THE ESSEX FIELD CLUB
DEPARTMENT OF LIFE SCIENCES
UNIVERSITY OF EAST LONDON
ROMFORD ROAD, STRA TFORD,
LONDON, E15 4LZ
NEWSLETTER NO. 28 February 1999
PRESIDENT'S PAGE
I and Council wish all members of the Field Club every best wish and success for 1999.
We start the year with a well-grounded spirit of optimism. As you will see below,
initiatives started over the last year or so are beginning to come to fruition.
A sum of money has been made available from the London Borough of Newham's
Passmore Edwards museum fund to help with relocating and conserving our collections.
The fund has already been called upon for materials for the long overdue conservation of
our geological collections. Graham Ward has made a start on this work and also is
working on the catalogue of fossils, minerals, rocks and erratics. We have established,
after some hiccups, that it can be presented in Mac and IBM formats, though of course a
hard copy will be available also.
Good progress has also been made with regard to our contribution to the Red Data Book.
A good number of Recorders have sent in their information already and more is promised.
I would particularly like to thank the Recorders for their efforts in producing this
information. Jes Dagley, representing the Field Club, will take this further with Chris
Gibson, Senior Conservation Officer with English Nature at Colchester, in February/
March.
In the last Newsletter, Colin Plant announced that he would no longer be able to edit the
Essex Naturalist. The Field Club owes him a great debt in producing the Naturalist in its
present high standard of presentation and scientific content. I and Council would like to
express our gratitude to Colin for his work on, and achievement with, the Naturalist. His
call for a successor has been heeded and the matter has been resolved. A few of us are
meeting in the middle of January to discuss our portfolio of publications and consider
whether any changes or new initiatives are needed. If you have any views about our
publications, please make them known to me.
We will shortly be drawing up our meetings programme for the next year. In the past I
have asked you to make known to me, or any member of Council, any views you have.
Do you have a view on the content of the meetings? Are they interesting enough, varied
enough, have sufficient scientific content, are they too specialised? Should they be 'look-
see' only or should they have a more serious purpose, such as recording? Would half-
days, e.g. Saturday or Sunday mornings for field meetings, or evenings, for lectures and
some field visits, be more convenient? If you have any views, please make them known.
I am giving my address at the bottom of this page so that you have an easy point of
contact. I look forward to hearing any views.
Peter Allen 13, Churchgate, Cheshunt, Herts EN8 9NB
01992 630661 peter.allen6@virgin.net