Skaters

Today Chris and I went to the Annual Exhibition Meeting of the Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland which was held at the Natural History Museum in South Kensington. 

It was a very stimulating day, particularly the afternoon when we went behind the scenes on a tour round the British herbarium and Sloane Collection. The extra shows a herbarium sheet dating from 1690, with specimens collected by Buddle (who gave his name to the ubiquitous buddliea). 

The event was rounded off by a keynote talk on Alien Plants by Professor Mick Crawley - a man who is passionate about them, just having co-written the latest New Naturalist book on the subject. I was pleased that he shares almost all of my own largely positive opinions about this often reviled group of plants.

It was dark by the time we left, and the skating rink which is set up every year in the grounds of the NHM looked very festive. The picture quality isn't that good, but I like the almost semi-abstract figures, including two girls taking a selfie, another skater with a phone in their outstretched hand, and a small boy caught mid-leap in the foreground.