The Woolhope Club

Specialist Sections of the Woolhope Club

There are three specialist sections in the Club, Natural History, Archaeology and Geology.  You will receive information on how to join these sections when you become a member of the main club.

The Natural History Section was formed in November 1976 to give members an opportunity to participate in more active meetings and recording sessions of plant and animal life in the various habitats of the county. Recording has taken place on woodlands, commons, parkland estates, green lanes and churchyards.  Comparative stream surveys have been carried out, also one hundred ponds in different parts of the county. The results of these are published in the Transactions.  The Section has also been involved with work inaugurated by the Hereford Nature Trust, viz. the 'Veteran Tree Survey' and with the Earth Heritage Trust.  The subscription is a nominal £1.00 p.a.

The Archaeological Section was founded in the 1960s for members wishing to be involved in recording historical features in the Herefordshire countryside. Excavations are no longer carried out but present activities consist of ground surveys and investigations of features such as castles, old chapel sites and deserted settlements.  The Section was the first in the country to publish transcripts of the 19th century tithe maps, for which it won the Pitt-Rivers award  The prize money from this helped to fund photography for the Millenium Air Survey of Herefordshire.  These are used in workshops when members look for evidence of past activity and record these for future field investigation.  The subscription is £5.00 p.a. for which members receive a bi-annual Newsletter and also the annual research journal of the Section - the Herefordshire Archaeological News (H.A.N. see publications section, this website).

The Geological Section was formed in 2002 for those members who wished to revive the special interest and activities of the early Woolhopians who were so involved in the geology of the Woolhope Dome and its Silurian stratigraphy.  The Section has monthly summer field visits and winter lectures - often followed by a related field visit at the week-end.  Collaboration occurs with other county geological societies so that the activities are often joint and not necessarily within this county.   Visits to museums are also arranged where special material is made available for us. Some field trips have been of several days duration to other parts of the country and abroad.  The subscription is £7.00p.a. which includes the annual journal of the Section  - 'Earth Matters'.  

‘Earth Matters’ is the newsletter of the Geology Section. It is published annually, in December. It acts principally as a record of the section's activities, although necessarily a selective one, and as an alert to forthcoming events. Articles of all sorts from the membership are included except for those describing the results of major local research activities; these appear in the Club Transactions. Thus, the newsletter presents full accounts of some of the lectures delivered to the section, particularly the annual Murchison lecture on a topic of major local significance in the Earth Sciences. Also important are articles describing the field excursions of the section. Brief accounts are given of developments in other major local bodies also concerned with the Earth Sciences with which the section maintains strong links.

All subscriptions are due on January 1st.