Bigger crowd this year enjoyed good food (I thought, hopefully you did too) and good company then listened to Haydon’s fascinating tale of micro fossilia, especially useful in the petrochem industry, his area of work. Foraminifera are the main focus with around 50000 species, 40000 or so extinct, offering age horizons in the minerals prospected for oil, in the same way that William Smith deduced the strata of England with the local fossils. Most forams are tiny to extremely small and incredibly difficult to decipher, much work with microscopes and consulting of voluminous indices being the order of the day.  Here are a few pictures: