REPORTS OF MEETINGS
311
After gathering at Althorne Station on the arrival at 10.40 of the train
from London, the party at once walked to the saltings, and it was soon
evident that the day would be a good one for the entomologists and botanists.
Butterflies were to be seen in good numbers, and a colourful spread of the
Sea Lavender delighted the eye. Another plant which was at the height of
its beauty was the Oxtongue, whose yellow flowers made a fine show along
the lane sides.
The party spent the time until 3.15 p.m. on the saltings, and the nearby
meadowlands. One or two members paid particular attention to such
lesser-known orders as the grasshoppers and the bugs, and their searching
was richly rewarded by the discovery of good numbers of these insects.
Lunch was taken as and when it suited each little group of members to
interrupt their collecting and observing for a rest in the warm sunshine.
Every sunny corner where there was shelter from the wind provided a great
number of butterflies, including the Meadow Brown, the Gatekeeper, Red
Admiral, and a few welcome specimens of the Marbled White.
On leaving the saltings, an elm-lined lane was followed, and here two
specimens of the White-Letter Hairstreak were taken.
The lane led the party to the Ridge Guest House, and here members
rested in the comfortable rooms until tea was served.
After tea, Mr. S. Waller was elected to the chair, and a formal meeting
of the Club was held. The chairman particularly welcomed several visitors
whose names were amongst those which were then read for the first time as
candidates for membership.
Mr. Bernard Ward then spoke on the botanical finds of the day, which
totalled over seventy species in flower. This was a good number considering
that almost all were found on or near the Saltings. It was with pleasure
that a large number of plants of the grass pea had been seen in fruit.
Mr. Dyce spoke of the butterflies and moths, and read a list which in-
cluded the three "whites", Marbled White, Large, Small, and Essex Skippers,
Meadow Brown, Gatekeeper, Red Admiral, Comma, and White-Letter
Hairstreak. He also recorded the larvae of the Small Eggar Moth and
several dragonflies.
Mr. Sands spoke of his finds in Heteroptera, naming some of the species
and reserving others for further examination (see p. 295).
Mr. Broughton spoke of the congregation of the Common Stickleback
which had been seen in small pools of nearly dried out ditches, and also
detailed his discoveries amongst the Orthoptera.
The chairman spoke of the interesting colouration of the mud in several
places, which he attributed to the presence of diatoms.
On the conclusion of the meeting, a motor-coach was in attendance to
take the party to Burnham to catch the return train to London.
Visit to the Colchester Area (925th Meeting)
SATURDAY, 9 SEPTEMBER 1950
A well-filled coach left Woodford at 9 a.m., for Lexden, and here the
President, Mr. L. S. Harley, and Mrs. Harley, together with a number of
members who had travelled by other means, were waiting.
The party, which numbered forty, was soon gathered in Fitzwalter Road,
where the President pointed out the tumulus—now flanked by pleasant
houses and gardens—which is thought to be the burial place of Cunobelin,
Chief of the Catuvellauni, who died about a.d. 40. This tumulus was excavated
by the Morant Club in 1922, and the rich finds are now in the Colchester
Museum.
The President then led the party—by kind permission of Mrs. Blomfield—
through a private garden to the great Celtic Dyke situated in private parkland.