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THE ESSEX FIELD CLUB. 171
way of the former gravelpit, now a fine sheet of water, through Great Monk
Wood, where lunch was enjoyed in ideal surroundings, to the Wake Valley, and
so eventually to the Highbeach district through the thicket.
An interesting recent feature in the Wake Valley is presented by a large,
symmetrically circular bomb-crater, a relic of the 1940 blitz period, which has
become filled with rainwater (after partial infilling), and now forms an attractive
swimming pool of clear water.
A special feature of the ramble was entomological research, conducted by
Mr. E. E. Syms, F.R.E.S., who discovered specimens of the Tiger Beetle and its
larva: in their burrows, also Andrena fulva, one of the solitary bees, and the
beetle Geotrupes typhoeus; the silken home of the British representative of the
trapdoor spiders, Atypus affinis, was also found : in each case, Mr. Syms favoured
the party with an account of the life-history and habits of the creature discovered.
The summer bird-migrants were mostly returned : Chiffchaff, willow warbler,
redstart, swallow, martin and cuckoo were noted, and a tawny owl in its nest-
hole was observed.
Wild-flowers were as yet not much in evidence, only 42 species being recorded
by botanists of the party. Wild Cherry (Primus cerasus) was seen in flower,
while trees of Crab-apple, Pyrus maius, were in full flower : Wild Service Tree,
Pyrus torminalis, as yet only in bud, was also seen. Other records were Genista
anglica, Lathyrus macrorhizus, Luzula campestris and Oxalis acetosella, all locally
abundant. Adder's tongue Fern was noted in a damp grassy bottom, not yet
spore-bearing.
An excellent tea was served at the "Duke of Wellington" Inn at Highbeach
at 4 o'clock ; after which the party recrossed the Forest to Loughton, where
an empty bus conveniently emerged from the garage at the right moment to
accommodate the entire party for its homeward journey.
RAMBLE IN THE EPPING UPLAND DISTRICT (846th Meeting).
SATURDAY, JUNE 10TH, 1944.
A party of twenty-four members assembled at St. John's Church in Epping
High Street, nominally at 11.30 o'clock, but actually later owing to delays caused
by long convoys of Army lorries on the road. The weather was cold but dry,
the sky with heavy clouds during the morning, with intermittent sunshine in the
afternoon.
Passing along the road adjoining the Church, the open country was quickly
reached and by field path and lane the party proceeded to Epping Upland, lunch
being taken by the way.
Here' the Church was visited, and Miss Marter, churchwarden (in the absence
on war service of the vicar), kindly gave some account of the drastic "restoration"
of the fabric in the last century. She referred to the reinstatement of the original
communion rails (dating from c. 1612), which in 1913 had been discovered in a
barn and replaced in the church and to the plain (possibly Norman) font, found
serving as a flower-vase in her garden and now restored to the church. Other
objects of interest were the five original oak benches with poppyheads, dating
from circa 1520, the quaint Poor Box, 1626, the brass to Thomas Palmer 1621 (in
academic robes) and some carved oak strips with raised memorial inscriptions,
from which "pray for the souls of" the persons commemorated have been
obliterated: these date from the late 15th or early 16th century. Attention was
also called to some unusually early headstones in the churchyard, all to members
of one family (Stace), the earliest dated 1679, 1680 and 1684.
From this still-interesting old Church, the visitors proceeded by devious
lanes to Thornwood Common, and so to Epping town, recording the birds, wild
flowers and insects met with on the way : but the rapid pace necessitated by our
delayed start was a handicap to thorough investigation. (The total mileage
walked was seven miles, owing to lack of omnibus accommodation.) Nevertheless
the botanists of the party recorded 120 plants seen in flower, including Stellaria
aquatica, Sherardia arvensis. Lithospermum arvense, Tragopogon pratensis, Crepis
taraxacifolia, Spiraea ulmaria, Lamium amplexicaule and Trisetum flavescens.