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.
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 will open as soon as we have confirmed the dinner arrangements.
Date: Friday 30th January – Sunday 1st February
Location: Tullie House Museum & Art Gallery in Carlisle.
Full address: Castle Street, Carlisle CA3 8TP
Online attendance: We are hoping that we will be able to make the Friday and Saturday elements of the meeting available online and will confirm as soon as possible.
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 Auditorium adjoining the Reading Room. Speaker to be confirmed.
19.30 Dinner nearby. Details, and instructions for booking and payment, will be posted as soon as they are confirmed.
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.
There is a café in the museum adjoining the Reading Room as well as other cafés on the surrounding streets. Attendees who prefer to bring a packed lunch will be able to eat these in the Reading Room. Take away drinks can be purchased at the café and brought into the Reading Room, if wished.
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. It’s 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 is not a city with a large number of hotels but it has 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: 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 by e-mail 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!
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’.
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
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.