British Lichen Society AGM & Winter Meeting
Lichens in Churchyards and on Man-made structures
We look forward to welcoming members in person to our Winter Meeting, as well as Society officers, Trustees, speakers and exhibitors.
Our AGM, and all of the events in our winter meeting, are free to attend both for members and for non-members interested in lichens. Please consider coming along to see what the society has been up to over the past year, to hear talks about lichens, and to experience a field trip with us.
Details of this year’s photo competition are at the bottom of this page. We hope to display the photos and have in-person voting this year.
Date: Friday 30th January – Sunday 1st February
Location: Tullie House Museum & Art Gallery in Carlisle.
Full address: Castle Street, Carlisle CA3 8TP
Bookings: We ask that attendees book in so that we know numbers to aid our planning, and to make sure that we have enough refreshments for everyone. Bookings for in-person attendance open on 2nd December 2025. Please email agm@britishlichensociety.org.uk with a list of those events that you wish to attend (e.g. Friday lecture, Friday dinner, Saturday morning – AGM, Saturday afternoon – talks and/or Sunday field trip). Bookings will close on 11th January to allow us to inform our caterers. If your booking email is not acknowledged within two weeks, please contact memb-secretary@britishlichensociety.org.uk
Payments for Friday’s dinner should be made by BACS to British Lichen Society, CAF Bank, 40-52-40 00012363 using DIN26YourSurname.
The menu can be found as an attachment - see below.
Online attendance: We are hoping that we will be able to make the Friday and Saturday elements of the meeting available online but may only solve the technical problems associated with this very close to the date. We intend to use an all-member email to send out a link if we are successful in organising this option. Non-members can arrange for the link (if it becomes available) to be sent to them by requesting this at agm@britishlichensociety.org.uk
Programme outline:
Friday 30th January
17.30 Reception (wine and soft drinks) and Exhibition in the Reading Room of Tullie House.
18.00 Talk in the Auditorium adjoining the Reading Room. Dr Nicholas Carter: The Living ePalace: Biodiversity, Bioprotection and Beauty at Blenheim.
19.30 Dinner at the Crown & Mitre Hotel. The menu is available here. Cost £30.00. The meal must be booked and pay for in advance. Please see booking information above.
Saturday 31st January
9.30 Coffee, tea and Exhibition (Reading Room, Tullie House)
10.00 Annual General Meeting, (Auditorium, Tullie House)
12.30 Lunch break and Exhibition.
The museum’s café will be closed during our events, however there are several cafés on the surrounding streets. For those who bring a packed lunch there is plenty of space to eat them, including in the Reading Room. Hot drinks will be also be available in the Reading Room.
14.00 Introduction
14.05 Talks programme – session one
15.30 Tea break
16.00 Talks programme – session two
16.50 Winners and awards
17.00 End of meeting.
Sunday 1st February
Field meeting in Carlisle Cemetery.
Full address: Dalston Rd, Carlisle CA2 6AR
The Carlisle Cemetery was laid out in 1855. Its buildings all date from that time except for the crematorium which was completed in 1956. The 29 ha site includes many Victorian monuments, a paupers burial area, and a woodland burial site dominated by oak trees planted in the late 1900s. The only previous lichen records for the site were collected in 1994 and 1995.
Parking: At the crematorium, accessed from Dalston Road.
Toilets: In the crematorium building.
Refreshments on site: None.
Buses: The 533 to Keswick leaves the Carlisle Bus Station at 10.00 and arrives at the Dalston Road entrance at 10.09. Return buses are at 12.23 and 17.58.
Accommodation: Carlisle has some large hotels near the centre and plenty of guest houses and bed & breakfast accommodation.
Parking: Tullie House can be easily accessed from Castle car park using a footbridge that crosses Castle Way. Car park charges and details of how to pay can be found at: https://www.cumberland.gov.uk/parking-roads-and-transport/parking/find-car-park-near-you/castle-car-park-carlisle
Exhibits: These can be put up in the Reading Room from 14.00 on Friday and should be ready for viewing by 17.30. They can be viewed during tea breaks until the close of the meeting on Saturday. All exhibits need to be removed by 16.30 pm on Saturday.
There is still space for other exhibits, whether that is art, or a set of themed specimens, or a poster. Please email Fay Newbery at president@britishlichensociety.org.uk to book tables or display stands before 1st December.
The BLS sales table will be present. See the BLS Shop page at https://britishlichensociety.org.uk/the-society/bls-shop and email Eluned to pre-order if you want to be sure stock is put aside for you. Remember, the Winter Meeting is an opportunity to pick up items from our shop without paying postage and packing!
A new list of books available in the BLS library is now available at https://britishlichensociety.org.uk/resources/bls-library If you would like to pre-order a book, we are offering to pick up and to bring requested books to the AGM weekend. Please order by emailing ehsbiol@gmail.com before 11th January. Borrowers will be responsible for book return either in-person or by post.
There will also be a take-and-donate table. Please bring anything that you no longer need which other lichen-lovers may be able to make good use of. Donations to the BLS.
Photo Competition:
The themes for 2026 will be: ‘Under the microscope’ and ‘The bigger picture’.
Entries are limited to two photos per category per entrant.
The competition is open to both members of the society and to others interested in lichens and/or photography. The prize will be small but prestigious, as I imagine we will be able to persuade the editor of The Bulletin to use at least one of the winning photos on a front cover.
This year we are stipulating that anyone entering the competition gives the BLS the right to use all entered photos (with due acknowledgement) on their website, in their communications, and also in their publications.
Deadline: 15th December 2025. Extended to 31st December 2025.
Send to: competition@britishlichensociety.org.uk All entries will be acknowledged. If you do not hear from us after 14 days, please try to resend. If you wish to send pictures by other means (such as by WeTransfer), please make arrangements by email before sending.