Annual Reports and AGM minutes

Essex Rock & Mineral Society Annual Report for 2020

Membership

Our membership is currently 111, much the same as last year despite pandemic progress. Our Affiliation to the Geologists’ Association is aided by the fact that 13 ERMS members are also GA members. Thanks go to Mark Matthews for continued promotion and efficient management of our Membership system.

Venues and meetings

Both the Shenfield and Stanway venues closed following the 3rd March meeting, due to Government Covid19 regulations coming into force. The first online Zoom talk took place on 2nd June, since when these have continued monthly, often with members joining from remote locations, including Botswana. Speakers are also able to present talks from remote locations, another benefit of using Zoom. The most recent talk was presented by a speaker, very successfully, from his room at Leicester University. Hall meetings may eventually resume at less regular intervals depending on circumstances.

ERMS publication and production

Produced with the aid of the Geologists’ Association Curry Fund, the ‘Fossils in Essex and beyond’ chart was published, followed by the ‘Essex Rocks’ chart with our Essex geological column of ‘deep geology’.

A new signboard for the erratic dolerite boulder from Marks Warren was produced and installed at Bedfords Park in the L.B. Havering district (formerly Essex).

Work on the planned second edition of the book, ‘Essex Rock’ is well under way, aided by time made available by Covid19 lockdown. The great assistance of ERMS members is very much appreciated, with much advice, reading and editing, diagrams and photos and loans of specimens for photography.

Field Visits

Only three out of ten planned trips took place this year due to Covid19 restrictions. Participants attended from other clubs or joined as guests. Thanks go to David Turner and Gerald Lucy for organising visits.

Shows and Open Days

A family day on Ice Age Essex was run by Ian and Ros at Epping Forest Museum in Waltham Abbey in October to complement their Ice Age exhibition. The display ‘Cornwall Come to Essex’ was shown at Essex Field Club Social in December.

Ian and Ros ran the 2019 GA Festival of Geology field trip to Thorndon Country Park and the Ice Age Wall in November. The Thorndon Jurassic Tree has been moved and cleaned and a new noticeboard is in progress.

A Jurassic Essex display and presentation were provided for the GeoEast ‘Jurassic East’ Conference at Cambridge on 23rd November.

The 38th ERMS Essex Gem and Mineral Show in February was again very successful; thankfully we were able to benefit from its success just before Covid19 lockdown curtailed such activities. Thanks go to Jeff Saward for his continued efficient management.

Ian set up a cabinet of drawers to house Chelmsford Museum’s Essex Reference Collection which they had put aside when the Museum’s Geology Room was dismantled. The ERMS committee agreed to fund this project.

Ros and Ian Mercer have set up the ERMS contribution for the November 2020 online GA Festival of Geology entitled “The Story of Essex in Rocks” to complement the Essex Rocks poster.

Publicity

Our publicity and Show leaflets continued to bring success. ERMS Facebook was maintained by Helen Vickers who also publicised the Society in other ways. Mark Matthews, Membership Secretary, organised publicity displays at local libraries which were very well received. The website www.erms.org was maintained by Ian Mercer with updated information including full details of talks, visits and events, news and member information.

Ian F Mercer, Chairman

October 2020

​Essex Rock & Mineral Society Annual Report for 2021

Membership
Our membership is currently 100, much the same as last year despite pandemic progress. Our Affiliation to the Geologists’ Association is aided by the fact that 12 ERMS members are also GA members. Thanks go to Mark Matthews for continued promotion and efficient management of our Membership system and help with the Shenfield venue, plus ERMS bank and payment systems updating. Our Treasurer, Alistair Rickards, has borne the brunt of unrelenting and eternal machinations of bank account changes.
Venues and meetings
Both the Shenfield and Stanway venues remained closed for much of the year, until August, following Covid19 lockdown restrictions. Online Zoom talks continued monthly, often with members joining from remote locations. Speakers are also able to present talks from remote locations, another benefit of using Zoom. Hall meetings resumed with a moderate but very enthusiastic attendance, with plenty of interest in showing specimens. We shall maintain the two monthly venues, as well as a regular Zoom offering for those who cannot attend hall meetings.
ERMS publication and production
Produced with the aid of the Geologists’ Association Curry Fund, the ‘Essex Rocks’ chart was delivered at the start of lockdown. We await the hastening of face-to-face events to enable us to sell these more rapidly.
A new signboard for the puddingstone boulder at Oaklands Park in Chelmsford was produced and installed by Chelmsford City Museum with the help of Ian and Ros. The stone looks good in its new, more visible setting.
Work on the planned second edition of the book, ‘Essex Rock’ is almost complete, aided greatly by time made available by Covid lockdown. The continued assistance of ERMS members is much appreciated. ERMS member Trev Johnson has produced a huge number of wonderful colour illustrations for the book.
Field Visits
Only 4 of the planned trips took place this year due to Covid19 restrictions. Thanks go to David Turner and Gerald Lucy for organising a variety of visits. A highlight was when AGS Chairman Mike Howgate led a tour of the Solar System in Kent, followed by a look at hard rock structures in a nearby quarry. A tour of the revamped Pebble Walk and Ice Age Wall at Thorndon Park was led by Ian and Ros in July.
Shows and Open Days
Members helped Ros and Ian exhibit their Essex Rock display at Walton Town Show in August Bank Holiday weekend; they exhibited a similar display at the British Science Festival in Bell Mead, Chelmsford in September. Both events were gratifyingly busy.
The 39th ERMS Essex Gem and Mineral Show in February was delivered simply as an online set of vendors’ contacts this year due to lockdown. We are planning with the usual venue for the 40th show for 2022. Thanks go to Jeff Saward for his continued efforts despite uncertainties through the year.
Publicity
Our publicity and Show leaflets continued to bring success. ERMS Facebook was maintained by Helen Vickers who also publicised the Society in other ways. The website www.erms.org was maintained by committee members with updated information including full details of talks, visits and events, the Show, news updates and member information.
 
My sincere thanks go to all of our members and committee for keeping our Society buoyant and popular throughout the past two years of disruption.
 
Ian F Mercer, Chairman
October 2021

Essex Rock & Mineral Society Annual Report for 2022

Membership

Our membership is currently 121, an improvement following recovery from lockdown and higher than it has been for some years. Our Affiliation to the Geologists’ Association is aided by the fact that 12 ERMS members are also GA members. Thanks go to Mark Matthews for continued promotion and improvement of our Membership and payments system.

Venues and meetings

Meetings continued with moderate attendance at both the Shenfield and Stanway venues after relaxation of lockdown restrictions. Online Zoom talks have also continued, often with a differing selection of members. Hall meetings have attracted plenty of interest in showing specimens. We aim to maintain the two monthly venues, as well as a regular Zoom offering.

ERMS publication and production

Work on the second edition of the book, ‘Essex Rock’ was completed and it appeared in June. Sales have been brisk and the book is in stock at Chelmsford City Museum and at all Essex Wildlife Trust visitor centres. The input and assistance of ERMS members is hugely appreciated.

Field Visits

Several very successful visits took place this year with eight well-attended trips. We were well looked-after at North Stifford church with refreshments at the end of our May walk along the Mar Dyke to view the shapes in the landscape and the rocks in the church walls. Bull’s Lodge and Colemans Farm quarries gave us plenty of variety, rock and fossil, with a good look at Simon Brice’s collection at Colemans. The final trip, to test the Colchester City Geology Trail Guide revitalised by Brian and Kaye Gordon, was a great success with two groups testing the trail. We aim to publish a new guide following testing. Thanks go to David Turner and Gerald Lucy for organising all the field visits, and to members’ for their guidance during each trip.

Shows and Open Days

Ros and Ian again exhibited the Essex Rock display at Walton Town Show in August Bank Holiday weekend. The 40th ERMS Essex Gem and Mineral Show in February was very successful despite the very recent release from lockdown. We are planning the usual North Romford venue for the 41st show for 2023. Thanks go to Jeff Saward for his continued great efforts despite continued uncertainties.

Publicity

Our publicity and Show leaflets continued to bring success. ERMS Facebook was maintained by Helen Vickers who also publicised the Society in other ways. The website www.erms.org was maintained by committee members with updated information including full details of talks, visits and events, the Show, news updates and member information.

My sincere thanks go to all of our members and committee for keeping our Society as buoyant and popular as usual.

Ian F Mercer, Chairman

October 2022

Minutes of the Annual General Meeting at Tollgate Hall, Stanway, 7.30pm on Tuesday 18th November 2021

Present: 16 members

  1. Apologies for absence – John Ratford, Bob & Caroline Markham, Mary Ann Watkins, Ginny Hall.
  2. Approval of minutes of AGM held on 3rd November 2020 by Zoom

Approval was proposed by Kay Gordon, seconded by Paul Roberts and all were in favour of the approval the minutes of the 2020 AGM and they were duly signed by the Chairman.

  1. Annual Report by Chairman, Ian Mercer

Copies of the Annual Report written by the Chairman had been sent to members by email and were distributed at the meeting. . They were taken as read. There were no comments or questions. The report was then unanimously received by those present. A copy has been sent to the Geologists’ Association for inclusion in their Annual Report, as ERMS is a GA Affiliated Group.

  1. Financial Report and Statement of Accounts, Alistair Rickards

Copies of the examined accounts were distributed to all members by email and were distributed at the meeting. The treasurer, Alistair Rickards, drew attention to the Society’s income which shows a deficit as predicted, mainly due to the cancellation of the Show, but the Society is still in a well-placed financial position. The project at Thorndon, funded mainly by a grant from the Land of the Fanns with a small supplement from ERMS was completed during the year. The Statement of Accounts was approved by all present.

  1. Amendments to the Constitution:

The following amendments to the Constitution were proposed and approved by all present.

  1. Para 2: reword to better reflect the current activities of the Society, viz: ‘The object of the Society shall be to promote interest in rocks, minerals, gems, fossils and general geology through meetings, a website, social media, an annual Show, displays, field visits and other means as determined by the Committee.’
  2. Para 5i: to insert ‘non-refundable’ re annual subscription.
  3. Para 6: to increase the number of other committee members to ‘up to 8’ to enable better representation from both meeting venues.
  4. Para 7: to reduce the bank signatory requirement to ‘one signatory’ to facilitate the use of a debit card and to add a spending safeguard: ‘Payments over £50 will require to be endorsed by 2 committee members and recorded by the Treasurer.’
  1. Election of Officers: Chairman, Vice Chairman, Secretary and Treasurer

Existing officers in the roles of Chairman, Ian Mercer; Vice-Chairman, Jeff Saward; Treasurer, Alistair Rickards; and Secretary, Ros Mercer, were willing to stand for a further year and were duly elected unopposed.

  1. Election of Committee Members – up to 8, taking on roles of Field Visits Secretary, Membership Secretary etc.

John Lacy indicated that he would not stand for re-election and would therefore retire from the committee after many years of service in a number of roles. He was thanked by the chairman and a small token of appreciation would be given to him.
John Ratford also indicated that he would not stand for re-election.
The current committee members: David Turner, Gerald Lucy and Mark Matthews were willing to stand again and Brian & Kay Gordon, Paul Roberts and Ginny Hall were proposed and seconded to stand as voting members of the committee, together with Sylvia Cousins who offered to join the committee. All were duly elected by members present.

  1. Appointment of an Accounts Examiner:

Mark Watson who had examined this year’s accounts was proposed by Alistair Rickards and all were in favour.

  1. Suggestions from Members.

Mark Matthews has been working on a system to live-stream face to face meetings via Zoom. This would be possible from Shenfield as wifi was available in the hall, but a phone signal would need to be used at Stanway and would require further investigation.
The programme for 2022 would include up to 3 meetings per month – one at each venue and a Zoom session which would either be an invited speaker too far away to travel or an ERMS Extra presentation from the selection that Ros & Ian Mercer have available.
The ERMS website would be upgraded to enable online sales and membership and a card reader terminal is now available for transactions at meetings. Mark Matthews was thanked for his efforts to bring the running of the Society into the 21st century.

The Show, for which plans are in hand, will take place in 2022 on 19th February at the usual venue – the North Romford Community Centre. Fliers have been printed for distribution in the New Year.

There being no further business, the AGM was closed at 8.28pm.

Committee for 2021-2022:
Chairman, Ian Mercer
Vice-Chairman, Jeff Saward
Treasurer, Alistair Rickards
Secretary, Ros Mercer
Mark Matthews
David Turner
Gerald Lucy
Brian Gordon
Kay Gordon
Paul Roberts
Ginny Hall
Sylvia Cousins

Minutes of the Annual General Meeting at Shenfield Parish Hall, Shenfield, 7.30pm on Tuesday 1st November 2022

Present:

  1. Apologies for absence – John Ratford, Paul Roberts, Linda Powell.
  2. Approval of minutes of AGM held on 18th November 2021

The minutes were circulated to the membership and approved at the meeting.

  1. Annual Report by Chairman, Ian Mercer.

Copies of the Annual Report written by the Chairman had been sent to members by email and were distributed at the meeting. They were taken as read. There were no comments or questions. The report was then unanimously received by those present. A copy has been sent to the Geologists’ Association for inclusion in their Annual Report, as ERMS is a GA Affiliated Group

  1. Financial Report

Copies of the approved accounts were circulated. The Treasurer said that the Society was in a very healthy position, despite Show income being reduced in previous years. This enables the membership subscription to be kept low, but it was agreed to raise it to £17 for the forthcoming year to cover anticipated rises in costs, especially of hall hire. It was also suggested that the guest fee for both Talks and Field Visits be raised to £5 with the opportunity to offset this against membership if this was taken up. The accounts and the fee increases were agreed unanimously.

  1. Amendments to the Constitution: None proposed, although it was proposed that the 2023 AGM be held by Zoom to enable a greater number of members to participate.
  2. Election of Officers:

Chairman: Ian Mercer (He gave notice that he would not be standing for re-election at the next AGM)

Vice Chairman: Jeff Saward

Secretary: Ros Mercer

Treasurer: Alistair Rickards

  1. Election of Committee members:

Membership Secretary: Mark Matthews

Meetings Secretary: Ginny Hall

Field Visits Secretary: Linda Powell

Stanway Membership: Brian & Kay Gordon

Stanway meetings organiser: Paul Roberts

Ordinary member: Sylvia Cousins

  1. Appointment of Accounts Examiner:

Mark Watson who had examined this year’s accounts was proposed by Alistair Rickards and all were in favour.

  1. Suggestions from Members:

Billie Bond suggested that ERMS should have an Instagram account. She would be put in touch with Helen Vickers who runs the Facebook page.

Show plans are in hand for Saturday 18th February 2023. Help will be needed on the day.

There being no further business, the meeting closed at 8.15pm to be followed by a talk