Anglian MG Meetings Reports

Inaugural Meeting of the Anglian Group 21st May 2022

Saturday 21st May 2022 marked the inaugural meeting of the newly formed Anglian Microscopy Group, the first regional branch of the Quekett. The club leaders, Robert Ratford, Steve Durr and Gordon Brown filled Crowfield Village Hall in Suffolk with all manner of equipment and demonstrations, hoping for a good start to the group.

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Steve and Gordon setting up the equipment

It’s safe to say that we were not disappointed by any means with a total of 37 attendees during the day, most of whom stayed until we closed the meeting. The hall was laid out with a variety of demonstrations of microscopy equipment and techniques and following short introductions by Robert and Gordon our visitors were free to try out microscopes and talk to the experienced microscopists we had at each table. Several members of the Iceni Microscopy Study Group, who intend to join the Anglian Group, came to provide welcome expert assistance, which was much appreciated by the visitors. Steve Durr led an expedition to a pond that a local resident has kindly given us permission to sample, which provided fascinating speimens for all to enjoy. Other demonstrations included; Pollen slides, bee and other insect anatomy slides, microfossils, plant histology slides, a pseudoscorpion hunt in grass compost, rock thin sections under petrological microscopes, darkfield microscopy, an Iolight microscope, and stereo microscopes with a variety of specimens.

The overall response from the attendees was extremely positive with everyone who was asked saying they would be coming to our main programme and some would be bringing others with them. The next meeting, on Saturday 18th June, will cover setting up and correct use of a microscope followed by a slide making practical exercise.

The photos below show our meeting in progress.

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