gnsadmin

Evolution, the Victorians and Ourselves

A talk by Doctor Darren Oldridge of Worcester University

This talk will explore the cultural and scientific impact of Charles Darwin’s work on late Victorian England and the continuing relevance of his work in our time.

Drawing on historical studies of nineteenth-century ideas about evolution, it will focus on the religious and moral implications of what came to be known as ‘Darwinism’.

Organiser: John Moore Museum

Date: Saturday 7^th March 2015, 2pm to 3pm – Followed by Q & A

Venue: The Old Baptist Chapel, Old Baptist Chapel Court, Church Street, Tewkesbury, Glos.

Tickets:   £5.00 adult, £4.00 (seniors & students) – advance booking recommended.

Contact: Simon Lawton (Curator)
E-Mail: curator@johnmooremuseum.org
Telephone: 01684 297174

About twenty GNS members and other interested participants took part in a GNS field meeting, held today, 15 February, at Brockeridge Common, north of Twyning, which is situated in the extreme north of Gloucestershire alongside the A38 between Tewkesbury and Worcester; the county boundary in fact runs along the north side of the site.  The site is on higher ground in the strange little tongue of land between the Severn and the Avon that pokes up into Worcestershire.  GNS has previously organised field meetings at Upham Meadow, Twyning, a well known SSSI along the Avon, important for  hay meadow vegetation and breeding hay meadow birds, but Brockeridge Common was a new venue for the Society.  While not recognised as an SSSI, it is listed among Key Wildlife Sites in the county, which gives it some status under the planning system, since it is one of the largest areas of unimproved neutral grassland in the county (outside the SSSI network), together with some woodland and scrub.  Staff members from Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust who run the Key Wildlife Sites database, and the Gloucestershire Centre for Environmental Records, also joined the group.
Those taking part were very grateful to Mr Graham Halling of Brockeridge Farm and Mr Derek Roberts, who jointly hold the grazing rights over both Brockeridge Common and Upham Meadow, and who presented some revealing comments on recent land use.  Traditionally, sheep and cattle would graze in winter on the higher ground at Brockeridge; when water levels dropped on the riverside along the Avon and the hay had been cut there in late summer, animals would be moved down through Twyning village to Upham Meadow.  (It should be noted that, although registered under the CROW (Right to Roam) Act, Brockeridge Common is not in fact typical common land, but has a freehold owner, while others hold the grazing rights; there has been much discussion in recent years over proposals to quarry stone on site, and to develop wind turbines: as a result members of the Twyning Parish Council also joined GNS members to explain these issues).  This traditional grazing has been quite severely disturbed in recent years, partly because of the decrease in the numbers of farmers with grazing animals, partly because of the tendency to keep animal indoors in barns in winter, and even more so because of the effect of the outbreak of Foot and Mouth Disease in 2001, which led to many animals being slaughtered in the neighbourhood, and a general decrease in grazing.  As a result, the Common has not been as intensely grazed over the last ten to fifteen years (though some ponies and a number of sheep were present today), and the grassland has become much rougher and ranker, and an invasion of scrub, notably hawthorn, has occurred.  It is hoped to remove some of this hawthorn growth in the coming summer

Mid-February is clearly not the best time of year to undertake botanical studies, so this field meeting was by way of a first recce.  Even so, the County Botanical Recorders found  some plants of interest (some associated with the many anthills), enough for them to question the site’s listing under the National Vegetation Classification as Mesotrophic Grassland 5, and given the presence of some plants of calcareous soils; the site also has potential for amphibians such as Great Crested Newts and for Dragonflies, neither of which have been explored in detail.  On the other hand, a number of wintering birds were noted, among them a dozen Teal on the ponds, a couple of Snipe, an obliging Barn Owl in a blackthorn thicket (the site holds much suitable habitat for small mammals), a small flock of 16 wintering Meadow Pipits and two male Stonechats; it was obvious that the site holds much habitat suitable for insect-eating summer migrants.

So it is planned to organise further field visits in spring and early summer, to check on all these issues, to provide information for the Key Wildlife Sites database, and support for the Parish Council which is aiming to conserve sites of high conservation interest within the Parish of Twyning.

The next Cirencester indoor meeting is due this Friday, the 13^th February – an entertaining talk by Mervyn Greening. Mervyn is a licensed BTO bird ringer with a huge amount of experience in the field of bird ringing, he is also involved with Dormouse and Barn Owl monitoring in the west of Gloucestershire and other aspects of wildlife. This promises to be an informative and entertaining meeting. 7.30pm at Watermoor Church Hall. For more information contact Ken Cservenka on 01285 656480.

We also have a Field Meeting scheduled for Sunday 15^th February at Brockeridge Common in the north of the county close to the border with Worcestershire. This will be a general look at traditional common land used as winter pasture to be led by Mike Smart and with input from a local farmer, Mr Halling, who will help explain how the common and the Twyning Great Hay Meadow were used traditionally in the past in the field of animal husbandry. It is intended that records gathered at this meeting will be contributed to Twyning Parish Council to help them formulate the parish development plan. Contact is Mike Smart on 01452 421131, the meeting is at SO 885 379 on the A38 just north of Junction 1 of the M50 at 11.00am.

It could be wet and muddy so wellingtons or boots and wrap up warm against the winter winds but look forward to seeing interesting wildlife.

The Executive Committee of the Gloucestershire Naturalists’ Society have been considering and discussing some changes to the rules of the Society, first set out at the Society’s inauguration in 1948 and revised at a Special General Meeting on 29th March 1996.

The proposed changes result from a number of practical considerations, the reduced number of members willing to assist in managing the Society’s business and from the effects of the modern world, e.g. the advent of electronic communications. The Committee see this as a part of the modernisation of the Society; the proposed changes reflect the different situation now in the 21st Century compared with the mid-20th Century when the Society was established.

A copy of the Rules of the Society (as revised on 29th March 1996) with the proposed changes alongside are attached below. On each page the existing rules on the left are in black, the proposed changes are in red on the right.

Paper copies of the proposed changes are also available from Andrew Bluett, Hon. Membership Secretary at 50 Kingsmead, Abbeymead, Gloucester GL4 5DY, 01452 610085 or gnsmembership@btinternet.com.

A Special General Meeting to allow members to vote on the proposed rule changes will take place within the Annual General Meeting of the Society that is due to take place on Friday 27th March 2015 at 7.30pm at the Gala Club, Fairmile Gardens, Gloucester GL2 9EB.

In the meanwhile, any member who wishes to comment on the proposed changes ahead of the meeting should address their comments to Andrew Bluett as above.

Please also note, if the proposed rule changes are approved at the Special General Meeting the changes will then be subject to the final approval of the Charity Commissioners in accordance with Rule 18, paragraph 2.

GNS Rule Change Proposals REV Final

The inaugural meeting of the Gloucestershire Raptor Monitoring Group took place today (Saturday 17^th January) at St. Peters R C School, Stroud Road, Gloucester.

The meeting attended by 60+ people was opened by Gordon Kirk, Gloucestershire representative for the BTO, followed by words of wisdom and fascinating statistics and other information from Steve Watson, Rob Husbands and Nat Wylde. An open forum followed that with various parties giving their ideas of what the group should aspire to do, and how. The most gratifying part of the meeting was simply the sheer numbers attending and the obvious enthusiasm for the subject under discussion.

In essence, the intention is to monitor and record as much as possible about the Raptors in the county, with some species seen as being the most at risk, receiving more attention to try and establish why they are threatened and whether or not anything can be done to revive their fortunes. Notable examples of birds in this category are the Kestrel and Little Owl that show the greatest decline in numbers and breeding productivity in the recent past.

In parallel with the GRMG there is a separate group dedicated to monitoring Barn Owls; the reason for this is that the fieldwork and monitoring for Barn Owls is different from most other Raptors.

Within both groups there is a range of people from self-confessed beginners to real experts with specialist knowledge of certain species that have been much watched and studied – Peregrine, Goshawk, Hobby and the like. The real hands on work will be carried out as it is already by licensed and qualified ringers, but anyone with an interest in birds, and Raptors in particular, can play their part by looking for, watching and recording the birds of prey they see on their “patch” or generally whilst out and about in the county.

You do NOT need to be expert, just enthusiastic and able to collect clear, precise and accurate records and pass them on either direct to GRMG, GBOMP or to Richard Baatsen, the county recorder. The “business cards” for both groups are below with all the necessary contact details and web-site addresses for anyone interested in getting involved.

The next GNS Indoor Meeting will be on Friday 12^th December 2014 at Watermoor Church Hall, Cirencester at 7.30pm.

Our membership Secretary, Andrew Bluett will present an illustrated talk about about wading birds entitled “Wet Waders, Dry Waders” – a look at these birds in a little more detail, their habitats, habits, migrations etc.

GNS is pleased to advise that we now have two further back issues of The Gloucestershire Naturalist available as scanned files on CD ROM, volumes 13 (2000) and 14 (2008), Stephen Bishop’s New Flora of Gloucestershire. Both complete volumes are available together on a single disc at a cost of £6.00 including postage.

If anyone would like to purchase a copy, please contact Andrew Bluett, Membership Secretary, at gnsmembership@btinternet.com or on 01452 610085.

More Information here: T G N 13 & 14 Bishop’s New Flora of Gloucestershire (2000 & 2008)

The next GNS event will be a meeting at Longhope to visit Hobbs Quarry, a Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust reserve which is an SSSI for its fossil rich exposures of Wenlock Limestone, surrounded by ancient semi-natural woodland, hedgerows and scrub.

The meeting is to be led by Tiz Butler who is a member of the management committee and also on hand will be Dave Green, an expert geologist who will be able to explain and add detail to the geological elements of the site.

Car parking space will be available for the meeting on Sunday, Nov 23^rd, 11.00am at The Pines, opposite the stile into Hobbs. Tiz will try to put up 2 signs for the difficult turn off the A 40 into Hobbs Lane (really a farm track).

Leader: Tiz Butler – 01452 830608 / 07947 033355. Map Ref: SO 695 195.  Meet at 11.00am, Sunday 23^rd November and wear suitable clothing…

Directions – head west along the A40 from Huntley towards Ross on Wye for 1.4 miles / 2.22 Kilometres, then as the hill starts to descend towards Longhope, Hobbs Lane is a 90 degree turn to the left, the lane is narrow and easy to miss for those who do not know the area/road. If you do miss the turn, go down the hill to the Longhope junction where you can turn round and come back up the hill. In the lane, continue up-hill for 1/2 mile and look for a turn to the right to the parking area.

More information about Hobbs Quarry is available at the G W T web-site using this link –

www.gloucestershirewildlifetrust.co.uk/reserves/Hobbs-Quarry

Whilst GNS does not normally advertise the meetings of other societies, we do have close links with the Bristol Naturalists Society and their next indoor meeting is directly related to the recent publication by GNS of the “Special” edition of The Gloucestershire Naturalist No. 25 – A Provisional Red Data Book of Gloucestershire Bryophytes. The author, Richard Lansdown, will be giving a talk to the BNS on Monday 24 November on the Conservation of Bryophytes in Gloucestershire, based on that book. The meeting will be at 7.30pm at the Guide Association Hall, Westmoreland Road, Westbury Park, Bristol BS6 6YW and is free of charge – full details below courtesy of Dr Clive M Lovatt of Bristol Naturalists’ Society:

THE CONSERVATION OF BRYOPHYTES IN GLOUCESTERSHIRE by Richard Lansdown on Monday 24 November, 7.30 pm

Richard Lansdown lives in Stroud and is well known to many members as an expert on water plants. He is the Chair of the IUCN SSC Freshwater Plant Specialist Group. He spoke to us in March 2011 on the subject of new and rare aquatic plants of Britain. He is the author of the BSBI Handbook Water Starworts (Callitriche) of Europe and A Field Guide to the Riverine Plants of Britain and Ireland.

Richard is the joint recorder for bryophytes in Gloucestershire and his new book, A Provisional Red Data Book on Gloucestershire Bryophytes has just been published by the Gloucestershire Naturalists’ Society. It is an authoritative work of 327 pages and lays out and justifies the local threat status of some 200 species, each of which is given an illustrated species account covering distribution and history (with a dot map), habitat and ecology, the condition of populations in Gloucestershire and the conservation action needed.

As Richard points out in the first paragraph of his book, detailed information on the rare bryophytes of Gloucestershire is important in terms of [species and habitat] conservation and he draws attention to where “gaps in our knowledge …impede our ability to work for their conservation”. Some places have been found to be no longer suitable for some or all of the rare species which had been recorded there, but for others there remains the hope that focussed surveys will re-find them.

Expect to be well informed on the current state of the mosses and liverworts of the Watsonian county of Gloucestershire and what needs to be done to look after them and the places they occur.

The meeting will start with tea and coffee to allow questions and discussions to immediately follow the presentation.