De la Beche Club

The De La Beche Club is a society of Imperial College London, the club was founded in 1914 to promote social academia and arouse curiosity in all things Geological. The society is named after Sir Henry Thomas De La Beche FRS, the founder of the Royal School of Mines in 1851 and the British Geological Survey.
Membership
Membership is automatic for anybody studying an undergraduate earth science degree at Imperial College London, though membership is open for anybody, in particular anyone studying at Imperial College with an interest in Geology.
History
Sir Henry de la Beche (pronounced 'Beach'; it was his grandfather who adopted the French style to enhance his standing on the family estate in Jamaica) was commemorated within the Geology Department by a bust, mounted in the Mining Geology Museum on the 3rd floor of the Royal School of Mines. The crest of the Club depicts the head of Sir Henry above crossed hammers. The origin of the crossed hammers can be traced back to the buttons of the uniforms of the Geological Survey officers; in the early days these officers served under the Ordnance Department.
The charter accompanying the founding of the Club by a group of senior students and junior staff members stated that its purpose was for "promoting geological activities" within the department; there was no membership application or club dues. The objectives were to arrange geological excursions, promote good fellowship and hold at least five meetings a session. Founder members included H.H. Read and V.C. Illing, with the backing of Professor W.W. Watts.
The annual symposium was for many years held in February, as close as possible to de la Beche's birthday (he was born on 10 February 1796), followed by the annual dinner.
Fieldtrips
The De La Beche club regularly runs residential weekend trips, typically two a year. The trips are a social event but with geology at their heart they give students a chance to learn some geology whilst mixing with students from other years and getting to know lecturers outside of the classroom. The trips have been run to many places in Britain including the Lake District, Anglesey, the Isle of Wight and as far away as the Pyrenees.
Talks
The club runs talks from outside lecturers around once a month. The topics are wide ranging from 'Beer, Wine and Whisky, the role of Geology' to 'Meteorite Collection in Antarctica'. The talks are followed by drinks, food and once a year a Gooma Looma. This is the name of a traditional punch made once a year and drunk after a talk. "Goomaloomas" was originally established in the Department by Professor Mike Coward in the late 1980's in order to provide an informal focus on a Friday evening for the research students, who otherwise had little chance to socialise with each other. The PhD students within each Section would take a turn hosting the event; with time it was enlarged to embrace the undergraduates and academic staff, and eventually its organisation fell to the DLB.
Annual Symposium
Once a year in the Summer Term the club organises a day of talks from a 6 leading lecturers. The day's talks have a theme and as well as refreshments throughout the day, in the evening the lecturers join the students in a dinner at a local restaurant. The theme to 2010's symposium was 'Controversy and Creativity: Groundbreaking Geoscience'.

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