REPORTS OF MEETINGS 85
with their doorways lined with Roman tiles and its roof are sound. It
certainly seems unreasonable to expect the residents of a sparsely populated
parish to lavish care upon two large churches. Swallows, which gain access
by the broken windows, find the church to their liking and they flew from
beam to beam during our visit. The nave is 12th century and there is an
interesting pre-Reformation altar slab.
The Rector then showed us the Church of St. Christopher, Willingale Doe,
now the parish church of Willingale with Shellow. It has a fine 15th century
tower and we noticed the monuments to generations of the Wiseman family,
a Stuart alabaster and marble monument, several brasses and a funeral helm
hanging upon the chancel wall. We thanked the Rector for devoting so much
time to showing us the interesting features of the two churches and, regaining
the cars, made our way to the Gipsy Tea Room at Fyfield, where a long
table on the lawn was laid ready for our tea.
While we waited for the teapots to arrive, Miss Roberts spoke about the
plants which had been recorded during the day. She mentioned in particular
the plants including Clematis vitalba, which showed the presence of chalk in
the glacial drift which covered this area. Mrs. Harris spoke of the birds
seen, mentioning the flocks of House-Martins and Swallows sunning themselves
on the roofs in several places. Robins, one Chiffchaff and one Skylark had
been heard in song. Bullfinches and flocks of other finches had been seen
and as she spoke House-Martins were still feeding their young in the nest
in the porch of the tea-room nearby.
Annual Fungus Foray in Epping Forest (1,002nd Meeting)
SUNDAY, 7 OCTOBER, 1956
This meeting was arranged by Mrs. Stuart Boardman and the members
attending were divided into three parties which met at 11 a.m. One party
met at Loughton and was led by Mr. J. W. Dyce; the other two
met at Chingford Station, one being led by Mr. C. B. Pratt and the other,
which was to concentrate on the Mycetozoa, by Mr. Bernard Ward. Those
who met at Loughton were pleased to be able to chat for a while with Mr.
Ross who unfortunately no longer felt able to undertake the full day's
collecting in the Forest. The weather was overcast and after many weeks
of rainy weather the Forest was everywhere extremely wet underfoot, but
happily no rain fell during the meeting.
Soon after 3.30 p.m. the three parties met at the "King's Oak", High
Beach, where the tables were already divided according to genera and laid out
with labelled cardboard plates ready to receive the specimens collected.
Professor Ingold, assisted by Mrs. Boardman, was soon busy identifying the
fungi and the best specimens were then placed on display for members to
examine. As the number of specimens collected was not as great as usual
the hour which was allowed for their arrangement and study proved sufficient
and at 4.30 p.m. tea was served and some forty-five members and friends sat
down to enjoy the meal.
At the conclusion of tea a formal meeting of the Club was held with
Professor C. T. Ingold, Vice-President, in the chair. He conveyed apologies
for absence from Professor Gregory, unfortunately ill in hospital, from Mrs.
Balfour-Brown, and from the Hon. Secretary, Mr. Richard Ward and Mrs.
Ward, who were unavoidably absent from the Fungus Foray for the first time
in twelve years. The names of two candidates for membership were read. The
Chairman then thanked Mr. and Mrs. Boardman for the great and most success-
ful efforts which they had made in arranging the meeting and the exhibition of
specimens here displayed.