Dusty natural history

With the heavy rain this morning I decided to stay indoors and start sorting through boxes of old natural history material. I came across a lovely old lever-arch file full of pressed mosses, liverworts, seaweeds and lichens. It was given to me perhaps 15 years ago by the wife of a local naturalist who had recently passed away. It was just part of his natural history collections made between 1946 and 1951. I was delighted to find it again - an old quarto size 'Emergency Quality' East-light file with the rising sun logo on the spine label, slightly rusty metalwork and the smell of old stationery cupboards. Inside, about 50 sheets of yellowing cartridge paper with specimens carefully stuck down and labelled with proper ink from a fountain pen - the equivalent of my digital photos today and needing a lot more skill and patience.

I can get almost as much pleasure from looking through such artifacts and pouring over old lists and maps as being out in the mud and vegetation - especially on a day like this.