REPORT OF THE ESSEX FIELD CLUB FOR 2002-2003
Administration
The Council of the Essex Field Club had five meetings during 2002-2003, three of them at the Red
Cross Hall, Chelmsford, one at 40 Pentland Avenue and one at Roxwell Village Hall. The main
activity of Council during the year has been to look in detail at the advantages and disadvantages of
acquiring charitable status, and to draft a revision ofthe rules of the Club to make them compatible
with the requirements of the Charity Commission. Council is particularly indebted to Mrs Mary
Smith for all the hard work she has put in, in contacting the Charity Commissioners and investigat-
ing the procedures for acquiring charitable status. The arguments in favour of becoming a charity,
together with the draft of the proposed new set of rules to be placed before the membership at the
March 2003 AGM (No: 123) were set out in Essex Field Club Newsletter No. 40.
A compounded error in the Club's previous Annual Reports for 2000-2001 and 2001-2002 has just
been realised. The opening sentences reporting the number of meetings in each case should read
'2000-2001' and '2001-2002' respectively in line with the main headings which in each case are
correct.
Meetings
The Field Club held 39 meetings, and an Annual General Meeting during the year, 7 being held jointly
with other societies. The joint meetings were held with the Essex Rock and Mineral Society 4, the
Essex Bat Group 1, and the Essex Invertebrate Forum 2. Field meetings comprised botany 6, fungi 8,
birds 9, moths 4, with 2 general field meetings, one devoted to the survey of Hylands Park and the
other Vange Hill, Basildon. At the 2002 AGM Charles Watson gave his presidential address on the
Changing Flora ofthe Essex Countryside, reported in full in Essex Naturalist (New series) 19, and in
February, Chris Gibson gave a slide-based talk on Mediterranean Wildlife, his theme being the way in
which successive civilizations have moulded the landscape and changed the vegetation of the lands
surrounding the Mediterranean sea.
Although Foot and Mouth did not affect the program directly this year, the Curtismill Green botany
meeting that had to be cancelled last year, was successfully held this April, an account of our finds
being included in Mary Smith's Wildlife Diary in Essex Field Club Newsletter No. 39. Unfortunately
two other Botany Group meetings had to be cancelled; - the narrow-boat trip down the R.Lee, courtesy
of Adelade Marine, as they no longer own the boat; and the Botany Group AGM, originally booked in
at the FSC Centre at High Beach.
The Club's third Annual Exhibition and Social, held at the Red Cross Hall, Chelmsford, was again an
unqualified success (sec p. 6). Both numbers attending (110) and the number of exhibitors (20) were
slightly greater than last year, proving that there is a continuing desire of the Recorders and others to
demonstrate the Club's activities and of our members to see the exhibits and to socialise. Many of the
exhibitors had not put on displays in previous years, so the new blood gave a fresh and vital feel to the
afternoon. The social aspect of the occasion was given impetus by the excellent refreshments provided
by Mary Smith and her helpers.
Scientific achievements
Several major ventures involving the Club have come to fruition during the year. The Essex Red Data
List of endangered plants, fungi, and a wide range of animals has been compiled in draft form for the
Essex Naturalist (New Series) 20 (2003)
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