In reply to Post #319
As i sit here it has hailed and rained its just like the middle of winter the wind is not that warm, when i was a few years younger this would not have worried me i would of been away probably down the fields or in the woods looking for old foxy there will be cubs around now and some will be outside the earth playing as you all know i have spent many hours watching the vixen and her cubs one thing that really shook me was to see two vixens in one earth and both had cubs twelve in all god were they kept busy bringing food it varied from rabbit, hedge hog, even a big old goose, that must of come from one of the many farms, that surrounded the earth the one even carried a dead lamb, to the cubs but having a look through my binos i could see it had been dead some time it is surprising how long the carcase lasted it was devoured quite quickly the cubs would play tug of war with the body towards the end both vixens, started look quite pulled around and completely out of shape, i cant imagine how many times they had been back and forwards to feed this big litter, but they stopped coming it took a couple of days for the cubs to get the message but the one day i went and they had moved on. Big corn and barley fields surrounded the earth so they had plenty of cover and plenty rabbits, to sustain there hunger how many survived the first twelve months i would hazard a guess and say not many what with shooting and road kills and the hunt that should not hunt what a laugh .

The fishing at this time of year was none existent the rivers were closed until June the 16Th and most of the lakes as they were SSI so we were a bit stuck for fishing i did do a bit of traveling and one lake in north Shropshire was still open but it absolutely got hammered at the week ends so we did our fishing in the week i had just been medically discharged from my job owing to my arthritis so i had plenty of time on my hands we had some quite good days on this lake and because i was disabled i got the fishing a bit cheaper, well it all helps i loved to catch them from the surface i had tied some flies up out of deer hair and when trimmed up they looked just like a big trout pellet well that's what they were used for so out went the dog biscuits closely followed by my pellet i fished the same as i did with biscuit god did they go for it it would float around some times just under the surface bang it would be away people would ask what i was using pellet, i would say i don't think they believed me but it does work give it a try maybe you will be pleasantly surprised i caught fish over twenty pounds using them well that's it for now. more latter

caught on pellet


Another on pellet

In reply to Post #320
Rain wind and more rain its like winter again its nearly the end of April the weather should be changing by now but they have given out severe weather in may. I can remember watching the peewits in may i would lie down and watched where she landed i would find her nest in a shallow scrape in the plowed field, i would only take two eggs, in one big field if lucky i would find two or three nests, my mother would pickle them in a big jar they were lovely eating another egg that was quite nice was moorhens i have had many boiled for my breakfast but that was years ago in the late forties early fifties wild duck eggs were very nice if you could find them.

WE lived off the land i poached the trout streams of Shropshire i suppose this was how i learned to fish although i did fish the river Rea with my grandad he died in 1947 so i had no one to turn to so i taught myself i think i gained most of my knowledge fishing the trout streams i learned how to trot down a float ledger a worm or spin with a minnow, but there was nothing to beat a free line red worm i found the best conditions for the worm was when the water had a bit of colour in it i would trundle the worm under the far bank and feel for a bite it would be a pluck then away it would go i have caught loads fishing with this method. I found when i poached at night i did quite well with the worm, when i fished the onny in south Shropshire i would float fish, if i could to get a few maggots, from the local abattoir, as i have said before it was a bit of a smelly job to collect them but i caught some beautiful grayling, using maggot. When i was young they called the grayling the lady of the river they were a most beautiful fish to catch.

It was the brown trout i was after most streams and river were stocked with them they were put in by the estate owners for them selves and friends to fish i would watch as they fly fished i loved may you would get the big hatches of may flies that's when the fly fishermen would do very well i have watched as they cast to a fish it would disappear in a splash of silver spray as the fish took the imitation fly it would be landed and knocked on the head i knew that i could do better in the dark hours or early morning fishing the worm they never reached much over a pound in weight but they were lovely eating it was nothing to catch twenty trout i would only keep the big ones and release the smaller fish i never had any trouble getting rid of the fish all our neighbors would eat them so they were shared out between my parents and neighbors times were very hard we lived at an place called newington terrace they were houses owned by the railway as my step father was a signal man, i think i fed most of the people living in the terrace they even knocked our door asking if i could catch a couple of trout for some friends of there's. So i would be away down the river and back within the hour with three nice trout our neighbors would be very grateful and bring around a flitch of bacon or maybe some potatoes we all helped one another in those days. Craven arms is where i learned to poach i even caught rabbits and shot pheasants with my air gun they were stupid birds, to tame so easy to shoot but they helped out in times of real hard ship. well a bit more latter

In reply to Post #321
This is nothing to do with fishing its a tale from long ago thinking back it must be about twenty years ago as you all know i like my Foxes but there are times when this old fellow has to be kept in check and the method i have always favoured was shooting there was no cruelty involved. I had a phone call from a friend could i come up to the village of clun we will meet you at the garage in the village yes Raymond i answered but what for the lads and farmers want you to come up and take part in a big fox, shoot it involves walking many acres of woods which are huge going from the edge of Shropshire into wales i was a bit apprehensive as i said to Raymond i don't know the area that well who's running it you are , i hesitated saying no way i like to know the ground and the farmers who's ground i am on, we arranged to meet at 9-30 on Saturday morning arriving at the garage we were met by what i can only describe as a big gang of gypsies, but they were not most were farmers, and game keepers, they had a pack of dogs well a pack of all sorts poodle sheep dogs labs you name them they were there i thought god what have we got our selves into. I was introduced to this chap who was in charge he looked just like Joe ninety, out of the television series he had a word with us i had brought with me one or two friends they were guns i could trust i must admit i did not know any of the other chaps except Raymond he said they were OK so away went.

The first drive took a good two hours but we ended up with a couple of big dog foxes they always seem bigger in hill country the guns were put out again and i can remember standing over looking this beautiful valley i must of been standing at least a good three hours before i heard the dogs yapping i started to hear the odd bang, i could just about see my mate graham about two hundred yards to my right i saw him lift his gun bang bang then five seconds latter the same in all he had six shots the blew the whistle for the end of drive i walked over to graham he had shot five foxes one vixen the other four were dogs he held the one by the scruff it was the biggest fox i had ever seen one of the keepers weighed him he was twenty seven pounds now that is big. but it was not the biggest i saw from hill country they shot another a few weeks latter which was twenty eight pounds. The next drive was in wales in the big forestry plantation over looking knighton Joe ninety came over and said shoot any pheasants that come over you i thought that's a bit strange we were on a fox shoot not a pheasant shoot i had a word with my friends they were a bit apprehensive as well they left us standing on this land below this big wood it was mainly conifers with a few mountain ash we heard shooting in the distance when a blue land rover pulls up a big chap steps out with another gentleman in broad welsh accent he says what are you doing here shooting says i not on my property your nicked, where are the otheres in woods i answered the police are on the way he said you stay here until they come like hell we would come on lads we are away into the cars we got you could hear the police sirens in the distance not knowing the area we landed up well into wales we even passed two police cars we eventually arrived at a place called bishops castle in Shropshire we knew a our way home from there on getting home i rang Raymond to find out what had happened apparently they arrested joe ninety and one or two others Ray had got away apparently the farmers had been falling out with this keeper for some time he would not allow them on his ground to shoot the foxes so they took it in there own hands i don't think it got to court but it was some time before i went with them again you could easily loose your gun licence for poaching . well that it for now more latter.

In reply to Post #322
I loved to fish the small pool behind the keepers cottage i would fish this place right under the keepers nose i loved to float fish on this water i used bread flake and maybe maggot, if i could get some it held some quite nice Bream and some beautiful Rudd it was strictly private the biggest release pen on the shoot bordered the pool in season it held thousands of birds the pool i fished would be shot for the mallard duck from September they literally shot hundreds i have been fishing the pool when the keeper came down to feed his ducks i would just hide in the big reed beds that surrounded the pool i would catch bream up to four pounds plus not big but to a young lad like me they were huge the Rudd would go up to two pound plus it was very good fishing although it was strictly private the keepers name was Gerry he had a motor cycle an old BSA and would go to the pub most nights he usually left his house around seven thirty and would return at ten thirty you could set your watch by him although a public foot path ran through the wood he had signs on a few of the trees along the walk way do not stray off the path trespassers will be shot you would never get away with that today.

And believe me he would shoot he shot at me on a few occasions the pellets went over my head but very frightening but looking back it was my own fault i was poaching his birds his wife was a lovely old women and let me stroke the dogs as i walked past the house i became quite friendly with his dogs over the years Jerry knew me quite well i think he thought he was safe leaving the shoot to go to the pub as the big pen was right behind the house at times he would leave Mr Jenkins's in charge he was one of the under keepers he had quite a bad reputation as far as keepers go every one seemed scared of him it never bothered me i went where i wanted i would also spin for the pike on both pools i never caught anything really big the biggest was about ten pounds but it was being out and about but come October i would poach the pheasants things were pretty tight wages were not that good we needed the extra meat from the birds i would share them out between the family and neighbors they were always grateful i sold any left to old Mr Toms the poultry dealer which helped i never made a fortune only a few bob for the back pocket but it helped buy tackle and such the other pool i poached was the honey meadow it was water that had flooded from bomere and was connected by a stream it was always there and never went down it was full of eels and Gerry used to feed the big raft of ducks on the water i was only sixteen and had acquired a webley for ten shot gun my self and a lad called john ledington would shoot them on the water, it was not that deep and we would wade out to fetch them bloody hell it was so cold we made a few bob doing this and also fed our families but in the end we got to greedy and gerry nearly caught us we had hid the guns but he found the birds so we left the pool for some time before we tried again. well a bit more latter.

In reply to Post #323
Every where you look is green its managed to stop raining for how long i don't know the river Severn has been flooding once again why they cant save the water is any ones guess. i would like to have a look around to see how many fox earths i could find but every where is so wet i have been following the filming of the fox cubs on channel four its only on for about five minutes every night but some excellent footage the vixen is rearing six cubs i was a bit amazed as she did not look in bad nick and she has not been pulled around that much i do wander if she is going to move them as she picked one up and vanished behind the shed the others started to follow we will have to wait for the next episode to see what happens they certainly killed all the rats that has also bred under the same shed.

I do hope this weather clears up so myself and graham can get out fishing again you may say get out in this weather but graham and i want nourishment ,not punishment i must admit now we are older we like to be comfortable so we now leave it for you younger chaps but i have known the time we would brave most conditions hail rain or snow we both have sat down beside the river Rea and trotted a float down with a bunch of maggots on the hook or a big piece of bread flake in fact on a few occasions our line has frozen to the rod but we carried on fishing and caught some beautiful roach none very big only about 8 0z but we would catch a net full we also caught chub to four pounds eight oz it is only a small river but it holds some lovely fish.

In those days i would fish with another pall called terry this was before i met my fishing partner graham he said to me Pete did you know there's some good eels in this river i was a bit took back as i had fished it for years and i had never seen one come out so on the coming Friday night we were away we only fished till about midnight i decided to fish a big eddy under the far bank we were using big lob worms i cast out and put the rod in the rest disengaging the bail arm on the Mitchell reel i only waited minutes and away it went when landed it was only about two pounds we carried on like this all evening catching eel after eel the biggest we had was only three pounds i caught fifteen in all i know terry had around the same amount as me it was certainly good fishing alas three weeks latter they were all dead every fish in the river a terrible sight i walked it for a good mile up stream the water was brown and really stank some farmer higher up had let his slurry escape into the river it killed every thing in the water i must admit i nearly cried i had fished this river for years although i learned a lot fishing the onny, at craven arms it was the Rea i fished first with my grandad this is where i started to fish as a young school boy.

The river is now back to what it was many years ago i think its better now as it is full of brown trout and the lady of the river the grayling although i can not walk the distance down to the river i have a few pals that do fish, it quite regular they have caught grayling to one pound eight oz, nice fish, and trout, to over a pound do you put them back Andy of course i do Pete as he gave me a cheeky wink, it still hold some good roach, and chub, but one thing we have got that we did not see years ago is the otter i do hope they don't wipe this water out up to now they have not so we will wait and see i know its been stocked with salmon Parr so it will be interesting to see how many will make it back they will be able to make it up the river now as the big water falls further down have vanished where to i don't know i think they were removed by the local farmer a few years ago. I did manage a couple of salmon out of the water years ago by accident how they traversed the falls i don't know without looking in my diary upstairs i am not sure what they weighed i think the biggest was around nine pounds so they must have been coming up the river in those days. well that's it a little more latter.

In reply to Post #324
I watched the tele programme about foxes, in the cities last night i was really sorry to see so much mange its a terrible disease and i have seen them nearly bald and covered in scratch marks it will spread like wild fire even to domestic animals, luckily in the country side we see very little of this disease and those we do see are shot and buried.

i suppose the foxes living in that environment can find plenty of food that has been thrown out . The amount roaming around in the cities and living in close proximity to one another will soon contact mange its a shame really as they are a most beautiful creature and don't really deserve to die with that aliment. We have suffered with foxes, that have been caught up then let go in the country side, this is very cruel as they cannot survive most will be dead whiten a couple of months. I have been lucky enough to see albino foxes, pure white with pink eyes and i have seen a pure black fox, which also is very rare i have been very privileged and have been allowed to watch and film foxes over the years when i say privileged i knew most of the farmers and they would let me onto their land i have watched them for hours mostly in the day time and i have took a few friends with me that had never seen a fox in the wild in fact i got asked quite regularly if i could take a group to watch i would say two or three not a group, i also took a few with me to watch Badgers, its been part of my life and a part that i have loved. Then we have the other side where foxes, have been doing damage and i mean damage taking the farmers chickens killing every one and maybe taking two or three and hiding one or two for latter. The worse kill i have seen was sixty chickens all dead and the heads bitten off not satisfied with that he came back and killed the farmers geese all twenty dead then two weeks latter he had the peacocks you can understand why the farmers want the foxes dead. It was then left to me and some friends to find where they were and get rid of them but i always felt a touch of sadness as i have said they are a most beautiful creature .

Just a bit of a laugh we had shot a couple of foxes on this pheasant shoot and a chap came over and asked if we would sell him these foxes what ever for i said are you a taxidermist, no i sell them to the Indians, to make curry i kid you not he paid us a fiver each for them and asked if we could get him some more it put me off curry for life over the years we got a lot of our fishing by helping out farmers it was not a job i liked doing but it was a necessity i have told many stories to some about the foxes taking young lambs some have ridiculed me saying foxes do not do such things they only take worms mice and rabbits i wish that were true but i am afraid it is not some of the hill farmers i got to know had suffered quite badly from foxes taking lambs and these hill foxes always seemed a lot bigger than there lowland cousins, and they were all in very good nick, i suppose they did eat the very best it would be quite a day when we shot the hills you could be standing for at least three hours before you heard the beaters and dogs, i really did not mind and would make myself comfortable have a drink from my flask and watch the wild life i know this has got nothing to do with fishing but it has been a major part of my life well that's it for now. more latter

In reply to Post #325
i don't think there is a lake i have not fished locally most were poached in my youth as they were strictly private the one lake not far from my house was covered in water lilies i would hide in the wood that surrounded the lake and float fish for the bream they were beautiful golden colour the biggest i caught was only about five pounds but to myself they were big fish it was well keeperd and was part of the bomere and condover shoot none of my mates would venture any where near the place they were to frightened they may get caught by one of the keepers. At the one end of the lake stood a big wind mill. It is no longer there only bits of of concrete left to show where it once stood, what it was used for i really don't know maybe for grinding corn or pumping water around the farm. The lake was covered in ducks they would be shot in season the surrounding woods and fields were covered in pheasants it was part of a shoot that stretched for miles it really took some looking after when i first started fishing the water i was only fourteen years old we had just moved back to the village of my birth Bayston hill.

From our house to the lake was only about five miles if you were on your bike, but if walked across the fields it was only a couple of miles, at the one end of the lake was a wood not big it was full of pheasants in season i would take my air rifle and shoot them out of the trees, when they were at roost, i could even walk to bomere, as it was right behind the little wood maybe half a mile i had plenty to have a go at and on the way back home i would drop by and shoot a couple of brace at Bomere, it was a great life and i got a lot of pleasure being out at night, on the way back we came to the quarry which bordered my village the big hedge surrounding the place was always a good place to shoot a few pheasants you always had a few going up to roost i would always stop for rest and then shoot a few birds it was quite a distance from the main coverts the keepers, would not come this far up the fields. It was nothing to shoot five brace from that hedge row it was mainly hawthorn with a few oak trees here and there i felt quite safe shooting that hedge as it was not far to my home but at times you would get to greedy and shoot to many birds to carry home, so i would hide a few then fetch them latter
the most i ever shot was twenty far to many to carry but i would manage to get them home even if it took two trips i had no trouble getting rid of the birds they would be shared out between family and neighbours, those i had left i would sell to Mr Toms the poultry dealer putting a few quid in my back pocket. well a bit more latter

In reply to Post #326
A couple of years ago we got permission to fish a farm pool its about eight miles from my home we were told it held some really large carp i asked the farmer how large he then fetched a photo from the house i could not believe my eyes this fish must have been around forty pounds he said he had found it dead but there was a few more in the water its not that big only about i acre the deepest section around ten feet and a big island, in the middle i asked him how many fished, the place not many look at the book in the shed it was left for anglers to sign and leave there money in the box, i thought a very trusting gentleman i asked him about night fishing no way i don't let anyone on the property after dark so it was day fishing.

We started to bait up with hemp and maize a little bit every time we went i can always remember the first time i fished that lake it was boiling hot i was sitting at the far end of the pool to my right was an old farm trailer half covered in water i saw one or two signs of fish showing around this old trailer i crept down and i was absolutely amazed there was about five bream feeding around the trailer there was not one under ten pounds they may have been even bigger to say i was excited was an understatement, we never caught one fish but we were quite happy in what we had seen the next day saw us on the pool once again. The farmer said that he fed the ducks and geese in a morning and evening with bread and and barley do you shoot i asked the answer was no i just like feeding the wild life but i also feed the carp they take the bread of the top, so a few days latter and no fish to our credit we started shooting dog biscuits out i have never seen anything like it the whole lake erupted with feeding carp they certainly looked big some well over thirty to be fair you could not hook them they left the one you had mounted on your hook well alone, i really wandered if these fish had seen dog biscuits before but the farmer said no most anglers that come here only float fish for the bream we were a bit down where do we go from here we continued to fish the water without results then the one day a friend had a run low and behold it was a carp a common of twenty two pounds we also caught a couple of bream the biggest going just over seven pounds on sweet corn that was it for that year i went to have a look at the pool in winter it was completely frozen over except at one end where the farmer had installed a pump to keep the water clear on talking to him he said he was stopping all fishing he had let the lake to the RSPB what a shame i asked one of there members if we could still fish the pool the answer was no i have heard since that all fish had been removed a really big waste but that's how things go.

I have been reading the fox thread as you all know i have spent a good many years watching them, one of the members on the forum, Fred archer sent me some photos of holes around his garden and his a wooden patio some were made by rats but others were far to big foxes sprang to my mind well low and behold Fred has now another family to feed and look after some beautiful fox cubs they are in wonderful nick i am sure he would not mind putting a photo up for you all to see. i feel sorry when i hear they have taken some ones pet rabbit hamster and such but that's the way they are hunters and predators, at this time of year they can be quite bad as old mrs fox has many more mouths to feed. well a bit more latter.

In reply to Post #327


Freds little cubs there in real good nick

In reply to Post #328


Two more lovable little cubs at freds home

In reply to Post #329


Two more little darlings

In reply to Post #330
God where has the time gone i have reached a mile stone in my life tomorrow i am seventy my mind is willing but my body tells me different but i am still trying to go fishing and enjoy myself looking in the corner of my garden it looks if my old vixen may have returned the grass has been rolled flat and i am now wondering if she has brought her cubs up from the fields i will have to set my night camera up and maybe get a few shots she comes most years i don't know how old the vixen is or whether it is the same one if it is she must be really getting on in age.

I used to enjoy night fishing in this hot weather god we have caught some sort of eels when its been warm and muggy in those days we had no bedchairs, or a bivy, we had the old sun loungers, they did the job but could be a bit uncomfortable we did manage to acquire umbrellas, but that is all we had to protect us from the weather but we enjoyed our fishing, when i first left school all i had to take me fishing was my bike i would cycle every where i would strap my rods to the cross bar and my bag on my back i would cycle to Acton burnell it was about six miles from my house i would be tired out by the time i got there i was lucky the keeper had got me permission to fish there but he never said anything about night fishing but i would go i never saw another soul, i would use maggot and bread flake for bait i would tuck myself in between the under growth and only used one rod three pounds line mitchell real and size twelve hook and a small arsley bomb i would cast out put my rod in two forked sticks a piece of silver paper or a piece of doe pinched on the line between reel and butt ring i used my bike torch to shine with red reflector it gave enough light to see my indicators i had managed to buy an old landing net, up the bobbin would go i would strike there was nothing nicer than feeling that fish on the other end it was usually a big tench but i caught some wonderful roach, at my young age i did not think much about size but thinking back they must have been around two pounds or more i caught some really good bags of tench from that water the estate had two keepers and they were helped out by others if needed it was covered in pheasants ,they had some really big shooting days in season, i can honestly say i never poached one bird from there as both keepers had been very good to me but just down the road from acton burnell was another lake set in the grounds of a splendid back and white manor house this lake was full of carp i was determined to fish it i was told if i got caught i would be taken to court as it was stricktly private i was told the keeper was a nasty old bugger, who would stand no messing the people from the house would come down and feed the carp most days. I would watch from afar usualy up a tree i had a few good nights on that water and poached a few pheasents as well . I will tell you more latter


Tench from acton in the seventies

Carp from acton burnell years ago

In reply to Post #331
My life has been one big merry go round fishing, shooting, poaching, i have done it all and i have no regrets i have poached the hedge rows for the hubble rabbit, i have used the long nets and have poached the lakes, and rivers, there are not many of us left to tell the tale, most have now all gone even the keepers from my poaching days are now all dead none left to tell there tale. As i walk the woods and stand by the big old oak i listen i can still hear the old cock bird call from somewhere deep inside the wood i watch the buzzard high above circling on the terminal i can just see him from where i stand through the canopy of the old oak trees, i have stood under this tree many times how old it is i can only guess it does not seem to have changed since my poaching days i listen but no keepers dog can i hear they have long gone the kennels, where they were pulled down the keepers cottage now modern flats, i get a lump in my throat and nearly shed a tear when i think of how things were its all gone the keepers slumber in the old church yard maybe there ghosts still haunt the wooded rides and del

The woods i poached

the wood behind the keepers cottage now felled

As i stand i remember things past how i waged a war against these old keepers and poached there pheasants and there ducks many a tale can i tell how i i moved silently on a winters night through those very woods where i now stand i have hidden in the ferns and watched old foxy on his travels the keepers were on his tail i could hear the beaters far away driving this old wood on and on they would come but old foxy he was not daft i watched as he stopped sniffed the air he passed me by and never knew i was there, they would not shoot him today he would get away i knew where this fox would go as i had watched him on other days he would make for the old lake and in the water go they would soon loose his scent he would make for the old ivy tree and up he would go and hide under the canopy of ivy leaves he had done this so many times before i had even watched him clime that tree, i would not tell as i should not be there.

I would poach the lakes under the keepers nose i would spin for the pike i could see his cottage from where i fished no one ever walked around the lake most locals were to afraid . The wood was full of flowers in spring the blue bells and the primrose a beautiful place to be but from october on the woods were full of pheasants for the gentry to shoot there were thousands the keeper would never miss as few or so i thought most night he would be at the local pub no one would take his pheasants, but i had a few over the years they kept us in meat and made a few bob for the back pocket i knew those woods back to front and where to hide if needs be. Old gerry chased me a few times and even fired his gun over my head i was a bit frightened i must admit i dived for cover under the old shooting range and there i stayed until all was quite he had even got sgt landers out to try and find me but they failed, i hid my gun, and birds, and fetched them latter on they were great days so full of fun but now i have only my memories of those days long ago. more a little latter

In reply to Post #332
The wind was bitter as i made my way to the big wood i knew the keeper would be asleep at this unearthly hour i was out after a few pheasants, i , hid my bike under the river bridge and made my way to the big wood as i came to the fence that surrounded the wood i stopped listened a vixen screamed deep within the wood what a blood curdling scream she made it was answered by a sharp bark she would be in season and the dog was not to far away there would be cubs again some time in february. The keepers cottage stood at the end of this big wood he certainly would not be pleased to have a fox, in his coverts i made my way forward to the main feed ride all was quite i shone the torch up into the trees picked out a big cock pheasent, and squeezed the trigger down he came in a ball of feathers i repeat it until i had ten birds i would move on to the far wood i came out of the wood onto the field the moon, had come out the clouds raced across the sky making dancing shadows on the fields not a good night to be out but needs must. I kept to the side of the big field making sure i would not be seen i came to the fence and over i got i made my way to the big birch and sat with my back to this old tree i had done this many times before i knew these woods well i froze as three deer, passed me by they never even saw me sitting there i ate my sandwiches and drank from the bottle it was cold tea, i could hear no noise i caught the scent of pipe smoke, it drifted on the wind who was about at this time it was one in the morning i wondered if old Bell was about he was a willy old bugger and never missed much why was he not in bed, i got up and walked further into the wood i shot two more birds and put them in my bag the next thing i heard was bang bang and pellets rained down on me from above come on out of there your surrounded he shouted it was old Bell and the police, i made my way to the river bank it was not to deep into the water i got and hid under the branches and undergrowth ,on the far bank i had scrambled out of the water and there i lay i covered my self up the best way i could i could hear the keepers talking on the far side the one voice i knew really well it was old Sgt landers, do you know who it was frank no bob but he has had a few birds i wondered if it was that little bugger from bayston hill again i had a job not to laugh i hope they don't find my bike it was on my mind i stayed where i was for another hour the keepers moved on down stream they would find nowt going that way.

The river i crossed to get away

PART OF BELLS WOODS
I eventually made my way through the grounds of the condover hall it was a blind school i crossed the waterfall and made my way to the bridge where i had hid my bike i arrived Rather out of breath i could not use the main road to get home so it was the fields i made my way to Joneses farm and climbed the fence onto the railway line walked the side of the track over the fence into the field known as the foxes it was on the border of my village i passed the pub and made my way up the big field known as the stocking it would take me to the back garden of my house i was sweating but relieved to reach to reach home i counted the birds twelve well worth the effort i hung them in the shed we had a visitor next morning it was the police where was i last night in bed said i, he exepted what i said i turned to go into the house with a big grin on my face this was not the first or the last time he called here but he never proved a thing well thats another tale from my life long ago. more latter

looking across the plough to Bells wood

In reply to Post #333
When i was sixteen i got my first gun licence, i had only got a webley four ten i walked miles with that gun under my arm i am afraid i did more poaching even in the day time, any thing was fair game partridge, pheasants, rabbits, you name it i shot it most of the land was used for shooting and was strictly private but it made no difference i would be away with a lad called John ledington we would literally walk miles the other mate was a man called dick blent god he could shoot but he was not that fussy how he shot , he would see a covey of partridge, and if he had the chance he would shoot them on the ground i saw him do this one day and he had sixteen from a big covey not very sporting but things were different in those days we shot for food as things were still very hard, i was talking to dick one day he said i know a good pool we can fish Pete so i made arrangement to meet up and have a go it was lovely place not big only about two acres it was just on the border of a big wood i was float fishing and used worm my first bite produced a three pound trout then another Dick did not know it was a trout, pool, we had managed to catch another five when there was a shout get off my property this is a private lake, bloody hell we ran into the joining wood i really did not think we stood a chance he had keepers with him and the police have you ever tried running with a bag and a rod its impossible through a big wood, i broke the rod down and stuffed it into this big hole which looked like badger set and hid my bag up a big old fir tree, i could hear the police blowing there whistle in the distance. We came out of the wood onto the field there was a farm, we both made for the big hay stack both of us climbed up and hid under the hay i did not know this area to well but dick had been here before we could hear shouting and the whistle blowing i was itching like mad caused from running through nettles and the thick under growth. We stayed there lying very still we could hear them getting closer eventually they stood below were we were hidden talking to the farmer have you seen anyone john nobody was his reply they must have made for the railway line said the keeper.

After saying good by to the farmer they moved away to look else where we were very startled to hear the farmer say you can come down now god he knew we were hiding in his hay stack we crawled out and came face to face with this farmer who had a big grin across his face i seen e getting up there, i wont tell on e he said in broad Shropshire's i don't like that owd keeper he thinks he owns every thing, whats e been getting up to he said poaching his pool it be full of them trout he said yes we have hidden some in our bag and left them in the wood i would leave them where they be until it quietens down a bit after talking for some time he says to me your beryls lad, yes i said how do you know that i knew your grandad very well he said and your mother we were big friends years ago i suppose we were only five or six miles from home but i was not to familiar with the surrounding land we said our good byes come and see me again youngan i will sir, and remind me to your mum he shouted, i will we picked our trout and rods up and eventualy got home it was not the last time i fished that pool i caught some terrific perch from there over the years plus a few of the trout. more latter