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2021-12-31-accounts

British Bryological Society

A Charity Registered in England and Wales – No. 228851

Annual Report of the Trustees 2021

Annual General Meeting 2022

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Annual General Meeting 2022

The next AGM will be held at 4.30 pm on Saturday 10th September 2022 at Teesside University, Middlesbrough Campus.

Agenda

  1. Apologies for absence

  2. Minutes of the last AGM, held at Plas Caerdeon on Sunday 12th September 2021

  3. Matters arising

  4. Annual Report of the Trustees for 2021

  5. Accounts and Treasurer’s report for 2021

  6. Report from Council

  7. Election of Officers

  8. a. Joint Editor of Field Bryology

  9. b. Joint Editor of Field bryology

  10. c. Joint Website Editor

  11. d. Joint Website Editor

  12. e. Meetings Secretary

  13. f. Elected member

  14. g. Elected Member

  15. h. Elected member

  16. Appointment of Independent Examiner of the Accounts

  17. Place and date of the next Annual General Meeting

  18. Other future meetings

  19. Any other business

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BRITISH BRYOLOGICAL SOCIETY

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING, BARMOUTH, 2021

Minutes of the Annual General Meeting at 4.30 p.m. on Sunday 12th September 2021 at Plas Caerdeon, Barmouth, North Wales

Present: M.A.S. Burton (President, in the chair), M. Ball, A. Biddle, J. Bingley, T. Blockeel, M. Crittenden, R. Jeffery, M. Godfrey, G. Greiff, C. Halpin, M. Hill, L. Kungu, M. Lawley, D. Long, P. Martin, C. McLennan, S. O’Leary, S. Pilkington, C. Preston, L. Ruffino, J. Scott, M. Stribley, P.J. Thompson.

1. Apologies for absence were received from: S. Caporn, A. Baker, M.Watling, K. Adams, J. Sleath, G. Rothero, N. Hodgetts, N. Bell, P. Stanley and O. Pescott

2. Minutes of the last AGM, held via Zoom video-conference on 12th September 2020.

Following a proposal from L. Ruffino , seconded by P. Thompson , the Minutes were approved as a correct record of the meeting and will be signed by the President.

3. Matters arising:

There were no matters arising from the minutes of the previous AGM.

4. Annual Report of the Trustees for 2020

There were no further questions on the Annual Report of the Trustees and it was received by the meeting.

5. Accounts and Treasurer’s Report for 2020

The Treasurer was unable to attend the meeting at short notice and so was unable to deliver the Treasurer’s Report. It was agreed that an interim report should be circulated by the Treasurer after the meeting, including a summary of the accounts and of signatories.

The accounts had been prepared by the Treasurer, G. Quartly-Bishop , and approved by Council and the Independent Examiner.

6. Report from Council

The President’s Report from Council, which was given at the meeting, will be published as Council Newsletter No. 38 in the May 2022 issue of Field Bryology – Bulletin No. 127.

The President gave thanks to several members who had contributed towards enabling the day-to-day business of the BBS to proceed almost normally despite Covid restrictions. In particular, thanks were given to Oli Pescott for facilitating the AGM and Council Zoom meetings and Claire Halpin and Ambroise Baker for their work on ensuring the success of the new website.

7. Election of Vice-President

Council nominated Mr. P. Martin as the next Vice-president of the BBS (to take office from 1[st] January 2022). There were no other nominations.

After a proposal by E. Kungu seconded by M. Godfrey, P. Martin was elected, with one abstention.

8. Election of Officers

No nominations had been received from members following the notice published in Field Bryology , for these or any other posts.

As P. Martin is having to relinquish his post of Membership Secretary after the statutory 10 years allowed, C. Halpin agreed to take on this role. After a proposal by L. Ruffino seconded by E. Kungu, C. Halpin was elected unanimously with one abstention.

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Council made the following nominations for the officers who were due for election:

a. General Secretary J. Scott b. Conservation Officer G. Rothero c. Librarian K. Adams d. Recorder for Liverworts N. Hodgetts e. Recorder for Mosses S. Pilkington f. Recording Secretary O. Pescott

The meeting agreed to elect these en bloc . Following a proposal by M. Godfrey seconded by D. Long , these Officers were duly elected by a majority vote (to serve for a 2-year period commencing 1st January 2022).

8. Election of Elected Members of Council

Council nominated Marion Rayner and Karen Rogers for election (for a 3-year term from January 2022). These two were proposed by M. Crittenden seconded by C. Halpin, all in favour.

9. Election of an Honorary Member

The president introduced a proposal from Council to elect a new Honorary member of the BBS. Dr David Long delivered a detailed appreciation of Gordon’s valuable contributions to the Society, part of which is reproduced below:

“Gordon has been an extremely active member of the Society since he joined in 1980 and was first elected to Council at the Sheffield AGM in 1991. Since then he has been on Council from when he became Recorder for Mosses in 1997, serving in this role for 13 years until January 2010 and preparing annual reports of new vice-county records. He currently serves on Council both as the Conservation Officer and Convener of the Bequest Committee. Gordon is Bryophyte County Recorder for six vice-counties in the Scottish Highlands, probably covering a larger area than any other recorder, and for two of these (the island of Rum and Assynt in Sutherland) he has published bryophyte county floras.

Gordon’s bryological work can be divided in to seven main categories: BBS Council work including Recordership for Mosses, Bryophyte Conservation, Local County Recorderships, teaching and training, bryological recording and surveying in the Scottish Highlands, research on and monitoring of montane snowbeds and bryological exploration in the French Pyrenees.

Gordon has been a very active participant in BBS meetings; as far as I can tell, his first meeting was the summer 1983 meeting in Kerry, for which he wrote up the report of the second week in the BBS Bulletin. Since then, he has organised at least five BBS meetings in the Scottish Highlands and Islands, written ten meeting reports, and participated in many others. He has also been a regular participant on overseas BBS meetings, including those in Brittany in 1993, Italy in 1997, Normandy in 2013, Italy in 2006, Albania in 2014 and in the Black Forest in 2015.”

M.A.S. Burton seconded N. Hodgetts’ proposal and Gordon Rothero was elected as an Honorary member of the BBS by a majority vote with just one abstention, to applause.

10. Appointment of new Independent Examiner of the Accounts

The current Independent Examiner, Mrs J.H. Bingley , is stepping down from the role after 14 years. The President commended her consistent and valued contribution to the Society throughout these years.

Council had nominated Mr Michael Murtagh FCCA as the new Independent Examiner.

P.G. Martin seconded D J Scott’s proposal and Mr Michael Murtagh was unanimously elected as Independent Examiner of the Accounts.

11. Place and date of the next Annual General Meeting

The next Annual General Meeting will take place on Saturday 10th September 2022 at Teesside University Campus, Middlesbrough.

12. Other future meetings

The Meetings Secretary, L. Ruffino , reported that plans were in place to hold a full set of meetings in 2022, but all depending on the rules prevailing at the time concerning Covid-19. It was hoped that the spring meeting in Hungary in April could go ahead, but shared accommodation will not be possible. The Summer meeting on

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Jura, postponed from 2020, is also planned to go ahead in June 2022. It is anticipated that there will be a second summer meeting in 2022 to be held in Upper Teesdale. The 2023 spring meeting is planned to be held in the Lake District.

D. Long suggested that some thought should be given to holding a late summer meeting in Ireland in the near future.

13. Any other business

BBS Centenary 2023. There was general discussion on ways that the Society could mark this:

M. Hill reminded the meeting that the first field meeting of the Moss Exchange Club (the parent of the BBS) was held in Dolgellau in 1922 and that the BBS was formally constituted on 1st January 1923.

Any special commemorative meeting would be better held over a long weekend, rather than a full week. L. Ruffino

A symposium with a publication at the end of it, similar to the Diamond Jubilee of 1983, was proposed by the President, A. Burton

C. Halpin also suggested that smaller meetings should be spread around the regions to enable more people to take part.

Younger members with greater expertise in social media platforms would be a great asset in publicising events – J. Bingley . This would also be a good way to encourage younger members to both join the BBS and participate in events – G. Greiff

Urban bryology initiatives were suggested by M. Godfrey to encourage wider participation.

National Moss Day 2023 :

This is an initiative suggested by D. Long and will be the first time that it will be celebrated by the BBS, although it has been an annual fixture in some countries for some time. No decision was made on the actual date for National Moss Day 2023, but M. Hill commented that it should not be held during the summer as bryophytes are not obvious then.

L. Ruffino recommended that the best way to promote this event would be through the various local BBS groups.

Thanks were expressed to the outgoing President for guiding the society through the difficult period of the last two years.

There being no further business, the meeting closed when the President’s gavel came down at 5.27 p.m.

D.J. Scott, Hon. General Secretary September 2021

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British Bryological Society

A Charity Registered in England and Wales – No. 228851

Annual Report of the Trustees for the year 2021

Address of Principal Office: 19 Abbotts Grove, Peterborough, PE4 5BP

Trustees at the date this report was approved:

Dr K.J. Adams (Librarian) Dr A. Baker (Website Editor, Joint) Mr. A. Branson (Bulletin Editor, Joint) Dr M.A.S. Burton (Past-President) Ms. M. Crittenden (Education and Training Officer) Ms. C. Halpin (Elected Member, Website Editor, Joint, and Membership Secretary) Mr. N.G. Hodgetts (Recorder for Liverworts) Dr. E. M. Kungu (President) Mr. P.G. Martin (Vice-President) Dr O.L. Pescott (Recording Secretary) Ms. S.L. Pilkington (Recorder for Mosses) Dr C.D. Preston (Bulletin Editor, Joint) Ms. G. Quartly-Bishop (Treasurer) Ms. M. Rayner (Elected Member) * Ms. K. Rogers (Elected Member) * Mr. G.P. Rothero (Conservation Officer) Ms. L. Ruffino (Meetings Secretary) Mr. D.J. Scott (General Secretary) Mr. M. Stribley (Elected Member) Ms. P. Thompson (Elected Member) Mr. R. Whytock (Elected Member)

In addition, the following served as Trustees during 2021

M.F. Godfrey, Prof. S.J.M. Caporn

The Constitution of the British Bryological Society

The governing document of the British Bryological Society is The BBS Rules, adopted April 1963, amended 12th April 2003, 6th September 2003 and 9th September 2006.

Organisation

The British Bryological Society is managed by a Council which meets twice a year; Council members are the Trustees of the Society. The Council comprises the Officers of the Society, the immediate Past President, and six elected members.

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Appointment of Trustees

Officers of the Society are elected at an Annual General Meeting for a term of two years. The six Elected Members each serve for three years, two being elected at each Annual General Meeting. Prospective trustees are asked to read the Charity Commission’s publication The Essential Trustee as a check of their eligibility, and newly appointed trustees are asked to sign the Charity Commission Trustee Eligibility Declaration.

Public Benefit Statement

The trustees have complied with the Charity Commission requirement for the BBS to provide identifiable public benefits, and have had due regard to the Charity Commission public benefit guidance when exercising any powers or duties to which the guidance is relevant. Of the descriptions of charitable purposes set out by the Charities Act, the work of the BBS is covered by the following: b) the advancement of education; f) the advancement of the arts, culture, heritage or science; and i) the advancement of environmental protection or improvement. Details of the ways in which public benefit has been delivered during 2016 are given in the account of BBS achievements below.

Objectives of the BBS

(a) To promote and advance all branches of bryology throughout the world and especially in relation to bryophytes of the British Isles;

(b) To facilitate the exchange of information among bryologists by organising field meetings, conferences, lectures and exhibitions, publishing the results of bryological study and research, maintaining a library, and other appropriate means;

(c) To promote in every way possible the conservation of bryophytes.

Activities of the BBS

The BBS is registered for Gift Aid.

The BBS neither owns nor leases any land or buildings.

Achievements during 2021

1. Membership and Volunteers

At the end of 2021 membership of the BBS stood at 608 paid-up members, a net gain of 61 in total membership, with 138 people joining the Society. The BBS is registered for Gift Aid with 158 members paying their membership under this scheme.

Many members carry out informal voluntary work for the Society. The BBS does not employ any staff and, in addition to the 20 Members of Council, members are active in organising meetings, running training workshops and field meetings for the 17 local groups, as well as the longer BBS meetings in Britain and Ireland and abroad. During 2021 Covid-19 restrictions led to cancellation or postponement of most planned meetings but recording activities by individuals maintained a good

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level of submissions for both mosses and liverworts. Members take on editorial roles, contribute articles to BBS publications, undertake committee work and approximately 60 members take on the role of Regional Recorder for vice-counties. During the year six new Regional Recorders covering eight vice counties were appointed.

2. Journal of Bryology

The first of four 2021 issues included the new checklist of bryophytes of Britain and Ireland, incorporating new taxa recorded since the 2008 checklist as well as the taxonomic revisions and changes in nomenclature. A new Editor had been appointed and was in place early in 2021 to deal with Volume 43. The impact factor for 2020 was up slightly from 2019 . The Journal continues to attract submissions on diverse topics and in 2021 there were contributions from 22 countries; an approximately even split between authorship from European countries and the rest of the world. Publication continued despite the pandemic affecting working conditions for some members of the Editorial Board.

3. Field Bryology

Two issues were published, as normal, with articles by some new as well as established contributors and included articles that covered other organisms associated with bryophytes. The lack of field meeting reports due to the Covid pandemic resulted in a reduction in the length of the second issue, but there was still a good range of topics covered in the articles submitted during the year.

4. BBS Website

In March 2021 the new website was launched successfully after intensive work by the website Editors with Castlegate IT. It has received very positive feedback from members as well as from organisations and other users to access information on bryophytes and on-line publications. There is easy access to identification aids and keys. Access to older documents has been provided by merging information from an existing member-maintained website. The Editors have encouraged input from members on use of the site as well as for content and images. The website provides an excellent platform for encouraging interest in bryophytes by non-members, as well as a valuable resources for members.

5. Other Publications

The BBS Field Guide, Mosses and Liverworts of Britain and Ireland – a field guide continued to sell well and the BBS provided some support for the publication of David Holyoak’s European Bryaceae . The published new Census Catalogue of British and Irish Bryophytes was made available on the new BBS website, and a limited number of hard copies produced.

6. Library and Sales

There were, again, fewer sales items ordered during the year, but requests for the free pdf guide to microscopy techniques continue. The continuing Covid restrictions in 2021 prevented any further progress with updating the BBS library based at Treborth Botanic Gardens, but additional items have been purchased for the library. Copies of the new Census Catalogue of British and Irish Bryophytes were distributed by the librarian to those who purchased the volume (otherwise available on the website).

7. Meetings

The first meeting of the Society in 2021, following the relaxation on Covid-19 restrictions was the September AGM and field meeting, held at Plas Caerdeon, North Wales, where there were facilities for evening microscope work after days in the field. Some local recording meetings were possible during the year, dependent on local Covid regulations. Meeting organisers have been willing to continue to plan future meetings, postponed during the pandemic, and in some cases, finding alternative venues.

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8. Education and Training

One weekend course on Liverworts for Beginners did run at Treborth Botanic Gardens, but most of the planned activities were affected by Covid restrictions. Members of the Education and Training Committee contributed to an on-line FSC course on bryophytes and have participated in discussions jointly with JNCC and the Natural History Museum and also with the RHS regarding recording biodiversity and training about bryophytes.

9. Recording Mosses and Liverworts

There was increased recording activity compared with the first pandemic year, though only a few records came from the one BBS field meeting that was possible to run in September. Herbarium and literature research resulted in some debracketings and deletions but a total of 222 new moss records were submitted from across Britain and Ireland and there were 35 new liverwort entries.

There were, again, about 40 direct requests for the Society’s data this year; supporting individual recorders, bryological consultants, and those planning Society field meetings. As always, the number of direct requests to the Recording Secretary does not capture the numerous downloads of BBS data from the NBN and from GBIF. Six new Regional Recorders were appointed during the year, some taking on Vice Counties for which there had been no Recorder for some years. New bryophyte recorders were discovered in some regions through their submission of records via iRecord – a major source of records in 2021: over 12,600. The BBS database was checked thoroughly and updated in preparation for the new Census Catalogue, published in November.

10. Bryophyte Conservation

The new British and Irish checklist, produced in 2020, was published in the Journal of Bryology in autumn 2022. Conservation is a devolved matter but the Conservation Officer had ongoing discussions with JNCC regarding the delays in signing off the updated Red List for the UK and the consequences for listings of bryophytes on Schedule 8 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act. The Alliance for Scotland’s Rainforest, of which the BBS is a member, has produced a video and an advocacy campaign, raising the profile of Scotland’s temperate rainforest.

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Financial Review 2021 – Accounts and Treasurer’s Report

BRITISH BRYOLOGICAL SOCIETY (Charity Commission registered number 228851)

RECEIPTS AND PAYMENTS ACCOUNTS for the financial year ended 31 December 2021

Note 2021 2020 Movement Movement
GENERAL FUND £ £ £
Receipts
Interest and investment income 1 4,017 4,143 (126)
Members' subscriptions 13,106 11,221 1,885
Journal of Bryology(Royalties) 3 14,117 15,473 (1,356)
_J Bryol_Editorial Expenses - Advance received from T&F
3		 9,076 9,076 -
Field Bryology 25 - 25
Mosses and Liverworts Field Guide 4 15,182 11,766 3,416
Census catalogue 5 591 54 537
Bryological Atlas 11 2,759 - 2,759
Other publications - 45 (45)
Lenses and forceps, etc. net of refunds & returns 260 373 (113)
AGM and other meetings 12 7,373 - 7,373
Bank complaints compensation 450 - 450
Sundries - - -
Transfer from PayPal - - -
PayPal fee reversal - 137 (137)
Total Receipts 66,956 52,288 14,668
Payments
Journal of Bryology 3 14,401 13,391 1,010
_J Bryol_Editorial Expenses paid out 3 13,614 4,561 9,054
Field Bryology 6 12,095 4,743 7,352
Field Guide 4 3,107 (3,107)
Census Catalogue 5 569 - 569
Annual Report 335 1,958 (1,623)
Previous website hosting 35 - 35
Website 8,857 8,413 444
Bryum Monograph - plates - 2,000 (2,000)
Bryum Monograph - publication 7 8,140 800 7,340
Library move - 204 (204)
Library purchases - 76 (76)
Meetings expenses 12 7,141 149 6,992
Insurance 952 897 55
Bank charges etc - - -
ICO - Data Protection Registration 35 35 -
Records dataset management 13 3,000 - 3,000
Sundries inclpostage andpackingfor forceps etc 167 96 71
Total Payments 69,341 40,429 28,912
Net of Receipts (payments) (2,386) 11,859 (14,245)

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BEQUEST AND DONATION FUND
Note
2
Receipts
Interest and investment income
Donations (owing from current account)
Total Receipts
Payments
Grants
8
Total payments		 2021
2020
Movement
£
£
£
1,948
2,075
(127)
1,290
114
1,176
3,238
2,189
1,049
-
1,240
2,500
(1,260)
1,240
2,500
(1,260)
TOTAL INCOME AND EXPENDITURE -
Total receipts
Total payments		 70,193
54,477
15,717
70,581
42,929
27,652
Net of Receipts (payments) (388)
11,548
(11,936)
STATEMENT OF ASSETS AND LIABILITIES AT 31 DECEMBER 2021
CASH FUNDS
Paypal
Nat. West. a/c
COIF Deposit Funds
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TOTAL cash funds at this year-end		 37,178
17,657
19,521
9,587
35,460
(25,873)
95,835
89,870
5,964
142,599
142,987
(388)
INVESTMENT ASSETS
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General Fund
COIF Investment Fund accumulation units
COIF Investment Fund income units
COIF Property Fund income units
Total		 3,500
2,737
763
141,549
115,484
26,065
8,499
7,397
1,101
153,548
125,618
27,929
Bequest and Donation Fund
COIF Fixed Interest Fund income units
COIF Investment Fund accumulation units
COIF Investment Fund income units
COIF Property Fund income units
TOTAL
Total investment assets		 23,448
25,020
(1,573)
16,916
13,229
3,687
35,184
28,705
6,479
8,499
7,397
1,101
84,046
74,352
9,694
237,593
199,970
37,623
OTHER ASSETS
Bryological library
Small stocks for sale of lenses, forceps, publications
Back issues of journals and sundry items
Field Guide, 1,327 Copies @ £6.69
Census catalogue, 113 copies @ £2.79
Sums Owed (uncleared cheques) General Fund
TOTAL
NET AVAILABLE ASSETS
NB Figures are rounded to the nearest pound		 -
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
8,878
13,072
(4,195)
315
-
315
-
(35)
35
9,193
13,037
(3,844)
389,385
355,994
33,391

These accounts were approved by Council on 4th May 2022 and have been agreed by the Independent Examiner. His certificate is reproduced below.

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Treasurer’s report

Notes to the accounts for the Financial Year 1st January to 31st December 2021

Amounts in this report are rounded to the nearest pound.

1 As permitted under section 133 of the Charities Act 2011, the accounts have been prepared on the receipts and payments basis. All funds are unrestricted. Receipts and payments are presented net of rebates settled through Paypal.

2 Some assets are assigned by the trustees to the Bequest and Donation Fund, to provide investment income from which grants are made. When this Fund was established on 1st January 1995, its status was not explicit. The trustees wish to make it clear that they regard the Fund as expendable endowment, in view of the large size, in the context of the normal expenditure of the Society, of the legacies that have gone into formation of the Fund. With regard to future donations and legacies, if any evidence exists, or can be inferred from the circumstances of the donation or legacy, that a donor or testator had a specific intention one way or the other, the gift or legacy will be treated accordingly and, if appropriate, administered by the Bequest Committee. Where there is no such evidence, the gift or legacy will, except as described below, be treated as income and added to the accumulated monies available for disbursement by the Bequest Committee. Where the gift or legacy is a large sum (£500 or more) in the context of the normal expenditure of the Society, the trustees consider it reasonable to assume that the donor or testator would not have expected the Society necessarily to spend promptly such a sum of money, but would have expected the Society to invest the gift or legacy as expendable endowment and to use the income, unless and until the trustees choose to embark on some major project on which the endowed funds could reasonably be spent. Any such gift or legacy regarded as an addition to endowment will be noted in the accounts and will be invested along with the Bequest and Donation Fund; the resulting income will be available for disbursement by the Bequest Committee.

3 In 2021, royalties of £14,117 were received from the publisher and the costs of the purchase of members’ copies of £14,401 were paid out. It can be seen that royalties have declined below the level of cost of purchase, which means that the Journal made a small loss in 2021 of £284. For 2021, payments of editorial expenses have been separated from costs of purchase of members’ copies for the first time. For comparative purposes, amounts for 2020 have been restated accordingly. With regards to editorial expenses, the advance of £9,076 in 2020 was matched with one payment of £4,561 and the remaining amount owed for 2020 was not paid until January 2021. Thus, the total editorial expenses paid out in 2021 is £13,614 instead of the usual £9,076 because of this delayed payment. Note: Following Council decisions in 2006 the Journal of Bryology Editor was not a member of Council. The Editor received remuneration commensurate with the work involved and took on financial responsibility for any expenses incurred that related to editing the journal. This is covered by an editorial advance paid by the Publisher (Taylor and Francis).

4 Sales of the Field Guide in 2021 in the year net of Paypal rebates were £15,182. Costs associated with the Field Guide were nil as there were no reprint or other publishing-related expenses in year for this title. The surplus in 2021 was therefore £15,182 (2020: £8,659. 2019: deficit £6,313. 2018: surplus £11,821.) Over its lifetime, the Field Guide to date has provided a net surplus to the Society.

5 Census Catalogue publication. In 2021, the Society published an updated Census Catalogue with expenses totalling £569, being the cost of typesetting. No other expenses have been paid out to date. Sales revenue in 2021 was £591, so the Census Catalogue broke even in the year.

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6 In 2021, Field Bryology numbers 125 and 126 were published. Actual payments in year totalled £12,095, being the amounts owed for issue 124 (November 2020) as well as numbers 125 and 126.

7 The Council of the British Bryological Society agreed in 2018 to back a Monograph for Bryum financially with a loan of up to £12,500 in support of publication. The first tranche of £2,000 was paid for the production of plates in 2018, with a further £2,000 paid in 2020, along with £800 paid to the publisher. The book has now been published, and final publication costs of £8,140 are presented in the 2021 accounts.

8 £1,240 was paid out in 2021 in relation to grants awarded from the Bequests & Donation Fund. These grants were: £490 to Des Callaghan to support research on the habitat of the liverwort Petalophyllum ralfsii ; and 3 x £250 to allow students of bryology to attend courses and conferences.

9 Deposit Funds are deposited with CCLA. As at the December 2021 statement, the General Fund was £82,104 and Bequest & Donation Fund was £13,731. The General Fund owes the Bequest & Donation Fund £3,366 for the net amounts paid out of General Fund cash accounts on its behalf (carried forward from 2019).

10 Reserves policy: the Society maintains reserves, amounting to the fund balances (less commitments) at year end, to provide contingent resources to enable it to meet its contractual commitment towards ongoing publication of the Journal of Bryology , to support and underwrite the cost of publishing projects, to meet requests from within the Society or from other bodies for financial help in the promotion of bryology, to pay upfront and underwrite costs of meetings, and to meet unforeseen costs. With regard to the financial implications and risks of the Society’s charitable activities, the trustees consider that the reserve should not fall below £100,000. In the event that it does, the trustees may consider raising the level of the membership subscription and/or re-designation of part of the Bequest and Donation Fund. Most funds, while being held in reserve, are placed on deposit to earn interest or invested to provide income. This policy is reviewed annually at the first Council meeting of the year as part of the process of approving the Accounts (including Notes to the Accounts).

11 Bryological Atlas . Royalties were received from the publisher, NatureBureau, in November 2021, having skipped a year in 2020.

12 Meetings. In 2020, there were no in-person residential meetings, hence the zero receipts in that year and a small payment relating to a meeting in the previous year. In 2021, the Society was able to hold an in-person residential meeting at Plas Caerdeon. Receipts from this meeting exceeded payments by £332 (a further payment of £100 was made as a deposit to secure accommodation for a future meeting in Cumbria).

13 Records dataset management. A one-off payment to Sharon Pilkington for her services in collating a large dataset of bryophyte records. Sharon is a trustee of the Society and the payment has been disclosed to the Charity Commission as required by the prevailing guidance.

Gail Quartly-Bishop, May 2022

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Indop•nd•nt oxamln•rfs roport ta th• tru•tees of tho Brltlsh Bryologlcal So¢hty I report to the trustees on my exarnina￿on of the ac(x)unts of tho British Bryolc￿j¢8t Soaety for the year ￿￿ed 31At Decembgr 2021. Respective ResF¥)n$ibililies of tho twslees and the examinor The ch8ritys trustees are responsibl8 for thg preparation of tho accounts. Th6y nsider that an audit is not rfjqul￿d for this ye8r under section 144 of the Charities Act 2011 {Ihe Act'} and that an independent examination is needed. My respon$ibiliti8s'. to examine the actounts in acc))rd8nce with section 145 of the Act lo follow the pr(tedures Laid down in the general dirgctsons given by I Charity Commisston under section 145(511bl of the Act to statg whether particuler matters have ()Jme to my attention Ind•pond•nt •xamln•f$ 8tat•m•nt I have e£•mpleted my examination. I confimi that no mat8ri81 mattars have corne to my attention in ￿nnectiC￿ with the examinatK)n giving ￿ cause to belteve th81 in any materlal r88pect: l. accoun￿￿8 records were not kept in respect of theTrustas required by section 130 of the Act: or 2. the accouftts do not acrord wth th05t rKcYds. I have no concems 8nd hava wme acros$ no other matters In connection wtth the examination to which attentson should be drawn in this report In order to enable 8 proper understanditYJ of the accounts lo be r8a¢h8d. MT Murta8h FCCA 49 Farleigh Fields Orton Wistow Peterborou8h PE2 6Y8 6th May 2022 14

Officers’ Reports for 2021

General Secretary

2021 saw a slow return to normal business for the Society after the trials of the covid pandemic. Bryological activities were slow to non-existent at the beginning of the year, but these began to pick up as local groups began to venture out.

The spring and summer meetings had to be postponed yet again, and the spring Council meeting was held virtually, but we final managed to meet in person and hold the autumn Council meeting and AGM for the first time in 2 years. Although meetings by Zoom were an expediency to suit the times, there is no real appetite to substitute these for the real thing in the future.

One bright light in a sombre 2021 was a new FSC publication in the AIDGAP series – Sphagnum mosses: field key to the mosses of Britain and Ireland. This was co-written by BBS members Martin Godfrey and Karen Rogers, who have very generously agreed to donate any royalties they receive to the BBS.

Jeff Scott, March 2022

Field Bryology Editors

There was a change in the editorial team in 2021, with Andrew Branson replacing Mari Whitelaw as co-editor when Mari found that the calls on her time had become too numerous for her to continue. We thank Mari for her dedication to Field Bryology during her time as co-editor.

We were able to publish the usual two issues in 2021, one in May of normal size (84 pages) and the other in November which was rather slim (56 pages). The articles covered a wide range of bryological topics, written by some experienced and some new contributors. There was also a paper on bryophilous fungi and a note on a terrestrial alga that might be spotted by bryologists. The slim November issue clearly reflects the effect of the Covid pandemic, with the absence of the normal field meeting reports. Fortunately field meetings have now resumed and we hope that the reports will once again be a regular feature from May 2022 onwards.

Andrew Branson & Chris Preston, February 2022

Website Editors

2021 was another busy year for the website editors. Having been given access to our new website by the developers shortly before Christmas 2020, the first 2 months of 2021 saw us reorganising and transferring most of the content from our old website to the new one. By the middle of February, the bulk of this was done, and we set a launch date of Monday 8th March 2021.

Early on the Monday morning, our developers Castlegate IT changed the necessary configuration settings, and the new website was up and running. It was an anxious moment, but everything went smoothly. The only slight glitch was that access to Journal of Bryology online didn’t immediately work, and we had to implement a temporary solution for a couple of weeks until this was resolved. Of course, this wasn’t our work done for the year. Since launching, we have been working to maintain and add to the content, including:

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Work on the Species Finder pages especially is ongoing, and we would like to thank Sharon Pilkington and Sean O’Leary for their help with these.

We have received much positive feedback about the new website since it launched, both verbally and via emails, from users in the UK and abroad. Particularly pleasing are the various organisations looking to develop a new website (including the British Lichen Society and BSBI) who have contacted us to ask about our experiences in developing the website and which developers we used. Inevitably now that the website is in use, there are minor things we want to change, to tailor it for our use. At the Autumn Council meeting, we requested a small budget for future changes and this was agreed. There are no plans at present for any major enhancements to the website.

Claire Halpin & Ambroise Baker, February 2022

Conservation Officer

2021 has been another difficult year for obvious reasons and the status of the Conservation Committee is still under review, essentially because of problems arising from conservation being a devolved matter. The new British and Irish checklist was produced at the end of 2020 and was published in the Journal of Bryology , and this was followed by a new census catalogue, published in the autumn of 2021. The updated bryophyte Red List for the UK has still not been signed off by Natural England; after a long delay in accepting the first draft that was compiled by Des Callaghan and Nick Hodgetts, NE has decided that data accumulated during the delay should be used and Des Callaghan is producing the revised list.

This delay in the red list has had a knock -on effect on the bryophyte listing on Schedule 8 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act which is currently undergoing its seventh quinquennial review. A significant change to the criteria for inclusion on Schedule 8 means that all species listed as Critically Endangered using IUCN criteria will automatically go onto Schedule 8. After representations to JNCC the new red list will be used and this will lead to a significant increase in the number of bryophytes on the schedule but, as yet, the new list is not available. This is just the first stage in the process as the list will then go to the devolved governments for ratification and in Scotland at least, this apparently will involve a further round of consultation.

In Scotland, the Alliance for Scotland’s Rainforest, an organisation managed by Plantlife and the Woodland Trust and of which the BBS is a member, has managed to raise the profile of our temperate rain forest with the production of an excellent video and an advocacy campaign. Discussions with the Scottish Government are on-going, but it is hoped that these will produce significant funding, particularly for tackling invasive rhododendron. BBS member Oliver Moore is ASR’s advisor on bryophytes and lichens.

Another issue for the BBS to consider is a response to the translocation of beavers to various localities in the UK and any management that that involves. Work in Knapdale suggests that significant local damage to Atlantic hazel can occur and potentially other locally important trees. The spread of beavers on Tayside has been remarkable and further spread may be difficult to manage but it is unclear as yet how much of a threat this is to our temperate rain forest habitat but there is a clear threat to aspen bristle moss.

Gordon Rothero, February 2022

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Librarian

Sales:
Census Catalogue (update) 2008 3
Census Catalogue (update) 2021 79
BBS_Bulletins_ -
Field Bryology -
English Names of Bryophytes -
Practical Bryophyte Chromosomes(Newton) 1
Collecting Bryos. in the Tropics(O'Shea) -
Chinese x20 lenses 1
Chinese x30 lenses 1
Idealtek Stainless steel forceps 16
Mini-blade packs of 10 13
Micrometer Eyepiece Scales 1
Loans:
Micrometer calibration slide		 -
Chinese Microscope 1
free pdfs Microscope techniques 1 & 2 9

There were just 13 standard sales orders in 2020, down 7 on 2020, not unexpected in view of continuing Covid 19 restrictions on field work in 2021 but 91 copies were distributed to the end of the year of the updated Census Catalogue of British & Irish Bryophytes with the new bracketing cutoff at 1970 and adoption of most of the new European Catalogue 2020 names. In addition to sales items, 9 beginners have taken advantage of the free pdfs of Microscope Techniques for Beginners and Bryophyte Microscopy tips during the year. Due to Covid restrictions there has been no progress with further updating the BBS Library at the Treborth Botanic Garden, Bangor but copies of Michael Lüth's 3 volume Mosses of Europe Photographic Flora and David Holyoak's European Bryaceae have been purchased for the BBS Library. We are continuing to exchange Field Bryology for the Belgian Muscillanea and Swiss Meylania and J. Bryol . for various Polish publications.

Ken Adams, February 2022

Membership Secretary

At the end of 2021, our membership stands at 608 paid up members.

The membership comprised of the following:

Honorary: 12
Ordinary: 545
Concessions: 41
(students/senior)
Institutional: 10

In 2022 we had a net membership gain of 61. 77 members did not renew membership (resignations/death) and 138 people joined the society.

Gift aid has been registered by 158 members.

Peter Martin, March 2022

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Education and Training Officer

As a result of the COVID 19 pandemic, there has been little in the way of training courses that have actually happened. A number had been planned for, but with fluctuating COVID infections and equally fluctuating regulation which also varied with each country in the UK, a number were cancelled or postponed. We hope that the next year or so will bring increased opportunities for the BBS to share its expertise with enthusiasts.

One such course which did take place was a ‘Liverworts for Beginners’, weekend at Treborth Botanic Gardens, near Bangor, run by Philippa Thompson and Lucia Ruffino supported by Shaun Russell, former curator of the Botanic Garden. There were a number of drop-outs from the course which is an inevitable result of people’s worry about travelling and staying away from home at this difficult time. However, for those who attended, the course was a great success, despite the weather.

Martin Godfrey had planned for a one-day course based at Manchester Metropolitan University under the auspices of Simon Caporn. It was to be entitled ‘Dicranum and Friends’ and would have included a large component on microscope technique which is a skill that many beginner bryologists lack and need one-to-one tuition. We hope that this will be able to take place in 2023.

An additional outlet for teaching and learning was the virtual environment. The Field Studies Council had taken a lead in this in having a graduated learning approach. After the Education and Training committee decided that we did not have the resources to deliver the equivalent of the ‘Identiplant’ online model, Lucia Ruffino very bravely has provided some of this through the FSC in her online training course followed up by residential courses. Lucia and Nick Law provide the only FSC content on Bryophytes to date. This is an area of T and L which might well be worth the BBS increasing its provision despite the obvious drawbacks.

The new website has been a real triumph for the BBS through the good offices of Claire and Amboise. It could be argued that the top performing pages are all to do with a thirst to know more about bryophytes with a particular emphasis (it seems) on Bryum pseudotriquetrum and Brachythecium rutabulum ! The expanding scope of the website would, in future, be an excellent vehicle for providing some of the online training that may be essential if we are to maximise the legacy of our society.

Nick Hodgetts has produced a preliminary key to the ‘Pottiales’ using Watson as a template and which is consistent with the new checklist. It includes microscopic details and is therefore not suitable as a field key but could run alongside the Field Guide making this aspect of bryology more accessible in future. It has been uploaded to the website. Nick hopes to produce another instalment shortly.

Mags Crittenden, representing the BBS, has been attending workshops run jointly be JNCC and the Natural History Museum on ‘Urban Biodiversity – what do we need to know’. This is a follow up to a workshop last year on the same/ similar theme. The central question was what do we need to know about urban biodiversity, why do we need to know it and how do we collect the data on it? This led to the inevitable conversation about lack of enough experts in the field to have the time to disseminate the knowledge necessary to record accurately. The RHS is interested in ways in which they can increase biodiversity in their holdings and Mags will, she hopes, be in conversation with them about training etc. In addition, there may be a source of funding for training through the JNCC and the Natural History Museum. We shall see.

Mags Crittenden, March 2022

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Meetings Secretary

The outdoor recording activities and meetings of the Society continued to be severely affected by the Covid-19 pandemic in 2021. Continuing lockdown measures in winter/spring meant that the Spring Meeting scheduled for April 2021 was postponed to March 2023. The Summer Meeting in Jura was again postponed, to June 2022, as Covid had led to the closure of facilities such as the local campsite, café, and the cancellation of boat trips. The latter in particular would have meant a severely curtailed recording programme that would not reach the under-recorded parts of the island.

Given the relaxation of Covid security measures in the summer, the Autumn Meeting at Plas Caerdeon, Barmouth, North Wales was held from 11th to 18th September. The meeting was efficiently organised by Margaret Crittenden, following Welsh Covid guidance. The weather was kind and attendees all relished the opportunity of working together after such a prolonged period without meetings. The opportunity to learn from expert bryologists both in the field and during indoor microscope sessions is a very important part of the Society’s meetings and gives beginners a chance to improve their identification skills.

Unfortunately, the end of the year saw another postponement of a field meeting, the one scheduled for early April 2022 in Hungary. It was deemed necessary to postpone this meeting given the uncertainties relating to future air travel restrictions and other Covid measures. The Hungary meeting was postponed to Spring 2024.

Local recording meetings continued to be held, as and when local relaxation of Covid measures allowed, and were run in accordance with local Covid 19 regulations in place at the time.

Lucia Ruffino, Meetings Secretary, March 2022

Recorder for Liverworts

There has been a small increase in specimens processed this year, with 55 in total. While specimens from England and Ireland are slightly down, those from Wales are slightly up and Scottish submissions are double on the previous year. There are no new vouchers from the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man, and no deletions. There are two bracketed entries resulting from literature and herbarium research. The ‘top contributors’ are; Rory Hodd (8, 2 of which with Jo Denyer), Tom Blockeel (7, 1 of which with Sharon Pilkington), Rory Whytock (6), Nick Hodgetts (5, 1 of which with J. Owens, Phil Perrin & Maria Long), George Smith (3) and Matt Sutton (3). While the meeting in North Wales marked a welcome return to something like normality after the last couple of years, it yielded only a small number of NVCRs in an area that is well-recorded.

Orkney has been particularly productive this year. John Crossley’s Herbertus norenus on Hoy is particularly pleasing, and a significant extension of the range of this species southwards. In addition, a weekend bryology session on Papa Westray produced several new vouchers, including Mesoptychia gillmanii . Elsewhere in Scotland, it was interesting to find Barbilophozia kunzeana in heath, presumably much more akin to its Scandinavian habitat than the flushes where it is normally found in Britain. Rory Whytock has become very good at spotting Calypogeia suecica , which is presumably not particularly rare in the ‘wider Cairngorms’ area, with no fewer than three NVCRs. His find of Scapania gymnostomophila in VC94 is also significant, although it is somewhat surprising that it had not been recorded previously from this vice-county. A bit further south, in Perthshire, Rory also had Scapania curta in an unremarkable habitat; this species must surely be overlooked on tracksides in Scotland. In central Glasgow, Keith Watson spotted a tiny liverwort on the banks of the River Kelvin that turned out to be the New Zealand native Tricholepidozia tetradactyla , which had presumably ‘escaped’ from the nearby Botanic Gardens. The prize for the most unusual habitat goes to Brian Sims, who found Riccia sorocarpa on the roof of an animal cage in Woburn Safari Park. Which animal was unspecified, but hopefully there was no serious jeopardy involved. Riccia is well

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represented generally in this year’s vouchers, especially from England. Elsewhere in England, Richard Lansdown’s Sphaerocarpos michelii from Gloucestershire and Tim Purches’ Porella cordaeana from Cornwall are both worthy of attention, and Pete Martin’s Cephaloziella turneri on Lundy is somehow satisfying, bridging as it does the populations in south-west England and Wales.

In Wales, Riccia huebeneriana and Lepidozia pearsonii , both found by Matt Sutton in Pembrokeshire, represent small range extensions south-westwards, while Fossombronia caespitiformis , found a couple of years previously in Cardiganshire by Tom Ottley, is a welcome but not unexpected addition. The specimen was revisited following the ‘de-lumping’ of F. caespitiformis and F. husnotii . Sam Bosanquet’s record of Schistochilopsis opacifolia in the Brecon Beacons marks a significant southerly extension of its range.

In Ireland, Rory Hodd and Jo Denyer have made significant contributions, including a new site for Southbya tophacea , found below sea level in a disused quarry along with Oleolophozia perssonii , here at its second Irish site. As usual, Rory has made plenty of other contributions from Ireland, among which Moerckia hibernica from The Burren is particularly noteworthy. I was pleased to find a good population of Reboulia hemisphaerica in an area of the south-west where it is particularly scarce.

In addition to the listings presented here, it is necessary to note that Tricholepidozia tetradactyla has (originally as Telaranea murphyae ) been recorded in VCs 1, 9 and 11, T. murphyae was synonymised with T. tetradactyla by Villareal et al. (2014). The transfer of T. murphyae records to T. tetradactyla was overlooked in the new Census Catalogue.

2020 2020 2021
England Wales Scotland Ireland England Wales Scotland Ireland
New entries 14 6 9 11 6 7 13 9
Debrackets 5 2 0 3 8 2 4 4
Persisting 1 - - - - - - -
Bracketings - - - - 1 - 1 -
Deletions - - - - - - - -
Totals 20 8 9 14 15 9 18 13

Nick Hodgetts, February 2022

Recorder for Mosses

Increased recorder activity in the second pandemic year has produced a good crop of new and updated moss records. However, the ongoing difficulty of organising spring and summer meetings meant that few (2%) of these were generated by attendance at the Barmouth meeting in September.

There were 310 additions and amendments to the Census Catalogue, which represents 117 more additions and amendments than in 2020. The proportion of new and updated records stayed much the same as the previous year, but deletions jumped to 11% of the total from less than 1%. This is primarily a consequence of the reworking of herbarium collections of Racomitrium heterostichum and Weissia longifolia by Tom Ottley and Des Callaghan, respectively. The long-awaited new Census Catalogue was not published until November and the consequences of the changed date for bracketing to 1970 were felt only mildly.

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New
records		 Updated
records		 Deletions
England 103(70) 17(19) 17(0)
Wales 46(32) 2(7) 8(0)
Scotland 39 (27) 16(4) 6(1)
Ireland 34(25) 18(8) 4(0)
Channel Islands 0(0) 0(0) 0(0)
**Total ** 222(154) 53 (38) 35 (1)
(The figures in parentheses are those for 2020)

The list contains a number of additions to the British and Irish flora, with Bryoerythrophyllum campylocarpum from Cardiganshire and Cork and subsequently elsewhere in Wales. The newly recognised Ptychostomum touwii was found in Cornwall, and Tortula pallida in several vice-counties in south Wales and Sussex, latterly also in West Gloucestershire and South Somerset.

There were several notable finds from Scotland, including the most northerly population of Tortula atrovirens from Orkney, Ditrichum lineare on Arran and Bryoerythrophyllum campylocarpum new to Scotland on the Isle of Skye. In Ireland, highlights include the first Irish occurrence of Dicranella howei in Co. Kildare and Ulota drummondii in Co. Dublin.

In Wales, Matt Sutton’s remarkable efforts once again produced a swathe of notable records, including Cynodontium tenellum and Bryum gemmilucens , both new to Wales in Pembrokeshire, and Didymodon tomaculosus from Carmarthenshire.

Highlights in England include Orthotrichum columbicum in two Yorkshire vice-counties, Pterigynandrum filiforme and Bryum creberrimum in Buckinghamshire and Antitrichia curtipendula in a North Hampshire wood. Bryum riparium from Somerset Exmoor is remarkable so far south-west and Entosthodon mouretii in the Cheddar Gorge in North Somerset is the first recent English record of this species.

Sharon Pilkington, March 2022

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Recording Secretary’s Report

The main event in 2021 was the publication of the new census catalogue. In preparation for this, the BBS database at the Biological Records Centre in Wallingford was updated to reflect the new taxonomy of the recently published British and Irish checklist. The census catalogue update also entailed a shift in the bracketing date cut-off, and lists of proposed bracketings resulting from this were created and circulated to Regional Recorders for checking. This exercise also required that the BBS database be as up-to-date as possible, and so a special effort was made to ensure that all data received over the past few years, and any amendments, were all processed and loaded in advance of the bracketing date checks. Thanks are due to Sharon Pilkington, for ably assisting with dataset formatting and preparation, and Tom Blockeel, for numerous checks of bracketing proposals. Thank you also to all Regional Recorders who responded to queries.

Records received via iRecord (www.irecord.org.uk) numbered over 12,600 for 2021; as I have noted before in my reports, Regional Recorders not reviewing incoming data through this platform are clearly missing an opportunity to engage new bryologists and support other enthusiasts in their area. iRecord data verified as “correct” or “considered correct” by BBS Regional Recorders are now shared with the NBN alongside other BBS datasets (see https://registry.nbnatlas.org/public/show/dr2141). In addition to these iRecord data, records made through iNaturalist (https://inaturalist.org/) are now also shared with the BBS and iRecord for verification. At least two Regional Recorders have discovered new bryophyte recorders, and interesting local records, through this route in 2021, and around 15,000 records of bryophytes in Britain and Ireland (mostly with photos) have been created through this route to date.

There were again around 40 direct requests for the Society’s raw data or summaries this year; requests supported individual recorders, bryological consultants, and the planning of BBS field meetings, e.g. through the provision of vice-county “wants” lists. As usual, the number of direct requests to the Recording Secretary does not capture the numerous downloads of BBS data from the NBN or GBIF. Unfortunately the work on the census catalogue in 2021 meant that some other annual outputs, such as the Rare and Interesting column in Field Bryology , were postponed. I hope to return this to normal service in 2022.

Six new Regional Recorders covering eight vice-counties were appointed in 2021: Claire Halpin replaced Graham Motley in v.c. 42 (Brecs.); Matt Sutton replaced Sam Bosanquet in v.c. 45 (Pembs); Philippa Thompson took on the previously vacant v.c. 49 (Caerns.); Martin Godfrey adopted the also previously vacant v.c. 50 (Denbs.); Gail Quartly-Bishop replaced Anthony Gregory in v.c. 59 (S. Lancs.); and Rory Whytock took on v.cc. 94, 95, and 96 (Banffs., Moray, and Easterness), all of which had been vacant for over ten years. On behalf of the BBS, I thank the new Recorders for taking on their duties, and all the previous Recorders for their dedication. Regional Recorder details for each vice-county can now be viewed under the relevant vice-county page on the BBS website (see https://www.britishbryologicalsociety.org.uk/recording/vice-county-maps).

I thank staff at BRC, particularly Steph Rorke, for supporting me and the BBS in various ways, and Claire Halpin for website updates.

Dr Oliver L. Pescott, February 2022

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