In reply to Post #588
It was a dark and frosty night as i made my way across the fields i could see my foot prints i had left behind on the frosty grass, the year was october 1957 and i had one thing on my mind that was a few pheasants, i was making my way to old bells wood, i had crossed the river it was fordable in places, i was making for his coverts the woods would be full of birds, i climed the stile just up from his house. i sat on a old log and l listened all was quite i could not even hear a whine from his dogs, he owned several he was also a good dog trainer and had won many prizes with his dogs he was also a good keeper that i held in respect.
The only worry i had was from his black labrador, it was a mean dog ,give him a chance he would have your ass or leg, i sat on that old log for some time the only noise i heard was from the tawny owl he was out looking for a meal. I heard a bark from a fox ,it carried on this still night, i don't usually poach on nights like this but this was a must, as had to fill my orders times were still hard. Why should all these toffs have the birds, his first shoot was yet to come he had put seven thousand birds in this one pen, and i was going to have some away, i loved to be out at night, i was better by myself as i knew the woods well. As i sat there i taped the torch to my trusted gun, and walked into the wood, i brought the gun to my shoulder shining the torch into the trees, there were hundreds of birds, some on the lower branches, i decided to shoot them first. I took the first shot and brought the bird down he fluttered a bit and was still, i picked him up he was a nice big cock i shot a further six from that tree and put them in my bag, i cleaned any feathers away and left no evidence i had ever been there. I made my way deeper into the wood and shot a further three, i tided up and listened did i hear a noise it seemed far away then i smelt pipe smoke, there was some bugger in the woods was it old bell with his under keeper, i made my way back across the field into another copies, i sat and listened then i heard the unmistakable sound of a dog, they can't be after me i had made no noise, i crossed the river into the grounds of blind school i knew it well and could soon hide in one of the big firs, i hid my gun and birds under the hen house, and climed the nearest fir, i could see across the river and sat on a bough, and waited there was a bang and then a shout there is no one around tonight frank, no Bob, bloody hell its the the police sgt it was old landers, and he had another bobby, with him, i am sure i saw some one cross that field i have seen foot prints in the grass well he has gone now said old bell, i reckon its that bugger from bayton hill again i looked at my watch and grinned to myself ill call at his house in the morning frank, but i don't hold much hope with his old lady, i thought don't go now as you won't get a answer it was now two in the morning all i wanted was to get home i soon got to my hidden bike i could not ride home on the road, so across the field i went it was three am when i got home i hung the birds in the shed and locked the door i was soon in bed the sgt did call next morning mum said i had been in town. god he was determined to catch me but he never did. well a bit more latter
It was a dark and frosty night as i made my way across the fields i could see my foot prints i had left behind on the frosty grass, the year was october 1957 and i had one thing on my mind that was a few pheasants, i was making my way to old bells wood, i had crossed the river it was fordable in places, i was making for his coverts the woods would be full of birds, i climed the stile just up from his house. i sat on a old log and l listened all was quite i could not even hear a whine from his dogs, he owned several he was also a good dog trainer and had won many prizes with his dogs he was also a good keeper that i held in respect.
The only worry i had was from his black labrador, it was a mean dog ,give him a chance he would have your ass or leg, i sat on that old log for some time the only noise i heard was from the tawny owl he was out looking for a meal. I heard a bark from a fox ,it carried on this still night, i don't usually poach on nights like this but this was a must, as had to fill my orders times were still hard. Why should all these toffs have the birds, his first shoot was yet to come he had put seven thousand birds in this one pen, and i was going to have some away, i loved to be out at night, i was better by myself as i knew the woods well. As i sat there i taped the torch to my trusted gun, and walked into the wood, i brought the gun to my shoulder shining the torch into the trees, there were hundreds of birds, some on the lower branches, i decided to shoot them first. I took the first shot and brought the bird down he fluttered a bit and was still, i picked him up he was a nice big cock i shot a further six from that tree and put them in my bag, i cleaned any feathers away and left no evidence i had ever been there. I made my way deeper into the wood and shot a further three, i tided up and listened did i hear a noise it seemed far away then i smelt pipe smoke, there was some bugger in the woods was it old bell with his under keeper, i made my way back across the field into another copies, i sat and listened then i heard the unmistakable sound of a dog, they can't be after me i had made no noise, i crossed the river into the grounds of blind school i knew it well and could soon hide in one of the big firs, i hid my gun and birds under the hen house, and climed the nearest fir, i could see across the river and sat on a bough, and waited there was a bang and then a shout there is no one around tonight frank, no Bob, bloody hell its the the police sgt it was old landers, and he had another bobby, with him, i am sure i saw some one cross that field i have seen foot prints in the grass well he has gone now said old bell, i reckon its that bugger from bayton hill again i looked at my watch and grinned to myself ill call at his house in the morning frank, but i don't hold much hope with his old lady, i thought don't go now as you won't get a answer it was now two in the morning all i wanted was to get home i soon got to my hidden bike i could not ride home on the road, so across the field i went it was three am when i got home i hung the birds in the shed and locked the door i was soon in bed the sgt did call next morning mum said i had been in town. god he was determined to catch me but he never did. well a bit more latter
In reply to Post #589
Looking back I really have had a wonderful life I have walked fished and shot and made many friends along the way its not all been easy in fact some was very hard I had to think and look after myself from a very young age when my grandfather died, I lived with my grandmother as my mother had to work, she could be a cruel old lady who would give you a clout with her walking stick at any time especially if she had been drinking with her old friend mrs Evans god they would get together and drink a bottle of sherry between them even more at times, when my mother knew what went on she took me from there so I never had anymore clouts with that stick , but my grand mother mellowed over the coming years until her death in 1956 just before I left school.
I used to go down to see old Harry the rabbit, catcher I was only six years old he let me handle his ferrets, he had about twenty, but he would snare most he had a old horse, and cart and would take me around the fields with him when he checked his snares, I would sit and watch as he reset his snares, after taking the one rabbit, out I have never seen so many rabbits, by the time he had been around them all he would go back to where we started and there would be rabbits, in them again we ended up with over five hundred which nearly filled his small cart so you can see how many there was before myxomatosis struck it put a lot of people out of work who made a living catching rabbits.
I can remember picking mushrooms, with my mother she had one of those big wicker baskets by the time we had walked across the field it was full you never see that anymore they were wonderful days, I got to know the gypsies old Charlie lock he married dolly they were lovely people as i have said before I would ride their horse around the foxes, and berries, that was the name of the woods and fields,
, thats another thing that has gone no true Romanies, to day they have all gone what a shame it was old dick from another clan that taught me to tickle a trout, or two. he was a mine of information infact i loved his family his wife, still lives up the road from my house she lives in a house today, dick died years years ago but i am friends with his sons ,and daughter they are the salt of the earth and have all got jobs and work hard, and live in houses, no more caravans those days have gone. well a bit more latter
Looking back I really have had a wonderful life I have walked fished and shot and made many friends along the way its not all been easy in fact some was very hard I had to think and look after myself from a very young age when my grandfather died, I lived with my grandmother as my mother had to work, she could be a cruel old lady who would give you a clout with her walking stick at any time especially if she had been drinking with her old friend mrs Evans god they would get together and drink a bottle of sherry between them even more at times, when my mother knew what went on she took me from there so I never had anymore clouts with that stick , but my grand mother mellowed over the coming years until her death in 1956 just before I left school.
I used to go down to see old Harry the rabbit, catcher I was only six years old he let me handle his ferrets, he had about twenty, but he would snare most he had a old horse, and cart and would take me around the fields with him when he checked his snares, I would sit and watch as he reset his snares, after taking the one rabbit, out I have never seen so many rabbits, by the time he had been around them all he would go back to where we started and there would be rabbits, in them again we ended up with over five hundred which nearly filled his small cart so you can see how many there was before myxomatosis struck it put a lot of people out of work who made a living catching rabbits.
I can remember picking mushrooms, with my mother she had one of those big wicker baskets by the time we had walked across the field it was full you never see that anymore they were wonderful days, I got to know the gypsies old Charlie lock he married dolly they were lovely people as i have said before I would ride their horse around the foxes, and berries, that was the name of the woods and fields,
, thats another thing that has gone no true Romanies, to day they have all gone what a shame it was old dick from another clan that taught me to tickle a trout, or two. he was a mine of information infact i loved his family his wife, still lives up the road from my house she lives in a house today, dick died years years ago but i am friends with his sons ,and daughter they are the salt of the earth and have all got jobs and work hard, and live in houses, no more caravans those days have gone. well a bit more latter
In reply to Post #590
In reply to Post #590
I loved the woods and i was quite happy in them day, or night, i have laid down in the tall ferns many times and watched the wildlife especially foxes, i have watched the stoat take a rabbit or the little weasel a small slender mammal kill a rabbit, that was huge to her small size. This was done on the ride going through the wood i would watch from the safety in the ferns, i have watched a family of these small weasels, they were only the size of my middle finger but what beautiful little things, they would run about but never strayed far from their mother, i have been lucky to have been born in shropshire, and had permission to roam where i pleased its funny really many years before i had poached most of this land, i think the white foxes, gave me most joy i was very privileged to have seen them they were most beautiful, and were the only ones i have seen in my lifetime, we did move them by walking on the earth and leaving our scent, i suppose you will ask why because it stopped them being dug out and maybe killed or even sold a lot of this went on when i was in my twenties.
The woods i walked now part of my syndicate
I loved to clime i would shin up a tree to have a look in the kestrels, nest it was usually in an old crows nest i would look in and pick up the young chicks, and stare in wonder god nature is so beautiful or clime to the buzzards nest, she would swoop and mew warning me not to touch her chicks, but i did the one i would not touch was the tawny owl, i saw a friend who i have mentioned in my stories nearly lose his eye when he took one of her chicks, he did return it with his granddads, foot up his back side and put it back in the nest, he had the scar on his face for the rest of his life, in those far off days we seemed to have lots to do fishing, camping, birds nesting, i loved to spin the devon minnow in the river and catch the beautiful brown trout, i would catch enough for our tea. Another fish i caught was the grayling, it is a member of the salmon, family i would trot a maggot down under a small float they were lovely looking fish i would never kill one to eat and always put them back. Another fish i loved to catch in winter was the perch, i would fish under the sill of the falls at Halford mill with a couple of red worms, the float would dip and i was in i dragged them up the bank as in those days i had no landing net i never saw one injured in that long grass, the locals would come down and try and scrounge one to eat how could you kill such a pretty fish, but in the war years and after they would. I suppose i would be around eight years old they were wonderful days the days of my youth, a hole in my trousers a katty in the back pocket and all the woods and lanes to walk.. more to follow
The red worms i would collect from the farm land
I loved the woods and i was quite happy in them day, or night, i have laid down in the tall ferns many times and watched the wildlife especially foxes, i have watched the stoat take a rabbit or the little weasel a small slender mammal kill a rabbit, that was huge to her small size. This was done on the ride going through the wood i would watch from the safety in the ferns, i have watched a family of these small weasels, they were only the size of my middle finger but what beautiful little things, they would run about but never strayed far from their mother, i have been lucky to have been born in shropshire, and had permission to roam where i pleased its funny really many years before i had poached most of this land, i think the white foxes, gave me most joy i was very privileged to have seen them they were most beautiful, and were the only ones i have seen in my lifetime, we did move them by walking on the earth and leaving our scent, i suppose you will ask why because it stopped them being dug out and maybe killed or even sold a lot of this went on when i was in my twenties.
The woods i walked now part of my syndicate
I loved to clime i would shin up a tree to have a look in the kestrels, nest it was usually in an old crows nest i would look in and pick up the young chicks, and stare in wonder god nature is so beautiful or clime to the buzzards nest, she would swoop and mew warning me not to touch her chicks, but i did the one i would not touch was the tawny owl, i saw a friend who i have mentioned in my stories nearly lose his eye when he took one of her chicks, he did return it with his granddads, foot up his back side and put it back in the nest, he had the scar on his face for the rest of his life, in those far off days we seemed to have lots to do fishing, camping, birds nesting, i loved to spin the devon minnow in the river and catch the beautiful brown trout, i would catch enough for our tea. Another fish i caught was the grayling, it is a member of the salmon, family i would trot a maggot down under a small float they were lovely looking fish i would never kill one to eat and always put them back. Another fish i loved to catch in winter was the perch, i would fish under the sill of the falls at Halford mill with a couple of red worms, the float would dip and i was in i dragged them up the bank as in those days i had no landing net i never saw one injured in that long grass, the locals would come down and try and scrounge one to eat how could you kill such a pretty fish, but in the war years and after they would. I suppose i would be around eight years old they were wonderful days the days of my youth, a hole in my trousers a katty in the back pocket and all the woods and lanes to walk.. more to follow
The red worms i would collect from the farm land
In reply to Post #592
I got permission to fish one lake up in hill country it was a nice water but could be quite cold as it really caught the wind but it held some nice fish, i used to like fishing for the crucian carp you could catch them quite regularly as long as you kept the bait going in they were not huge but the heaviest was around a pound and a half the tench went to four pounds and there were a few commons and mirrors in the lake. I arrived this one morning there had been a slight frost, the chap fishing next to me had lost the top three sections of his pole it was being towed up and down the lake i could not believe what i was seeing off he stripped and in he plunges and half walking half swimming he gets this pole and swims back bloody hell it was cold the chap was in his late seventies and he landed a carp of fourteen pounds, he dried himself off back on went his cloths and carried on fishing when i went to see him he was blue and his teeth were chattering i offered him a blanket out of my car, but he refused and carried on fishing for the rest of the day i still don't know if he was hard or foolish.
I fished that lake many times but it is now let out on a weekly basis and has been stocked with some very big carp not far from there was another lake well more of a pool, it certainly held some beautiful carp i asked the farmer if i could go he could not give an answer until his wife popped her head around the door hello pete she said god i went to school with her years ago hello jill, i answered we all had a chat then her husband said go when you want the biggest carp i had was twenty three pounds, and loads of twenties, he started letting the pool which in my opinion was the beginning of the end. There was more and more fishing the place then one day he rang me up how can i protect my fishery, whats up i said i have been robbed pete ,they have took a lot of my golden orfe my neighbours, saw them they had a pick up and tanks on the back, did they get the number of the car no he answered ill go and have a look. well i found where they had got in as it was fenced all around the lake they had cut the barbed wire and drove their pick up in they had netted the pool, there used to be four different shoals in the pool they had taken at least two. We got in touch with the police but had no luck. Their farm was some way from the pool so i put down some trip wires around the fence, over the years we never had anymore poachers, well only one a big dog otter that made quite a lot of mess but he is not there now he must of been traveling through well he has now gone i have not been up for a long time owing to my arthritis but still talk on the phone he stopped everyone fishing there and now only lets people he knows well he says i can take my car around to get into the fishery i might just have a go its going to be really hard without my mate graham, but everyone tells me i must go we will see. well a bit more latter.
a cross golden orfe my friend andy caught from the pool years ago
I got permission to fish one lake up in hill country it was a nice water but could be quite cold as it really caught the wind but it held some nice fish, i used to like fishing for the crucian carp you could catch them quite regularly as long as you kept the bait going in they were not huge but the heaviest was around a pound and a half the tench went to four pounds and there were a few commons and mirrors in the lake. I arrived this one morning there had been a slight frost, the chap fishing next to me had lost the top three sections of his pole it was being towed up and down the lake i could not believe what i was seeing off he stripped and in he plunges and half walking half swimming he gets this pole and swims back bloody hell it was cold the chap was in his late seventies and he landed a carp of fourteen pounds, he dried himself off back on went his cloths and carried on fishing when i went to see him he was blue and his teeth were chattering i offered him a blanket out of my car, but he refused and carried on fishing for the rest of the day i still don't know if he was hard or foolish.
I fished that lake many times but it is now let out on a weekly basis and has been stocked with some very big carp not far from there was another lake well more of a pool, it certainly held some beautiful carp i asked the farmer if i could go he could not give an answer until his wife popped her head around the door hello pete she said god i went to school with her years ago hello jill, i answered we all had a chat then her husband said go when you want the biggest carp i had was twenty three pounds, and loads of twenties, he started letting the pool which in my opinion was the beginning of the end. There was more and more fishing the place then one day he rang me up how can i protect my fishery, whats up i said i have been robbed pete ,they have took a lot of my golden orfe my neighbours, saw them they had a pick up and tanks on the back, did they get the number of the car no he answered ill go and have a look. well i found where they had got in as it was fenced all around the lake they had cut the barbed wire and drove their pick up in they had netted the pool, there used to be four different shoals in the pool they had taken at least two. We got in touch with the police but had no luck. Their farm was some way from the pool so i put down some trip wires around the fence, over the years we never had anymore poachers, well only one a big dog otter that made quite a lot of mess but he is not there now he must of been traveling through well he has now gone i have not been up for a long time owing to my arthritis but still talk on the phone he stopped everyone fishing there and now only lets people he knows well he says i can take my car around to get into the fishery i might just have a go its going to be really hard without my mate graham, but everyone tells me i must go we will see. well a bit more latter.
a cross golden orfe my friend andy caught from the pool years ago
In reply to Post #593
I have renewed all my permits and my rod licences so i suppose i have no excuses, although i am finding it very hard not having my mate to go with, The last thing he said to me was carry on fishing so i shall have to try we fished together all over shropshire and the surrounding counties, never really apart when out in the countryside, or watching foxes, we were also bailiffs on a big trout fishery and at one time on the ellesmere fishing committee, i suppose he was like a brother thats what was said at his funeral thats enough of that so lets get on with my story. As far back as i can remember i had an affinity with the countryside if i was not down the fields i was in the woods in those days you were safe everyone knew one another my parents knew where i was and would always say don't get in trouble but i did and always got away with it.
i would walk the lanes especially in april and may, to me they were beautiful months the birds would be nesting and all the flowers, would appear down the sides of these old lanes, the birds would be singing totally different than today. I loved to lie in the hay fields and listen to the sky lark, hight above or watch the curlew and find its nest, i carried my catapult everywhere even to school, i would hide it in my pocket in the days after the war the fields and hedge rows were full of rabbits, they loved to hide in the nettle patch and i was sure of a rabbit from them times were very hard i used a lead slug, we made them our selves it only needed one to hit a squatting rabbit and he was dead, it was no trouble and i usually got three or four they were always welcome at home, After the war the keepers, that worked for the local estates put thousands of pheasants down the woods and fields were full of them, how its changed they had rearing fields hundred of small pens in rows they would hatch the chicks using broody hens how they got that many hens i really don't know the keeper lived on the rearing field and would shoot any vermin that approached and threatened his birds it was a hard life. It has altered today not so hard i would hide by the rearing field and watch what went on he had a young lad working with his under keepers he boiled the food for the chicks he slept with two under keepers in a hut.
If i was not doing that i would be fishing you would find me up the river catching the brown trout i caught them to order and believe me most wanted them the locals would not go there selves owing to the river having bailiffs i learned what was the best time to go i would go if it was raining or early morning or late evenings i loved the fishing i learned to trot a float down the ides of the river if i got some maggots i would catch the grayling they were a beautiful fish it was nothing to catch three or four and i always put them back in those days they were called the lady of the river. i also fished a lovely little lake it held some nice carp i got on well with the owner and he never charged us youngsters a penny, and was always keen for us to have a go on a hot summers day he would bring us bottles of ginger beer and big slices of cake and if it was on a thursday he would go to auction when he came back he would bring big slices of home made pork pie some local made them for him they had been friends for years and he had a pie every week he was a nice old chap he envited me in one day, he sat around a big table with his friends they were eating home made lamb stew and dipping big pieces of bread to mop up the gravity here youngster have a plate full it was delicious the the meat in the stew was from my own lambs said sid that was his name well we had lots of days fishing sids lake up until his death. well a bit more latter
I have renewed all my permits and my rod licences so i suppose i have no excuses, although i am finding it very hard not having my mate to go with, The last thing he said to me was carry on fishing so i shall have to try we fished together all over shropshire and the surrounding counties, never really apart when out in the countryside, or watching foxes, we were also bailiffs on a big trout fishery and at one time on the ellesmere fishing committee, i suppose he was like a brother thats what was said at his funeral thats enough of that so lets get on with my story. As far back as i can remember i had an affinity with the countryside if i was not down the fields i was in the woods in those days you were safe everyone knew one another my parents knew where i was and would always say don't get in trouble but i did and always got away with it.
i would walk the lanes especially in april and may, to me they were beautiful months the birds would be nesting and all the flowers, would appear down the sides of these old lanes, the birds would be singing totally different than today. I loved to lie in the hay fields and listen to the sky lark, hight above or watch the curlew and find its nest, i carried my catapult everywhere even to school, i would hide it in my pocket in the days after the war the fields and hedge rows were full of rabbits, they loved to hide in the nettle patch and i was sure of a rabbit from them times were very hard i used a lead slug, we made them our selves it only needed one to hit a squatting rabbit and he was dead, it was no trouble and i usually got three or four they were always welcome at home, After the war the keepers, that worked for the local estates put thousands of pheasants down the woods and fields were full of them, how its changed they had rearing fields hundred of small pens in rows they would hatch the chicks using broody hens how they got that many hens i really don't know the keeper lived on the rearing field and would shoot any vermin that approached and threatened his birds it was a hard life. It has altered today not so hard i would hide by the rearing field and watch what went on he had a young lad working with his under keepers he boiled the food for the chicks he slept with two under keepers in a hut.
If i was not doing that i would be fishing you would find me up the river catching the brown trout i caught them to order and believe me most wanted them the locals would not go there selves owing to the river having bailiffs i learned what was the best time to go i would go if it was raining or early morning or late evenings i loved the fishing i learned to trot a float down the ides of the river if i got some maggots i would catch the grayling they were a beautiful fish it was nothing to catch three or four and i always put them back in those days they were called the lady of the river. i also fished a lovely little lake it held some nice carp i got on well with the owner and he never charged us youngsters a penny, and was always keen for us to have a go on a hot summers day he would bring us bottles of ginger beer and big slices of cake and if it was on a thursday he would go to auction when he came back he would bring big slices of home made pork pie some local made them for him they had been friends for years and he had a pie every week he was a nice old chap he envited me in one day, he sat around a big table with his friends they were eating home made lamb stew and dipping big pieces of bread to mop up the gravity here youngster have a plate full it was delicious the the meat in the stew was from my own lambs said sid that was his name well we had lots of days fishing sids lake up until his death. well a bit more latter
In reply to Post #594
Times were hard when i was a youngster my father got killed in the war my mother went out to work to support me until she met my step father then things changed a bit my step father worked for the railway as a signal man but even then the wages were not very hight so anything we got like trout, rabbits, pheasants, and such were eaten with relish, i was only eight or nine years old but soon learned the way of the countryside what i learned then has helped e all my life, i loved the birds, the fox, and the rabbits, we lived on the humble rabbit until that terrible disease nearly wiped them out.
I can remember going round the fields knocking them on the heads, it was a terrible thing and it effected a good many estates, some men losing their jobs but it did not kill all and slowly they started to get over the decease, but a lot of people would not eat them again we sold ours at Bridgnorth market even in the seventies we got three pounds a couple as long as they were not shot, I got to know a chap in shrewsbury who gave us four pounds a couple he was not worried if they were shot that was good money, he would open his freezer it was full of rabbits there was thousands all hanging on hooks what ever are you going to do with all these i asked, a lorry is picking them up on monday then taking them all to France they have all the game pheasants, even pigeon, i wondered how much money he was getting i suspect a lot but we did not care as long as we did all right. I got to know one chap his name was mac night he was an ace at long netting of course it was poaching, we ran this net over one hundred yards along the side of this big sand quarry then another net along the side of a wood, that joined the side of the quarry we left the net up for a couple of hours then dropped them down, we walked the fields that were facing the quarry bloody hell we caught over one hundred rabbits in two nets that was really good going there were four of us to share out the money with but it gave us some pocket money, I used to smile when i was asked where all the rabbits were on the quarry by a couple of friends that shot there probably got mixey i replied and walked away mums the word you never told anyone you could literally wipe the rabbits out on a good night.
They were good days i met another chap named George who lived on our village he liked salmon fishing did i won't to go i certainly did So one saturday morning it was up the the Severn it was a beautiful stretch of river i was spinning away when i get snagged george took the rod from my hands we will use an otter board to free it from the snag he said, it suddenly started to move you have a fish on pete he gave the rod back god upstream he went with me running to catch him up i eventually got him to the bank and George netted him he weighted in at twenty seven pounds, i shook with excitement before we went home that night we caught a further three but not as big as my first one poor old George passed away a few years ago i learned a lot from him and still miss his smiling face. more latter
Times were hard when i was a youngster my father got killed in the war my mother went out to work to support me until she met my step father then things changed a bit my step father worked for the railway as a signal man but even then the wages were not very hight so anything we got like trout, rabbits, pheasants, and such were eaten with relish, i was only eight or nine years old but soon learned the way of the countryside what i learned then has helped e all my life, i loved the birds, the fox, and the rabbits, we lived on the humble rabbit until that terrible disease nearly wiped them out.
I can remember going round the fields knocking them on the heads, it was a terrible thing and it effected a good many estates, some men losing their jobs but it did not kill all and slowly they started to get over the decease, but a lot of people would not eat them again we sold ours at Bridgnorth market even in the seventies we got three pounds a couple as long as they were not shot, I got to know a chap in shrewsbury who gave us four pounds a couple he was not worried if they were shot that was good money, he would open his freezer it was full of rabbits there was thousands all hanging on hooks what ever are you going to do with all these i asked, a lorry is picking them up on monday then taking them all to France they have all the game pheasants, even pigeon, i wondered how much money he was getting i suspect a lot but we did not care as long as we did all right. I got to know one chap his name was mac night he was an ace at long netting of course it was poaching, we ran this net over one hundred yards along the side of this big sand quarry then another net along the side of a wood, that joined the side of the quarry we left the net up for a couple of hours then dropped them down, we walked the fields that were facing the quarry bloody hell we caught over one hundred rabbits in two nets that was really good going there were four of us to share out the money with but it gave us some pocket money, I used to smile when i was asked where all the rabbits were on the quarry by a couple of friends that shot there probably got mixey i replied and walked away mums the word you never told anyone you could literally wipe the rabbits out on a good night.
They were good days i met another chap named George who lived on our village he liked salmon fishing did i won't to go i certainly did So one saturday morning it was up the the Severn it was a beautiful stretch of river i was spinning away when i get snagged george took the rod from my hands we will use an otter board to free it from the snag he said, it suddenly started to move you have a fish on pete he gave the rod back god upstream he went with me running to catch him up i eventually got him to the bank and George netted him he weighted in at twenty seven pounds, i shook with excitement before we went home that night we caught a further three but not as big as my first one poor old George passed away a few years ago i learned a lot from him and still miss his smiling face. more latter
In reply to Post #595
From where i stood you could look into wales a wonderful sight, a buzzard soared on the thermal hight above the hill side, a Hare came running up the hill and passed me by he never even saw me i was standing with my trusted gun waiting for some unsuspecting fox, we were on a fox shoot i could see the beaters they were specks in the distance, they were made up with mostly farmers who's family had traversed these hills for generations they were all sheep farmers and by shooting a animal, that is close to my heart they were protecting their flocks before the young lambs were born latter on in the year althought distastfull to some it had to be done at least twice a year.
I am sure these farmers had one leg shorter than the other they would even run up hill, they were used to it and had done it for generations, i could hear a few bangs in the distance i sat down in the heather and bilberries bushes, a little blue fruit, these hills would be full of pickers come august as they get a good price from there local market, i had put my back to a big fir wood it was so dark inside and no other plants grew i lit my pipe and lay back it was a red hot day i could hear the dogs in the distance i was hight up and could see the valleys down below i had just put my pipe away when i heard a twig crack up i got and waited out came three big deer from the wood behind it gave me quite a shock and my heart raced what ever were the doing this far up the hill maybe the dogs had moved them on i watched as the ran acrooss the hill and vanished into the next valley as i watched as a covey of grouse got up and skimmed the hill side they had certainly been moved by the beaters and dogs.
I loved these hills they were full of wild life, i heard a shout and up the hill came a fox it was a big dog he came within twenty ft from where i stood he looked at me with those mournful eyes they were a deep golden brown, we both stood and watched one another he was lucky i let him go he was a most beautiful animal no one would know i watched as he went towards the top of the big hill he stopped and looked back was he saying thanks i will never know, i should not have done that as we were here to do a job the beaters eventually arrived did you see owt pete not a thing only a big hare then it was away to the next drive how many did you get 16 so it was worth it. I had a look at the end of the day my big dog was not there they had three more on the next drive but none for me but it made a good count 18 less for them to worry about, we ended the day at one big farm, our tea was layed out big slabs of cake cheese and beef sandwiches plus pork pie and big jugs of home made cider i said to graham on the way home i think we have had a bit to much to drink this was years ago you never saw a policeman, in those days we arrived home graham could not get to the door his legs had given way his wife, opened the door with laughter saying it serves you right, i had a job getting up the stairs my wife said nowt and helped me get to bed god that was some sort of cider but we had a wonderful day in the company of those we loved my secret stayed with me i never told a soul not even graham. Well a bit more latter
From where i stood you could look into wales a wonderful sight, a buzzard soared on the thermal hight above the hill side, a Hare came running up the hill and passed me by he never even saw me i was standing with my trusted gun waiting for some unsuspecting fox, we were on a fox shoot i could see the beaters they were specks in the distance, they were made up with mostly farmers who's family had traversed these hills for generations they were all sheep farmers and by shooting a animal, that is close to my heart they were protecting their flocks before the young lambs were born latter on in the year althought distastfull to some it had to be done at least twice a year.
I am sure these farmers had one leg shorter than the other they would even run up hill, they were used to it and had done it for generations, i could hear a few bangs in the distance i sat down in the heather and bilberries bushes, a little blue fruit, these hills would be full of pickers come august as they get a good price from there local market, i had put my back to a big fir wood it was so dark inside and no other plants grew i lit my pipe and lay back it was a red hot day i could hear the dogs in the distance i was hight up and could see the valleys down below i had just put my pipe away when i heard a twig crack up i got and waited out came three big deer from the wood behind it gave me quite a shock and my heart raced what ever were the doing this far up the hill maybe the dogs had moved them on i watched as the ran acrooss the hill and vanished into the next valley as i watched as a covey of grouse got up and skimmed the hill side they had certainly been moved by the beaters and dogs.
I loved these hills they were full of wild life, i heard a shout and up the hill came a fox it was a big dog he came within twenty ft from where i stood he looked at me with those mournful eyes they were a deep golden brown, we both stood and watched one another he was lucky i let him go he was a most beautiful animal no one would know i watched as he went towards the top of the big hill he stopped and looked back was he saying thanks i will never know, i should not have done that as we were here to do a job the beaters eventually arrived did you see owt pete not a thing only a big hare then it was away to the next drive how many did you get 16 so it was worth it. I had a look at the end of the day my big dog was not there they had three more on the next drive but none for me but it made a good count 18 less for them to worry about, we ended the day at one big farm, our tea was layed out big slabs of cake cheese and beef sandwiches plus pork pie and big jugs of home made cider i said to graham on the way home i think we have had a bit to much to drink this was years ago you never saw a policeman, in those days we arrived home graham could not get to the door his legs had given way his wife, opened the door with laughter saying it serves you right, i had a job getting up the stairs my wife said nowt and helped me get to bed god that was some sort of cider but we had a wonderful day in the company of those we loved my secret stayed with me i never told a soul not even graham. Well a bit more latter
In reply to Post #596
Thinking back over the years the best time of my life was when I first met my boyhood idol it was good when he phoned me for the first time but it was even better when i met him i was not old and decrepit like I am now,I listened to every word he said of course it was dick walker he was a wonderful man I first read all about him in angling times that was in the early fifties and I know all of us youngsters read his bit in the times, he was someone to look up to I never dream'd in a million years that i would meet him some day but I did and it altered my life to some extent.
I remember reading the Shropshire star and saw an advert for a group of anglers to fish the big Shropshire meres in search of the big bream it held,I mentioned to graham he was all for it we met at the public house opposite ellesmere I just can't think of the name it saw twelve of us altogether and a man called dennis Kelly tabled the chair he was a very knowledgeable chap and knew his stuff but when I looked at the mere we were to fish I said to graham were ever do we start, well to to cut a story short it saw us on the mere at first light looking,for rolling bream and we found them in front. our swims. Graham And myself fished together we made some staging we could fish from,, it was built on boggy ground but we managed,we baited up three times a week for around three weeks we knew we had bream in our swim as we watched them roll over our baited spot.
We were so excited when the time came around for us to fish it was of course June the fifteenth we got set up bait out, and waited for midnight it eventually arrived I did not know how this night would change me forever,I had my first run at approx. 130 am the bobbin moved up and down then slowly moved towards the butt ring up went the rod I am in graham I was watching pete,he put the landing net in the water as i played the fish in the end we netted this big fish we looked into the net and stared in wonder at the sight she was huge,not like the small fish graham and I had caught at other venues. we put it into the net until morning within half an hour another was put in the net. At first light Dennis came around to see how we had fared graham,said he's got two fish here Dennis, looked into the big keepnet turned around and shook my hand you have got two decent bream there i'll go and get the photographer,I did not know we had one well it was the angling times man, i had two fish taken with me holding them what a fuss they made over two Bream one nine and three quarters and the other nine pounds well done pete it was congratulations all around I was the only one to catch and it was not to be the only one over the coming months, cheer up graham its your turn next well that's how it started of course it was colemere ill let you all know how we got on next time I write, that's enough for now, more latter.
Thinking back over the years the best time of my life was when I first met my boyhood idol it was good when he phoned me for the first time but it was even better when i met him i was not old and decrepit like I am now,I listened to every word he said of course it was dick walker he was a wonderful man I first read all about him in angling times that was in the early fifties and I know all of us youngsters read his bit in the times, he was someone to look up to I never dream'd in a million years that i would meet him some day but I did and it altered my life to some extent.
I remember reading the Shropshire star and saw an advert for a group of anglers to fish the big Shropshire meres in search of the big bream it held,I mentioned to graham he was all for it we met at the public house opposite ellesmere I just can't think of the name it saw twelve of us altogether and a man called dennis Kelly tabled the chair he was a very knowledgeable chap and knew his stuff but when I looked at the mere we were to fish I said to graham were ever do we start, well to to cut a story short it saw us on the mere at first light looking,for rolling bream and we found them in front. our swims. Graham And myself fished together we made some staging we could fish from,, it was built on boggy ground but we managed,we baited up three times a week for around three weeks we knew we had bream in our swim as we watched them roll over our baited spot.
We were so excited when the time came around for us to fish it was of course June the fifteenth we got set up bait out, and waited for midnight it eventually arrived I did not know how this night would change me forever,I had my first run at approx. 130 am the bobbin moved up and down then slowly moved towards the butt ring up went the rod I am in graham I was watching pete,he put the landing net in the water as i played the fish in the end we netted this big fish we looked into the net and stared in wonder at the sight she was huge,not like the small fish graham and I had caught at other venues. we put it into the net until morning within half an hour another was put in the net. At first light Dennis came around to see how we had fared graham,said he's got two fish here Dennis, looked into the big keepnet turned around and shook my hand you have got two decent bream there i'll go and get the photographer,I did not know we had one well it was the angling times man, i had two fish taken with me holding them what a fuss they made over two Bream one nine and three quarters and the other nine pounds well done pete it was congratulations all around I was the only one to catch and it was not to be the only one over the coming months, cheer up graham its your turn next well that's how it started of course it was colemere ill let you all know how we got on next time I write, that's enough for now, more latter.
In reply to Post #597
My wife and myself have been quite ill and its really taking its toll we could do with some really good weather to help us recuperate one of the members on the carp forum has sent me some nice shots of fox cubs well done keebs i loved this time of year being out watching nature i cant count how many cubs i have watched over the years, and the amount of freinds i made taking them with me quitness was the order of the day no talking i have had them so tame they would come and look for me not the other way around i have sat beside a big hay feild it would not be long before they made there way towards where i lay they would look at me with big brown eyes.
It was a real shame out of a litter very few survived into adult hood lots got run down on the road others got shot there was always one and he lived to a great old age ill call him white tip he was a wonderful animal and quite big he was of course a big dog how many cubs he had sired over the years i could only guess i have told you before about white tip he would traverse the water course he would draw the hounds on and on i have seen them standing below this big ivy tree and as i have looked up you could just see his nose poking between the ivy branches who ever heard of a climing fox but he did and cheated death many times i watch him once on a big fox shoot i lay in the bracken i don't know who was more surprised him or me he walked right into where i was lay i could of touched his legs he just stood and looked i just told him to shoo go he knew i would never would hurt him when he died i found him curled up under a big old oak he had died alone he was areal old gentleman lots of his teeth were broken some had rotted away but i loved every bit of that animal and i shed a tear there has been no fox since that came anywhere near him but they all had there little traits i have been lucky no more than a mile from where i write i have seen a compete black dog blacker than midnight and i have seen a white litter with pink eyes i find it hard now to walk the hedge rows but my mind is alert as ever and i have my memories that will stay with me forever. a bit more latter
My wife and myself have been quite ill and its really taking its toll we could do with some really good weather to help us recuperate one of the members on the carp forum has sent me some nice shots of fox cubs well done keebs i loved this time of year being out watching nature i cant count how many cubs i have watched over the years, and the amount of freinds i made taking them with me quitness was the order of the day no talking i have had them so tame they would come and look for me not the other way around i have sat beside a big hay feild it would not be long before they made there way towards where i lay they would look at me with big brown eyes.
It was a real shame out of a litter very few survived into adult hood lots got run down on the road others got shot there was always one and he lived to a great old age ill call him white tip he was a wonderful animal and quite big he was of course a big dog how many cubs he had sired over the years i could only guess i have told you before about white tip he would traverse the water course he would draw the hounds on and on i have seen them standing below this big ivy tree and as i have looked up you could just see his nose poking between the ivy branches who ever heard of a climing fox but he did and cheated death many times i watch him once on a big fox shoot i lay in the bracken i don't know who was more surprised him or me he walked right into where i was lay i could of touched his legs he just stood and looked i just told him to shoo go he knew i would never would hurt him when he died i found him curled up under a big old oak he had died alone he was areal old gentleman lots of his teeth were broken some had rotted away but i loved every bit of that animal and i shed a tear there has been no fox since that came anywhere near him but they all had there little traits i have been lucky no more than a mile from where i write i have seen a compete black dog blacker than midnight and i have seen a white litter with pink eyes i find it hard now to walk the hedge rows but my mind is alert as ever and i have my memories that will stay with me forever. a bit more latter
In reply to Post #598
I had a friend visit us the other day we ended up reminiscing about fishing which he and graham and myself did years ago of course it was Bernard, i think in the sixties we went everywhere together at the time we fished a lot at landridnod wells over the welsh border, at the time the carp society fished there socials on the lake most years. There was some stunning carp in the water we would travel up in our vans we used umbrellas in those days with a cover we had some great time fishing there i don't think we caught a carp over twenty pounds but caught some big bags.
A young graham at landod
I can always remember the last time we fished there it was a beautiful week and very hot in the day time we fished below the road at the far end fishing towards some islands, it became so hectic in the night we packed up using two rods it was a run a cast a lot were mirrors lovely marked fish stubby and fat, the one night we caught over a hundred and fifty pounds of fish we were so knackered we slept most of the next day, the fish came in all sizes from between twelve and twenty pounds we were so bothered by other anglers asking us how we caught them and the bailiffs, that we decided to leave the lake early we did three days catching over four hundred pounds of carp between us i can remember arriving home tired out we had only been in the house half an hour when the phone rang it was Bernard fancy going to acton Burnel for a couple of nights yes i said ill give graham a ring so by three a clock it saw three really tired anglers arrive on the lake by the time we got the umbrellas up and rods out it was time for a kip i was awoken to a screaming run on my right hand rod in the early evening it turned out to be a seven pounds tench i said to graham not a bad start by midnight we had another seven tench all around the same size we had a visit from the game keeper who kept us quite entertained for a good hour
Bern at landridnod all those years ago
Bern had a storming run at around three in the morning it turned the scales to over thirty three pounds then he had another mirror of twenty three pounds god was he proud the next one was mine or it should of been we lost it at the net it looked a good thirty plus from the light of our torch well you win some and loose others then i had a lovely marked mirror of twenty pounds followed my a smaller common poor old graham struggled but he did catch a few nice tench by morning were all truly knackered we had breakfast and slept most of the day we had another great night catching mirrors to over twenty pound plus and plenty of tench i was not unhappy to get home it was a bath and straight into bed we had a wonderful week it gave us plenty to dream and think about for the future well a bit more latter
A young me at the burnell
I had a friend visit us the other day we ended up reminiscing about fishing which he and graham and myself did years ago of course it was Bernard, i think in the sixties we went everywhere together at the time we fished a lot at landridnod wells over the welsh border, at the time the carp society fished there socials on the lake most years. There was some stunning carp in the water we would travel up in our vans we used umbrellas in those days with a cover we had some great time fishing there i don't think we caught a carp over twenty pounds but caught some big bags.
A young graham at landodI can always remember the last time we fished there it was a beautiful week and very hot in the day time we fished below the road at the far end fishing towards some islands, it became so hectic in the night we packed up using two rods it was a run a cast a lot were mirrors lovely marked fish stubby and fat, the one night we caught over a hundred and fifty pounds of fish we were so knackered we slept most of the next day, the fish came in all sizes from between twelve and twenty pounds we were so bothered by other anglers asking us how we caught them and the bailiffs, that we decided to leave the lake early we did three days catching over four hundred pounds of carp between us i can remember arriving home tired out we had only been in the house half an hour when the phone rang it was Bernard fancy going to acton Burnel for a couple of nights yes i said ill give graham a ring so by three a clock it saw three really tired anglers arrive on the lake by the time we got the umbrellas up and rods out it was time for a kip i was awoken to a screaming run on my right hand rod in the early evening it turned out to be a seven pounds tench i said to graham not a bad start by midnight we had another seven tench all around the same size we had a visit from the game keeper who kept us quite entertained for a good hour
Bern at landridnod all those years ago
Bern had a storming run at around three in the morning it turned the scales to over thirty three pounds then he had another mirror of twenty three pounds god was he proud the next one was mine or it should of been we lost it at the net it looked a good thirty plus from the light of our torch well you win some and loose others then i had a lovely marked mirror of twenty pounds followed my a smaller common poor old graham struggled but he did catch a few nice tench by morning were all truly knackered we had breakfast and slept most of the day we had another great night catching mirrors to over twenty pound plus and plenty of tench i was not unhappy to get home it was a bath and straight into bed we had a wonderful week it gave us plenty to dream and think about for the future well a bit more latter
A young me at the burnell
In reply to Post #599
Another lake we fished was in hill country it was a most beautiful place with a big house at the one end when we fished there no one lived in it, apparently it used to be the game keepers house, god what a long way to do your shopping we got quite friendly with the farmer ill take e down on the trailer if y likes he would say he would leave us there and pick us up in three days time he was a nice old boy, they still own the farm it had been in the family for generations.
It was a funny place to fish you always felt on edge the farmer told us there was some good carp in the water and a few good tench i had been by the lake many years before poaching the pheasant and rabbits that was in the early sixties, but i had never fished it we started using luncheon meat it was just getting dark when we had our first run it was to my rod the fish went mad and led me a merry dance up and down the lake it went and put a good bend in my rod, graham and Bern were ready to net it then the line went slack i had lost him what ever was that said graham i don't know it never felt much like a carp, so out went the bait once again i was just getting into my sleeping bag when it was away again god did it fight it turned out to a nice wild carp it was shaped like a torpedo and all muscle we left the weighing to next morning in the night we caught another eight fish between us the biggest was seven pounds we were quite pleased with what we had caught.
A few of the wild carp from years ago
I went back to bed i was very tired on waking up i looked to my right and saw this funny little chap he had a big beard and looked if he had come out of the ark i strolled over good morning i said he sat over two antiquated rods they were made of bamboo have you caught i said, none as yet he seemed a bit unfriendly he kept muttering to him self you after the carp i said no I'm after them pussies what do you mean catfish yes he said I've had em to sixteen pounds i take them home and eat them i made my way back to graham and Bern he is fishing for cats said i bloody hell he looks a bit queer what with that big beard he looks a funny colour to like a baker covered in flour.
Graham and bern holding wild carp from years ago
We never took much notice of the old gentleman until i looked across where he was fishing his gone i said he was no where to be seen we never saw him go we looked over the fields but he had gone there was no sign of him where could he have gone said graham we fished that lake many time over the years and never saw him again when the farmer picked us up he took us to his house for a nice cup of tea i mentioned this old chap to him so you have met old George he said looking at his wife he died years a go didn't he she said i don't really know as others have seen him down by the old lake smoking his pipe i know he came from bishops castle and always came by buss and walked the rest of the way he just vanished i said don't know where he went he never payed me said mr whyke laughing his head off ill have to keep an eye open for him, i don't think he was ever seen again when we fished the place again mr whyke said he had traced the old boy to a old peoples home in bishops castle so he is still alive how on earth did he get here when we saw him i really don't know said mr whyke as he has been in the home for five years. well funny things do happen he said. more latter
Another lake we fished was in hill country it was a most beautiful place with a big house at the one end when we fished there no one lived in it, apparently it used to be the game keepers house, god what a long way to do your shopping we got quite friendly with the farmer ill take e down on the trailer if y likes he would say he would leave us there and pick us up in three days time he was a nice old boy, they still own the farm it had been in the family for generations.
It was a funny place to fish you always felt on edge the farmer told us there was some good carp in the water and a few good tench i had been by the lake many years before poaching the pheasant and rabbits that was in the early sixties, but i had never fished it we started using luncheon meat it was just getting dark when we had our first run it was to my rod the fish went mad and led me a merry dance up and down the lake it went and put a good bend in my rod, graham and Bern were ready to net it then the line went slack i had lost him what ever was that said graham i don't know it never felt much like a carp, so out went the bait once again i was just getting into my sleeping bag when it was away again god did it fight it turned out to a nice wild carp it was shaped like a torpedo and all muscle we left the weighing to next morning in the night we caught another eight fish between us the biggest was seven pounds we were quite pleased with what we had caught.
A few of the wild carp from years ago
I went back to bed i was very tired on waking up i looked to my right and saw this funny little chap he had a big beard and looked if he had come out of the ark i strolled over good morning i said he sat over two antiquated rods they were made of bamboo have you caught i said, none as yet he seemed a bit unfriendly he kept muttering to him self you after the carp i said no I'm after them pussies what do you mean catfish yes he said I've had em to sixteen pounds i take them home and eat them i made my way back to graham and Bern he is fishing for cats said i bloody hell he looks a bit queer what with that big beard he looks a funny colour to like a baker covered in flour.
Graham and bern holding wild carp from years ago
We never took much notice of the old gentleman until i looked across where he was fishing his gone i said he was no where to be seen we never saw him go we looked over the fields but he had gone there was no sign of him where could he have gone said graham we fished that lake many time over the years and never saw him again when the farmer picked us up he took us to his house for a nice cup of tea i mentioned this old chap to him so you have met old George he said looking at his wife he died years a go didn't he she said i don't really know as others have seen him down by the old lake smoking his pipe i know he came from bishops castle and always came by buss and walked the rest of the way he just vanished i said don't know where he went he never payed me said mr whyke laughing his head off ill have to keep an eye open for him, i don't think he was ever seen again when we fished the place again mr whyke said he had traced the old boy to a old peoples home in bishops castle so he is still alive how on earth did he get here when we saw him i really don't know said mr whyke as he has been in the home for five years. well funny things do happen he said. more latter
In reply to Post #600
In the early days when i first met graham we would poach and fish where we wanted we have been chased a good many times Bomere, and Shomer, were strictly private we poached the place but we never seemed comfortable. At the time the owner was a mr Davies i had been warned about him on a number of occasions he was a hard man and had put a number of locals in court and that was for staying off the public foot path that ran through the wood i had rang the owner on several occasions but his answer was always the same even thought he knew my family he would shout and rant if i catch you on there you will be in court. I was not going to be put off so we dicided to go down to his farm i can always remember knocking on the door it was opened by a very angry gentleman what do you two want can we fish your lakes no you bloody well can't we won't do any harm and we will keep an eye on the woods that what my keepers for he answered, i kept arguing with him i could not believe what he said next you can go but don't stray into the woods i had a bit off a laugh about this as i had poached his pheasants years ago when gerry was his head keeper i think at the time gerry was still there well on the sunday saw us beside the big lake known as Bomere it was very windy so we sailed the dead bait out on polystyrene tiles with a baloon attached, then when it reached the distance we wanted we would pull the tile back by a piece of string.
A young me with a Tench from Bomere
That first sunday saw us catch twelve pike the biggest around fifteen pounds i said to graham we will go back and see him at the farm, i knew he would not exept money so we got his wife a big box of chocolates, so the following saturday saw us back at the farm i knocked the door it was opened by sam mr davies can we go and have another go on the lake these are for your wife he looked and said no one has done that before and shut the door in our faces it caught my boot he had to open again it again well can we. Go when you want now bugger off i have things to do, before you go keep an eye on the lake any trouble get my keeper he will soon sort it out none of the locals believed we had got permission gerry the keeper would let us use the punt we would float fish for the roach using sliding floats we has some very good bags with fish weighing two pounds it was our piece of heaven and we fished shomere as well catching bream to five pounds god they did fight on light tackle we even caught an eel that weighed six pounds, At the one ends of the lake was Bomere farm owned by mr Adkins he came down to see us have you got permission young man we have mr adkins, do you two still shoot yes we answered if i give you written permission can you come down and shoot the rabbits yes no problem but what about the keeper ill keep him sweet he answered it could not get any better we soon had mr jones land as well we, had some great times and over the years made good friends with the farmers. more to come latter.
One of the first carp I caught from Bomere
In the early days when i first met graham we would poach and fish where we wanted we have been chased a good many times Bomere, and Shomer, were strictly private we poached the place but we never seemed comfortable. At the time the owner was a mr Davies i had been warned about him on a number of occasions he was a hard man and had put a number of locals in court and that was for staying off the public foot path that ran through the wood i had rang the owner on several occasions but his answer was always the same even thought he knew my family he would shout and rant if i catch you on there you will be in court. I was not going to be put off so we dicided to go down to his farm i can always remember knocking on the door it was opened by a very angry gentleman what do you two want can we fish your lakes no you bloody well can't we won't do any harm and we will keep an eye on the woods that what my keepers for he answered, i kept arguing with him i could not believe what he said next you can go but don't stray into the woods i had a bit off a laugh about this as i had poached his pheasants years ago when gerry was his head keeper i think at the time gerry was still there well on the sunday saw us beside the big lake known as Bomere it was very windy so we sailed the dead bait out on polystyrene tiles with a baloon attached, then when it reached the distance we wanted we would pull the tile back by a piece of string.
A young me with a Tench from Bomere
That first sunday saw us catch twelve pike the biggest around fifteen pounds i said to graham we will go back and see him at the farm, i knew he would not exept money so we got his wife a big box of chocolates, so the following saturday saw us back at the farm i knocked the door it was opened by sam mr davies can we go and have another go on the lake these are for your wife he looked and said no one has done that before and shut the door in our faces it caught my boot he had to open again it again well can we. Go when you want now bugger off i have things to do, before you go keep an eye on the lake any trouble get my keeper he will soon sort it out none of the locals believed we had got permission gerry the keeper would let us use the punt we would float fish for the roach using sliding floats we has some very good bags with fish weighing two pounds it was our piece of heaven and we fished shomere as well catching bream to five pounds god they did fight on light tackle we even caught an eel that weighed six pounds, At the one ends of the lake was Bomere farm owned by mr Adkins he came down to see us have you got permission young man we have mr adkins, do you two still shoot yes we answered if i give you written permission can you come down and shoot the rabbits yes no problem but what about the keeper ill keep him sweet he answered it could not get any better we soon had mr jones land as well we, had some great times and over the years made good friends with the farmers. more to come latter.
One of the first carp I caught from Bomere
In reply to Post #601
I was never at home when i was a youngster i was either fishing or poaching some lake or even the pheasants one such lake was outside bishops castle, no one fished the lakes as they were strictly private and when i was young they were used for shooting no one ever fished there they were most beautiful set in a valley. I would ride my bike from craven arms hide it then clime over the wall and make my way through the
Rhododendron bushes to the side of the lake i hid my self in the reeds they went all the way around the lake i fished a float using little red worms i caught from the start mostly Rudd they were nearly all the same size around a pound i also caught a few tench not big around two pounds did they fight i was so engrossed with my fishing i never noticed all the guns the other side of the lake until i heard a whistle it looked if they were going to shoot the duck i did not know if to go or hide myself in the undergrowth i chose the latter.
The lake I poached all those years ago
There must of been over fifteen guns plus keepers and beaters god some of the guns were very posh all in their tweed suits they spoke like they had a plum in there mouthes, some had a gentleman with them loading their guns from the off you could see they could shoot some birds were very hight if they came down by me i had them away before they were picked with the dogs, i was taking a big chance but i managed eight duck and two pheasants that was enough for today i was over the wall with my rod and birds i never thought how i was going to carry them i had quite a big postal bag i used to carry my sandwiches and tackle so i managed to put most of them in the bag but the rest were tied with binder twine i hung them around my neck hiding them under my coat it was a bit uncomfortable but i managed until i came to a little village i was waved down by this big fat farmer where have you been he said fishing said i where not in my river i hope no sir what have you got in your bag nowt i answered only my pop and tackle on your way, then he said and shouted don't let me catch you fishing my river no sir and i was away as quick as i could pedal it took me two hours to get back home but it had been worth it the ducks were shared with our neighbours as it was only a few years after the war as most people had very little money to buy meat and such well a bit more latter
I was never at home when i was a youngster i was either fishing or poaching some lake or even the pheasants one such lake was outside bishops castle, no one fished the lakes as they were strictly private and when i was young they were used for shooting no one ever fished there they were most beautiful set in a valley. I would ride my bike from craven arms hide it then clime over the wall and make my way through the
Rhododendron bushes to the side of the lake i hid my self in the reeds they went all the way around the lake i fished a float using little red worms i caught from the start mostly Rudd they were nearly all the same size around a pound i also caught a few tench not big around two pounds did they fight i was so engrossed with my fishing i never noticed all the guns the other side of the lake until i heard a whistle it looked if they were going to shoot the duck i did not know if to go or hide myself in the undergrowth i chose the latter.
The lake I poached all those years ago
There must of been over fifteen guns plus keepers and beaters god some of the guns were very posh all in their tweed suits they spoke like they had a plum in there mouthes, some had a gentleman with them loading their guns from the off you could see they could shoot some birds were very hight if they came down by me i had them away before they were picked with the dogs, i was taking a big chance but i managed eight duck and two pheasants that was enough for today i was over the wall with my rod and birds i never thought how i was going to carry them i had quite a big postal bag i used to carry my sandwiches and tackle so i managed to put most of them in the bag but the rest were tied with binder twine i hung them around my neck hiding them under my coat it was a bit uncomfortable but i managed until i came to a little village i was waved down by this big fat farmer where have you been he said fishing said i where not in my river i hope no sir what have you got in your bag nowt i answered only my pop and tackle on your way, then he said and shouted don't let me catch you fishing my river no sir and i was away as quick as i could pedal it took me two hours to get back home but it had been worth it the ducks were shared with our neighbours as it was only a few years after the war as most people had very little money to buy meat and such well a bit more latter
In reply to Post #602
I grew up with nature and have loved it all my life, i have had a wonderful time along the way i loved the woods even at night they fascinated me i spent hours just listening to the noises of the night the scream of the vixen can freeze the heart of some body that had not heard it before, i have listened many times and have heard the vixen calling her cubs, it can be just a couple of barks or even more, if someone was about she would call them to the safety of the earth.
Myself and Bernard regularly used to film them with our camcorders some of the things the vixen would do if she thought there was anyone around, we were well hidden at the side of the wood, she circled the field four times even squatting down for a leak just feet from our hide, when she was sure she would give a yap yap or a wo wo wo when calling her young cubs out to feed on the rabbit she had brought them, they were only small i don't think they had been out side the earth before i think they were only four or five weeks old i have watched that vixen bring rats even hedgehogs to the earth, one evening i followed her at a distance she had got a young lamb in her mouth i could not tell if it was dead or alive but it kept her five cubs happy for the rest of that day.
Not far from that earth was a small pool, it held some really good eels it was used for feeding the keepers ducks i would put night lines down after casting it out using a rod i would cut the line then peg it down then cover it with soil i have caught at least five or six in a night they were greedily eaten by our neighbours and our selves, in the late fifties and early sixties the wages were not that good so we would eat most things that were edible as it was a change of diet, I can remember buying my first shot gun i was only sixteen it was a webley four ten bolt action it opened up a new world to myself i would shoot the ducks on the same pool i caught the eels i would wait for the keeper to come and feed them, then he would be away to the pub he used a Bsa motor cycle so you could hear him coming long before he got to the pool, At the time i had a good friend called john ledington he had a double barrelled four ten there was no finesse in the way we shot as we were poaching so we would hide in the reeds and shoot them on the water then try and pull them in with a long stick if that failed into the water we went it was not to deep but it was bloody cold we usually shot
around ten between us then we would be away over the railway line up through the wood and and away home. well more to come latter
I grew up with nature and have loved it all my life, i have had a wonderful time along the way i loved the woods even at night they fascinated me i spent hours just listening to the noises of the night the scream of the vixen can freeze the heart of some body that had not heard it before, i have listened many times and have heard the vixen calling her cubs, it can be just a couple of barks or even more, if someone was about she would call them to the safety of the earth.
Myself and Bernard regularly used to film them with our camcorders some of the things the vixen would do if she thought there was anyone around, we were well hidden at the side of the wood, she circled the field four times even squatting down for a leak just feet from our hide, when she was sure she would give a yap yap or a wo wo wo when calling her young cubs out to feed on the rabbit she had brought them, they were only small i don't think they had been out side the earth before i think they were only four or five weeks old i have watched that vixen bring rats even hedgehogs to the earth, one evening i followed her at a distance she had got a young lamb in her mouth i could not tell if it was dead or alive but it kept her five cubs happy for the rest of that day.
Not far from that earth was a small pool, it held some really good eels it was used for feeding the keepers ducks i would put night lines down after casting it out using a rod i would cut the line then peg it down then cover it with soil i have caught at least five or six in a night they were greedily eaten by our neighbours and our selves, in the late fifties and early sixties the wages were not that good so we would eat most things that were edible as it was a change of diet, I can remember buying my first shot gun i was only sixteen it was a webley four ten bolt action it opened up a new world to myself i would shoot the ducks on the same pool i caught the eels i would wait for the keeper to come and feed them, then he would be away to the pub he used a Bsa motor cycle so you could hear him coming long before he got to the pool, At the time i had a good friend called john ledington he had a double barrelled four ten there was no finesse in the way we shot as we were poaching so we would hide in the reeds and shoot them on the water then try and pull them in with a long stick if that failed into the water we went it was not to deep but it was bloody cold we usually shot
around ten between us then we would be away over the railway line up through the wood and and away home. well more to come latter