Shellsand workshop: is anyone interested?

We are planning to hold a one-day workshop (or workshops) on shellsand next April. Its main purpose is to introduce beginners to working with shellsand. The main part of the day will be a long practical session in which participants working either with their own shellsand or with shellsand provided by the organisers, will

• sieve a sample,
• sort through the fractions, and then
• identify what they have found with help (and hand-outs).

Participants will be able to take their finds away at the end of the day, as a starter reference collection, together with course handouts.

The day will also include various short talks on topics like how to find shellsand; how to clean and sort shellsand; identification; and how to handle, label and store small shells.

All necessary equipment will be provided, including microscopes, sieves, brushes and forceps, gelatine capsules and specimen boxes, and so on.

Those with some experience would also be very welcome; we will include a show-and-tell session towards the end of the day so that participants can see a wider range of material, using a videomicroscope that links to a PC screen.

Possible dates are Saturday 10 April and Saturday 24 April; possible locations are Cambridge (Dept of Zoology), Godalming, Reading (Dept. of Archaeology) and York (Dept. of Archaeology).

This is not a Conch. Soc. meeting, and is open to all; a small charge will be made to cover xeroxing and disposable equipment costs.

Would anyone who is interested please contact Christine Street before 30 December:

christine.street3@ntlworld.com; e-mail preferred, but if you don’t have e-mail, 020 8554 8671.

Photo: Example of shell sand from Porth Towyn, Lleyn Peninsula, Wales.