Rosemary Hill and Ron Boyce (field meetings organisers)from the Conchological Society were joined by John Meikejohn and Harry Green for this visit. Unfortunately only one other of several expected Society members were able to attend. Nevertheless these were two interesting days of exploration in areas where mollusc recording is rather sparse. We visited Death’s Dingle near Eastham (by kind permission of the owners Jeremy & Charlotte Hughes) to search for molluscs in the tufa-rich areas; Penny Hill Bank (limestone grassland); and paid a brief visit to the higher reaches of Hunthouse Wood (the last two with permission from Worcestershire Wildlife Trust).

From Death’s Dingle the two most interesting records are of Acicula fusca and Macrogastra rophii for which there are very few records in the county. The first is a small cylindrical snail about 2.5 mm long with a thin horny operculum. The second is another tall thin snail similar to Clausilia bidentata, which is commonly found in woods, but it is rather more rotund. It has only been found in a few county sites. The Deaths Dingle area is rich in molluscs but finding them in dry conditions prevailing in summer 2003 was difficult! From Penny Hill Vallonia puchea is a snail rarely recorded in Worcestershire. Many snails are only a few mms in size and can only be found by very careful searching.
 
Conchological Society members will visit the Wyre Forest area in 2004.
The following list is of molluscs recorded by Rosemary Hill (m=mollusc, ms= mollusc: slug)

Death'sDingle
21st June2003
SO670677

^{m Oxychius cellarius
m Aegopinella nitidula
m Discus rotundatus
ms Arion subfuscus
m Trichia hispida
m Punctum pygmaeum
m Carychium tridentatum
m Vitrea crystallina
m Oxychius helveticus
m Oxychius alliarius
m Cochlicopa lubrica
m Acicula fusca
ms Arion intermedius
m Macrogastra rolphii
ms Limax maximus
m Oxychilus helveticus [abino]
m Vitrea contracta
m Aegopinella pura
m Euconulus fulvus
m Ena obscura
m Cochlodina laminata
m Clausilia bidentata
ms Lehmannia [Limax] marginata}

^{Mill Coppice (adjacent to Deaths Dingle)
21st .June 2003
SO670673}

^{m Ena obscura
m Cochlodina laminata
m Discus rotundatus
m Clausilia bidentata
m Oxychilus alliarius
ms Lehmannia [Limax] marginata
m Oxychilus cellarius
ms Limax maximus
m Nesovitrea hammonis
m Acanthinula aculeata
m Trichia hispida}

^{Penny Hill Bank
22nd June 2003
SO754616}

^{m Candidula intersecta
m Vallonia costata
m Vallonia puchella
m Cepaea nemoralis
m Nesovitrea hammonis
m Trichia striolata
m Cepaea hortensis
m Cochlicopa lubrica
m Vitrina pellucida}

^{Edge of capped quarry adjacent to Penny Hill
22nd June 2003
SO753616}

^{m Candidula intersecta
m Trichia hispida
m Aegopinella nitidua
m Discus rotundatus}

^{in scrub at Penny Hill}

 ^{Discus rotundatus
m Clausilia bidentata
m Cochlodina laminata}

^{Hunthouse Wood
SO704703
22nd June 2003}

^{m Clausilia bidentata
m Oxychilus alliarius
m Aegopinella nitidula
m Nesovitrea hammonis
m Aegopinella pura
m Cepaea hortensis
m Discus rotundatus
m Trichia hispida
m Acanthinula aculeata
m Punctum pygmaeum
m Carychium minimum
m Carychium tridentatum
m Vitrea crystallina
m Cochlicopa lubrica}