The South Eastern Branch of the Institution encompasses the counties of Kent and East Sussex as well as the City of Brighton and Hove. It is a medium-sized Branch with approximately 440 members. The Branch has a very active programme of Technical meetings which, together with its Annual Seminar and Dinner Dance, are held in Tunbridge Wells.

The South Eastern Branch was the 10th to be formed of the 18 Branches and was born on 20 April 1958 at an inaugural meeting held in the Council Chamber of Tunbridge Wells Town Hall. The National President of the day, Major Aldington, opened the proceedings and invited those present to elect a Chair. Mr C Leney (County Surveyor of East Sussex) was elected unanimously “amid acclamation”, with Mr H Bowdler (County Surveyor of Kent) as Vice Chair and Mr J Palmer (Assistant County Surveyor of East Sussex) as Hon. Secretary. A Committee was also elected and at once arranged the Branch’s first technical meeting – a visit to the new works of the Ready Mixed Concrete Company at Shoreham by Sea on 28 June 1958.

Henry Bowdler continued as Vice Chair for five years, before becoming Branch Chair in 1963 and proceeding to the Presidency of the Institution in 1966. Henry was followed into the Presidency by Ian Dussek in 1992 and most recently by Allan Mowatt in 2000.

The first annual expenditure in 1959 is shown as £14.4s 4d (£14.22) compared with £3400.45 for 2001. Since 1959 the Branch has arranged over 250 meetings involving technical papers and site visits. Over the years the minutes of Branch meetings show how the role of the Institution and the Branch have changed. In the early days, business was confined to ‘domestic issues’, such as arrangements for meetings. Recently, consideration of local contribution to Endsleigh Street on national issues forms an important part of the Branch’s work.

The minutes also bring to life well remembered names (and some half forgotten) who gave great service. These include Ken Cox (Hon. Sec. 1964-1977), Stan Bedford (Hon. Treasurer 1981-1992), Mike Sumpter (most posts from1980 to current day) and Trevor Blann (Hon Treasurer from 1992 to current day). They have all received the Institution’s Certificate of Merit.

Although only a medium sized Branch we do have a lively membership who enjoy the social functions as well as technical meetings and visits. For many, the social highlight of the year is our November Dinner Dance which is always well attended. For the past few years we have kept to the same dance band who have learnt the knack of keeping young and old on the floor until 1.00am and the really hardy can then be seen continuing the evening’s entertainment in the bar afterwards.

Our March annual one day Seminar is always well received with a wide variety of good speakers and an excellent lunch ensuring a very good attendance year on year. The continuing success of the Seminar supports our evening meetings throughout the year.

We actively encourage our younger members to attend evening meetings. To mark the Golden Jubilee of the Institution in 1980 a Young Engineers Competition was initiated and this has continued to be held each year. The Competition has been rebranded as the Premium Papers Competition and the South Eastern Regional heat regularly attracts a high quality of entrants.

The Branch arranges an annual site visit and most major works in the area have been visited over the years. These include the first and second M2 Medway Bridges, the first and second Dartford Tunnels, the Channel Tunnel, Dungeness Nuclear Power Station, Dover Harbour Board, Brighton Marina and Motorway Contracts together with more unusual outings such as the Ford Factory at Dagenham.

The current committee take pride in the close communications formed between the branch and Endsleigh Street. With a number of Committee members being either on the Council or co-opted onto Boards, this ensures our presence as a branch is felt and the opinions of our members heard. Likewise the Branch has invited both the current Vice President and staff from Endsleigh Street to attend committee meetings. Great praise has been given to the branch for its constructive input to the continuous improvement of the Institution.

As a branch we are always looking for new members who can input into the committee with ideas to drive the branch forward into the future. The technical meetings held monthly (see ‘events’ section of the branch mini site for details) are a good way of meeting us, and discuss various aspects of the Institution. It is also a great way to meet like-minded professionals within the industry. We would be only too pleased to see you!

See you at the next meeting!

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