| We welcome the participation of young people in our forays, accompanied by a
responsible adult(s). However, our walks are not suitable for pushchairs
and small children will need to be carried.
A limited number of sites are accessible to wheelchair users and people with
restricted mobility. Please get in touch if you would like advice about
any forays planned in such areas.
Dogs are allowed on some sites - you should check the detailed foray
instructions before attending with your pet, as landowners may not permit them
access.
Edibility of fungi
Advice on the edibility or otherwise
of any fungi is given in good faith. Members and visitors should be aware that
certain species that are commonly regarded as edible, may upset some people.
Care should always be taken in selecting and preparing edible fungi, choose only
fresh specimens. If there is the slightest doubt over the identity of the
specimen, do not consume it. If trying a new species for the first time, eat
only a little until you are sure that you like it, and it likes you. Always
retain a specimen in the fridge in case of need for further identification.
Finding the sites
A set of
directions to the meeting point for each foray is given on the detailed
programme sent to members. This includes the site grid reference, and
assumes a starting point of the nearest main town or motorway junction.
To find the grid reference you will need either
-
OS
Landranger series of 1 : 50,000 maps as references of meeting places
are to three figures (nearest tenth of a kilometre) or
-
Access to the internet to use
www.streetmap.co.uk (enter the grid reference with no gaps into the
search box and click on Lat/Long or Landranger to view a map)
Click here for
instructions on finding a location with a grid reference.
What to bring/wear
-
Sturdy footwear (walking boots or wellies)
-
Wet-weather clothing, (the forays go ahead despite the weather conditions)
-
Old
clothing (quite often the forays get into bramble and dense shrubbery)
-
A
knife (but please note the current
strict laws about carrying knives)
-
A
basket for collecting, a wooden trug, wicker basket or plastic tub, but not
a carrier bag
-
A
notebook and pen/pencil, to note down your finds so you will remember them
when the list comes out
-
A
competent field identification textbook, if you have one
Books/field guides
Every field mycologist
needs a range of literature as a basis for the identification of fungi but there
is the problem of selection when you are getting started. It is all too easy to
spend a considerable sum of money on the wrong books and knowing what is
available is half the battle. There are several illustrated general guides
available which are a starting point for anyone just getting interested in the
subject, and the illustrations accompanied by descriptions of macro characters
enable a fair number of the larger fungi to be identified with reasonable
certainty.
Here are our recommendations to get you started:
PHILLIPS, Roger
Mushrooms
2006 Pan Macmillan Books. ISBN:
0-330-44237-6 Cover price £18.99
Recently revised, this is now a smaller format version of
the original A4 book. Over 1250
photos of species with descriptions, which help to show how variable fungi can
be! Easier to carry than its predecessor, although possibly still a little
heavy for some.
Courtecuisse, R. & Duhem,
B. Mushrooms & Toadstools of Britain & Europe
1995, Collins Field Guide. ISBN 0-00-220025-2. Cover price £14.99
More comprehensive than
Phillips, with 3,500 species described, but beware there are a number in it in
it that are not British. Good illustrations, although some are a little small
and the typeface is difficult to read in poor light. Still appears to be
available via standard online bookshops, but may disappear in the face of a
re-issue of Bon (see below)
Bon, M.
Mushrooms and Toadstools of Britain and North-western Europe
Original edition in 1987,
from Hodder & Stoughton is out of print, but worth looking out for in secondhand
bookshops. Currently being revised and readied for re-issue.
Frustratingly, the publishers keep moving the publication date for the English
version back - currently listed as August 2008 (subject to change) by publishers
A & C Black. When available, this will be the group’s standard field guide
/ pocket book on forays. For French speakers, the new French edition is available
via Amazon in France
Using a grid reference
The first two letters give the portion of the map (SO,
SP, ST, SU for our area) and the next two series of numbers give the precise
location in the grid square across the map moving East (across) and then
North (up). Grid numbers are given on the axis of the map in series of two
numbers (Eastings as vertical lines) and Northings (horizontal lines) in
blue.
For example : SP 041 132 on sheet 163 is in letter
block SP, on grid square 04 along by 13 upwards, the precise location of the
meeting point is one tenth of a square along (041) and two tenths up (132)
from the bottom left corner of the square.
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