Croydon Camera Club History: 1890-2000
Preface Introduction The Club Foundation 1809 Soiree 1899 Movies Member Prestige Council Meetings 1903 Founding President Mees Years 1904-12 The Great War Between The Wars Recorded Years Riots! Police! 1931 Edridge Road, 1932 1932 Nudes Ladies and Exhibitions Club Room eviction The Studio: 1933 Cine! Ladies! 1934 Highs and Lows, 1936 A/V, Stag Party, 1937 Freemasonry 1938 Baird Television 1938 War! 1940: Bombed ! Annual Report 1940-41 Making Do 1941 War Ends 1942-5 A War Retrospective Ladies? 1946 Ladies Admitted 1947-8 35mm Slides arrive Struggling 1949 SLF Out! 1949-50 Troubled 1950 Outings 1951 Winter Season 1951 Celebrations Mees Visits Croydon 1955 1956 Nonexistence 1957 1958-1959 1960 More Success 1961 The Darkroom 1961 Frivolity 1962 All Change 1963 1965-1967 Exhibitions 1967 Photeurop 1968 Photeurop 1969 Years 1970-1972 Terra Nova Years 1973 Years 1974-1975 19 Selsdon Road Years 1977-1979 Changes 1980 Friends Meeting House Close the Club 1983 Progress? 1984 Turnaround? 1985 Years 1987-1988 Slow Revival 1989 About Club Outings The Helpers Postscript
The latter part of 1960 brought sadness to the Club upon learning of the death of Dr Kenneth Mees on 15th August in Honolulu at the age of 78. His career from the time he joined Croydon in 1901 is well documented in countless publications, as was the visit he paid in 1953 whilst still Vice President of Kodak Ltd. No other amateur photographic society can boast of having a member who ultimately directed the (then) largest commercial photographic company in the world.
Croydon being in the County Surrey, received an invitation from Woking PS and Maiden CC to attend a meeting on 24th September 1960 at which it was proposed to form a County Federation of Photographic Societies. Two delegates, A. Richards and H. Stillwell, were seconded to attend, but never arrived as their car suffered a puncture en route! Eight clubs agreed to form the Surrey Federation with Selsdon CC being the nearest, but Croydon did not participate and it was not until 1973 that it eventually joined and took part in the Inter-Club Competitions.
But we were on the extreme edge of the County and within five years the Club withdrew as the journey across the county to battle with other clubs proved a deterrent to members' enthusiasm and participation.
The decision not to join the new Surrey Photographic Federation brought into sharp difference the opinion of the President who considered Club activities should take precedence over other organised photography and B. F. Bullock who stated that because of this policy the Club had virtually no voice in organised photography outside Croydon. In the author's opinion the Club's introspective attitude was to be the basis of its gradual decline from this particular era with membership falling to an all time low of 48 in 1984 - the point of the virtual extinction of the Club.