Appendix 1.

Notes from HGS archives and minutes 1984 to 1994.

1984

The year started with a talk and demonstration about microfossils by Martin Brasier and two of his students.

The Committee were concerned about the rise in the cost of living – they encouraged members to share lifts to field meetings. Members were encouraged to meet at Cottingham Green to leave some cars in the free car park and share lifts to the field meeting. The whole of the membership was consulted about the future of field meetings at a General Meeting. The Committee was also starting to make plans to celebrate the Centenary of the Society. At the end of the Agenda for the AGM it says “the Committee welcomes suggestions from members for future field meetings and lectures…”.

Kenneth Fenton had arranged with the contractors to photograph and record the Buried Cliff at Hessle Station before it was removed to make way for the South Docks Road. Mike Horne showed the slides of the exposure to a Members’ Evening on Ken’s behalf, because he was teaching at Hull College that evening.

The Committee started to make plans for the Society’s Centenary and a research project was launched to record the stratigraphy of the Yorkshire Chalk, make a list of exposures in East Yorkshire and create a collection of typical Chalk fossils.

New members joining the Society in 1984 included Mrs J Medcalf and Don Bruce. Dr Hubert Watson, a long standing member, passed away in December. Anthea Robinson was the new member of the Committee.

1985

Mrs Coultard resigned from the Committee in February due to ill health. Roy Thackeray became the new member on the Committee in March but resigned in December. Ken Fenton became Vice President and Mike Horne replaced him in the role of Secretary. It was the intention of the Committee that Ken should be President in the Centenary year. The annual subscription was increased to £2 for 1986 for ordinary members, with a similar rise for other categories of membership.

Tim Schadla-Hall of Hull Museums gave a talk about Thomas Sheppard at the Members’ Evening. In October there was an extra lecture by Willy Wright on “A Century of Chalk Research” as his contribution to the Centenary Project.

Vice-President Ken Fenton chaired the Members’ Evening in October, but sadly passed away later that evening. A special Committee Meeting proposed to remember Ken through the  creation of a series of ten memorial lectures on topics close to Ken’s interests, dedicating the publication of the Chalk research to Ken, including fossils from Ken’s collection at the Centenary display at the Town Docks Museum and the adoption of a geological conservation site with the help of the Nature Conservancy Council. The post of Vice President was kept vacant until the 1986 AGM.

New members included Ian Alexander of Beverley, Dave Finer of Hedon, Alistair Lomax of Hull University, Mavis May of Newbald, Terry Rockett of Melton, Tom Scott of Beverley, Wilf Whitaker of Hull and Judith Bryce of Hull.

1986

The Committee were firming up plans for the Centenary Celebrations. There was to be a Dinner and a series of lectures related to important figures in our history – G W Lamplugh, Alfred Harker, Thomas Sheppard, C F B Shilito, the Wright brothers and Kenneth Fenton. There was also to be a display in the Town Docks Museum and the East Riding Boulder Committee was revived. The Committee agreed that the Society’s Archives should be catalogued and be placed at Hull Museum for safe keeping.

The AGM agreed to the proposal to hold up to ten Kenneth Fenton Memorial Lectures and create a memorial fund to contribute towards the cost of establishing a local centre for the National Scheme for Geological Site documentation at Hull Museum. The AGM also agree to the Treasurer’s proposal to purchase shares in the recently demutualised Trustee Savings Bank and sell them later at the best price.

The Society received a bequest of journals and books from the family of the late Hubert Watson; these were stored at the home of Felix Whitham.

The November lecture was a bit special: Andy Eavis, a cave explorer from Hessle, showed slides of Chinese caves he had explored using 4 slide projectors in pairs with the audience wearing polaroid glasses to experience the views in 3D.

New members in 1986 included Archie Lee of York and John Barry of Cromer. Anthea Robinson resigned from the Committee in November because she was moving away from the area. Dave Finer was elected to be the new member of the Committee and Lynden Emery became the Vice-President.

1987

The first meeting of the year was a talk and demonstration of the use of computers in geology by Dick Middleton. Field meetings included a visit to Leicester Museum by minibus, where the Director, Patrick Boylan, showed us around the museum.

The Committee agreed that new members could be elected at quorate field meetings, rather than having to wait for the start of the Winter Programme. The Treasurer bought some shares in the demutualised Trustee Savings Bank.

The Committee was finalising plans for the Centenary Celebrations. There was to be a Centenary Symposium with lectures by members of the Society, displays and refreshments. This was to be followed by a Dinner costing an estimated £10 each with John Neale as After Dinner Speaker and the President of the YGS as a guest. The Society was also going to have a display at the Town Docks Museum from 30^th April 1988 until 19th June; unfortunately this was later cancelled due to staff shortages at the Museum. The Society sent its congratulations to the Yorkshire Geological Society for their 150^th Anniversary.

A work party from the Centenary Project dug trenches in the scree at Middleton Chalk Pit so that the stratigraphy could be recorded. Planning permission had been granted to fill Sands Top Quarry at North Newbald and the Society requested the conservation of the Cave Oolite exposure north-east corner. Permission to fill Bessingby Chalk Pit near Bridlington had been refused. The exposure at Rifle Butts SSSI had been extended by the Manpower Service Commission and the Nature Conservancy Council had asked the Society to volunteer to keep the new exposure clean. Donald Beveridge and Felix Whitham attended a site meeting and in December the Society agreed to undertake two conservation visits per year.

New members included Stephen Potts of Willerby, Claire Heyes of Beverley, David Thrun of Hull, Anne Uglow of Cottingham and seven student members. Terry Rockett was the new member of the Committee. Lynden Emery became the President. Past-President Percy Gravett died in April. Honorary members Ted and Willy Wright received Honorary D.Sc. degrees from the University of Hull and some representatives of the Society were invited to the Winter degree graduation ceremony which was held in the Middleton Hall.

1988

Tony Gear, Lynden Emery and Jean Harrison formed a subcommittee to organise the Centenary Dinner which would cost £10 per person. The speakers at the Symposium were invited to the Dinner as guests of the Society, as was the President of the YGS. The Treasurer set aside £200 for the cost of the dinner for guests and printing.

In March, at the AGM, there was some bad news for the Society. Firstly, the planned exhibition about the Society’s history and local geology at the Town Docks Museum was cancelled due to staffing problems. A smaller display took place at the Hull Central Library. The Geology Department at the University was to be closed after a nationwide review by the University Grants Committee and the staff transferred to other Universities. John Neale retired and a retirement dinner was held in July. The Society wrote letters to local MPs in the hope that the decision could be reversed.

The first conservation visit to Rifle Butts SSSI was held on 7^th May.

The Society donated copies of Humberside Geologist, the Geological Survey map of Hull and Regional guides to the new Wyke and Wilberforce 6^th Form Colleges in Hull. The sister of the late Hubert Watson donated some of his journals and books to the HGS, Felix Whitham stored these for the Society and they were later donated to Hull Museums.

Humberside Geologist number 6 was edited by a sub-committee of Mike Horne, Dave Finer, Felix Whitham and Lynden Emery. Mike Horne had also written the first draft of the history of the Society; Lynden Emery agreed to read extracts from it at the Centenary Symposium and it would be published as Humberside Geologist number 7. This was later republished online with added photographs. The annual subscription fee for ordinary and family members was increased but the rate for students and unwaged members remained the same.

The Centenary Symposium was held on Saturday 4^th June from midday to 6pm <link to photos> with 5 lectures followed by the Dinner with John Neale as the After Dinner Speaker and the President of the YGS proposing a toast to “the Society”. The Summer Programme included three meetings that were “especially suitable for beginners”.

New members included Tony Benfield of Leeds, Geoffrey Andrews, Ray Eades, Aaron Cryan and Jim Darmody of Hull, and six student members. New members on the Committee were Judith Bryce and Donald Beveridge who became the Vice President. Mark Piasecki, Michael House and Ansell Dunham of the Geology Department were elected as Honorary Life Members of the Society at the Centenary Symposium.

1989

The Committee agreed that the Society’s archives should be transferred to Hull Museums, with agreed conditions.

The Secretary presented his annual report to the Annual General Meeting as a printed document for the first time. The Committee agreed that the printed Secretary’s and Treasurer’s reports should be sent to members before the AGM with the agenda when possible in the future. Harry Thompson donated some books to the Society. Mavis May and Claire Heyes agreed to act as the Society’s Librarians; the books were stored at the homes of Lynden Emery and Felix Whitham. It is not clear that the Library was ever transferred or what became of these books.

A joint field meeting with the Leeds Geological Association was held at Speeton led by Lynden Emery.

In September the Society visited the Phoenix Project archaeological dig in Albion Street, the site of the original Hull Museum that had been destroyed by German bombing in June 1943. The Geologists’ Association offered affiliation to the HGS.

New members included Cyril Dutton of Weybridge, Glen Brown of Goole and three student members. Tom Scott resigned from the Society because he had moved to West Sussex. The new member on the Committee was Mavis May.

1990

Staff and students from the University were unable to attend the Annual General Meeting because they were holding the final Harker Geological Society Dinner at the Station Hotel to mark the final closure of the Geology Department.

The Committee asked the Secretary to write to local MPs and the Prime Minister to protest about redundancies at the Natural History Museum in London.

The Society contributed to the new Conservation Policy of the Nature Conservancy Council.

In May, Sheila Rogers led a field trip to the type section of the Eller Beck Formation near Goathland and an exposure of the Cleveland Dyke at Egton Bridge. The field meeting at North Newbald was followed by a barbecue in Mavis May’s garden.

In July Lynden Emery arranged for members to visit the construction site of the Market Weighton By-Pass at Arras Hill to record the geology and collect fossils. A partial specimen of Dactyllioceras tennunicostatum found just below the Red Chalk indicated an early Toarcian age for the clays. A report was published later in Humberside Geologist number 11.

Members were concerned about the rate of weathering at Rifle Butts SSSI and decided to only remove very loose material when cleaning the site in the future. The Secretary was asked to contact the Yorkshire Naturalists Trust and the NCC about the problem in October. The Society’s archives had been donated to Hull Museums and the Curator, John Bradfield, thanked the Society.

New members 1990 included Mike Allderidge of Newbald, Mike Boyd of Hull Museums, Jack Hardisty of Hull University, David Hill of Hedon, Tony Parkes of Preston, Peter Scott of Beverley, Bob Head of Anlaby, Alice Drury of Cottingham, John Whittle of Kirkella, Gillian Hughes and Colin West and four student members from Bridlington. Honorary member Professor Versey died in the winter, he had joined the Society in 1932. The new member on the Committee was Jim Darmody.

1991

Hull Museums became the regional centre for the National Scheme for Geological Site Documentation.

There were site meetings at Rifle Butts SSSI with the warden Gordon Scaife, representatives of the NCC and Donald Beveridge representing the Society to discuss the conservation of the site. If the exposure could be kept dry, frost would not damage the chalk. Don Beveridge had proposed building a shelter over the exposure. Harry Thompson submitted a plan for the shelter and English Nature (the renamed NCC) was approached for the grant towards the cost. The estimated cost was £4000.

Scunthorpe Museum had established a RIGS Group for north Lincolnshire and the Society agreed to help. Members suggested sites to be added to the list.

The Society affiliated to the Geologists’ Association and the Society agreed to help the newly formed Rockwatch (a national club for young geologists).

The Treasurer and Secretary were given authority to remove members in arrears with their subscription from the mailing list on behalf of the Committee.

The Society objected to the sale of the University of Hull Library’s geology books to Leicester University, The plan did not go ahead, however The Library stated that they would not keep the geology books indefinitely if they were not being borrowed. Members of the Society only had reading rights but not borrowing rights.

Beverley Halstead died in a car crash the month after speaking at our AGM. A collection raised £25 to donate to a memorial fund.

Humberside Geologist number 8 was published, edited by Judith Bryce, Jim Darmody, Mike Horne and Felix Whitham, and included photographs of the Centenary Meeting. The Society purchased offprints of Felix Whitham’s Chalk paper in the Proceedings of the Yorkshire Geological Society for sale to members.  Felix presented his research as the Kenneth Fenton Memorial Lecture in December, remembering his early fieldwork experiences with Ken. The Society presented a book to Phil Fenton (Ken’s widow) who attended the meeting. 

The Society had a display at the three day GeoEvent at the Yorkshire Museum in October.

The new Committee member was Claire Heyes. Sheila Rogers and Donald Beveridge stood down from the Committee. New members included Judith Rockliff of Hessle, Paul Ensom of the Yorkshire Museum, Derek Glover of Rochdale, Mike Manderfield of York, Mick Stanley of Hull Museums, and Mr and Mrs Osborn of Pontefract.  Glen Brown passed away from an asthma attack.

1992

The Committee discussed obtaining Liability insurance for field meetings.

A RIGS Group had been formed for East Yorkshire and Hull Museums were acting as convenors of the Group. About 40 sites were initially nominated for Regionally Important Geological and Geomorphological Site status. Hull Museums also became the local record centre for the National Scheme for Site Documentation and members donated £70 in memory of Kenneth Fenton to buy a filing cabinet and record cards. Principal Keeper at Hull Museums Mick Stanley was the national co-ordinator of the site documentation scheme and chairman of the Conservation Committee of the Geological Society based in London.

Plans for the shelter at Rifle Butts SSSI were progressing: plans for the shelter had been submitted to the Council and grants sought. The Society asked Donald Beveridge to act on its behalf in matters concerning the conservation of the site. Planning permission was granted in November.

Following the closure of the Geology Department parts of the University’s research collection were being dispersed: the Cretaceous and Quaternary specimens were retained for teaching, other specimens from East Yorkshire were donated to Hull Museums and the rest of the Research Collection was transferred to Oxford University.

A bibliography of East Yorkshire Geology was published as Humberside Geologist number 9. The Geologists’ Association published a guide to the geology of the Yorkshire Coast with contributions by HGS members Pete Rawson and Felix Whitham. Thirty copies were sold to HGS members at a special discounted price.

Felix Whitham had received a prize from the Geological Society of London. Felix was also awarded an Honorary Doctor of Science degree by the University of Hull and Felix thanked the Society for nominating him.

There was a temporary exhibition at Hull Museums called “Treasures of the Wolds” which included the Wold Newton Meteorite on loan from the Natural History Museum in London and a display of Chalk fossils.

Copies of the new magazine Down to Earth published by Chris Darmon of Geosupplies in Sheffield were distributed to members at meetings.

The Society bought a gift for Ann Emery in thanks for her auditing the accounts. The Charity Commission would require a copy of the accounts to be submitted annually in future.

New members included Chris Leach of Cottingham, Andrew Brewster of Lincoln, Ken Bailey of Cottingham, John Forster of Beverley, John Green of Tetney, Tony Waltham of Goole,  Chris Cone and David Mounce. Doug Bridger passed away in September. David Hill was the new member on the Committee.

1993.

60 members and guests attended the Kenneth Fenton Memorial Lecture in January by John Pethick of Hull University. At that meeting members had the opportunity acquire thin sections and hard rock specimens that were being disposed of by the University for their own use.

A special Society Dinner was held in January in honour of Felix Whitham. The second of Felix’s Chalk papers was published and the Society purchased offprints for sale to members.

The Curry Fund gave a grant of £3500 towards the cost of the erection of the shelter at Rifle Butts on condition that there was access to the locked site for geologists. The Yorkshire Wildlife trust agreed that the Society should be a key-holder and give permission for geological visitors by loaning the key. The Society opened a separate building society savings account for the grant money with Donald Beveridge as the Treasurer. The roof and rock filled gabions had been erected by October and a notice board had been designed that included artwork and text by Lynden Emery and Mike Horne.

Humberside Geologist number 10 was published. Mike Horne, Cyril Dutton, Terry Rockett, Stephen Potts and Felix Whitham donated towards the cost of the printing.

The University of Hull Library wished to charge HGS members for reading rights but after negotiations agreed that they could continue to use the library free of charge. Following the building work at the Geography Building at the University the entrances were to be kept locked in the evening; members of the Committee would take turns to admit members and guests to the building on lecture nights.

New members included Paul Toffolo of Cottingham, Joan Jackson of Cottingham, Trevor Sands of Grimsby, Simon Mitchell of Liverpool University, Roy Broadbent of Normanby, Barry Constantine of Skipsea, Isobel Trim of Scarborough, Geoff Nicholson of Leconfield, and Anne Horne. Mike Horne and Felix Whitham were elected as Honorary Life Members of the Society. Chris Leach was the new member on the Committee.

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