Memories of the Suffolk Naturalists' Society

MEMORIES OF THE SUFFOLK NATURALISTS'

SOCIETY

FRANCIS SIMPSON

M o n k s ' S o h a m H o u s e , t h e residence of C l a u d e M o r l e y ( f o u n d e r of the Suffolk Naturalists' Society) f o r s o m e 50 years until his d e a t h on S e p t e m b e r 13th, 1951, w a s very difficult f o r visitors to find. It was h i d d e n f r o m t h e road by u n c u t s h r u b s and ivy. Little g a r d e n i n g was d o n e ; he p r e f e r r e d it to be semi-wild f o r his insects. T h e h o u s e d a t e d f r o m , I believe, the late 16th or early 17th Century, a n d it h a d a m o a t , but this was silted up. M o r l e y k e p t his collections in a large w o o d e n hut, which h e called his ' m u s e u m ' . It was M o r l e y ' s wish, expressed to m e on several occasions, that w h e n h e died the Suffolk N a t u r a l i s t s would still b e able to visit his house and m u s e u m , which h e would l e a v e to t h e Society.

M o r l e y insisted that M o n k s ' S o h a m should b e speit as f o r m e r l y with the ' s " . T h e village consists of scattered h o u s e s and f a r m s , a n d few local people can n o w r e m e m b e r M o r l e y . H e was buried in t h e village c h u r c h y a r d and t h e r e is a g r a v e stone with a suitable inscription. I a t t e n d e d his f u n e r a l . I think M o r l e y would h a v e liked to h a v e lived in much earlier times, and to h a v e b e e n o n e of t h e S u f f o l k B a r o n s or N o b l e s of w h o m he o f t e n s p o k e and w r o t e . W h e n I visited him h e would a p p e a r looking t h e p a r t , dressed accordingly a n d w e a r i n g a pince-nez.

T h e early T r a n s a c t i o n s of t h e Society contain very interesting articles, o b s e r v a t i o n s a n d n o t e s well e d i t e d by M o r l e y in his own special way. I knew

Monks' Soham House 1951

Trans. Suffolk

Nat. Soc. 26 (1990)

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many of the authors, including the Revd. E. C. Sherwood, who joined the Society in its first year. He was the Headmaster of Ipswich School, which I was attending at the time. He was a recent convert to ornithology and wrote an article on 'The photography of ground nesting birds' for the 1930 Transactions. T. G. Powell also joined in 1929. He was Headmaster of the 'Prep.' of the Ipswich School. His particular interest was also birds, especially oology, i.e. his hobby was bird'-nesting, pure and simple. He told rae that he had a good collection of eggs and he would visit the shingle beach at Orfordness and collect a basket of eggs, mainly of terns. He wrote an article 'On bird's nesting in the Ipswich neighbourhood', with photographs of nests and eggs, for the 1933 Transactions. It is interesting that he recorded the Red-backed Shrike as nesting in bushes along Foxhall Road, on Bixley Heath and about Dobbs Lane. I remember Red-backed Shrikes at these sites, and on Warren Heath where Sainsbury built a Store and there is new housing. There used to be a pair in old Ipswich cemetery.

One cannot forget Ronald Burn, the well-educated but very eccentric botanist of Whatfield. His paper on 'Species of plants new to Hind's Flora' was in the 1931 Transactions. His list gave varieties which were of little importance and are now forgotten. Burn was a 'splitter', and almost every plant he examined would become a 'variety'. He used to write his notes on the back of paper on which his father, who was the Rector of Whatfield, had written his sermons. He was strangely dressed (see Simpson, 1989) and once when he was entering Camps Wood a motorist stopped and gave him a lovely Belgian cake. He was not always so fortunate. I was going with him through Holbrook when children called after him and threw stones. I have only once been stoned by children - and that was in Ireland.

Our late President, Dr. Ted Ellis, joined the Society in 1931, and Burn met him at the meeting in Lowestoft in June 1932. Burn was fĂźll of praise for Ellis and recognised him as a first class naturalist. A photograph showing those that attended this meeting is in the Transactions for that year. Thirty of the members were named, and I knew twenty of them. The first named was the Hon. Secretary, Claude Morley, who was wearing his panama hat and white Shirt with large black bow-tie. Lionel Vulliamy of Cauldwell Hall, Ipswich, was there. As district coroner he eventually conducted the inquest on Morley's death. Dr. Dudley Collins of Southwold, a former President, was also there, wearing his trilby hat and 'plus-fours'. His article 'Fishes of Suffolk' was published in the 1933 Transactions.

DĂźring Morley's time members' exhibits played a most important part in the proceedings of the indoor meetings. Cyril Giles, a member from Hopton, near Diss, was interested in falconry and for the March meeting of 1932 sent his falconers with two hooded and belled female Peregrine Falcons. Morley described it as 'a most handsome and fascinating sight.' I remember seeing the birds being brought into the Ipswich Museum lecture room, a sight not likely to be repeated. Perhaps even more extraordinary, Eric Kirkby of Hepworth brought live adders from Hinderclay Fen (where they were very frequent) to the June 1934 meeting. He also showed the larvae of the White Admiral butterfly from Fakenham Wood. I have not so far seen this butterfly when visiting this ancient wood. I was once caught there by the one-eyed

Trans. Suffolk Nat. Soc. 26 (1990)

MEMORIES OF THE SUFFOLK NATURALISTS' SOCIETY

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keeper who used to m a k e his rounds on an old motor cycle. Eric Kirbv died that same year - but not f r o m snake bite!

It was at one of the early field meetings that I met the Revd J E Sawbridge of Mildenhall, w h o had been Rector of Thelnetham. H e told m e ' although I already knew, that he used to collect specimens of Liparis loeselii\ the Fen Orchid, at T h e l n e t h a m Fen and send them to the Ipswich Museum for exhibition. This was long before I joined the M u s e u m and at the time when Frank Woolnough was the Curator. I used to see this orchid at three sites in T h e l n e t h a m in the 1930s when I cycled there from Ipswich I also found it on the Norfolk side of the Little Ouse in Bio Norton Fen and further east, north of the Waveney, in R o y d o n Fen, along with other orchids and other interesting rare plants. The Fen Orchid is possibly now extinct in Suftolk.

George Bird of Ipswich joined the Society in 1933. H e was an out-and-out bird man a n d , as Morley described 'Bird by name and Bird by nature ' H e excelled at photographing birds in the field, wrote articles for the Transactions and gave many talks. H e used to take me to field meetings. Staverton Butley and Nacton were his favourite localities. H e often complained to me that certain 'Outsiders' would come to photograph the nests and disturb birds by removing cover. G e o r g e Bird died in 1950, leaving his collection of award-winmng photographs and slides to the Ipswich Museum U n f o r t u n a t e l y every society has its sprinkling of 'difficulf m e m b e r s who belong for their own selfish ends. Our late Treasurer, Mr. Chipperfield told me of one individual who joined the Society just for one year, solely to obtain trom m e m b e r s details of the sites where he could collect rare lepidoptera to add to his collections. T h e r e are also always some orchid-mad m e m b e r s which poses a problem for Recorders as to how far they should supply Information on rare species. O n e such m e m b e r would frequently pester me for Information and, not receiving an answer, called on the H o n . Secretary then Miss J a n e t Willis, at 1 Holly R o a d , and waving a Man Orchid in her face d e m a n d e d to know the sites of a certain species. On another occasion this m e m b e r and a f n e n d joined a field meeting and as soon as the leader arrived asked if there were any orchids in the area. T h e leader pointed to some distant woods, and off they went and were not seen again that a f t e r n o o n A n o t h e r m e m b e r had a wild orchid garden, and just before I gave a talk on orchids I received a letter warning me to be careful and not give away too many sites. Fortunately these orchid-mad m e m b e r s were not present at the O t h e r m e m b e r s can be 'difficult' in less dangerous ways. D . J. C a r p e n t e r of Felixstowe, who died in 1966, was an excellent field naturalist and was verv tond of conveying his knowledge, sometimes at inappropriate times We were once on a Fungus Foray in Bentley Long Wood when he produced specimens he had collected f r o m Felixstowe beach and commenced to give a lecture, much to the surprise of the m e m b e r s present.

In the early years the annual subscription was 'Half a G u i n e a ' (i e 52 pence in m o d e r n currency) and Life Membership £10, which remained Morle Ä d r " y ' s d e a t h ; it was increased to 12 shillings and 6 pence in 1951-2. A n item in the accounts for 1932 may interest readers for £1 was

Trans. Suffolk Nat. Soc. 26 (1990)

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entered as 'Wiston Badgers - bribe to farmers'. T h e annual bribe was increased to ยฃ3 in 1934 but ceased in 1944 when the badgers are thought to have been killed. W h e n Mrs Rivis died in 1958 leaving Rosehill House and land to the Society it became very sound financially, the envy of many other societies struggling to survive, and able to publish books covering the natural history of the County.

T h e Suffolk Naturalists' Society may seem to have more than its fair share of eccentrics, but this may be no bad thing as it shows our dedication to natural history and certainly makes life more interesting generally. I have myself often been considered by the public as one such eccentric when seen poking into hedges and disappearing into woods. In the main I have enjoyed the Company of many such naturalists.

Reference Simpson, F. W. (1989). Claude Morley and the Suffolk Naturalists' Society.

Trans. Suffolk Nat. Soc. 2 5 , 1 .

Francis Simpson, 40 Ruskin R o a d , Ipswich, IP4 1PT

Hunting Hornets H o r n e t s (Vespa crabo) are the largest of the social wasps and, like their smaller cousins (Vespula spp.), are carnivorous at some stage in their life.

Whilst at Minsmere on 7th September 1989, two hornets were seen hunting butterflies which were feeding on the Buddlia plants between the toilets. A hรถrnet in o n e instance flew after, and caught a small tortoiseshell (Aglais urtica), removed its wings and flew off with the 'body'. In another instance, the butterfly was carried away with its wings intact. On the ground beneath the Buddlia bushes were the wings of small tortoiseshells, but n o wings of other butterflies. A hรถrnet appeared to have little trouble catching a small tortoiseshell, but its four attempts to catch a red admiral (Vanessa atalanta) were unsuccessful. Could it be that the small tortoiseshell was more sluggish than the faster-flying red admiral, or was some other factor responsible?

No other butterflies were attacked during our study of approximately 10 minutes, although a grayling (Hipparchia semele), comma (Polygonia c-album), peacock (Iniachis io) and small white (Pieris rapae) were feeding on the same Buddlia bushes.

Social wasps usually feed their larvae on insect food in the earlier part of the year. Catching and carrying away butterfly prey suggests that this colony had larvae in September: something rather unusual - but the year itself had been unusual. N o attempt was made to find the nest.

Alan B e a u m o n t

Trans. Suffolk

Nat. Soc. 26 (1990)

Plate 3: Hornets, Vespa crabro will remove the wings from their insect prey before carrying the remains to their nest (p. 4).

(Photo: Howard Mendel)