Mendip Rocks! 2019, a festival of events celebrating the 450 million year geology of the Mendip Hills is from 10 August to 20 October. The festival includes a diverse and interesting calendar of events that includes quarry tours, cave visits, walks and talks.

The Southern Branch will also be participating on August 21, with a display at the Somerset Earth Science Centre.

The festival calendar and further details can be found on the attached downloadable files:

Festival calendar here

Finale lectures here

 

 

 

 

Given our website’s visibility within the wider mineral collecting community, The Russell Society has been asked to publicise the attached urgent notice from the Glenbuchat Estate in Scotland.

While there is no suggestion that any Russell Society members have been involved in irresponsible activities at Glenbuchat, it is a reminder that:

– Permission to collect minerals is a privilege, not an entitlement
– Permission should be obtained in advance
– All rules and restrictions must be followed.

Please share this important update with other collectors as appropriate. The update can be downloaded as a PDF file here.

The third, annual North Pennines Mineral Expo takes place on July 27 and 28, 2019. As in previous years, the Expo will be located at the Town Hall, St. John’s Chapel, County Durham.

More information can be found at the Facebook page for NorthPenninesMineralExpo.

Following a very successful 2019 Annual Society Meeting (ASM) in Devon, the Wales & West Branch has started planning the 2020 ASM. Members will receive more details in the coming months, but for the moment, please keep the weekend of April 3 – 5 clear for the ASM which will be held at the Cheltenham Chase Hotel, Brockworth, Gloucestershire.

The Russell Society ASM 2019 weekend in April is nearly fully booked. This is the situation:

Northgate House accommodation is fully booked with no vacancies.

There are only ten places left for the communal meal on the Friday evening at Northgate House.

There are twelve places left for the ASM symposium on Saturday. This will not affect attendance at the Society AGM only.

There is one place available at the Annual Dinner on Saturday evening.

The field trips to Bampfylde and Exeter museum are fully booked on the Friday.

The visit to Great Rock has been cancelled, as the Society’s current insurance will not cover us for underground visits in non-working mines.

The High Down quarry and the Teign Valley mines visits are almost full .

It will be case of “first come first served” and you are now encouraged to check with Gary Morse prior to sending in any booking form and payment.

 

 

 

 

 

The 2019 Annual Society Meeting (ASM) will be from Friday 12th April to Sunday 14th April 2019 at Buckfast Abbey Conference Centre, Buckfastleigh, Devon.

Full details of the ASM and a booking form can be found here.

The North Pennines Mineral Expo is happening again in 2018. This year it’s on July 14th and 15th at St. John’s Chapel in County Durham.

Russell Society members are taking part in the show; with a display of minerals from Northern England. Also, we’ll have our Society stall at the show and look forward to seeing you there!

The Award has been established in appreciation of Ron Cleevely, former Senior Scientific Officer in the Department of Palaeontology at the Natural History Museum, London, as a result of a generous donation from his widow Ros.

The Award will be made following nominations and voting by members attending the Annual Society Meeting, held each year in April. The President will have the casting vote, if this is required. In considering nominations for the award for the Best Journal Article published in the previous 12 months in the Russell Society Journal, members might wish to consider:
– Novelty value of the article
– Significance of the contribution to British mineralogy
– Quality of the illustrations
– Bibliographic rigour to ensure a thorough literature search has been undertaken.

Although primarily an eminent palaeontologist, Ron’s fame in palaeontological circles lay more in his exceptional knowledge of 18th and 19th century collectors, their specimens and associated natural history works. He had undertaken extensive research on the Sowerby family in particular, and recently published a fascinating account of the development of early mineralogy in southwest England: “Collecting the New, Rare and Curious – Letters selected from the Correspondence of the Cornish Mineralogists Philip Rashleigh, John Hawkins & William Gregor”.

Ron was an invited speaker at the Bob Symes memorial meeting at the Geological Society in December 2016, and gave a thought-provoking address about the preservation of historical data, with particular reference to the changing nature of records, the ephemeral nature of electronic media and its potential loss in the future. He was a kind and thoughtful person, always willing to impart some of his immense knowledge about collections and collectors, and he would surely have been supportive of any initiative which encouraged enthusiasts to document and record their researches.

 

Norman lived in Tonbridge, Kent and was a member of The Russell Society for many years. Following his passing away in January 2017, and in line with his wishes, his mineral collection is now being sold to raise funds for his chosen good cause, the Kent and Sussex Hospital League of Friends.

Norman’s collection contains a wide range of foreign and British species, with an emphasis on the chemistry of minerals rather than aesthetics. The collection is well curated, with specimens in a clean condition and supported by labels, a card index system and catalogues. The collection is being sold as a whole, by competitive tender.

Viewing will be on the Friday 24th and Saturday 25th November 2017 and tenders are to be returned by 12 noon on Friday 1st December 2017.

Full details of the sale process can be downloaded as a pdf file here.