Catch up with events you may have missed, and find out what we thought about them.
Please let's have your views!

August 9^th FISH DISASTERS Bring us your tales of woe!

July 26^th Programme to be advised

Sadly, for us, Pete Cottle was unable to come and talk to us this evening for reasons that were explained.
Pete's presentataions are eagerly anticioated - full of information whether it be geographical, aquatic or
just insights into other cultures - in short, good fish yarns from an experienced fishkeeper. We wish him
every best wish for whatever the future brings.

However, members still managed to get away for the evening, as Dick came up with a video of ten public
aquariums he'd visted over the years during holidays to far-flung parts (some say, the further flung the beterr!).
It was surprising how similar the choice of inmates were in aquariums so far apart from each other but the big
questions that should be asked is why, if the weather was so good all of the time, was so much time spent indoors?
Well, that a fishkeeper for you!

The next round of Table Shows between Mid-Sussex, Bracknell and ourselves has been tentatively arranged for
September 12th, at Bracknell. Classes will be advised once we and Mid-Sussex have discussed things.

July 19^th RIVER DIP

It wasn't until about a couple of miles from
Donkey Meadow itself that the sun actually
appeared for most of us heading for the
annual River Dip.

As usual, access to the water was easy
and there were hardly any 'marginal' plants
to hinder the capture of livestock. Once located,
a combined 'net herding' process ensured a
maximum catch which was then mutually divided
up into the three show tanks.

Eager to get to his Fish 'n Chip supper, Judge Dave
Brooks came up with the '1-2-3-' in recored time and
Simon was soon celebrating taking top honours.
Best in Show turned out to be Ball in Show as a
reclaimed golf ball was the biggest thing caught
in this summer evening competitive extravaganza.

July 13^th INTERCLUB TABLE WITH MID-SUSSEX & BRACKNELL

A great social evening down
at Mid-Sussex, rath disappointing
in the fact that Bracknell were
absent due to holidays and other
commitments.

Hounslow took advantage and our
showing team of Ron, Peter Q and
Simon triumphed over Steve Smith,
John Smith and Clive Walker to
take the tie 24-13.
Ron took Best in Show with his Goldfish.

There is a slight doubt about the date of
the third leg (at Bracknell) as, again, some
holiday arrangements may interfere.

July 12^th TABLE SHOW

It's not very often you witness a clean
sweep at a Table Show, but Ron achieved it with
his trio of single-tailed Goldfish. His immaculately-
presented two Common Goldfish and a London
Shubunkin would have swept all before them
had there been any opposition but, ironically,
Dave and Angie (Ron's usual antagonists) were
absent as they were acting as hosts to Mary and
Eric (also colwater fishkeepers) visiting from the
Isle of Wight!

June 28^th MY FISH HOUSE by Simon Taylor

'Mr Ingenuity' held everyone's attention with this presentation of fish house design and operation.
Inventiveness was everywhere and one was left wondering what the next audacious project will turn out like.
Simon certainly provides entertainment and surprises in any of his aquatic interests, and it's great
that he is willing and able to share it with us.

June 21^st RIVER DIP - this event has been postponed due to low number of members able to attend

June 14^th TABLE SHOW - Please make John's first Table Show an easy experience!

June 3^rd OPEN SHOW

Though lower on overall entries - in keeping with this year's trends at other Shows - our venture into a
new layout using rented-in Tables instead of labopur--intensive stands and scaffold boards paid dividends.
Setting up and breaking down were achieved in record times and the hall had a much more 'open look' about it.
A much enjoyed day by all those involved, no matter which side of the Show-benches you were on.

May 31^st YOUR PROBLEM FISH

ENTRIES FOR OUR OPEN SHOW IN BY TONIGHT PLEASE

May 17^th DIAGNOSING FISH DISEASES by Dr DAVID POOL

Once again, David Pool's visdit proved to be an over-running success.

It was an excellent inter-active presentation
with lively discussions from the audience,
all of whom along with David and also
Terry Hewitt from Bracknell, had braved
the awful weather conditions to be there.

In addition to bringiong along his Company's products
(which found eager buyers), David also genrously
donated tubs of food towards our Open Show
Goody-bag fund. Just to round off a very enjoyable
evening, the rain stopped in time for our respective
journeys home.

May 3^rd TABLE SHOW: Classes - Siamese Fighters (I), Rasboras (J) and Danios (K)

You can't say we go out of our way to make it easy for our two resident Judges.

This time they had to cope
with the fact that Siamese
Fighters (for 2017 at least),
now have a different Class
Letter to themselves, I, rather
than the sub-division Ea.
Howver they managed as
efficiently as ever, even with
an increase in entry numbers too.

The Classes for thew next 'Away Leg'
in our three-way matches with Bracknell
and Mid-Sussex on the 13th July -
at Mid-Sussex - will be B (barbs),
D (Cichlids), G (Catfish) and
U (singletailed Goldfish).

April 26^th ANNUAL DINNER

We, as a Club, obviously make some kind of impact when we visit as a group.

We were welcomed as old firends by the waitresses at the Fountain pub when we all turned up for the annual Dinner.
This time around, there were no technical glitches with the computerised till but we were disappointed that Pete and
Anne Caira couldn't make it. Peter Anderson and Dick wish to point out that their late-arriving profiteroles were NOT a
second helping! Thanks, Iris for providing a photographic record of the event.

April 19^th BRING 'n BUY

The first Bring 'n Buy of the year saw a very good attendance despite the local traffic setback around the Jolly Waggoner roundabout which
delayed a few of us. Chairman Pete came home from his Easter holiday in Germany to find his gas boiler on the blink and had to remain
at home waiting for a maintenance guy to phone back. We were joined by Nigel from Reigate/Redhill, Glyn from Bracknell and we were
more than delighted to have Ron back in our ranks as he recuperates from his medical setback.

A good few fish and plants along with some related hardware items formed the aquatic element and it fell to Angie to provide a diverse
range of other items including some green Wellies, a leather jacket, two Box hedgeplants and the biggest patio pot you could imagine.

Completed Dinner Menu forms were duly handed in and we're all set for the event itself next Wednesday (26th).
Great refreshments again from the ladies but the traffic diversions were still there to make the homeward journey slow for some of us!

April 5^th TABLE SHOW: Classes - Anabantids (E), Killifish (F), Catfish (G,H)

Nobody could accuse this evening of being dull, as there was plenty of light-hearted baner throughout.
The tone was set during the reading of the Minutes, especially the 'live writing and instant reading'
of the second set.

However, Chairman Pete Anderson soon got his own back by carrying all before
him in the Table Show that followed - although his was the only entry due to the
absence of our usual other three or four exhibitors.

The meeting actually turned into a plant auction (thanks to Dick and Ian) whilst
Janet outlined plans for the forthcoming Annual Dinner
(RETURN COMPLETED MENU FORMS AT THE NEXT MEETING PLEASE)

The forthcoming DEFRA discussions over per licensing raised its head again and there was a lively
discussion about the duty of care to fish in captivity. In all, a much more comprehensive meeting
than it was expected to be!

March 22^nd INTER CLUB TABLE SHOW v Bracknell A.S. & Mid-Sussex A.S. First Leg

The first leg of our annual contests with
Bracknell was duly enhanced by the very
welcome inclusion of our friends from
Mid-Sussex A.S. who, in the solitary figure
of Clive Walker made an impressive
entry into the fray.

29 fish were doing battle (there is always an
Overspill Class to make it interesting for
everyone who brings along an entry) and
Judge Spike was soon getting down to it,
whilst the rest of us had a well-supplied
social evening - thanks to the ladies'
prowess in the kitchen.

The Table Show turned out to be far more
closely contested than expected with the
final total scores almost too close to matter -
and Clive only entered two Classes!
The return mataches shopuld prove very
interesting! Congratulations to Kweith Sollitt
on taking best in Show Award with his
Corydoras concolor.

. We were all heartened and relieved to hear
that Ron Allum was back at home after a
pretty serious medical scare and we
send him our best wishes for a speedy recovery.

March 8^th TABLE SHOW Classes - Barbs, Characins, Ciclids plus Any Other Tropical - plus 'How I keep them (and other related species)'

The new Table Show got off to an
'all guns blazing' start as no less than
26 fish appeared on the Showbench.
Whilst Spike and Ian set to work judging,
the forthcoming 'Home Tie' Table Show
against Bracknell was discussed.

Mid-Sussex have indicated that they are
interested in making it a three-way contest
in the near future, but meanwhile, we are
sticking to the four Classes chosen by the
away team for our two already arranged legs
with Bracknell.
On the 22nd March meeting, we will be faced
with Classes Q (Wild Swordtails), F (Killifish),
H (Corydoras etc) and E (Ananbantid Fishes,
excluding Siames Fighters, Betta splendens).

A bonus for the evening was a sumptuous cake
made by Hanne, as Peter Quested pre-celebrated
his upcoming big birthday which he will definitely
observe in Wellington, New Zealand later this month.
Many of them, Peter!
Another celebration also at the end of the month is
Peter and Anne Caira's Diamond Wedding -
congratulations to them both.

February 22^nd FOOD FOR PLANTS

Everything you never knew you needed to know about aquarium plant culture.
This was a facinating insight into what plants really need (and how much of it!)
presented by Simon.

It was based on years of research (theoretical and practical) and his presentation
built up to the big finish of actually making his own formulated powdered plant food
right in front of our eyes. At the end of the evening members were presented with a
small supply to try it out for themselves. A great informative evening!

February 8^th LUCKY DIP SLIDE SHOW

It was 'into the unknown' again for members as a selection of random photos were projected
for comments. This time around the procedure seemed to veer very quickly from consecutive
individual comments to an 'open floor' discussion - maybe some some members' relief?

Earlier the optional Auction disposed of items, and Simon distributed bags (each containing
4 Rosy Barbs and 4 Odessa Barbs) to members fo0r a fish-raising competition that will run
throughout the year. It was agreed that a £5.00 'entry fee' was appropriate.

January 25^th The FBAS (and other things)

A very full evening indeed. So much so, that the published subject got the shortest time -
however, it brought everyone right up to date with the Federation's continuing services to
Clubs, despite its informative role being completely overshadowed by the Internet.

As expected, returning holiday-making
members were also updated with the
emergence of the Club's presence on
Facebook - a point made very forcefully
when Peter and Hanne could instantly
see a 'relay' of themselves being presented
with their 10 year Badges (photographed by
Chrissie and immediately uploaded by Ian).

This year's Open Show (3rd June) got
the go ahead in its new 'Tables only'
format and the evening was rounded
off with a video visit to the Denver Aquarium.

January 11^th PROMOTING OUR SOCIETY

Rumour has it that there are ambitious plans afoot.

Just shows what a great benefit
the injection of new members can have.
No doubt, once absent members have been
brought up to date via 'The Minutes' and
further discussions, we will soon see a new
look to our proceedings - and a really
bright future.

Congratulations to John for being voted
'Club Member of the Year' a thoroughly
well-deserved reward for taking to us so quickly!

December 14^th ANNUAL CHRISTMAS PARTY

The trouble with routine is that
everyone knows what's coming,
but the new table layout proved to
be a great success, and created a
much more intimate atmosphere.

Yuletide background music was
provided courtesy of Peter and Hanne
whilst the groaning table of food again
paid tribute to the culinary skills of our
Lady members.

The annual presentations hardly held up
things (sadly, the Club Member of the Year
Award had to be held over until the January
meeting), and the special presentation to Gloria
of an Honorary Life Membership was a
bitter-sweet occasion.

On a separate table, the Photographic Competition
did its best to enthral with its limited entries, with
Dick's shot of a Flowerhorn Cichlid prevailing in
the fish category.

Everyone turned out winners in 'The Game' and thus
our year's activities came to a close.

November 30^th ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING & Fish 'n Chip Supper

Only one bit of news marred the evening - the Fish 'n Chip shop is closing down,
but the good news is that we've got a year in which to find a suitable replacement!

Otherwise, the AGM proved too unexciting to photograph whilst the enjoyment of
the Supper meant nobody took the troubll to photograph anything else either.

Thanks to all the Committee for their hard work during 2016 and, with our newest
members' help, things look good for 2017 - we're even going back to our own Show Hall!

November 16^th PROGRAMME PLANNING EVENING Bring along your ideas!

No shortage of ideas, and the plenty of chat, meant that as usual it was a late evening by the time we had
(nearly) completed the 2017 programme.On the face of it, it looks like a busy year ahead!

November 2^nd CLOSED SHOW AWARD NIGHT. REVIEW OF THE YEAR

An air of expectancy
hung in the air, as the Trophies
were lined up for presentation to
their well-deserving recipients.

You could say it was Chairman
Pete's night as not only did he
feature more than anyone else
in receiving the most trophies
but also completely occupied
the rest of evening by then
moving on to present the
Review of the Year.

With a very serious lack of
'embarrassing' pictures to
entertain us - where are all
those candid camera shots
that were so prevalent not too
long ago? - a pretty constructive
discussion looked at how the
Club entertained itself over
the past twelve months.

On the social scene, visits to
Mid-Sussex and our two
competitive evenings against
Bracknell proved worthwhile
and, despite sadly losing two
longstanding members, the
consensus was that we
didn't do too bad a job of it at all.