Annual Field Meeting 2022

British Myriapod and Isopod Group Residential Field Weekend and AGM

Arrangements have been made for BMIG to visit central Shropshire for our first annual get together since 2019. We have booked accommodation at the Field Studies Council centre in Preston Montford, just outside of Shrewsbury. All rooms are ensuite, and a full board package has been negotiated including Dinner, Bed & Breakfast and Packed Lunch – the prices on the booking form are for the whole package.   BMIG last held its meeting in Shropshire in 2007 when we were based in Ludlow in the south of the county, when several county firsts were discovered e.g., Brachychaeteuma melanops and Cylindroiulus parisiorum. Shropshire's first Geophilus osquidatum has since been found in the grounds of FSC Preston Montford.   Preston Montford is ideally placed for easy access to a wide range of habitats and landscapes, such as woodland along the Severn valley and the South Shropshire Hills, heathland on Long Mynd and Stiperstones, limestone of Wenlock Edge and wetlands of the Meres and Mosses.   If you have attended a BMIG weekend before then you know what to expect but we would warmly welcome anyone thinking of coming along for the first time. There is no expectation of attendees being able to identify everything or even anything they find and many newcomers get started by joining more experienced workers on field visits and picking up tips on collecting and identification as they go. Discussions and microscope work may go on long into the evening and the social side of the meetings is something regulars look forward to every year.   BMIG Bursaries are available to reduce the costs of the meeting for members attending the meeting for the first time. In return we would expect a short, written report on your experiences of the field meeting for the newsletter.   If you wish to attend the field meeting for just one or two days or meals only, please let us know on the Booking Form, and we will obtain prices for you accordingly. If you do wish to make your own accommodation arrangements, Shrewsbury is a busy town with plenty of B&Bs and hotels, as well as supermarkets, take-aways and cafés.   The FSC BioLinks Project FSC BioLinks | Biodiversity Projects is grant-aiding part of the cost of the field meeting, for which we are most grateful. Funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund, Field Studies Council and Esmee Fairbairn Foundation, FSC BioLinks provide opportunities to help people develop their invertebrate identification and recording skills in the West Midlands and South East England.   Further information about FSC Preston Montford is available at FSC Preston Montford – Field Studies Council.   Last date for booking is 31st January 2022, but PLEASE BOOK EARLY  ~  Download BOOKING FORM HERE