Reports of WOFC meetings
St Sepulchre’s Cemetery, 20 November 2022
A Field Club visit to a long abandoned Victorian graveyard hidden off a back street in Oxford’s Jericho area to study the geology of the gravestones might not seem to have an immediate appeal. However, this visit proved to be fascinating on many different levels for those who came. St Sepulchre’s, we discovered, was a haven of quiet and has become something of a small nature reserve in the heart of the city.
Pop-up Fungus Foray at Foxholes, 30 October 2022
At this time of year, fungi pop up like, well, mushrooms – and so do Field Club walks! Our second pop-up walk of the winter season was at Foxholes, a BBOWT reserve near Bruern, which is always worth a visit at this time of year for fungi.
Visit to Thenford Arboretum and Gardens 21st October 2022
We have been treated to some glorious weather over the past year for our walks and outings, but today – Friday 21 October – was an exception. The rain came down in torrents. However, five doughty club members donned waterproofs and braved the downpours. It was well worth the effort.
Sunday 16 October was a glorious day when ten of us met with Peter Creed for a morning’s fungus foray. Peter led us through a variety of habitats, each very different and thus providing a variety of fungi.
Brenda Betteridge writes:
Julia’s pop-up walk on 18 September was a great success. Thirteen of us enjoyed spending this sunny Sunday morning in the Windrush Valley. After walking through the village of Asthall, our starting point, we took the lane which leads to Toque House and Asthall Farm where, on the south side of a barn, we noticed a vigorous member of the Amaranthaceae family.
On the evening of 24 June, moth expert Julian Howe and I set up three moth traps in and around a private garden in Shilton.
On Thursday 25 August, fourteen of us joined Martin Catt to enjoy a gentle ramble at North Leigh Common, identifying various plants and learning a little about their traditional uses and folklore.
It was a warm though overcast morning on 3 August when sixteen of us gathered to look for butterflies on the Wychwood Forest Trust’s Wigwell reserve at Charlbury. We were led by Roger Newman who gave each of us an identification sheet to use and keep, plus a brief demonstration of how to use the I-Record Butterflies site.
The Club had its usual publicity table at this year’s Wychwood Forest Fair, held at Foxburrow Wood, Hailey on 31 July. It’s always a good day out, with plenty of family fun and lots of opportunities to see what other organisations are doing.
Visit to Aston Rowant NNR, Sunday 3 July 2022
When Dr Tim King, our leader, started his reseach at Aston Rowant national nature reserve, he found the continuous loud singing of many skylarks for hour after hour a little trying. A few years later, the reserve was divided in two by the dramatic cutting for the new M40 motorway at the top of Stokenchurch hill, and these days in parts of the reserve the skylarks are drowned out by the roar of traffic – but it’s still a glorious place.
WEST OXFORDSHIRE FIELD CLUB