The first recorded meeting of Rochdale Field Naturalists Society was held just before Christmas 1874 at Church Inn, Church Stile, Rochdale.
There were 5 people present including James Beal, Thos. Stirk, Samuel Whitehead and George Wilson.
One unnamed man dropped out soon afterwards and Dennis Ashworth joined in early 1875 and became the Society’s first secretary.
The Annual Membership Fee was 6d and entry fee was 1d per week.
In 2024, we now have 101 members and membership is still excellent value at only £10 for the year!
In the early days, members interests were many and varied, from botany and birds to fish, insects, geology and even astronomy.
Nothing much changes – a glance at the tag cloud on this page shows the wide range of nature-related topics that interest modern-day Field Nats.
Another thing that doesn’t change is our commitment to meticulously and accurately recording the wildlife of Rochdale, to helping local authorities and others to understand what a rich and diverse natural world we live in, and to learning and teaching as much as we can about it.
Come and join us, and help us keep going for another 150 years!
New members of all levels of skill and knowledge from interested beginners to world experts are always very welcome.
Here’s a presentation, given by our current Chief Recorder, Karen Cowley, at our first indoor meeting of 2024.
RFNS 150 years – Talk by Karen Cowley 11-01-24 – web version
And here’s a link to the souvenir booklet that Karen produced to go with the talk
Rochdale-Field-Naturalists-150th-anniversary-booklet