Hull Geological Society

 Secretary's Annual Report for 2013-2014

The AGM marks the end of our 125th Anniversary Year. It gives me the opportunity to reflect on a year which, in itself, was reflective! It was special and busy year for the Society.

We had a special day of lectures, all from our own members, in June to mark the anniversary and then in our field trips we visited some sites in the footsteps of our founder members.

 We have continued to provide a wide variety of activities for our members and the public. As well as offering the more traditional lectures by visiting speakers and field excursions we encourage members to be active geologists. So we have held a Member's Evening, Roadshows and Flamborough Quaternary Research Field Trips.

 We have also started some new activities. The first ever HGS medal, the Whitham Memorial Medal, was awarded to Stuart Jones; and we are grateful to Maggie and Trevor Evans for donating the medal. We held our first Club Nights and they have proved to be very popular. The Committee has approved the starting of the Bisat Project to attempt to record the ever-changing geology of the Holderness Cliffs.

 Our friends at the University have started up a geology joint degree this year and will be offering a geology single honours degree next year; we wish them every success with this. The students have revived the Harker Geological Society and I hope that we can have some joint meetings in the future.

 Looking ahead our work with a group of artists is bearing fruit with an art exhibition in Studio Eleven of work inspired by the Flamborough Research Group and a Geology and Art Symposium at the Hull College of Art arranged jointly with the Yorkshire Geological Society. To encourage wider participation in this meeting there will be an open photographic exhibition and application forms for this have already been distributed. Michael McKimm published a book of poetry entitled "Fossil Sunshine" which included some poems dedicated to members of the HGS.

 Our involvement in the care of Rifle Butts SSSI continues. The YWT have now covered the entire face with netting in an attempt to stop the geo-vandalism. The Society has made a donation from our Conservation Fund to add a new gate to the site, which Stuart Jones has installed. Whilst we have reduced the theft of fossils from the site we have not outwitted the rabbits - so there is more work than usual to do when we visit for our "spring clean" next month (sausages will be provided if you book!).

 There are a large number of people to thank for their help during the year, perhaps too large a number to thank in this short report, so I simply thank all the people who have helped with the field trips, picnics, catering, roadshows, lectures, club nights, committee work, &c.

 I would though like to thank Rod Towse for organising the Anniversary Dinner for the Society. Also, we should record our special thanks to two members who are resigning from the Committee - Paul Richards who has been our Publicity Officer since 2010 and Ian Scott who has been our Treasurer since 2010. We also thank the Department of Geography, Environment and Earth Sciences at the University for their continued support and hospitality.

Copyright - Hull Geological Society 2023

Registered Educational Charity No. 229147

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