Quekex26 – The Annual Exhibition of Microscopy
Saturday 24th October 2026
The Club’s Annual Exhibition of Microscopy (Quekex26), was again held at Elm Court Youth & Community Centre, Potters Bar, Hertfordshire, starting at 10a.m. The meeting format was the same as in recent years, with several displays showcasing different aspects of microscopy and microscopic life around the gym hall of the centre, and two Lectures, one in the morning and one in the afternoon in a separate room which could also be joined via Zoom. Prints of the entries for the Quekex26 image awards (from the 2026 Galleries) were nicely displayed on tables in the centre of the hall and people were able to peruse them and discuss their various excellent attributes.
Terry Hope (facing us to the right) getting exhibitors to explain their displays around the Hall
The Exhibition as a whole was attended by at least 29 members and visitors who signed in and included some visitors from Barcelona whom we were very pleased to welcome.
Chris Thomas talking about his attempts to capture images of nematodes
Amongst the displays were samples of garden pond weed, cultures of the ciliate Stentor, interesting images of glue, some live plankton samples from the Plankton Project, wriggly nematodes and various types of microscope, including interference microscopes (accompanying the morning talk). There was a display of material brought from the Quekett archive in the Natural History Museum, which we were assured was just a small part of the collection belonging to the Club, but which is unfortunately locked away most of the time.
Jacky MacPherson showing us part of the QMC archive
The Exhibition kicked off with the President, Terry Hope, suggesting that each of the exhibitors spend a few minutes describing their displays. This led to lively questions and comments all around. The displays were paused for the first talk and resumed afterwards, and this certainly ensured that everyone who had been able to bring a display was offered the chance to talk about it.
The morning Lecture was presented by Phil Greaves who gave an interesting and highly informative talk on ‘Colour, contrast and complexity: the Jamin-Lebedeff interference microscope’ in which he outlined the principles of interference microscopy and described different kinds of equipment used to achieve it.
Phil talking to a packed house!
Phil illustrated the Jamin-Lebedeff microscope and what it can achieve with some technical drawings and fascinating images obtained using the technique.
Dr Philippe Laissue opening our eyes to fluorescence in living samples!
The second lecture began the afternoon session with the speaker Dr Philippe Laissue, Senior Lecturer and Head of Bioimaging at the University of Essex giving his lecture entitled ‘Nobel prizes, numbers, sunburns and awe’. His talk introduced some interesting new concepts in live fluorescence microscopy in a wide range of biological systems, including marine and freshwater microbiomes, and across a wide range of scales.
The meeting finished with more opportunities to view the displays and then with the President giving a list of award-winning entries for the different categories of Q26 entries which were greeted with great applause! It was certainly a very successful and informative meeting of the Club which will have provided food for though not only for members but also for the non-members who came to have a look around.
Apologies to those with displays that I have not mentioned, and many thanks for everyone who put such huge effort into them.
Quekett members can view galleries of the photomicrographs and videos submitted for Barnard Awards, slides submitted for Eric Marson awards, and artwork here:
• Quekex26 Galleries
We hope to see you all again next year!
Report and photographs by Dave Furness