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NATURE NOTES 
NEWS FROM THE BRANCHES. 
Clapton (Lower Lea Valley). — The opening meeting of the Session 
1903-4 was held at Sigdon Road School, on Saturday, October 17. 
One of the Vice-Presidents of the Branch, Mr. Chas. Nicholson, F.E.S., read 
an instructive papei on “Bog Plants,” which was rendered more interesting by 
the exhibition of a number of growing specimens. 
After a hearty vote of thanks had been-accorded to Mr. Nicholson the meeting 
resolved itself into the usual informal social gathering. 
East Riding. — An afternoon meeting was held on October 8, in the Gym- 
nasium of the Pocklington Grammar School, by permission of the Rev. C. F. 
Hutton, the Headmaster, under the chairmanship of the Rev. W. U. Wood 
Rees, the Honorary Secretary of the Branch. Addresses were given by the 
Revs. M. C. F. Morris, Rector of Nunburnholme ; A. Bolland, Vicar of Hayton ; 
C. F. Hutton, and the Chairman. 
FIELD CLUB RAMBLES. 
September 12, 1903. Winchmore Hill and District. Leader, Oliver G. Pike. 
The Selbornians who attended this ramble had a most enjoyable walk through 
Winchmore Hill Woods and some of the prettiest lanes of the neighbourhood. 
The day looked threatening, but those who ventured out were amply repaid, for 
the afternoon turned out bright and it was an ideal autumn day for a stroll. The 
leader chose one of the most delightful walks to be found in this beautiful spot of 
Middlesex, which has rightly been christened “ Bird-Land ” by him in his books. 
The party intended to continue the ramble after a most enjoyable tea, but a heavy 
shower of rain prevented this and they returned to town. 
September 20. — Epping Forest. Twenty-nine Selbornians met at Chingford 
Station for a ramble through Epping Forest. The weather was all that could be 
desired, bright warm sunshine, tempered by a cool breeze. Leaving the station 
the party crossed the grassy, uneven Chingford Plain, where the absence of trees 
and marks of old furrows show that the land, now “the people’s own for all 
time,” was once arable and under the plough. Fairmead thicket was entered and 
crossed by one of the many grass rides which intersect the denser parts of the 
Forest. The thicket opens again and again into grassy glades, which form a 
perfect paradise for wild flowers in the spring and summer, while at this season 
of the year the scarlet hips of the rosebushes and the brilliant tints of the autumn 
leaves make up for lack of flowers. Great quantities of dewberry and blackberry 
fruits were in evidence, but these required a few more days of sunshine and some 
pinches of frost to make a veritable harvest for the blackberry gatherers. After 
leaving Fairmead, the ramblers, by bearing to the right, made a complete circuit 
of High Beach, emerging by the furze-bush bank near the church. The great 
feature of the walk through the beechwoods, as well as through the thicket, was 
the numerous specimens of interesting fungi met with. Among the beech mast 
and leaves on the floor of the wood the fungi seemed to assume every tint, from 
the exact colours of the decaying leaves to dainty lemon and orange yellows, rich 
heliotrope, and brilliant scarlet. A glistening cluster of ivory-white fungi on a 
beech trunk attracted much attention, but all agreed that this fungus ( Armillaria 
mucuia), although said to be of a delicate flavour when cooked, did not look as 
though it could be trusted. 
The absence of bird song lent a singular stillness to the woods. Here and 
there a jaunty robin trilled forth his autumn carol, but the song seemed to end in 
a sad little refrain, as though he too regretted that summer had gone. A beau- 
tiful jay flew from tree to tree and allowed a very good view of himself to the 
ramblers. After a short interval for tea, a walk was taken to the summit of the 
hill for the view. But the warmth of the afternoon showed itself in a blue haze, 
which quite hid the beauties of the Lea Valley below. The return walk was by 
Leppit’s Hill and across the meadows towards the “ Woodman.” 
In one part of the homeward walk owls called and answered each other with 
their well-known hoots from the margins of the woods ; bats showed themselves 
in their zig-zag flight across the sky-line ; beetles blundered along in ungainly 
flight, and night moths on airy wing appeared for a moment and then vanished. 
The station was reached in due course, when all agreed that the ramble had been 
a most enjoyable one. 
