How you can support one of the world's great geology museums ...
The Friends exists to support and encourage the development of the museum, and promote and publicise the collection to a wider audience.
Membership of the Friends is open to all. Our members benefit from:
- Talks on topics relevant to the museum and its collections.
- Tours behind the scenes at the museum and the conservation unit to see parts of the collections not normally accessible to the public.
- Guided visits to places of geological interest.
- Social events including a garden party and an annual dinner with a reception in the Museum.
- Newsletters to keep members informed about events and activities.
- Exclusive previews of new exhibitions.
- Opportunities to become a volunteer and be involved in the work of the Museum.
>> How to Join
>> Download the latest edition of Trilobite, the Friends' newsletter
EVENTS AND LECTURES 2013
Unless otherwise stated, events will be held in the Department of Earth Sciences (entry below the Sedgwick Museum). Parking is available on the Downing Site during these events, with access from Tennis Court Road. At events held in the Department, tea, coffee and biscuits will be available from 6:15pm, and the event will start at 7pm. At most events we will invite donations of £2/head for members and £3/head for non-members towards expenses and the support of the Museum.
Contacting the Friends
Some of the events listed require pre-booking or pre-payment. Talks do not normally require this, unless you are thinking of bringing a group. Visits often do require pre-booking so that numbers and logistics can be sorted out.
Please print the 
Booking Form (requires Adobe Acrobat Reader)
Pre-payment should be made by cheque made out to the "Friends of the Sedgwick Museum", and sent to the "Friends of the Sedgwick Museum", Department of Earth Sciences, Downing St., Cambridge CB2 3EQ.
Pre-booking and other communications should be emailed to swri07@cam.ac.uk and copied to pff1000@cam.ac.uk, or phoned to 01223 333400. The Friends now have a mobile phone on 07754 592439 which will be switched on for 90 minutes before the start of each event, and kept on for 2 hours.
February - March 2013
Talk on “ Student field teaching on the reefs and limestones of Texas”
Tuesday 26th February, 6.15 for 7.00 pm start
Dr Tony Dickson (University of Cambridge). Spectacular reef landscapes in a classic area for understanding how limestones form.
Demonstration-talk “Apping the Ante in geological education”
Tuesday 8th March, 6.15 for 7.00pm start
Dr. Douglas Palmer will demonstrate the way that a new computer Application has brought to life many aspects of his Mitchell Beazley book “Evolution” on geological aspects of the evidence for evolution.
Adam Sedgwick Anniversary Celebration Dinner
Wednesday 13th March, 7.00 for 7.30 pm, Queens’ College.
Please print the Booking FormWe are delighted to confirm that Professor Iain Stewart (Professor of Geoscience Communication,University of Plymouth), the very successful TV presenter on geological topics, is to be our after-Dinner speaker. Please book by 4th March with Marjorie Veale, sending by post the standard booking form for this event that comes with this Newsletter, and including your cheque (Marjorie Veale, 176 Green Drift, Royston, Herts, SG8 5BL. E-mail chrisandmarve@btinternet.com. You will be sent a ticket to confirm your booking. On the form, please give your first and family name, and those of any guests, so that we can enter you on the seating plan. Also indicate any special dietary requirements. The menu selected for non-specialists is to be i) Goat’s cheese and onion filo tart with salad, ii) Roast Pork with apple sauce and lemon thyme stuffing etc., iii) Opera gateau, etc. The College bar will be available until 11 pm after the Dinner. Dress will be informal (suits and ties for men). The cost will be £45 with wines, or £38 with soft drinks]
Talk on “Taming the River Nile to establish a Harem Palace
Tuesday, 19th March, 6.15 for 7.00 pm
Dr Judith Bunbury (University of Cambridge). Judith’s work on the history of the River Nile has revolutionised understanding of aspects of the evolution of Ancient Egyptian cultures.
April - June 2013
Visit to Charnwood Forest
Saturday 20 April 2013
Please print the Booking FormLed by Dr. Alex Liu (University of Cambridge), our speaker on 5th February 2012, and Charlotte Kerchington (University of Cambridge). Selected localities will be visited in the only area of exposures of pre-Cambrian rocks in Eastern England. There will be particular emphasis on the late Pre-Cambrian fossils that were the subject of the talk on 5th February. We plan to hire a small bus from Cambridge, and will be picking people up from the far end of the Madingley Park-and-Ride site, ready to leave at 9 am. Before visiting Charnwood, our bus will call at the British Geological Survey’s HQ at Keyworth, near Nottingham, to see fossil-bearing moulds and the recently opened Rock Walkway there. Please bring packed lunch materials. On the way home, we are planning to stop at the Loch Fyne Restaurant (mainly but not entirely fish menu), near Peterborough for supper/tea, when members will be able to choose their own food etc. Please book, by sending us by post the standard form that comes with this Newsletter, and enclosing a deposit cheque for £10 for a place on the bus. Please send your form and cheque before 10th April, to our registrar for this event who is Peter Cox, 4 Mangers Lane, Duxford, CB22 4RN, peter@moonpython.com
Committee Meeting, Tuesday 23 April, 6 pm, Department of Earth Sciences
Landscape Tour of Cambridge’s Western Highlands Plateau & the Upper Cam (Rhee) valley.
Saturday 25th May 2013.
Please print the Booking FormLed by Peter Friend. The same small-bus touring approach that was used for the Marston Vale (Bedford) tour in 2012 will be used as a way of sampling and understanding the distinctive landscape story. Please meet at the far end of the Madingley Park and Ride site, ready to leave by 9.30 am. Further cost of the bus hire will be collected on the bus. We plan to stop for supper/tea at the Queen Adelaide. Orwell, when people will be able to choose their own menu. Please book, using the standard booking form that comes with this Newsletter and enclosing a deposit cheque for £10 for a place on the bus. Please post your form before 14th May to Peter Franklin, 273 Welbrook Way, Girton, Cambridge CB3 0GL Contact after booking best by E-mail peter@franklin08.orangehome.co.uk (peter@franklin08.orangehome.co.uk)
Visit to the Island of Santorini (Greece)
One week, Tuesday 4 June – Tuesday 11th June. Flying from Gatwick direct to Santorini. All arrangements have been made through Dr. Mike Tuke. Flights and accommodation etc. arranged through “Volcanic Experiences Ltd”. Local specialised geological leadership by Dr. Gareth Fabbro. All twenty five places are now taken.Friends Annual General Meeting and Review Evening
Tuesday 25th June 2013, 6 pm-7.30 pm
Local Friends, please try to attend this important occasion when Friends and Museum staff review Friends’ activities over the past year, and look ahead.
Committee Meeting, Tuesday 17th September.
Two-day Visit to the Welsh Borders
Tuesday-Thursday, 1-3 October.
Please print the Booking Form
Jean Currie has been planning the arrangements for our visit to this varied area between Hereford and Worcester that has been classic Border terrain in the history of British geology. We shall base ourselves in and around the market town of Ledbury, where an introductory talk will be given by Dr. Paul Olver on the Tuesday evening, and the group Dinner will be held on the Wednesday evening. Paul and local colleagues will lead us throughout, starting on the Wednesday with a visit to see Hereford Cathedral, its building stones, and a chance to visit the Mappa Mundi. In the afternoon we will visit the Woolhope Dome after a pub lunch. On Thursday, we will visit geological localities in the Malvern Hills, where new work has been leading to much greater understanding. Many of the Welsh Borders localities are being managed under a very successful local community-led “Champions scheme”, from which we hope to learn lessons to help conservation efforts in East Anglia. The party will disperse on the Thursday afternoon.
The registrar for this visit is Margaret Sanderson, 157 High St., Chesterton, Cambridge, CB4 1NL for further contact after initial booking, margaretsanderson@hotmail.com. Please book with Margaret, using the standard booking form that comes with this Newsletter, and enclosing a booking deposit of £10. On booking, people will receive details of possible accommodation, but will be responsible for their booking of it. Other details will be circulated to all who have booked, and further payment will be required to cover the leader’s expenses, hand-out information etc. In the Hereford-Worcester area, we plan to hire one or two small buses to ease parking and navigation problems. Transport to and from the area can be by train from Cambridge (via Birmingham) or by private car. Please indicate on the form if you would be interested in our hiring a bus for people who would prefer not to make the journey from Cambridge by car (c. 3 hours) or rail (4-5 hours with a change)
New ideas about the structure and movement processes of the Deeper Earth.
Tuesday 22nd October 2013, 6.15 for 7.00pm
Dr Arwen Deuss (University of Cambridge
Forensic Geology in the fight against crime
Tuesday 29th October 2013, 6.15 for 7.00pm
Dr Andrew Moncrieff (Hawkins Ltd, Cambridge)
Evolution of the Flora of Western Australia
Tuesday 19th November 3013, 6.15pm for 7.00pm
Dr Ken McNamara (Sedgwick Museum Director) has spent much of his career in Australia and has wide interests in evolution
Friends’ Christmas Party
Tuesday 3rd December 2013
Tuesday 22nd October 2013, 6.15 for 7.00pm
Tuesday 29th October 2013, 6.15 for 7.00pm
Tuesday 19th November 3013, 6.15pm for 7.00pm
Tuesday 3rd December 2013
