This was taken by Ian Meyrick in September 2009 at the CTA Archives. Ian describes Mervyn as being very engrossed in items from the Tony Moss Collection. This is possibly the last known photo of Mervyn before his unfortunate demise the following month.
The following photographs were taken by Colin Sutton at the Society EGM last month.
The following appeared in The Stage last week.
Mervyn Gould
Former stage manager and writer of books on cinema history, Mervyn Gould has died at the age of 62.
Mervyn Stockbridge Gould was born on December 14, 1946 and, having been fascinated with technical theatre from his early teens, Mervyn landed his first paid backstage job aged 17 in 1963 as ASM (and props) for a two-week run of Babes in the Wood at Boston Regal, touring into Crewe, Buxton and Leek. He remained a casual showman at the venue (and number two lime boy) until moving to London in 1965 to study history at Marjons in Chelsea.
Having had the foresight to join the National Association of Theatrical Television and Kine Employees, he was able to get work in numerous West End theatres, although it impacted on his degree, as he just scraped through the finals.
After several years of touring, residences and even walking Schnorbitz – a period he described as “the painful death throes of variety” – he spent three seasons at Sunderland Empire as CD operator, then a year as deputy chief engineer at the Palace Theatre during the run of Jesus Christ Superstar.
He joined Loughborough University English and Drama Department in 1979 as a technical tutor, which gave him the opportunity to gain an MA and still work occasional summer seasons or pantos. He remained there for 17 years before taking early retirement due to ill health.
As an author, he wrote four books on cinema history as well as numerous articles for the theatrical press, including The Stage, Tabs, Cue and Cueline.
In 2007, he was interviewed for the Theatre Archive Project and his colourful memories can be found online at www.bl.uk/projects/theatrearchive/gouldm.html
He died peacefully at home in Loughborough on October 29.
(This is currently online on their website here).
MERCIA CINEMA SOCIETY
MINUTES of the EXTRAORDINARY GENERAL MEETING
held at the Cottage Road Cinema, Headingley, Leeds on Saturday 16 January 2010 at
11.30 a.m.
1. Apologies, quorum and proxies: Present: Kate Taylor (in the chair), Derek Atkins,
Dave Biscombe, Johnnie Cliff, Victor Alan Edwards, Gerry Glover, Ian Grey, Martin Hall,
Ian Houseman, Colin Jeffrey, Ian Meyrick, Charles Morris, Shaun Richardson, Harry Rigby, Edwin Robinson, Jim Schultz, Paul Smith, Colin Sutton, Derek Todd, Kathy Todd,
David Williams. (21)
Apologies/proxies: 75 proxy forms had been received from those apologising for absence.
The total of those present and proxies (96) was more than the 10% of the 210-strong membership required for the meeting to be quorate.
2. Introduction: Kate Taylor welcomed members to what was a sad, but – because of the attendance – also rather a gala occasion. She thanked members for coming and expressed particular gratitude to Charles Morris for hosting the venue.
3. Minutes of the Annual General Meeting held on 12 December 2010 were circulated. One typo was corrected to confirm there was NO immediate need to relocate the archive or stock. Subject to this amendment, the minutes were approved.
4. Matters arising from the minutes:
4a Odeon Putney: Kate Taylor had written to the Odeon management and to the projectionist thanking them for hosting the AGM and showing us the projection facilities.
4b Archives and Stock: It was confirmed that the archives remained at Mervyn Gould’s home and that the bulk stock was stored securely in Doncaster. Some stock was held by the Chairman and Sales Officer at their homes.
5. Motion to Wind Up the Society
Kate Taylor, from the Chair, proposed the motion That the Society be wound up in accordance with the details set out in the Constitution.
She said that she was not happy to present the motion, but knew it was necessary. It was a momentous and sad day; the Society had existed for 30 years and had many notable achievements to its name. Amongst these were persuading the Charity Commission to accept that MCS was performing a public service and was not just a private club, and obtaining a £5000 grant from the Foundation for Sport and the Arts.
Our publications stand as our great achievement. Through Rosemary and Chris Clegg, then Brian Hornsey and herself, and for the last 15 years with design, typesetting and editing by Mervyn Gould, over 40 books had been produced. Mervyn’s voluntary work had enabled MCS to continue to produce books at a viable rate which would not otherwise have been possible.
We had been unable to find people with the combination of skills, time, the technology and the will to continue with our book and Bioscope publication programme; without these, we had nothing to offer our members.
Our membership of 210 was the highest we had been able to achieve, despite good publicity and excellent press coverage for our books, especially Coventry Picture Palaces, which had already sold out. Comments on proxy forms had also underlined the aging profile of our membership.
In an email received from the Cleggs, Chris had written that it was sad, but we had to be realistic. Looking at the past 30 years, he said that we could be proud that so much information had been published and so much achieved.
The Chairman concluded by saying we should close on a high note of success, rather than gradually fade away and on this basis she placed the motion before the meeting for consideration.
In discussion, it was suggested that we try and find a way in which we could get people to move over to the CTA (if not already members) in order to ensure continuity and to keep the name of Mercia CS alive in some way. Kate Taylor said that this was one of the issues which would be discussed with the CTA Committee in due course; offering to give Mercia members a year’s CTA membership and perhaps ring-fencing some money for publications, with acknowledgment to Mercia, were two ideas we may put forward.
The Treasurer confirmed that Life Members would have any ‘unexpired’ portion of their subscription returned, and that there were sufficient funds available to meet all MCS debts.
The motion was put to the vote:
| FOR
the motion to wind up |
AGAINST
the motion |
Abstained | |
| Voting at meeting | 14 | 2 | 1 |
| Proxy by post | 70* | 4 | 1 |
| TOTAL | 84 | 6 | 2 |
*including 2 votes left to the decision of the Chair
The motion was therefore carried with the necessary two-thirds majority required by the Constitution.
6. Any other Business
6a Charles Morris, a former Treasurer, expressed thanks to Kate Taylor for holding the Society together for so many years, which had included some very difficult times. Members present warmly applauded his words.
6b At the AGM, members had appointed a Committee to take the necessary actions to wind up the Society subject to the outcome of the EGM; and to engage in discussions with the CTA over transfer of assets. Kate Taylor asked if this were still the will of the members, and whether anyone wished to put forward other suggestions for potential recipients of funds, which would have to be disposed of in due course in line with the constitution.
No other suggestions were made, and the committee membership was ratified unanimously as below:
Chairman: Kate Taylor
Vice-Chairman: Ian Meyrick
Treasurer: Ian Grey
Sales Officer: Martin Hall
Committee members: Johnny Cliff, Gerry Glover, Frank Manders, Paul Smith.
6c The Chairman closed the meeting by thanking all those past and present who had served the Society in so many ways over its 30-year life. She also thanked Charles Morris for allowing us to meet in his cinema.
The meeting was followed by the opportunity for members to visit the projection facilities of the Cottage Road Cinema.
MERCIA CINEMA SOCIETY
MINUTES of the ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING 2009
Held at the Odeon Cinema Putney on Saturday 12 December 2009 at 11.15 a.m.
1. Apologies, quorum and proxies: Present: Kate Taylor (in the chair), Johnnie Cliff, Edwin Gilmour, Gerry Glover, Ian Grey, Martin Hall, Ian Houseman, Ian Meyrick, Ian Patterson, John Pilblade, Philip Roberts, David Simpson, Cathy Stevens, Ian Van Ryne, Sebastian Weber, Nigel Wolland (16). Apologies/proxies: 66 proxy forms had been received from those apologising for absence.
This was more than the required 10% of membership for the meeting to be quorate.
2. Chairman’s welcome: Kate Taylor welcomed all present and introduced herself and committee members present.
3. Mervyn Gould: Members stood in silence as a tribute to Mervyn, the Society’s long-serving and immensely dedicated administrator, who had died on 28 October. A number of members had been able to attend his funeral service at Loughborough Crematorium on 13 November and the Society had sent flowers.
4. Minutes of the Annual General Meeting held on 13 December 2008 had been circulated in Bioscope (no. 110, February 2009). They were approved as circulated. There were no matters arising.
5. Officers’ Reports:
5a. Chairman’s Review
Kate Taylor said: Whilst this has in some ways been a most successful year, it has also been somewhat fraught with problems and has ended very sadly with the death of our Administrator, Mervyn Gould, on 28 October.
Membership has grown slightly with 23 newcomers against the loss of 19, and stands now at 210. The four quarterly Bioscopes have all been rich with interest, issued in excellent time, and, thanks to Mervyn’s skills and dedication, splendidly designed and illustrated.
We have again published two books, Frank Manders’s Cinemas of North Tyneside, and Coventry Picture Palaces from a manuscript written originally by the late Gil Robottom which has been updated and extended by Ian Meyrick and Mervyn. Both have been well publicized, with highly complimentary reviews in a range of papers and journals, and both are selling well.
Whilst we have continued to fulfil our objects in terms of promoting research and continuing publication, quite splendidly, we are also experiencing a deteriorating financial situation in terms of immediately available money although we have, of course, increased assets in the form of book-stock. Income from subscriptions and donations is barely adequate to cover the costs of printing and posting the Bioscope and our other running costs.
Our long-serving Sales Officer, Stuart Smith, resigned at the end of our last financial year and prolonged ill health has meant the loss, too, of our Publicity Officer, Derek Atkins. However, at the Committee Meeting in March of this year we were able to co-opt Martin Hall as the new Sales Officer, and Johnnie Cliff and Gerry Glover as joint Press and Public Relations Officers. We were grateful to them all for volunteering.
Unacceptable behaviour – at least in the view of the Society’s officers – by CCLA Investment Management, the body that handles the Charities Official Investment Fund, in seeking to identify our Membership Secretary, Colin Sanders, by searching for personal data on the internet, and a remarkably inept letter from them about his lack of any ‘financial footprint’, led to Colin’s resignation from the membership role in August although he stayed on to provide the necessary data and labels for our November mailing. Our Treasurer, Ian Grey, has offered to add the role to his portfolio as an interim measure.
For many years the Society has benefited financially from our association with Fuchsiaprint, the one-man enterprise run by our member, and one-time editor, Brian Hornsey. Brian has given us the full income from sales of his numerous small books. There have been difficulties, however, in recent months resulting from a Committee decision not to advertise Fuchsiaprint books which seemed to compete directly with our own publications, and on Brian’s part with the greatly increased costs of printing and postage.
We learned only after last year’s Annual Meeting of the death a short while earlier of Committee member Frank Wright.
We have continued to deal with requests for information from students and from the media and some of us remain in demand for talks.
Our experienced team of officers has remained dedicated to furthering the interests of the Society, giving much of their time. They have met again as a committee once, in-March, in Birmingham and members have remained in contact regularly otherwise by telephone, letter and e—mail. We are most grateful to them.
Ian Grey has maintained our web site and richly extended it and has added a PayPal facility so that our books can be ordered on line.
And we are grateful, too, to Philip Hollins for again examining our accounts.
As I write this report, however, I take the view that without Mervyn’s superb commitment and immense voluntary work, the Society cannot continue. I have discussed this with other members of the Committee and shall put a motion to the annual meeting that it be wound up. It is for members to make the decision in accordance with the Society’s rules. I myself would wish to stand down as your Chairman if members vote for the Society to survive.
5b. Treasurer’s Report
Ian Grey introduced the audited accounts, which were circulated. He highlighted that cash had reduced to £9,800 due to increased investment in publication of books and the reduction in bank interest rates. The subscription was very low compared with the value of receiving four editions of the Bioscope each year and having access to Mercia publications at a discount. Should the MCS continue, a rise in subscription level would be inevitable. He confirmed the cost of producing Bioscope was £275 plus postage, a total of approximately £400 per issue.
The report and accounts had been approved by the Committee, and were unanimously accepted by the meeting.
Grateful thanks were recorded to the Honorary Independent Reporting Accountant (Philip M. Hollins FCA) for his continuing (voluntary) work.
5c.Membership Report
The current membership stood at 210, 22 new members having been recruited but 19 lost; we are often not aware of the reasons for the latter, although it is often through death.
75 members pay by standing order, and there are 9 Life Members.
5d. Sales Officer’s Report
Martin Hall reported that 514 books had been sold since he took over in April. Of our latest books, Coventry was now out of print and North Tyneside had sold 183. Borders, the booksellers, were in liquidation and owed us for 20 copies of Coventry. We have yet to hear from the administrators. The remaining stock of Cinema on a Roman Wall had been sold to the Forum at Hexham.
5e. Bioscope Editor’s Report
The Bioscope had continued to be published on time and to a very high standard; issues had been produced in February, May, August and November. Kate Taylor said that Mervyn Gould had played the major part in its production, soliciting articles, providing illustrations, undertaking the design and typesetting, and carrying out the distribution.
6. Motion to Wind Up the Society
Kate Taylor, from the Chair, proposed the motion That the Society be wound up in accordance with the details set out in the Constitution.
Introducing the motion, she said that the Society had been operating for 30 years, originally with the enthusiasm and skills of founders Chris and Rosemary Clegg. Then had followed a period of chequered fortunes until in 1993 Mervyn had taken over as Secretary (later redesignated Administrator). Since then, he had worked almost fulltime for the Society, pulling us together, insisting on quality, efficiency and punctuality in publications.
The recent appeal for officers had produced some welcome offers and help, but it remained that no one had come forward with the knowledge and skills to design and produce Bioscope and Mercia’s books. Without such a person, the Society could not continue; in addition, many of those responding to the notice of the motion had stressed the aging profile of our membership. It was with great sadness that she proposed the motion and invited comments from the floor.
Main points made by members in discussion were:
A vote was taken as follows:
| FOR
the motion |
AGAINST
the motion |
Abstained | |
| Voting at meeting | 12 | 3 | 0 |
| Proxy by post | 37 | 28 | - |
| TOTAL | 49 | 31 | 0 |
The motion was therefore carried.
Under the Constitution, an Extraordinary General Meeting must be called as the next stage in the winding up process.
This was set for Saturday 16 January at the Cottage Road Cinema, Headingley, Leeds, by kind invitation of the proprietor, Mercia member Charles Morris.
7. Election of Officers and Committee
In view of the vote detailed above, a Committee was appointed to oversee the winding up process. The following were unanimously elected:
Chairman: Kate Taylor
Vice-Chairman: Ian Meyrick
Treasurer: Ian Grey
Sales Officer: Martin Hall
Committee members: Johnny Cliff, Gerry Glover, Frank Manders, Paul Smith.
Edwyn Gilmour proposed and John Pilblade seconded the motion that The membership would wish to give the Committee authority to discuss future association with the Cinema Theatre Association with CTA representatives.
Carried unanimously.
8. Any other Business
There was no other business.
The meeting was followed by the opportunity for members to visit the projection facilities of the Odeon Putney.
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