2025 Webmaster’s Report
Contents
State of the website
Meeting Reports 2025
Blog and Articles
Publications
Archives
Volunteers
State of the website
Some statistics of the website (28th December 2025)
This year the website has had 20 thousand visitors.
Singapore (39.7%), China (34.4%), UK (10.3%), are the most popular countries visiting
Number of pages created = 1,147
Number of Photographs added = 6031.
Number of Galleries created = 966
Number of posts = 104
Note :
A web page can contain many pages of a word document as well as several photographs.
A gallery is used to add several photographs that relate to an article on a webpage.
Meeting Reports
I am amending how meeting reports are presented on the website.
When the table detailing the species list is presented below the written report and photos of the meeting, it takes a lot of scrolling down to reach the next report, perhaps discouraging one from doing so.
The species list associated with a meeting is now on a separate page from the report but can still be accessed from the report by a hyperlink. This will improve the presentation of reports.
This method has been adopted in the August and subsequent meeting reports in 2025.
Regarding submitting reports of meetings, there remains room for improvement.
Only about half of the meetings have reports submitted
| Month | Meetings held | Reports submitted |
| Jan | 3 | 1 |
| Feb | 3 | 0 |
| Mar | 2 | 0 |
| Apr | 5 | 2 |
| May | 4 | 2 |
| Jun | 6 | 2 |
| Jul | 7 | 5 |
| Aug | 5 | 4 |
| Sep | 5 | 5 |
| Oct | 4 (1 postponed) | 2 |
| Nov | 4 | 3 (1 cancelled) |
| Dec | 2 | 1 |
| Totals | 50 | 27 |
It should be emphasised that members attending a meeting should be submitting their findings and/or photographs to the leader following an excursion, to enable the leader to compile a comprehensive report.
At indoor meetings where guest speakers are commissioned and paid to give a talk, these speakers should be required, as part of their fee, to provide a resume of their topic for including in the report of the meeting.
The number of members present at each meeting is also required to be added to each report.
Members Blog and Articles
We are a society of naturalists – or are we?
We are almost 50 strong, but how do members show they take an active interest in nature?
Just a few members continue to produce excellent work and display it in the Blog and Articles, sharing it for others to enjoy.
We need more members to contribute to show that our Society is not stagnating and descending the slippery slope to obscurity.
Look through the early minute books and see the quality and diversity of subjects the are covered by strictly amateurs like ourselves. They managed to do it, can we?
Publications
The following published surveys have been scanned, and a PDF version is available on the web site. In addition, they have been transcribed and a text document is also available on the website (in progress)
A Survey of Castle Hills, Scawthorpe (1990) ISSN 0264-0651 [Transcription]
Bramley, D.M. (ed.)
A Survey of Wadworth Wood (1992) [Transcription]
Bramley, D.M. (ed.)
A Survey of Austerfield Quarry (1995) ISBN 0 9512252 1 9 [Transcription]
Bramley, D.M. (ed.)
Doncaster’s Living Churchyards (1999) ISBN 9 9512252 6 x [Transcription]
Secombe, P.A. & T.J. Secombe (ed.)
A Year at Manor Farm (2003) ISBN 0 9512252 2 7 [Transcription]
Deena Robinson (ed. Pip Seccombe)
Items awaiting scanning
Doncaster’s Living Churchyards Supplement – Mosses and Liverworts (2006) ISSN 1754-2359
Colin Wall
The Doncaster Naturalist vol. 3 (2018 – 2024) ISSN 0264-0651
Issues 1 & 3
In addition to the above there are transcriptions to two publications from the archives.
DM&GSS Sessions 1886-1890 (pub 1890)
A Short History of DSS 1880-1924 by M. H. Stiles (pub 1924)
Archives
Extensive work has been done by Colin Howes in cataloguing the content of the Nats archive cupboard in the museum. Some of these catalogues have been added to the website and can be found under ‘Archives’ on the website Menu. This work is still ongoing.
Some of the archives have been processed for inclusion on the website and are detailed below.
Minute Books 1 to 5
Programme cards 1908 – 1911
A list of Papers read at meetings 1880-1913 (on going)
Archived Newspaper Cuttings 1880-1912 (on ongoing)
Ben Burrell Archive
The society was fortunate, in the early part of the year, to have been offered a collection of archives of one of our former members, Ben Burrell, from the estate of his late daughter, Miriam, who was also a member of out society. This generous offer came from the archivist of the British Astronomical Association, Richard McKim.
The website includes the following from this collection
An itemised list of the collection
A collection of programme cards (1931-1976)
Photograph processed from the collection
A transcription of a newspaper article
Photographs
Several photographs from the archive cupboard and from other sources, are assembled and displayed on the website. It is hoped to be able to add names to the faces of the members included in the photos. Can you help?
Noteworthy Persons in the Society
This section is being added to, as and when information comes to light, from the archives or elsewhere. It is intended to give an insight into those people who were active members of the Society.
Volunteers
These archives are a fascinating record of the history of our Society, and there will not be many organisations of our ilk that can boast such documentation. However, leaving it locked away in a cupboard is not conducive to permitting our members, and even a wider audience, from appreciating it.
Having these records displayed on the website requires them to be written up and then transferred on to the web site. To assist with this task, we require volunteers to produce word documents that can then easily be added to the website. All this can be done in your home, at your leisure.
Some items may require scanning. Do you have a flatbed scanner that can take A4 documents?
We also need new blood amongst our officials. Some of the existing officials are seeking to retire after serving the Society well for many years. So don’t sit back expecting someone else to do all the work so you might enjoy the benefits, volunteer.
Perhaps more official posts are needed to make it more efficient. Acting as an assistant to existing posts would provide experience. Are you willing to have a go?