Sunday 24th May 2026.
Below is an introductory letter from our Acting Chairman to all members:
“This notification is to introduce myself to all the H&DAA members that do not know me, and to all the members that do know me. My name is Graham Matthews, and I am the Vice Chairman and have been in this role for a couple of years now. I have been on the Committee for many years before taking this role and I have worked with the Committee and have fished with this club for many years prior.
After the sad announcement of the passing of our Chairman Chris James on the 30th April 2026, I have stepped up to become the Acting Chairman. I will carry on running the club without any disruptions and will continue the role as Acting Chairman and working with the Committee and all the members, until a decision has been made to appoint a new Chairman and Vice Chairman at the RGM on the 7th of September 2026. If I am voted in as Chairman at the RGM, we will need a new Vice Chairman that will be selected and appointed by the Committee. I have many challenges to face and sort out behind the scenes so that everything is in place for the RGM meeting, so the newly appointed Chairman can just pick up and run the club from day to day as it has currently been done. Nothing is going to change until after the RGM meeting when I have everything in place.
This position is going to be very challenging to live up to what Chris James has done with this club to make it what It is today. I will endeavour to do my very best to continue running it for everyone’s interests with the intention of expanding our waters when availability allows. We have an AGM meeting on the 15th of June 2026, it would be a pleasure to meet you at this meeting, if you can attend. There are many hurdles and challenges to face to take over this role so all I am asking is you bear with me until I complete the first tasks of taking this role. The club will not be affected in any way whilst name changes and documents are being carried out, so it is fishing as usual. I am not promising I can meet all your needs, but I will do my damned best with the help from the Committee’s input and the club’s sustainability.
I would like to say that Chris James was an amazing Chairman and has made this club what it is today. He was 100% dedicated and passionate about running a successful club and saving every penny he could so we had money to improve our assets therefore giving the members the fishing they deserve. Some members disagreed with some of Chris’s decisions, and they didn’t get what they wanted, all issues were brought to the Committee and sometimes it was the Committee decision that overruled the Chairman’s proposal or other issues that were brought to the meetings.
We have a dedicated Committee who work as a team which makes an impact on the club’s decisions, therefore voting on actions needs to be agreed and approved, this enables the club to run smoothly with no loss to the club’s income or assets. No one really knows how much work goes on behind the scenes i.e. meetings, phone calls, e-mails and paperwork are all involved to keep this club running day to day. I will not be changing the Committee or appointing anyone to join the Committee until the RGM meeting as the Committee has run successfully to this day.
I look forward to meeting you all when out and about as Acting Chairman for this club and wish you all good times when fishing our waters and hope you have many enjoyable sessions, tight lines and hopefully plenty of fish on the bank in 2026 from the best river in the country, our club waters.
Kind regards,
Graham Matthews
H&DAA
