MINUTES  OF THE DONCASTER NATURALISTS’ SOCIETY COMMITTEE MEETING

Held by ZOOM on 13 January 2022 at 3pm.

 Present: Nora Boyle (in the chair);Geoff Carreck; Les Coe; Louise Hill; Colin Howes; Margaret Prior; Joyce Simmons.

Minutes: The minutes of the last Committee Meeting held on 28 October 2021 were accepted.

Matters Arising from the Last Meeting:
(a)  Dorothy Bramley’s Books and Paintings:

The list of unsold books had been updated.25 items had been sold, raising about £170. Seventy volumes remained, plus assorted literati. Joyce suggested that items remaining after March be submitted to Summerfield Books. Louise offered to drop them off en route to Scotland.This was agreed.Nora suggested any remaining residue could go to Longshaws (National Trust property) which has a bookstore.

As for the paintings,Margaret would remind members that they were on the Website. After March, Colin would take them to Tennant’s for auction.

Action : Margaret.

(b)  Pip’s effects :

 Colin,Louise and Tom had been to Pip’s house. There were two bookcases partly with natural history content, but  these books had not yet been allocated. Louise had removed the contents of four filing cabinets and was sorting and filing these, consisting of archive material, natural history records,Pip’s writings etc.

(c)  Society Property at the Museum:

 Geoff had contacted Anne Marie Knowles to arrange a visit. She apologised for the fact that there was no access to the old Museum at present because of reconstruction work. Louise wondered if our room was changing, but Colin thought not.Geoff would review the situation monthly.

Action :  Geoff

 (d)  Treasurer:

 Nora had sent out the Accounts to the Committee, and these were now agreed. They would be submitted to the Membership at the next AGM.Cash payments were to be avoided if possible. Nora was pleased to report that 35 members had paid up already for 2022.

(e)  Recording:

 Bob Marsh had agreed to take part in a  30 minute Zoom meeting with the Society, at 7pm on 26 January. It was agreed that this should be with the Committee on a question and answer basis, but members of the Society would also be invited.Nora would inform the membership.

Action: Nora

Nora asked about the records from the 8 January Mosaic/Austerfield Field meeting. Louise would send these to Bob as a doc.file. She agreed that records had to be balanced with enjoyment.

Action: Louise

Geoff asked if Bob sent records to  , e.g. , vice-comital recorders. Louise replied that he did- she received records from him for the BSBI.

Colin will ask Bob for his Denaby Ings records at the end of the project.

(f)   Don Valley Project:

A letter had been circulated by Margaret from the Project, stating that it had received Stage 1 approval for Lottery Funding, and was proceeding to a  Stage 2 submission.We await events.

(g)  Generator:

There appears to be a design fault on the generator we acquired for moth-trapping. Louise was taking this up with the manufacturer. Nora proposed we write it off and leave other considerations to Louise.

This was agreed.

(h) Newsletter:

Nora had done one on Fungi in Autumn.She had not had any feedback. Nora felt it was important for members to hear from the President and would send out further Newsletters on an ad hoc basis.

(i) Denaby Ings:

John Newton had recommended black rubber mats to Colin as an attraction for reptiles.Colin would speak to Jim Horsfall to ask if we could use them and if the YWT would buy them.
Action : Colin

Joyce would schedule the next round of Denaby Ings meetings .
Action: Joyce

(j) Payment to External Lecturers:

Joyce would speak to Stephen Heathcote about his fee (if any).
Action : Joyce

(k) Logo

Kate, daughter of Margaret, would submit designs.

(l) Outdoor Meeting Reports:

Someone , not necessarily the Leader, would write the report. The Committee felt that one of their number was usually present and would resolve the matter if there was any doubt.At Austerfield Jim had written the report and Louise had fleshed it out with assistance from the other attendees. Names would be included in the archive copy but Les would take these off for the Website version.

(j) Legacies :

Dorothy Bramley’s effects had so far accrued £752.50.The account was well in credit and the Committee felt it could afford to support a few projects. Colin had suggested a contribution to the tree ring dating of the Mayor’s Bog Oak Chair. He had received an estimate of £500, providing the procedure was feasible. He would approach Damian Allen to see what DMBC could afford.
Action : Colin

Joyce had proposed more swift boxes for the church tower at Kirk Smeaton. Labour was being provided free, but the bill for materials would come to £352.08. A further set were also desirable Local bodies had offered support. The Committee agreed to subscribe £200.
Action : Joyce

Colin will write up the project for the Doncaster Naturalist.

(k) Pip’s Obituary :

Colin had unearthed 23 papers and sets of notes Pip had composed, and would mention these in the obituary being composed by Louise and himself.

(l) Green Space Network :

The Doncaster version had found funds to provide a Co-ordinator. This was Gareth Dowle. He had written to ask if we could assist with guidance  for the various “Friends of” groups.These include people with a love of nature who lacked knowledge of natural history.They could be helpful as conservation volunteers. Guided walks were a possibility. The Committee agreed in principle. Nora contacted him following the meeting. Gareth replied that he would put Nora and Louise on the Doncaster GSN mailing list to inform them of meetings.

(m) Parklands :

Neil had  been in touch with Nora regarding our requirements. Nora had replied  that we would not be planning inside meetings for the time being.We would look at the issue again ere the autumn.

(n) Any Other Business :

(a) Murmuration

The Committee decided to cancel the proposed visit to Potteric or Fairburn as there was a dearth of starlings.

(b) Moth Trapping :

Jim Horsfall had asked Louise if we would moth trap at Potteric during the summer Bioblitz.Louise proposed using a 2002 trap running off a car battery which would be left out all night in a secure location. Margaret thought a major session with multiple traps would be valuable. The issue would be considered at the next meeting.

Date of Next Meeting : Thursday 17 March 2022 at 3pm.