The origins of our club go back a long way.
Our origins come from the Beacon Guild. Formed at Wilmslow in 1926; the Beacon Guild’s purpose was to adult education and the development of Arts, Music and Drama for the people of Wilmslow. It soon became known just as The Guild. Membership numbers and activities grew and in 1938 the ‘Photographic and Cine Club’ was formed.
Our first-ever meeting was on the 19th of September 1938:
19th of September 1938
At a meeting held on Monday evening a new group of the Wilmslow Beacon Guild was formed, to be known as the Photographic and Cine Group. The membership is at present small, but it is anticipated that as the group becomes known it will attract new members, for there must be many people in Wilmslow and district who are keen on either still or cine photography. An attractive syllabus has been arranged for the monthly meetings, ranging from film shows to practical demonstrations of photographic technique, such as enlarging.
For a bit of context, on the same page of the September ’38 newspaper is an advert for a train excursion to see the launch of the new Cunard ship, the “Queen Elizabeth” 16/3d departs Wilmslow 10:30pm returns the following evening. Special prayers for the resolution of the European problem were offered in the churches of Wilmslow. The Wilmslow Picture Palace showed a western featuring Dick Foran the singing cowboy, and Wilmslow beat Stoke-on-Trent 14 to 11 at rugby.
Things must have gone well and in March 1939 the club was able to hold an exhibition:
An exhibition of members' work was held at the meeting of the Photographic and Cine Group, when there were many contributions and the pictures shown were of an extremely high standard. During the evening short lectures on lantern slides of architectural interest, carbon work in photography, and lantern slides of India, also a show of amateur film productions, were given by members.
In May of 1939 our members held a group outing, something that we still do today.
The Photographic Group held their first summer outing last Saturday, and went to Wincle and Wildboarclough in a fleet of cars. They were unfortunate in weather, the greyness of the light and occasional showers were no help to photography, although the colours in the trees just at their best in May, and the bluebells in the woods could not be dimmed by any weather conditions, but there is hope for a few results, as about twenty members made some exposures. The Group will hope for better luck for their next outing, which is to Tideswell Church and Eyam Hall.
The ‘Cine’ element of the club seems to have gone by then.
The year 1939 saw a reduction in Guild activities due to the hostilities, but post-war the activities and societies, including the Photographic Society, reformed. Our first post-war meeting was in September 1947, at which point our name changed again. After that we managed to keep the same name for over 50 years! Here’s the report:
Thursday 25th September 1947
New Photographic Society Launched
Wilmslow Guild Photographic Society made an impressive beginning on Thursday last week, when an illustrated lecture showed how photography could be linked up with bird-watching. A fascinating study of bird life was picturised in slides by Mr A. S. Park, a noted authority who came from his country home in Northumberland to speak to the new society. The beauty and artistry of the slides evoked considerable praise.
Mr Park said he had taken photographs within a few feet of the birds and never used a "hide," making friends with his subjects instead, From the homely titmice, thrushes and robins, Mr Park went on to owls and warblers in different stages of growth, intriguing his audience with his intimate descriptions of the birds, their nests and habitat.
Mr Donald Radie, the society's chairman, presided and explained the society would cater. in its syllabus and lectures, for all classes of camera users. The lantern was operated by Dr A. R. Martin.
Post-war our club continued to grow and develop. In 2021, Wilmslow Guild changed its name to The Guild for Lifelong Learning; however the photographic society continued as the Wilmslow Guild Photographic Society.
At the end of the 2022/2023 season, the members of the club decided to operate as an independent group and formed the Wilmslow Photography Club.
Here are some historic images.
