Field meeting to Grasswood, Yorkshire May 1962

One Saturday in May we went to Grasswood in the Pennines; it is limestone scenery there, with large expanses of limestone pavement. It is as flat as pavement on top but there is a network of long cracks wide enough to catch your feet in, in which Hart's Tongue Pern grows abundantly. These cracks, called grykes, are often very deep. Among them I found many well ground Helix turtoni  [H. rotundata, a flat variety - Ed.] and H. rotundata.

Around a tree stump,amongst dead leaves, I made an interesting dis¬covery, 7 specimens (adult) of Clausilia laminata, five of which were a nondescript greybrown hut two had pink lower whorls. I made sure, or thought I made sure, that they were dead, but the following day I found that three of the grey-brown ones were alive, and later when identifying one of the pink ones, it picked up its shell and walked off!

In a different place, on the verge near the river, just after rain, I found Helix arbustorum feeding on Lady’s Mantle, I noticed when the leaves dried a bit after the rain those snails went down to the roots of the plants? they seem to be a damp-loving species. I also found eight snails, none above 1/3 inch, feeding on a four-inch thistle - they were H. rotundataH. arbustorum, H. virgata and what I think was H. capgrata.

Caroline Hancock