Hull Geological Society 

The Hull Geological Society was founded in 1888 and is now an educational Charity.

NOTE - THE SOCIETY NOW HAS A NEW

ADVERT-FREE WEBPAGE AT

http://www.hullgeolsoc.org.uk/
 
 

Contents:

Introduction
List of meetings
Society Noticeboard (messages and queries)
Society Scrapbook (photos of recent field meetings)
Society Photo Gallery
Society History
Humberside Geologist Online Journal
Membership
Library
Geological Conservation
Fieldwork Safety Policy
Links to members' web sites
Charitable Aims
List of Officers

Geological Links Page (compiled by Mike Horne)

Please note that the Society is a not-for-porfit organisation run by volunteers - we may not respond you your enquiries and requests as fast as a professional or commercial company.

In the winter the Society has a series of monthly lectures on topics of geological interest with guest speakers. Once every two years there is a Members' Evening where members give informal talks, slide shows or display specimens from their collections. The AGM is held in March. The winter meetings are usually held at the University of Hull, Department of Geography.

In the summer there is a series of field meetings, usually led by experienced members of the Society to sites in East Yorkshire, the Yorkshire coast or Lincolnshire.

Click here for a poster which you can print and dsiplay

Occasionally there are mini-bus or weekend trips to sites outside our region. Help and advice is freely available to beginners on these trips. In recent years the Society has made contact with similar geological Societies in other parts of the country and has hosted field meetings for them, when local 'experts' lead the visiting party to quarries and the coast, as an introduction to the area. Since the Centenary of the Society in l988 there have been special meetings which are suitable for beginners. These include guided walks around the city shop-fronts or graveyards. Boulder 'survey' meetings to the Holderness coast, looking at erratics in the Boulder Clay are exciting for beginner and veteran geologists alike.

(Mike Horne leads an urban geology walk.)

There has always been a strong interest in research in East Yorkshire geology by amateur members of the Society. The Chalk of the Yorkshire Wolds and the Speeton Clay have provided a challenge for Society members over the last 110 years. Three current amateur members of the Society have been awarded honorary D.Sc. degrees by Hull University in recognition of their contributions to science.

The Society also publishes an occasional journal called Humberside Geologist with articles about local geology and geologists, and is free to members. Articles from this are available online . Printed copies are available from the Secretary.

Price List for Back Numbers (Prices include post and packing, in the U K; overseas postage extra. Please make cheques payable to "Hull Geological Society" and send orders to 28 Salisbury Street, Hull, HU5 3HA.)

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The society is actively involved in conservation work. A few years ago the Society 'adopted' Rifle Butts Quarry, a local Geological SSSI, and regularly visits the site to keep it tidy. At the site there is an exposure of an unconformity, with mid-Cretaceous Red Chalk overlying Lower Jurassic Sediments. The site provides evidence of the existence of the Market Weighton High, one of the Mesozoic structural masses, which influenced sedimentation. Members became worried about the rate of weathering and have raised 6000 pounds to erect a roof to protect the exposure from the elements. Access to the site by geological parties is encouraged. The Society has a small conservation fund and will consider applications for grants for geological conservation in eastern Yorkshire.

The Society is an active member of the East Yorkshire RIGS Group.

The Hull Geological Society now has a conservation fund, the rules of which are:

1. The Fund shall be called the Hull Geological Society Conservation Fund.
2. The Fund shall be administered by the Officers and Committee of the Hull Geological Society.
Withdrawals from the fund will require two signatures.
3. The Fund shall only be used for conservation work or projects in Eastern Yorkshire (including the upkeep of the Rifle Butts Quarry Shelter). Such conservation should have educational benefits in terms of extending knowledge and promoting research into Geology and allied science, in line with the educational aims of the Hull Geological Society's Rules and charitable status.
4. The accounts shall be shown as a separate fund in the Society's Treasurer's report annually and be audited in the same way as the Society's general funds.
5. The Committee shall invest the Fund as they consider appropriate and consider applications for conservation grants.

The Fund has been an unexpected result of our work at Rifle Butts SSSI. In 1993 we received a Grant from the Curry Fund of the geologists' Association, as half of the cost of erecting a shelter to protect the exposure at Rifle Butts SSSI near Market Weighton. The Society invested the money until the work had been complete and received some interest on the account. We offered to donate that back to the Curry Fund but were told that we could keep it and use it for the upkeep of the shelter (to pay for some paint for example). In 1997 the Alliance and Leicester Building Society converted into a bank. The conversion meant that the account-holder was entitled to free shares. We offered these to the Curry Fund, who eventually replied that they were happy for the Society to keep them for conservation work only. But the problem was that the shares are the Secretary's name because they cannot be in the name of the Society. Following the advice of the Society's Auditor, the 1998 AGM agreed that the shares should be sold and the money re-invested by a group of trustees. Following that the Charity Commission pointed out that the Fund should not have separate 'Trustees', which effectively created a separate organisation and would have to apply for separate charitable status. This was corrected at the 1999 AGM when the above constitution was adopted. We would like to thank Michael McKillop of the Charity Commission for his help in the wording of the Fund rules.

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Membership is open to anyone with an interest in rocks, minerals and fossils; no qualifications are required. Though some previous experience does help with some of the lecture meetings and we occasionally cannot allow children on quarry visits for safety reasons.

The current annual subscriptions from September 2007 are 7 pounds, 8 pounds for families and institutions, 5 pounds for retired people, and 3 pounds for students/unwaged (or 7-50 for three years in advance). Donations are always welcome. Cheques should be made payable to "Hull Geological Society". Click on these links for a membership form and gift aid declaration which you can print out..

For further information please contact: the Secretary: Mike Horne, c/o 28 Salisbury Street, Hull, HU5 3HA, telephone (01482) 346784 (after 7-30 p.m.) or e-mail Mike Horne

Library

The Society donated its library to the Brynmor Jones Library at the University of Hull. Members of the Society may register with the BJL for a free Reader's Ticket, entitling them to use the Library but not borrow books.

In 2002 the BJL donated unwanted geology books and journals to the Society. These are now stored in the home of our Librarian and members of the Society may borrow up to six books or journals for one month. Non-members may also borrow but a refundable deposit is required. Any costs involved in the loans (such as post and packing) must be paid by the borrower. The Society plans to produce a catalogue of the new library.

We have also been given some geological maps and other books, and these too are available for loan. Other donations will be gratefully accepted!

The Society is affiliated to the The Yorkshire Geological Society, The Geologists' Association and the East Yorkshire RIGS Group.  Members of the Society may attend the meetings of these other Societies.

If you would like to receive an e-mail newsletter for members and friends of the Society, please e-mail mike @ horne28.freeserve.co.uk. The newsletter is free to members and friends of the Society, and contains details of meetings, notes and queries from members, news from corresponding Societies, etc.

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Go to Geological Links Page

    (updated 12th February 2006)