The Secretary, Sylvia Sherriff, had already completed the entire lecture programme for 2012 before she resigned at the end of September. The Chairman has dealt with correspondence, telephone enquiries and emails during the year. Roger Coleman has continued to prepare and circulate quarterly newsletters.
This year the Society has had lectures on such diverse topics as the Essex Field Club’s geological archive, the Essex geological gazetteer, the mineral collector, crystals, silicates, Hertfordshire Puddingstone, oil, the Essex coast, intrusions in the landscape, and geohazards. Attendance at monthly meetings this year has again averaged 28.
Ten of the eleven planned field visits took place. These included Erith, Tilbury Marshes, Purfleet, Chafford, Boreham, Elsenham, Folkestone, Walton, the Yorkshire coast, the Suffolk crags, and museums in Cambridge and Saffron Walden. All were joint visits with other societies, and guests continue to outnumber ERMS members.
The Essex Gem and Mineral Show in February was well attended again this year, and gave members an opportunity to inform the public about geology.
This has continued to increase over the past three years, with a current total of 98 members (58 individual, 20 family).
The website www.erms.org continues to be managed by Roger Coleman, and includes occasional short articles and reports on monthly meetings, field visits and shows.
G. R. Ward,
Chairman.
Minutes of the Annual General Meeting held at Hopwa House, Hornchurch, on Tuesday 8 November 2011
Present: 18 members.
Apologies for absence: Laurie Tongue.
The meeting commenced at 8.10 p.m. and was opened by the chairman, Graham Ward.
Minutes of the Last AGM
The minutes of the Annual General Meeting held on 9 November 2010 were circulated. They were proposed for adoption by Ian Mercer, seconded by Alistair Rickards, and approved unanim-ously.
Annual Report
Copies of this were circulated to members. It was proposed for adoption by David Turner, seconded by John Lacy, and approved unanimously.
Treasurer’s Report and Annual Accounts
Copies of these were circulated by Bob Blackburn. Stuart Adams proposed that they be accepted, John Lacy seconded the proposal, and they were approved unanimously.
Election of Officers
The following were proposed:
Chairman: No nominations.
Vice-chairman: Graham Ward. Proposed by David Turner, seconded by Gerald Lucy.
Secretary: No nominations.
Treasurer: Bob Blackburn. Proposed by Gerald Lucy, seconded by Ian Mercer.
There being no other nominations for the above posts, these candidates were declared elected.
Election of Committee Members
Roger Coleman. Proposed by Bob Blackburn, seconded by Ian Mercer.
Ron Flack. Proposed by Bob Blackburn, seconded by David Turner.
John Lacy. Proposed by Jim Greenwood, seconded by Stuart Adams.
Ian Mercer. Proposed by Gerald Lucy, seconded by Ron Flack.
David Turner. Proposed by Alistair Rickards, seconded by Jim Greenwood.
There being no other nominations, these five candidates were declared elected committee members.
Auditor
Alistair Rickards agreed to audit the accounts for the coming year.
Amendments to the Constitution
There were no proposed amendments to the Constitution.
Any Other Business
Graham Ward proposed a vote of thanks to the officers and committee members for their work during the past year, especially Sylvia Sherriff, who had already completed the lecture programme for 2012; Ian Mercer seconded the proposal. It was recommended that Stuart Adams be co-opted at the next committee meeting to organize the Annual Show, as in previous years.
The meeting closed at 8.35 p.m