Indoor Workshops
The Society headquarters is The Pelham-Clinton Building, Dinton Pastures Country Park, Davis Street, Hurst, Reading RG10 0GH. The grid reference is SU 784718, turn left off the B3030 driving North from Winnersh. When parking in the Country Park, members are entitled to free car parking if they display a BENHS notice (available from the display desk in the Pelham-Clinton Building). The site is about 15 minutes walk from Winnersh station, which has trains running on a half-hourly service from Reading and Waterloo.
The library and collections are housed in adjacent rooms, with facilities for books, periodicals and specimens to be consulted and studied. In order to make the library and collections available to members, there are Open Days (10.30–16.00). In addition, workshops (10.30-16.00) are organised for members and visitors, particularly to help and encourage beginners and new members taking up the study of a group of invertebrates. The concept of these workshops is to bring together one or more leading specialists, experienced in the study and recording of a particular group, to talk about and demonstrate fieldcraft, curation and identification techniques. The events are informal, with the emphasis upon practical demonstrations and with plenty of opportunities to try out the methods and ask questions. If you have problem specimens which defy identification, by all means bring them along to challenge the experts! The collections room has been re-arranged to facilitate presentations and the use of the video microscope for workshops. For some workshops there may be the opportunity for fieldwork within Dinton Pastures Country Park, which now has an extensive list of invertebrates recorded by members of the Society.
The Building Manager is willing to open the Pelham-Clinton Building by prior arrangement on other occasions for members unable to attend the scheduled Open Days, when members will be welcome to use the library and collections. For those living a long distance from Dinton Pastures it may be worth considering getting together to share transport, either for an Open Day or for requesting access on another occasion.
Please contact Martin Albertini, 11 Hargrave Road, Maidenhead, Berkshire SL6 6JR (telephone: 01628 633749; E-mail: malbertini). Excellent refreshments, including hot lunches, are available from the nearby café.
Workshops from October 2009 to April 2010
(Unless stated otherwise, the workshops start at 10.30 and continue until 16.00.)
(Meetings marked in blue have already taken place but are included here for information.)
Saturday 3 October 2009 - An introduction to woodlice, millipedes and centipedes
Steve Gregory (Abingdon).
An introductory workshop to the identification of woodlice, millipedes and centipedes. After a presentation on the characters used to identify these groups, participants will have the chance to name their own material or specimens made available on the day.
Saturday 16 & Sunday 17 January 2010: 09.30 to 17.30 both days - Identifying Diptera families workshop
John and Barbara Ismay (Long Crendon).
The course will be an introduction to flies enabling participants to key out Diptera families and will be suitable for beginners. There will be an emphasis upon those families with recording schemes. The maximum number of participants is 12.
Saturday 30 January 2010 - An introduction to the use of keys for identifying insects
Martin Harvey (Great Kimble) and Roger Hawkins (Horley).
For many insect groups keys are used to identify species. This workshop will use examples from several different species groups to demonstrate the principles of constructing keys, illustrate the range of keys you might encounter (including examples of online/electronic keys), suggest tips and good practice when using keys, and give you an opportunity to practice these skills. When booking, please specify which insect groups you are most interested in.
Saturday 6 February 2010: 10.30–16.00 - Coleopterists' Day at Dinton Pastures
The seventh Coleopterists’ Day will commence with talks, followed by informal presentations and discussions. During the afternoon those attending can display exhibits on beetles, consult the BENHS library and collections (including the Joy Collection of British Beetles), purchase publications from Pemberley Books or catch up with the latest beetle news.
Saturday 13 February 2010 - Tachinidae identification workshop
Matt Smith (Winnersh) and Chris Raper (Reading).
An introduction to sampling and identifying Tachinidae.
Saturday 20 February 2010 - Ephydridae identification workshop
Martin Drake (Axminster) & Tony Irwin (Norwich).
Introducing Ephydridae, possibly with some new test keys.
Saturday 27 February 2010 - Staphylinidae identification workshop
Roger Booth (NHM), Peter Hodge (Lewes) & Colin Welch (Hemington).
The leaders will introduce the family for those starting Staphylinidae and also tackle identifying some of the more difficult groups.
Saturday 6 March 2010 - Introduction to identifying Sphecidae genera
Mike Edwards (Midhurst).
A workshop for those wishing to learn about Sphecidae, mainly for beginners wishing to get into the family using published generic keys (updated test keys may also be available).
Saturday 20 March 2010 - Ground Beetle (Carabidae) identification workshop
Mark Telfer (Dunstable) and John Walters (Devon).
The first annual ground beetle workshop will help beginners and experts alike to find and identify British and Irish carabids. The programme will include a brief talk on techniques of general interest, followed by an identification session for beginners to identify carabids to genus, and for others to tackle one of the more troublesome genera (probably Amara).
Saturday 27 March 2010 - Sawfly identification workshop
Guy Knight (Liverpool), & Andrew Halstead (Woking).
The workshop will deal with the identification of adult Sawflies for beginners, as well as helping those wishing to tackle more difficult genera.
Saturday 10 April 2010 - Identifying nocturnal Ichneumonoidea
Gavin Broad (NHM), Mark Shaw (Edinburgh) & Mike Fitton (NHM).
A workshop to enable genera such as Ophion and Netelia (often attracted to light traps) to be identified to species; test keys may be available.
Saturday 24 April 20100 - Weevil identification workshop
Mike Morris (Dorchester).
The workshop will deal with one or more groups within the Weevils; test keys may be available.
Please inform Dr. Ian McLean, BENHS Indoor Meetings Secretary, 109 Miller Way, Brampton, Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire PE28 4TZ (E-mail: ianmclean) in advance to book your place at a workshop. This is essential to reserve a binocular microscope (20 are available) and a bench space. When possible please bring your own copies of identification keys and any specimens for identification. For some workshops handouts are provided, while specimens to test keys and improve identification skills may be available via the leader or from the Society collections.
Details of future workshops will be published when available.