pictures about any site of wildlife or geological interest into a database table, with a
sample of the contents available to all website visitors. With all these facilities we are
hoping that we can start to build up a wealth of structured and new information on both
species, sites and habitats in the county. This is especially important with the huge
development pressures that the county currently faces.
The availability of information is limited only to what can be provided, and I urge
members to investigate our new website, register and start to produce pages and input of
their own. We also hope to gain funding as a charity to extend the resources available to
our members and the general public. As an example, we would like to make available all
our old publications including the Essex Naturalist back to the Club's origin in 1880 as
a searchable resource. This would provide an enormous wealth of both historical and
important information on the wildlife and geology of Essex. With funding we could also
provide pictures and information on our collections, currently in storage and virtually
inaccessible to members.
Proposals for a new centre for the Club's collections
We are currently exploring plans to build a new centre at Wat Tyler Country Park in
Pitsea to house the Club's collections and library. This would be a fantastic opportunity
for the Club to finally resolve the ongoing problem generated by the closure of the
Passmore Edwards Museum and which has been the subject of unending discussions,
work and projects since 1994. Until now, all attempts have eventually failed. The storage
of the collections and library is costing the Club over £2000 a year in rent alone, and due
to lack of space and health & safety implications we are unable to provide access for our
members. Despite the sterling work by Martin Heywood, our Collections and Library
Assistant, curation is less than satisfactory for the longer term, and we are only too
aware that some sort of effective solution is urgently required.
Proposals to house the collections and library in a new centre at Wat Tyler Country Park
have been the subject of some preliminary discussions, and have now progressed to a
very promising stage with support from Wat Tyler CP and positive feedback from potential
funders. The proposals are for a centre large enough to house the collections and library,
have an area to allow limited public access and a room in which we can hold meetings
and workshops, as well as an area for fieldwork on our doorstep. Despite the pressures
on the south-east and the Thames Gateway, the region remains nationally important for
its wildlife and the Country Park is itself an area of high nature conservation interest,
within a larger landscape providing easy access to a wide range of excellent habitats.
The location for the centre is within an area that is currently an active yard and which
will combine with other plans to provide convenient parking, access to other facilities
and good security. Clearly the proposals are completely dependent on the Club gaining
funding and for all associated costs and maintenance to be within the capabilities of the
Club. However if funding docs become available later this year, we could be moving
into a new centre as soon as a year's time!
2 Essex Field Club Newsletter No. 53, May 2007