VOL.35 NO.2 OCTOBER 2OO5 - British Shell Collectors' Club

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Page 14 PALLIDULA Shell Club Members’ Get Together In The Summer This year there have again been two successful extra events for Club Members. On the weekend of 25 th /26 th June over 40 members made their way to Rockland St Mary in Norfolk at the invitation of Daphne and Derek Howlett. Here they were able to talk shells, exchange shells, buy shells, sell shells etc, as well as admire the extensive Howlett collection. Their wide open garden is ideal for the marquee to house the “dealer” element of the members and their shells, whilst nearer the bungalow we could just sit in the sun, talk, and enjoy each other’s company. The highlight this year was a superb barbecue, the centre-piece being a delicious lamb which had been expertly spit-roasted over 6½ hours by our Club Secretary / Chef, Tom Walker. Many members travelled here for the day from Essex to Birmingham, whilst those who come from further afield have now made a habit of staying in local bed and breakfast accommodation to make the most of the weekend. It is also a good opportunity for new members to meet with the old hands and we were pleased to welcome Debra and Russell Walker, and Sally, Matt, Laura and Sam Ashdown all of whom are our newest members. On the 6 th August John and Goga Batt were once again the hosts at their home in Yateley, Hampshire. Twenty-seven members came to enjoy a “surfeit of shells”, plus the chance to see John’s great collection of the world’s cowries. Both Alistair Moncur and Mike Filmer were present and had bought along the Holotype and Paratype’s of the new Conus moncuri to show and discuss with fellow members. With good company and good food a super day was had by all. Funny how “shellers” all enjoy their food! These get-togethers give all of us the time to get to know one another, our families and our individual interests. Unfortunately there is never time to indulge in this at the Shell Shows in April and October. If you’ve never been to one of these events, why not put the dates for 2006 into your diary, and come and enjoy a different aspect of the Club.
PALLIDULA Page 15 Spurn Head by David Hutchinson Spurn Head is located at the mouth of the Humber estuary near Hull. Being a well known nature reserve it is popular with birdwatchers and walkers. Spurn Head is a long narrow strip of sand with a road running down the centre taking you to the lighthouse at the top of the point, where there is a large beach and some very large sand dunes. For the shell collector there are both land snails and marine shells which both occur on the main estuary beach. Strong cross winds blow the land snails off the dunes and leave them on the beach with the marine shells which I find quite unusual. The main feature on the estuary beach is large amounts of sea coal which the locals used to collect for use on their fires when coal was expensive and in short supply after the Second World War. Starting with the land snails, Cernuella virgata is a common shell on the beach, and both mature and juvenile specimens occur together making identification quite difficult. The next land snail to be found in large numbers was the very common Helix aspersa but in a very pretty white banded form. This common garden species is more often brown and quite drab but the shells at Spurn Head are very attractive with thick white bands over a brown background. My next find were some really nice Cepaea nemoralis; again I had problems with identification of a number of brown unbanded shells which were just extremes of a normally banded species. I also found some lovely yellow unbanded shells which were again the same species. The typical Cepaea nemoralis occurred in a range of pretty forms including pink with brown stripes. A local species of fly uses the dead snail shells in which they lay their eggs, I discovered this some time of putting the shells into sealed bags when a number of flies had emerged and were trapped in the bag. I find it very unusual that a fly should use dead snail shells in such a way. I suppose that there must have been some of the dead mollusc left in the shell and this was sufficient for the maggots to live on. My last snail find was the freshwater snail, Anisus vortex. This was again found on the beach in a rock pool, a strange place to find a freshwater species. I am sure that many more species occur on the dunes, but with limited time I spent most of the day on the estuary beach looking for marine shells. All of my collecting was restricted to the first two hundred yards of the estuary beach; parking my car just after the entrance it is very easy to walk onto the beach. Further down, the dunes become very high and one must drive down to the very end, park and walk back along the beach. My first find in a rock pool was hundreds of large Hydrobia ulvae; for a common micro these shells were true giants. Because there are very few rocks on the beach the shells found washed up by the tide are in very good condition. Cerastoderma edule littered the beach in their hundreds all in perfect pairs. I find this species difficult to collect in good condition so I gathered some really nice specimens for my collection. The next species found were Nucella lapillus and Macoma balthica which covered the beach in a whole range of colour forms including pink, white and yellow. Some really interesting shell finds were some unusual Littorina littorea, having a thick white band at the base of the shell. I also found many juveniles of Littorina saxatilis which looked just like micro shell species. At this point I decided to look in the grit on the beach which was mixed with fine coal grains. With sieve in hand and plastic bags at the ready I found the two common estuary species, Abra abra and Abra tenuis in large numbers. These are both pretty white shells that can be collected in most estuaries. My next find was the very delicate Retusa obtusa. This is a very small micro living in
Page 1 and 2: VOL.35 NO.2 OCTOBER 2OO5
Page 3 and 4: PALLIDULA Page 3 Shells in Unusual
Page 5 and 6: PALLIDULA Page 5 Following Walter
Page 7 and 8: PALLIDULA Page 7 Habitat and biolog
Page 9 and 10: PALLIDULA Page 9 Cypraea tigris, Sa
Page 11 and 12: PALLIDULA Page 11 SHELLING ON SHELL
Page 13: PALLIDULA Page 13 A NEW CONUS SPECI

VOL.35 NO.2 OCTOBER 2OO5 - British Shell Collectors' Club

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