Dear all

Just a quick reminder of forthcoming GCG meetings.

1. GCG Seminar on 21 October in Cardiff.
2. GCG Training day on Meteorites in Liverpool on 9th December
3. CALL FOR PAPERS : Anyone interested in giving a talk on 18 January in
Newcastle on the subject of "Planning for disaster, rescue and specimen
relocation", please contact Steve McLean.

All programmes are given below.

Hope to see some of you soon

Kind regards

Steve McLean
Programme Secretary GCG


Thursday 21 October 2004 National Museum of Wales, Cardiff

GCG Seminar: Geology in Partnership

The last couple of years have seen a growing trend, spurred on by Government
policy, for national museums to work more closely with regional museums
through partnership schemes and strategic commissioning. Through loans and
touring exhibitions, prestigious objects from the national collections are
being displayed around the country. What partnership projects have been
undertaken, what benefits does this bring, and what are the pitfalls? What
projects are coming out of regional hub funding? Where does geological
material fit into this and how can we maximise the profile and use of our
geological collections?

1030         Coffee and registration

1100         Welcome

1105         Loans between national and non-national museums. New standards
and practical guidelines: Ray Barnett, Bristol City Museums

1130         The partnership scheme at the Natural History Museum: Milly
Rosier, Natural History Museum

1200         Benefiting from National/Regional Partnerships: Steve McLean,
Hancock Museum, Newcastle upon Tyne

1230         Lunch (in local pubs)

1400         Working in Partnership through the North East Regional Museums
Hub: Bill Griffiths, North East Regional Hub Manager

1430         Getting geology into non-geological displays: Steve Howe and
Tom Sharpe, National Museum of Wales

1450         Geology in art exhibitions: Richard Bevins, National Museum of
Wales

1510         A conservator’s perspective: Caroline Buttler, National Museum
of Wales

1530         Tea

1545         Discussion

1615         Close

Meeting fee: £5.00.

If sufficient interest is expressed, it may be possible to arrange a field
visit on Friday 22 October.
Contact : Tom Sharpe, Department of Geology, National Museum of Wales,
Cardiff CF10 3NP tel 029 20 573 265, fax 029 20 667332, email
[log in to unmask] by Monday 11 October.


9 December 2004 Liverpool Museum, William Brown Street, Liverpool
GCG Workshop: Meteorites, impactites and tektites

An overview of what meteorites can tell us about the origins and evolution
of the Solar System. This one-day training session is designed for the
non-specialist who wishes to find out more about the oldest 'rocks' in our
collections. An emphasis will be placed on being able to identify a
meteorite, tektite or impactite just to help with those numerous awkward
enquiries that we all get (the family heirloom is often just a piece of
blast furnace slag). Meteorights and meteowrongs will be stressed in order
to assist with identifying the impostors and help clarify some of the
popularly held misconceptions about meteorites.

1100-1500

Meeting fee: £5.00

Contact: Alan J Bowden, Curator of Earth Sciences, National Museums
Liverpool, William Brown Street, Liverpool, L3 8EN tel 0151 478 4367 fax
0151 478 4350 email [log in to unmask]



18-19 January 2005 Hancock Museum, Barras Bridge, Newcastle upon Tyne.
GCG Seminar, 31st Annual General Meeting and Field Trip: Planning for
disaster, rescue and specimen relocation.

This seminar will examine the range of situations that require collections
to be moved to temporary or indeed new permanent locations. This is becoming
more common in the light of major Heritage Lottery Developments when
collections have to be moved off site until the development is complete, and
then returned. How is such a major task planned and undertaken? What are the
resource implications and where do the collections go? How are the
collections cared for during their absence and how are they organised? In
addition to considering these questions there are a number of potential case
studies which may be examined during this seminar. We will also be
considering the ways in which curators can plan for disasters and the rescue
of collections should a major event occur which threatens the museum.

The second day will allow us to examine some of the best known exposures of
the Permian strata of the Sunderland district. This will include a chance to
see exposures of the basal Permian Sands at Claxheugh Rock and the Zechstein
Reef at Tunstall Hills. Time permitting we will also examine some of the
coastal exposures between Sunderland and South Shields such as the
collapse-brecciated Concretionary Limestone at Marsden Bay, the axis of a
major dune ridge at Frenchman’s Bay and a spectacular marine sequence at
Trow Point.

To offer papers please contact: Steve McLean, Hancock Museum, Barras Bridge,
Newcastle upon Tyne, NE2 4PT tel 0191 222 6765, fax 0191 261 7537, email
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