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Reports |
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Meeting Report—January 2010 Meeting Report—October 2009 Meeting Report—September 2009 Meeting Report—20th August 2009 Meeting Report—16th July 2009 Meeting Report—18th June 2009 Meeting Report—21st May 2009 Meeting Report—16th April 2009 Meeting Report—19th March 2009 Once again Vic Smallshire gave a superb talk which received several rounds of applause. This one was about the Canals of Staffordshire and Vic gave a history of how the canals were built and the background to them. Meeting Report—26th February 2009 Our 2nd AGM. An enjoyable evening attended by around 50 members. Ian Sadler gave a talk entitled, “Why Did the Farmer Cross the Rhode”, about the genetics of chicken rearing. Ian’s talk was entertaining and shed some light on how chickens are bred and which make the best for eggs and meat. Meeting Report—January 2009 Prof. Ian Truman gave a most enlightening talk about the gathering of information for the Black Country Fauna project. Ian’s sense of humour shone throughout the evening which was enjoyed by all. Meeting Report—20th November 2008 Simon Keeling gave a talk entitled ‘Climate Change-Where are we now?’. Updating the latest scientific research concerning climate change, Simon concluded that, although he did not want to admit it, the fact is that climate change is being enhanced by humans and we all need to do something about it. Meeting Report—23rd October 2008 Rev. Martin Inman gave a talk about “Religion & Science”. As two subjects that one is told will never mix, the talk was well thought out and gave a fascinating resume of how science and religion have worked together through the ages. Martin’s deep faith and understanding of the subject were clear for all to see, and his responses to the questions asked were considered and appropriate. A wonderful meeting and one that was enjoy by the more than 80 who attended. Meeting Report—19th & 26th June 2008 On both of these dates we were given a guided tour of the Wren’s nest nature Reserve. There was much to live up to following Robert Earnshaw’s talk last year and they did not let us down. There is so much history around the Wren’s nest, from hundreds of millions of years past, right up to the Industrial Revolution. The birth place of Abraham Derby was on the list of sights to see, as was the ‘ripple walls’, ancient fossil sand patterns transformed to rock over millions of years. A fascinating walk.
Meeting Report—May 2008 Sam Rose took us on a walk around the trees of Wombourne. What a wonderfully enjoyable evening. The rain held off and Sam was his usually entertaining and knowledgeable self. We learnt so much about trees and how the ones that you think are native to England are actually imposters! Meeting Report—18th April 2008 Tim Prevett from Crewetours.com gave a talk entitled “The Ancient Sityes of Staffordshire”. This proved to be a most interesting photographic journey through the sites of Staffordshire from pre-history to the Iron Age. What an amazing amount of ancient history we have in the county. Tim’s talk was educating, thought provoking and inspiring. He has also agreed to return to give another talk to the Society in 2009 or 2010. Meeting Report—17th January 2008 The first meeting of 2008, and a lecture by Sue Stevens on blood grouping. Sue brought the subject alive (excuse the pun), with her informative, informal style. She showed slides of blood cells magnified many times, and told us about how blood was made and what happens to blood once it has been donated. She also told us about some of the problems with blood and the illnesses that can be cause by it. Overall a most entertaining evening, and one that vampires would have loved!!! Meeting Report—13th December 2007 A quiz devised by ian Sadler brought the year to a close. Fun was had by all, and the mulled wine, sherry and mince pies went down really well. Here’s to 2008! Meeting Report—15th November 2007 Robert Earnshaw gave a superb presentation about the geology, wildlife and natural history of the Wrens Nest Nature Reserve. Those of you who attended will know I am not understating when I say it was truly wonderful. Roberts knowledge is vast and his enthusiasm shines through. We learnt so much about this geological feature just on our doorstep. Can you believe that Dudley was just south of the equator, sat at the bottom of a very shallow tropical sea, teaming with life! It’s a bit like the ‘cut’ now, except for the prams and bedsteads (no offence to the Canal Trust!). Meeting Report—25th October 2007 An interesting evening was shared with our friends from the South Staffordshire Wildlife Trust. The joint meeting “Magic Mushrooms: The World of Fungi” was presented by Alan Stevens. He gave a very interesting talk about how to identify fungi, why they formed, where they ‘live’ and which are edible! If you missed the meeting a professionally produced DVD is available and these cost £5. You can by them by contacting the Secretary or purchase one at the next meeting. Meeting Report—20th September 2007 The first meeting at our new venue, and it proved to be popular. Jenny Edwards gave a superb presentation entitiled “The Ice Sheet Ended Here”, and you can viewed the slides Jenny used by clicking here. If you missed the meeting, the DVD is available so email or call 07948 550113 to borrow it. A most interesting talk from Jennyand one that is, we hope to be complimented by a visit to Ludlow Museum next year. Jenny is coming back to talk to us again soon. Guests from Wolverhampton Archaeological Group were most welcome, and we hope to be forming stronger links with them. I counted over 70 in attendance, and 10 new members joined the Society. Not bad eh? Next months meeting is from Alan Stevens and is a joint meeting with the South Staffordshire Wildlife Truest all about mushrooms. This promises to be a very popular meeting once again. Meeting Report—10th August 2007 Well, you could guarantee that when we wanted clear skies there wouldn’t be! Unfortunately, our shooting stars evening was clouded out, but nonetheless the 40 or so who attended enjoyed the briefest of guided tours of the night sky. A few hung back and were rewarded with a hole in the cloud allowing three meteors to be seen. Meeting Report—12th July 2007 A very successful meeting, attended by about 40 people. Anita Ferguson gave a fascinating guided walk along the Wombrook. Items of interest were pointed out, and Anita’s enthusiasm shone through. Thoroughly enjoyable! Meeting Report—7th June 2007 The tour of the Wodehouse Gardens was superb. John and Carolyn Phillips allowed us to view the splendour of their walled kitchen garden. John was concerned that the Irises had gone over, but they were still superb. How lucky we are in Wombourne to have such a beautiful family home and gardens, and more especially, that are open to visitors each year. Thank you John and Carolyn! Meeting Report—10th May 2007 Wow! Another superb turnout. I haven’t got the final figures yet, but an estimated 90 people came along. My apologies to those who sat in the annex rooms, and to those who had to leave. This is the last time we will have this problem I hope as the room at the Community centre is much larger. As you would expect, Byron Hooper gave a lovely talk All About Trees. Such fascinating information about how trees grow. What came across most of all was his frustration as a tree warden as to how restricted he is as to what he can do. It was suggested that members of the society form a Tree Sub-Committee. If you are a member and missed the meeting a DVD is available for you to borrow. Just let one of the Council members know. Meeting Report—5th April 2007 Another excellent turnout for the meeting, I counted over 60 in attendance, but will await the official figure from Alan and Sue. A super talk from Alan about the knee and some cracking (pun intended) questions. Thanks Alan for a great evening. The next meeting is the last one indoors before the summer, and will be given by Dr. Hooper, it’s called “All About Tree’s”. Byron is our local tree warden so it should be most interesting. Council have decided that we should have the next meeting at the Institute and then seek a larger venue; this will probably be the Bede Hall in Giggetty Lane, but we will let you know. Meeting Report—8th March 2007 Well, what can I say? Our first meetings attendance was beyond our wildest dreams—72 signed the visitors book. Thank you to everyone who attended. For the next meeting we are likely to be in the same venue, although if numbers swell even more, and if you bring a friend, then we may need to change for the next one. Council will be meeting next week to discuss this, and we will let you now here as soon as that meeting is complete and what’s decided. If you have any ideas for venues, speakers, visits etc… please do let us know…it’s your Society! If you couldn’t get to the meeting, the introduction is on DVD although unfortunately, the talk isn’t...must get that sorted for the next meeting!). Anyway, thanks again for attending, and we hope to see you on 5th April for Alan’s “Are 4 Legs Better than 4?” talk...all about the knee! |
