Saturday 12 October 2019: FIELD MEETING (non-marine): Knepp Castle, Sussex.

A meeting to revisit this 3,500 acre rewilding project and start monitoring its effects on molluscs.

Start Time & Location: 10 am Saturday 12^th October at The Cow Barn, Knepp Safaris, New Barn Farm, Swallows Lane, Dial Post, West Sussex RH13 8NN (OS Grid Ref: TQ 150 204). MJW can email a map to anyone requiring one (see email address below).

Background: The Knepp Castle Estate is a 1,400-hectare (3,500 acre) block of land lying on the Low Weald of West Sussex (a few miles south of Horsham). About 18 years ago the estate owners decided to return the land to a semi-natural state; an experiment in ‘re-wilding’. All former arable land was restored to grassland and both domestic and wild grazers /browsers/foragers could wander freely after the removal of numerous fences. If you are interested to read a little more about Knepp, then please visit Mollusc World 48: 18 – 21 describing a Society field meeting held there in 2017.

Molluscan survey:  Despite a partial river corridor survey on a stretch of the River Adur. and the Society’s 2017 field meeting, large tracts of the estate remain un-surveyed for molluscs. The meeting will focus on three objectives:

• To ‘fill-in’ survey gaps, previously un-visited areas will be targeted;
• To check out remaining small ponds, pools and temporary damp hollows where unrecorded populations of the Mud Snail Omphiscola glabra may be present (the species has been recorded in areas of the Low Weald close by). There are plans for a possible Conch Soc / Knepp O. glabra introduction project (as discussed in the Conservation Report for 2018 - appearing in forthcoming Mollusc World 50);
• To select areas of the estate to be used as the basis of a long-term ‘molluscan succession project’ studying molluscan population changes as former arable areas revert to more natural habitats.

Other details: The meeting may start with a short talk given by Penny Green, the Estate’s Ecologist. Depending upon numbers, we will be taken on Saturday morning to outlying parts of the estate in an off-road vehicle (takes 9 passengers).

Accommodation: You can simply come for the day/s or may (especially if coming from some distance) wish to stay on, or near the estate. If wishing to stay locally, you might consider the Crown Inn, which is only a 10 minute walk from the meeting point:  http://www.crown-inn-dialpost.co.uk/ . Another option is at the Countryman https://www.countrymanshipley.co.uk/ (a 5 minute drive). It is best to book for these pubs as they get busy.

Further information: Please contact Martin at martinjwilling@gmail.com and/or call on 01730 814790. It is essential to let him know if you are intending to attend the field meeting and explain if you are staying locally and if you are considering a return to the estate on Sunday 13^th October.