The Wykehamist
Yet one word more. We are to have a library. If it were not too bold we would suggest that, to make it popular and useful, there should be books of natural history for reference, by which people might name their specimens correctly, and even perhaps one or two models for the use of those who would dabble in the art of drawing; this we feel sure would be wise,
‘ Si munus Apolline dignum Vis complere libris et vatibus addere calcar Ut studio majore petant Helicons virentem.’
The Wykehamist’ s Correspondence
Dear Editors,
As an active member of the Winchester College Natural History Society( NHS) during 1958-62, and a contributor to our booklet Birds of the Winchester District( 1962), I was intrigued by Harry Tang’ s( A, 2021-) article in The Wykehamist No. 1481 on the Fallodon nature reserve. He mentions the area as‘ two and a half acres’, but then indicates that it is bounded by the Itchen and the Itchen navigation, and online maps show this much larger area as part of the reserve as currently delineated. The original 1935 reserve was indeed the quite small 2½ acres, and I attach an air photo from 1959 clearly showing the shrubby rectangular reserve as it still existed then, in the middle of a no-longer grazed meadow expanse, and accessed from the path across the area from the river to the canal via a plank footbridge, long gone I believe, known then as‘ Seagulls’ Fo’— I don’ t know if fo for foricas( i. e. lavatory) still exists in the Notions argot( see RJHM’ s article in the same issue)( it does, just ask MR— Ed). The small reserve was fenced, to keep out the cattle that would have been still grazing the surrounding area in the 1930s, and included in my time a large baited cage trap to catch birds to ring them for life cycle studies, though mist nets were beginning to supersede these traps. Note also in the photo the clear evidence of medieval ridge and furrow cultivation practice across the area, including on the school side of the Itchen, where I did a science project on the effect on the grassland of wetter( furrows) and drier( ridges) habitats- the patch on this side was still mown.
Regards & good wishes, Anthony Cheke( D, 58-9; X, 59-62)
D
ear Editors,
In The Wykehamist No. 1480, the newly-appointed editor of Quelle, Calam Tamana, threw down the proverbial gauntlet, declaring a‘ rivalry’ between his paper and The Wykehamist; he wrote that Quelle had‘ outpaced’ The Wykehamist, and that Quelle would‘ no doubt remain more popular’— he even went so far as to call our articles‘ hogwash’. Yet, since this audacious challenge, Quelle has produced nothing save one minor two-page‘ Christmas Quel’( which wasn’ t even published on paper), and has since gone radio silent; by contrast, The Wykehamist has produced two lengthy editions, and goes from strength to strength, with a dedicated team producing hundreds of printed copies each term. Is Quelle taking what they boldly declared they never would— a‘ very, very long nap’?
Yours faithfully, Thomas Dunn( H, 21-)
Editor of the 1479 th, 1480 th, and 1481 st editions of The Wykehamist
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