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Monthly Meetings:
The formalities start prompt at 8.15pm with announcements about field trips and other business followed by a talk/lecture by the guest speaker. This usually finishes about 9.00pm. The talk is followed by tea/coffee and biscuits. Usually, during this period members meander around planning and arranging their next outing or talk to the guest speaker on a more informal basis before they drift off home. Meetings formally end at 10.30pm. Field Trips: Youngsters would probably find most of the above quite boring. However, field trips are fun for the whole family and surprisingly, an enjoyable alternative to the traditional day out at a costly themepark/seaside attraction. Please note: there is an element of danger from collecting/visiting hazardous locations. You are expected to take precautions where necessary, and be responsible for your own actions. The following information is provided for your attention and also appears at the end of our Field Trip programme. (If you are a novice, please don't be put of by the list of tools and protective clothing etc. Seek guidance from a seasoned member before embarking on a particular trip. I personally would not use a hammer and chisel for fear of damaging a geological site of possible interest to others. I find more use for a packed lunch, and sun block. If collecting, it is often easier to pickup specimens that are just lying about.)
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Please sign
the relevant attendance sheet, available at monthly meetings, if you wish
to come on any field visit, or contact the Field Visits Secretary to reserve
a place.
If subsequently you decide not to come, please inform the Field Visits
Secretary so that participants will not be kept waiting unnecessarily. Members are expected
to make their own travelling arrangements and are responsible for insuring
themselves and their equipment Old clothing is advised
and also waterproofs, stout boots or Wellingtons, hammer, chisels, plastic
goggles, trowel. Ordnance Survey map, notebook, pencil, paper tissues,
newspaper, collecting bags, specimen tubes, packed lunch, first aid kit,
and a hard hat for visits to quarries and cliff sections. Access to quarries
will normally be allowed only if steel-capped boots, a hard hat and a
brightly-coloured jacket are worn. All geological sites are potentially
dangerous. Members and guests are reminded that they attend field
visits at their own risk and the attention of all participants is drawn
to Sections 11 and 12 of the Constitution. Children are welcome to attend
field visits provided that they are accompanied by an adult. New members are urged to record information relating to their finds in accordance with procedures described in Fossils, Minerals and Rocks: Collection and Preservation by R. Croucher and A. R. Woolley, published by the British Museum (Natural History) in 1982 but out of print at the present time; there is a copy in the Society's library. The leaflet A Code for Geological Field Work, issued by the Geologists' Association and available from the Field Visits Secretary, should also be read and the general points observed. The availability of all geological material is limited and inadequately labelled specimens are virtually useless; only the collector knows precisely where and when each specimen was found, and this information should be written down when it is collected. The ability to work out a national grid reference from a 1:50 000 OS map is essential. Experienced collectors are always willing to advise beginners and help to identify specimens |