70 million, someone needs to get a grip.

And no known vaccine... (yet)

 

6 hours ago, The Happy Nomad said:

More of this nonsense to come folks, buckle up.

Probably - but not (personally) convinced it's nonsense.

11 hours ago, alan_fincher said:

...and no-one will be hurt if we postpone it

^^^ this

 

 

I have a season ticket for a reasonable sized football team who are at home this afternoon. Am I going to join ~10,000 people in a crowded venue, questionable washing facilities (at least for the spectators)? possibly not - nobody will be hurt if I don't go.

 

Will I then squeeze onto a packed commuter train on Monday morning? very probably;

 

Same risk - different outcome from avoiding it.

[frangar]

I work in the live events industry....it’s looking like a lot of boating is going to be done this year....so far I’ve not had as many events cancelled as some but I think the year is young...lots of corporate companies are having to be seen “doing the right thing”...some pretty big conferences are being pulled...often at the last minute too! 

[magpie patrick]

42 minutes ago, 1st ade said:

 

I have a season ticket for a reasonable sized football team who are at home this afternoon. Am I going to join ~10,000 people in a crowded venue, questionable washing facilities (at least for the spectators)? possibly not - nobody will be hurt if I don't go.

And therein lies the advantage of supporting Frome Town 

 

I will add that we hear a lot of talk about the elderly, I have a new God daughter in my life, six weeks premature, I'm far more worried about her.

[cheshire~rose]

Well I for one really appreciated them making the decision. I know it won't have been an easy decision to make and it had to be done early enough to ensure people didn't travel the sometimes long distances they do to get to that meeting. That meant they will have been watching the progress of the virus and having to try and predict what the situation might have been today.

 

I think it is probably fair to say the majority of the people who would have been at that meeting would have been in the over 60 category who are deemed to be most at risk (being the weak and feeble type who otherwise are expected to continue working until aged 68 if itsuits our leaders) A significant number of them can probably add another decade or more to those 60 years. Although we were planning to go and are not actually currently curtailing any of our plans because of the virus we do have to be careful because with one of us having chronic lung disease it does focus one's mind a bit and we had decided to monitor the national situation and decide today whether we felt travelling to the meeting was wise or not. I thnk we probably would have gone BUT I can just imagine the flack if it had later been found out that the meeting had caused a cluster of people to contract the virus. Or perhaps that is what those making the negative comments about this decision want? If a load of historic boat owners pop their clogs this year some of those fine vessels may come on the market!

 

I had given my apologies for another meeting between AWCC affiliated clubs and CRT which I would have liked to attend in favour of attending the HNBC one but I won't be dashing to do that one instead as if I was going to get infected I would rather it happen being in the great company of a lot of like minded boaty folks with a passion for old boats than a group of people posing awkward questions about how the waterways we love are going to get fixed after the flooding when there is no money in the coffers to do it.

[Balliol]

The situation could also be viewed in the sense that if 100 people attend a meeting where one person proves to have been an unwitting carrier then that could be 1400 days lost to self isolation, which could have disastrous effects for the self-employed for example. 

[Mike Todd]

Not as significant in the grand scheme of life but, constitutionally, there is an important factor in cancellation. If a large proportion of those entitled to attend stayed away on the grounds of personal safety and the meeting had gone ahead, with or without a quorum, and some decision was taken that at least some thought was 'taking advantage' then maters could rumble on for ever. 

 

I am not a member (even if in the 'right' age bracket according to above posts!) but I would suspect that after taking soundings the action was not only the most sensible but possibly the only course of action (especially of a quorum is taken seriously)

[matty40s]

8 hours ago, LadyG said:

.....and The Vulnerable ......

 

Was that a Thomas Clayton or a small Woolwich?

[Athy]

5 minutes ago, matty40s said:

Was that a Thomas Clayton or a small Woolwich?

The late Trevor Maggs would have brought along an appropriately-named boat.

[MtB]

5 minutes ago, matty40s said:

Was that a Thomas Clayton or a small Woolwich?

 

I was wondering that about the "Quorum" just mentioned, too!

 

 

 

[roland elsdon]

Quorum boat designed by committee.

Hudson boat designed by man with inability to change ideas.

Springer boat designed by man observing gasometer. 

[MtB]

44 minutes ago, roland elsdon said:

Quorum boat designed by committee.

Hudson boat designed by man with inability to change ideas.

Springer boat designed by man observing gasometer. 

 

Rowing boat designed by man after a row with his wife...

 

 

[frangar]

2 minutes ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

 

Rowing boat designed by man after a row with his wife...

 

 

Widebeam “narrowboat” designed by blind man.....

[MtB]

5 minutes ago, frangar said:

Widebeam “narrowboat” designed by blind man.....

 

Or, by a man who had an aesthetic sensibility bypass operation....

 

 

 

 

 

[Tonka]

Interestingly when it comes to coronavirus the government consider the 60's and over as old and frail, yet when it comes to working and pensions then you can keep working until 67 ish

[MoominPapa]

2 minutes ago, Tonka said:

Interestingly when it comes to coronavirus the government consider the 60's and over as old and frail, yet when it comes to working and pensions then you can keep working until 67 ish

It's not the government deciding, its the nature of the beast. Mortality rates start to rise from about age 55.To a large extent, this seems to be a function of co-morbidity: it's more likely to kill patients who also have diabetes, heart disease, lung problems etc etc. and people start to get those things in increasing numbers as they get older.

 

Now you can argue that making people work who are more likely to have such things is wrong too, and I wouldn't argue otherwise. But younger people get ill too: probably best to distinguish between sickness benefits and pensions and not make the later take the place of the former.

 

MP.

 

[BEngo]

The 1918 Spanish flu pandemic, which seems to be informing thinking about Covid 19, played much havoc with pregnant women, as well as the young and the old. Fortunately there are not likely to be many at ths HNBC gathering.

 

Side diseases like pneumonia were often the cause of death with Spanish flu, so since we now have better medical ability to deal with them, we just have to hope the care capacity we have is sufficient. If not it will be triage.

 

N

[Athy]

53 minutes ago, Mike the Boilerman said:

 

Rowing boat designed by man after a row with his wife...

 

 

Cole craft: boat designed for a solid fuel merchant who couldn't spell.

 

I don't "get" the one about Hudson. Does anyone else?

[frangar]

2 minutes ago, Athy said:

Cole craft: boat designed for a solid fuel merchant who couldn't spell.

 

I don't "get" the one about Hudson. Does anyone else?

You obviously never asked Steve Hudson for a different shaped bow or indeed any other change from what he made.....

 

[Athy]

13 minutes ago, frangar said:

You obviously never asked Steve Hudson for a different shaped bow or indeed any other change from what he made.....

 

Ah, gotcha....also known as "If it ain't broke, don't fix it".

[MtB]

8 minutes ago, Athy said:

Ah, gotcha....also known as "If it ain't broke, don't fix it".

 

My own version when fixing boilers is "It's working now so It's time to stop mending it." if a customer starts on the "while you are here" stuff they didn't mention on the phone, during the manically busy peroiods.

 

E.G. "Can you service it too please while you are here?", after I've packed up my tools and written out the bill.