I got to the Gosport Shed just a few minutes before 11AM. Frustratingly, as I was walking upto the entrance, I had one of those thoughts, and after a quick rummage in my bag I confirmed that, yes, I had forgotten my reading glasses.
I would have needed them to carry on working through the Gift Aid registrations on the database for the membership sec. I had a quick word with him, and it didn’t matter as they had sent off the registrations for this year. So, all I might be asked to do is work on the database to get set up for next year. I can sit back and relax.
I did just that, sat in the lounge area with a cup of tea and a couple of biscuits. I had a quick look on the noticeboard to see what was going on, I’ve added my name for the next shed breakfast, so that’s good.
As I was looking around, I noticed that the Hampshire Field Society booklet that I’d seen and had a chat with another member about last week was available. It was slightly difficult reading without my glasses, but I was able to read the section on the Iron Age and Roman activities on Newgate Lane. Very interesting. One thing that grabbed me is how much information can be gleaned from a piece of pottery (the pottery itself, any markings on it, where it was found, soil conditions below and above, etc.), more than just information, a narrative about the find. Amazing stuff, really.
Just a quick follow-up on that, Last Friday, I submitted my application to join the club to its membership secretary. She’s responded, and now I am a member. Excellent.
I only stayed for about an hour at the shed, so just before midday, I headed off to catch the bus into town. I had a small snack for lunch, and then went home to get ready for the afternoon’s U3A session on Geology.
OK, so we didn’t do a massive amount of Geology in today’s session; it was more about planning for the coming year. The group organisers are after two things:
Suggestions for sessions subjects, and Geology is like a lot of other areas, different subject areas, so there were plenty of those flying around
People who are prepared to put the effort into presenting a short (say 5 minutes) talk on any particular subject, well as usual, I’ve had an idea which I want to do a little digging (almost literally, actually) before I say anything.
I experienced a feature of Zoom that I hadn’t encountered before: the group leader split us out into breakout rooms. There were four of us in our room, it was only for 10 minutes, it didn’t seem like long enough, I think it went quite well.
And to close the day off, it was Camera Club Night. The activity this evening was a presentation by a professional photographer who had been in the industry for quite a few years. He pretty much spent two and a half hours showing us a fascinating selection of photos by himself and other photographers, most of which seemed to break the rules of photography (ignoring the rule of thirds, shooting in direct midday sunlight, that kind of thing), but which were, for the most part, famous photos. A fascinating evening.
And to be fair, a really enjoyable day. I’ve learned stuff, I’ve talked with people, I’ve seen interesting things. Across all of the areas I’ve been involved in, it has been excellent.
I forgot to add this, I’m not going to say much, but I am hopeful that there might be some movement on the Gosport Fossils front. I’ll keep you updated.
Bills Posts 