ROCK DAY—PROGRAMME, BUY TICKETS,
Well it is almost on us—our second annual Rock Day and the start of our third year as a geological society. Saturday 17th November is when it all happens at Martley Memorial Hall. We have a more ambitious programme than last year, so if you can, please do support it. There are generous discounts for members and the evening show is ‘unmissable’! It will be most enjoyable in the afternoon too, a merry time to be had by all, watching (taking part?) the Silurian Morris Men from 2.30pm, refreshments available. Dave Cropp, 01886 888398 / is managing ticket sales so best contact him. Meet for coffee and chat from 1030, with the (short) AGM from 11am followed by a ‘round table’ discussion about the Society’s future, all ideas welcome! Thereafter walks, with guides if we can find them, to local sites, hopefully also to our ‘new’ sites financed by the second funding award gained recently. These outings are to some extent weather dependent and we will need to drive part way to the outlying parts.
MARTLEY GEO-VILLAGE PROJECT
To mark the fact that we have been granted a second tranche of funding (£10300) to add to the first (£26310), we thought a change of name from The Martley Geology Project to The Martley Geo-Village Project would be appropriate, after all that is our aim, to make Martley the first geo-village in the country. This means that we will provide trails, trail guides, central information point, interpretation boards, local displays and international promotion.
PROJECT PROGRESS
The audit books are in printing as I speak and we hope in time for Rock to have these Day. Julie Harrald was responsible for these—thanks Julie. The end result is to be a very fine document indeed, beautifully illustrated and printed, can’t wait! A few copies will be available for purchase, others will be freely distributed to the library, local schools and so on. Education packs, with rock samples, magnifying glasses, charts, teaching resources and student worksheets will be presented to representatives from around a dozen local primary schools at a half day training session at Cob House 14th November, We are most grateful to Bob Allison of Chantry for all of the work he has done to make this happen—thanks Bob. Dr Paul Olver, great friend of the Society and our December speaker (7.30pm 10th), is nearing the end of the third and final geology course sponsored by LEADER, well oversubscribed as usual. A few of us went up to Martley Rock last week to tidy it up for Rock Day—strimming the grass, cleaning up the trench and removing weeds and grass from the walkways. We were pleased with our efforts as the site looked much more presentable when we had finished—only an hour and a half for three of us. We need to encourage a small group to meet at random times to maintain our (five) sites and I know that will not be a problem as there are at least six names on the list already, with al the tools we need to hand.
As far as ‘phase 2’ is concerned, work is just commencing and orders are being placed. These include work on the car park and Martley Rock, survey work for new trails and for the four new sites with their interpretation boards. This work will gather pace in the next few weeks, completion is scheduled for September 2013.
BUSINESS
The AGM is the time to renew your membership or the best time to join as you will then take advantage of the discounts all through the year that you are entitled to as a member. For example, we charge non-members £2.50 to attend an evening lecture and since we hold 5 or 6 a year you can work out the savings made on that alone. The same applies to field trips and also to Rock Day where members pay £8 in the evening, non-members 12—so it just has to be the best deal in town, doesn’t it? Maybe too good, so join now, before we change the rules!
FINALLY
Decemb er 10th 7.30pm mulled wine and nibbles AND Dr Paul Olver for a slightly festive last meet of the year, do come, the topic is ‘Impact on the Earth—the Effect of Missiles from Outer Space’. Surely the evening will be a big hit (sorry).