Summer Field meeting 2008

Shetland Isles

Local secretary: Paul Harvey, SBRC, Shetland Amenity Trust, Garthspool, Lerwick, Shetland ZE1 0NY; e-mail: sbrc@zetnet.co.uk; tel: 01595 694688.

A visit to Britain’s most northerly island group will take place from 12th–19th July 2008 inclusive. As lower plants are relatively under recorded in Shetland, the primary purpose of this visit will be to record bryophytes. The field trip will include visits to all of Shetland’s main islands and the full range of habitats that this unique island group hosts. If you wish to register an interest in this field trip then please contact the local secretary.

Aberdeenshire

In addition to the week on Shetland a meeting is being organized in the week prior to Shetland for anyone who is interested in extending their trip to Scotland . This will be based in Aberdeenshire from 5 th to 11 th July and be arranged to facilitate onward travel to Shetland on the 11 th July. The main focus of this week will be the exploration of some little or unknown terrain to increase our knowledge for the next edition of the Atlas. However, there are also some delights in store, such a planned return to the site for Lophozia herzogiana found during the 2004 BBS meeting. Headquarters for the week will be in a self catering cottage near Turriff for those who prefer this arrangement, and of course members are also welcome to join for part of the week if they wish. As demand for self catering accommodation in the area is high, it is advisable to contact the local secretary soon if you wish to reserve a self catering place.

Local secretary Liz Kungu The Royal Botanic Gardens, 20A Inverleith Row, Edinburgh , EH3 5LR . E.Kungu@rbge.org.uk

Annual General Meeting and paper-reading session 2008

Preston Montford, 10-12 October

Local secretary: Martin Godfrey, 6 Darnford Close, Parkside, Stafford, ST16 1LR; tel: 01785 229713; e-mail: martinandrosie@aol.com

The 2008 AGM and paper reading meeting will be held at Preston Montford Field centre Shropshire. Costs for the meeting will be £140 for a single room, £130 sharing, cheques should be made payable to the “Field Studies Council”. Bookings to the local secretary above, you can do this by e-mail in the first instance; you should include any dietary requirements and how you intend to get to Preston Montford.

At present the timetable is as follows:

10 October

1630 – Conservation Committee
1700 – Publications Committee.
1830 – Dinner (delegates arrive)
2000 – Council

11 October

0830 - Breakfast
1000- 1530 Paper reading (lunch as required)

Jeff Bates – “Towards and ecological compendium of British bryophytes”
Jeff Bates – “Salt tolerance and survival of Schistidium maritimum”
Irene Bisang – “Sexual reproduction in the world of unisexual mosses”.
Chris Preston – “No sex please we’re British: non-fruiting bryophytes in the British Isles”
Silvia Pressel – “Studies on protonema”
Michael Proctor – “Small is beautiful: optimum plants at a small scale.”

1600 – AGM

1700 – Tropical Bryology Group meeting.

1830 – Dinner

2000 – Workshop tbd.

12 October

0830 – Breakfast.

0930 – Depart for field meetings, to arrive by 1000.

• Loton Estate Deer Park, led by Mark Lawley. Entrance off the B4393 in the village of Alberbury opposite the war memorial at SJ357143.
• BRECOG recording, led by Dan Wrench (site tbd but likely to be a quarry)