Programme of Events

Programme Secretary:
Ron Boyce, 447c Wokingham Road, Earley, Reading, Berkshire RG6 7EL
Email:

Diary of Meetings

Indoor meetings at the Natural History Museum will take place in the Palaeontology Demonstration Room a.k.a. the Dorothea Bate Room at the end of Gallery 30. The Programme Secretary will be happy to receive any offers to lead field meetings or suggestions for speakers for indoor meetings.

Click on the link text for more details of a particular meeting.

NHM – Saturday 27 March 2010: Annual General Meeting. 14:00 h in the Dorothea Bate Room [Palaeontology Demonstration Room], preceded by Council meeting.
      Presidential Address by Sebastian Payne Australian shells and the colonisation of Lord Howe Island.
Abstract
      The shell fauna of Australia is, by British standards, very diverse. Most families with which we are familiar from European waters are also found round Australia, though the genera and species are usually rather different, and diversity is generally higher. But there are also many representatives of much less familiar tropical Pacific families.
      Lord Howe Island is a volcanic island about 400 km NE of Sydney; it emerged about 7 million years ago, and is surrounded by water over 1000 m deep. The shell fauna of Lord Howe Island casts light on how shells spread. Some families present on Lord Howe Island show high diversity and share many species with the Queensland coast, the Barrier Reef and New Caledonia. These clearly have no problem colonising distant islands provided suitable habitats are available. Others, however, show much lower diversity, and many of the species in these families are found nowhere else. These families are presumably less good at colonising distant islands, probably because their larvae settle more rapidly.

YCS – Saturday 10 April 2010, Fraisthorpe, VC61.
Contact: David Lindley (0113 2697047) (home), Email:
      Meet at 10:30 h in the coastal car park in Fraisthorpe, grid ref. TA 169627, for 1 km recording in squares TA15 and 16.

YCS – Sunday 9 May 2010, Topcliffe for A1 corridor.
Contact: David Lindley (0113 2697047) (home), Email:
      Meet at 10:30 h in the small car park on the west side of the old bridge in Topcliffe, SD 397759.

FIELD – Saturday–Monday 22–24 May, 2010. North Wales limestone pavements. Please note change of dates
Leader: Adrian Norris (0113 274 5244) (home)
      Over the past year or so, work has been undertaken to survey the molluscan fauna of Limestone Pavements in Yorkshire. In order to acquire some comparative data it is intended to visit two sites in Caernarvonshire in 2010. In order to be of maximum value the main samples must be taken from within designated areas of each limestone pavement. Although this is one of the main points of the visit there should be plenty of opportunity to investigate the molluscan fauna in other areas close by.
       The two main sites designated as sample areas in Caernarvonshire are as follows: a limestone pavement on the Great Orme with a central point grid reference of SH7572583950, and a limestone pavement known as Bryn Pydew with a central point of SH8175779817. Bryn Pydew is situated just north of the A55 trunk road which runs between Colwyn Bay and Conwy.
      Any necessary permits have still to be acquired, but this should not be a problem as this project is part of an on-going study of the pavements being undertaken by the University of Chester.
      There is plenty of accommodation, of all types and costs, both within and surrounding Llandudno.
      Meet on Saturday on the Great Orme at about SH766842 at 11:00 h. Pay the Toll fee of £2.50 for the Marine Drive which runs around the Great Orme and park in a small informal car park up a small track about 100 yards past the Rest and be Thankful cafe, which is beyond the Lighthouse. We should not have any problems parking in one of the two areas off that track.

FIELD – Saturday 12 June 2010. Flitwick Moor and Folly Wood, Flitwick, Bedfordshire. Joint meeting with the Flitvale local Wildlife Trust group.
Leader: Peter Topley. Email: molluscworld@ntlworld.com
      Bedfordshire's most important wetland and an SSSI, Flitwick Moor is a blend of fen, meadow, wet woodland and fragile peaty soil, supporting mosses, ferns and flowers. Although this is generally a low pH habitat, previous records include Vertigo substriata and it will be useful to update the mollusc records of this important reserve which harbours wildlife species unique to the county and beyond. Meet at 10:30 h at the car park at the end of the small track at Folly farm, grid ref. TL 046354. Bring wellingtons and a packed lunch. The site is ¾ mile from Flitwick station which is on the Thameslink line from London. Detailed directions and a map are available on the BCNP Wildlife Trust website.

FIELD – Saturday 26 June 2010. River Wey, Northern branch, Froyle, Hampshire. Freshwater meeting.
Leader: June Chatfield (01420 82214) (home)
      Meet at 10:30 h at the service road by the Hen and Chickens pub on the A31, grid ref. SU 756421. Bring packed lunch. For those travelling by public transport there is a Southwest train departing London Waterloo at about 08:23 h arriving at Alton at 09:38 h, and bus no. 65 for the Hen and Chickens in Upper Froyle leaves Alton station at 10:00 h.
      The northern Wey is a chalk stream that arises in Alton and is very rich in freshwater molluscs. Through Bill Stanford of the Bentley Fly Fishers (who will probably join us) we have permission to access private riverbanks to Bentley. We would particularly like to look for Pisidium amnicum and large mussels.
      Members of the Northern Wey Trust and Alton Natural History Society may join us.
      Appropriate maps for the area are Explorer map 144 Basingstoke and Landranger map 186 Aldershot and Guildford.
      The leader would appreciate knowing who is coming to this meeting, please telephone 01420 82214.

FIELD – Saturday 3 July 2010. Brockadale, Southwest Yorkshire. Joint meeting with Yorkshire Naturalists’ Union. Leader: Joyce Simmons 01977 620725 (home) Email: joyce@gentian.plus.com
      Meet in the Brockadale YWT nature reserve car park at SE 513174 at 10:30 h. The car park is 400 yards down Leys Lane, which is half a mile north-west of Little Smeaton on the minor road towards Darrington. Leys Lane is marked with a 'no through road' sign.
      One of the features of the reserve is its limestone crags. Those within the woodlands may be cool and shaded in part, but the top of the south-facing cliffs with its thin soils bakes in the summer sun and provides a home for the only Yorkshire site for Truncatellina cylindrica. The snail is at present only known from a very small site within the reserve, but it may also occur on several of the other south-facing crags which occur along the valley sides.
      Full details of this event can be found on the YNU website.

YCS – Saturday 4 September 2010. Settrington area, VC62.
Contact: David Lindley (0113 2697047) (home), Email:
      Meet at 10:30 h in the village centre, SE 834703, for 1 km recording.

FIELD – Wednesday – Sunday 8–11 September 2010 [provisional] Isles of Scilly Marine meeting.
Joint meeting with the Porcupine Marine Natural History Society.
Co-ordination and contact for details: Andy Mackie email: andy.mackie@museumwales.ac.uk
      This joint meeting in the Scillies is being hosted by Porcupine who are making arrangements for laboratory accommodation and boat transport to the various islands, for which there will be a charge of £35. Please contact Angie Gall to book the boats and lab space. The entire meeting is expected to run from Monday 6 September until Monday 13 September, but the Conch Soc component will run from 8-11 September when the best tides for shore work are. Ron Boyce will prepare health and safety documentation for the Wednesday/Saturday period.
      Accommodation on the Scillies in very short supply, so if you are planning to attend this meeting, early booking of your accommodation is vital.

YCS – Saturday 2 October 2010. Upper Nidderdale, VC64.
Contact: David Lindley (0113 2697047) (home), Email:
      Meet at 10:30 h in the car park in Pateley Bridge on the south side of the river, grid ref. SE 157654.

NHM – Saturday 2 October 2010
11:00 h. in the in the Dorothea Bate Room [Palaeontology Demonstration Room] Please note the revised start time. No Council meeting.
      Please bring plenty of exhibits and demonstration material. There will be a lunch break at about 13:00 h. Lecture to start at 14:00 h.
      . The programme is still at the planning stage but may include African molluscs and marine and non-marine material from Skye.
      Members are encouraged to bring specimens of any Mollusca for identification, a x20 binocular microscope will be available if needed.
      Guest speaker at 14:00 h. Robert Cameron (University of Sheffield): Thoughts on an extraordinary snail: Helixena in the Azores and other molluscan oddities

NHM – Saturday 16 October 2010 11:00 h in the Board Room of the Natural History Museum. Full day meeting of Council only.

FIELD – Saturday and Sunday 23–24 October 2010. South Devon. Malacolimax tenellus search.
Leader: Keith Alexander (01392 413092) (home)

FIELD – Saturday 30 October 2010. Wyre Forest. Malacolimax tenellus search.
Leader: Rosemary Winnall (01299 266489) (home) (07732 203393) (mobile)

INDOOR – Saturday 6 November 2010. Regional meeting in Cambridge.

WKSHP – Saturday 27 November 2010:
      The annual workshop held in Woking offers members the opportunity to receive tuition on identifying difficult groups.
Bookings to Judith Nelson (01483 761210) (home)

NHM – Saturday 12 December 2010. 14:00 h in the Dorothea Bate Room [Palaeontology Demonstration Room], preceded by Council meeting.
Guest speaker to be announced.