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 New Posts  Old school angling pt2.
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petethecrip
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petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #223 12 Jan 2012 at 5.39pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #221
yes martin its a start our own ken townley helped edit the story and it was jason rider who asked would i write a chapter for his new book i have not seen it yet but i was talking to jason and he is sending me a copy at some stage but he has been not to well of late his been laid low with this sickness bug thank martin for letting me know.
Great-Blondini
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Great-Blondini
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   Old Thread  #222 12 Jan 2012 at 4.41pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #221
the only way is carp
Contents
1. Pete Pemberton – Old school angling
and some others LOL


I see you have some of the memories into print Pete
petethecrip
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petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #221 12 Jan 2012 at 12.43pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #220
When i was young i used to fish in all weather i always loved the humid nights especially if the wind blew causing the water to foam at your feet you only had your umbrella to protect you from heavy storms at times we could get quite wet, we only fished with two rods in those days mine consisted of two eleven ft fiberglass with a all through action which a freind had made for me, two mitchell's both loaded with five pound BS line we used arsley bombs as ledgers bite indication in the early days was a doe bobbin i must admit watching that bobbin all night would make you very tired we never slept. We fished mainly for the bream and roach that inhabited most of the lakes and meres in Shropshire one such lake was not to far from my home it was full of of bream and roach no one knew really how big they grew to, i had a few friends that had fished the water but they were not really after the bream only the big eels which they had caught to over five pounds.

So graham and i set up our stall and decided to give this old lake a go we had an idea where we were going to fish from, as we had watched the fish for some time mostley in the closed season so we had a fair idea where they would feed. We asked the farmer for permission to dig out a swim in a wooded area the only trouble was the mosquitoes they would eat you alive i manged to get some cream from a friend in the the army they used it when they were abroad it was very good and kept the little sods away, our ground bait consisted of Growers mash mixed with sausage rusk and bread crumbs we started bait up through the close season a little bit often it was not to far from our homes so we baited three times a week, When we started fishing graham would pick up a gallon of maggots on his way home from work on a Friday. That gave us Friday night and Saturday to fish arriving at our chosen swim a hour before dark giving us time to set up and put some bait in the swim which we had also laced with maggots. Out we cast two rods apiece we were fishing bread flake tipped with maggot, nothing happened for the first hour then in the darkness we heard a fish roll then another i looked at my bobbin and saw it rise to the butt up came the rod and i was in it was the first bream from this old lake we landed it and into our keep net it went Graham was next catching an identical fish, All having deep bellies looking back they were only about four or five pounds but to us they were good fish our home work was paying off. We had to pack one rod in and fish with just one each as it came impossible at one stage we had four fish on together using the two rods. We were also catching one or two nice roach they looked well over two pounds but we never had time to weight them so into the net the went, we ended the night absolutely exhausted we had caught over one hundred and fifty pounds of fish the biggest roach was just a fraction under two pounds eight 0z we were both elated and decided to give it another go but now it was home to bed for the first session on this lovely lake we did well it was not the first ot the last time that we caught huge bags of bream from this lake. Over the years we have had some decent carp and tench from this same water also a few bream the biggest going eleven pound eight oz if any locals read this they will know which lake i mean i will not mention names as it is now a syndicate water. well a bit more latter
petethecrip
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petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #220 10 Jan 2012 at 11.17am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #219
Last night i watched the otter debate on tele i thought martin bowler came over quite well it was the environmental agency that that really put my back up he denied categorically that no groups were breeding and letting otters go how would he know they are hardly going to let the environment agency know but seriously look what we are up against and while you have films like Tarka the otter and ring of bright water shown in our schools what chance do we all have otter are portrayed as beautiful furry creatures and they are but there are far to many on some waters . When i was young i suppose i would be about eight or nine when i saw my first otters i lay on the bank of the River onny and watched them play in those days they were completely wild and shy creatures if they had spotted me they would of gone i was lucky i lay in the thick undergrowth i watch as they chased the Trout and Grayling and any caught they would carry them out onto this big lump of Rock and devour them this was about 1950 i was lucky they were seldom seen in those days.

Photobucket
The otter hounds
I can remember quite well the excitement the otter hounds brought to the locals who would follow the hunt in large numbers it was the norm in those far of days i have seen this first hand i was there i spent a lot of my younger days walking the woods and fields i always had a catapult in my pocket and i must admit i was not a bad shot i had been brought up with one most lads of my age used a catapult we would go up the hedge rows looking for rabbit which were squating down in the hedgerows or big nettle patches some days we could shoot a good numbers and the odd pheasent sharing them out at the end of the day if we had been caught we would have received a telling off and maybe a clip behind the ear or a boot up your back side, we had just come out of the woods and caught sight all these people on the river bank as we came nearer you could see these fellows dressed in green jackets in the river with a pack of maybe twelve dogs they were hunting the otter the dogs went scatty we caught sight of the otter he had no chance the lead dog was on him in a flash i can still remember that kill the river was red with the blood of this animal being young it left a lasting impression it was certainly barbaric after the otter was chucked out onto the bank for all to see the dogs pulled this way and that it was a tug of war i have mentioned before in the first part of my stories about the otter hounds i watched this spectacle many times but although barbaric it kept the otters in check although there was not the amount we have today those days will never come back the otters were hunted twice a week mostly weekends on the onny and its tributaries . well a bit more latter

petethecrip
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petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #219 7 Jan 2012 at 12.52pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #218
I was just thinking how my syndicate were getting on today its the first time in thirty odd years that i have missed going on a Saturday, i had to ring my mates Tony and Graham and tell them i could not make it i have a chest infection by god it makes you feel bad and with emphysema as well its not to good i'm puffing like a steam engine but ill have to put up with it for now. I did manage to go on Tuesday after new year i had a few protests from my other half but being bull headed i went although feeling quite under the weather i did not take part my self and sat in my car and watched there was a good show of pheasants and duck i think all the syndicate were happy they had quite a good day i cant really believe the undergrowth in the woods has not died off completely and being a syndicate of old has beens they complained how hard it was walking seriously here we are in January and some of the brambles are still green we have had no severe frosts to make it die down but i much prefer this weather than ice and snow.

As i sat in my car watching i saw a big dog fox in the distance he looked in fair nick i suppose he does with all the food around IE pheasants and rabbits with the mild weather we are experiencing he wont have to much of a problem feeding himself, i was going to look at the old earth on the bank adjacent to our small syndicate to see if the vixen is in residence she usually rears a few cubs there then moves them on to another spot when they are a few weeks old. We now have quite a few wood cock in our woods nice to see as they were becoming quite scarce. There was no one fishing the lakes on Tuesday i was a bit surprised as there is a winter pike syndicate its funny really i have not seen many fishing on the lake this winter why i don't know as you usually see eight or nine with their bivvys up well i have in seasons past, i have said before they used to hold the pike fishing matches on the lake but that was years ago, i think i told you all before i met Dez Taylor on the big lake many years ago before he became well known he would be set up pike fishing he was always trying to sell his water proof suits god that must of been in the late sixties. No fishing on the river Severn now as its over the banks but we do not get the big floods we used to years ago but flood defences has helped the situation when i was a young lad i would cycle down to see my step fathers mother the house would be flooded , she would then live upstairs how she managed i don't know as she was well into her eighties i think her one neighbour kept her going by taking food for her from the village shop, they were certainly hard times.

I see the Shropshire's farmers have agreed to have the badger cull but they have to apply for licences but there is quite a lot of opposition to the cull i do wonder if it will go a head i don't think the owners of our woods will be very amused if they cull the badgers here, but we will have to see i am sitting on the fence and waiting i have watched the badgers here for many years it would be really very sad to see them all go we have no large dairy herds in our area and only one individual that rears beef cattle so we may get away with it. The local badger protection man bern is quite upset about the whole cull he feels it will makes things worse as the Badgers will move and if they carry the virus it will spread to other farm land where they may not of had it in the past, we will see but what ever we say will have no effect on the out come. well a bit more latter
petethecrip
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petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #218 5 Jan 2012 at 2.11pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #217
I have walked the valleys and the hills of Shropshire I have sat down in the heather and listened to the drone of the honey bee she was there taking, the succulent nectar back to its hive at the cottage far below, i have stood in the mountain stream as it tumbled down the mountain causing a silver spray as it crashed into the pool far below you would hear the call of the grouse high up in the heather and i watched above as the curlew crossed the sunlight sky
making his familiar call cour-ee maybe calling his mate who was far below. It is in these hills that i have watched the goshawk i have climbed to her nest in the coniferous forest and looked inside to see the young chicks both parents attacked as i held the youngsters in my hand they fiercely attack any potential predators this includes humans i replaced the chicks and down the tree i went, they still stooped warning me away giving a cry gek gek gek i did not get hurt but was a bit frightened that i may fallen from high up in the old conifer i kept and eye on that nest for a few weeks i did not want the chicks stolen she reared three in all i was really thrilled to see them they were extinct in Britain in 1800s a few birds escaped captivity, and some released made the big difference, most breed over the border wales in the big conifer plantations looked after by the forestry commission.

As i walked on through the heather i could see the stream far below it was now quite wide you could see it winding its way through the Shropshire country side i have fished the stream many times catching the wonderful brown trout they did not grow big a pound was a good fish but they were marvelous eating i would spin with a small minnow mounted in a flight but could they fight sending up a spray of silver water as they bid for freedom i would not take them all it was great fun catching these small brownies i would hold them in my hand and stare in wonder at the beautiful coloured spots that covered there flanks on both sides then slip them back into the foaming water and watch them swim away they were there to fight another day. As i reached the low land i sat and watched a buzzard circle hight above looking for some poor unsuspecting rabbit maybe to feed her chicks, the humble rabbit was now making a fast recovery from that horrible disease myxomatosis they lived in small pockets using the brambles and scrub as there home bush rabbits, they were black, where they had originated from i don't know maybe some ones pet rabbit that had escaped and breed over the years they were also good eating plenty off fat around the kidneys, i loved these hills and valleys they were so much part of my life. well a bit more latter
petethecrip
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petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #217 4 Jan 2012 at 11.33am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #216
Since i was old enough i have loved nature and the country side its a way of life i have met so many friends over the years some have been real old characters alas no more they have passed on and taken there knowledge with them i have pitted my wits against some fine game keepers knowing if i had been caught i would probably had a good hiding they were all good chaps and did the job to the best of there ability the war years interfered with some of the big estates the game keepers were called up and some never returned by the time the war was over the woods and surrounding land was full of vermin foxes stoats weasels bird life crows every thing that took pheasant poults was killed unfortunately falcons as well i would creep up the woods and looked what the keeper had hung from his rail there would be all sorts hanging there badgers foxes crows rats even the odd otter even cats . thank god things have now changed there would be lots of trapping going on i would find them in the hedge rows they were fearsome things i would find the odd rabbit in them any foxes shot or trapped in those days were usually skinned and there pelt were sold even when i was young some keepers used the pole trap a nasty way to catch the big predatory birds but funnily enough there always seemed to be more wild life around in those days.

Most estates had a lake on the property but they were strictly private anyone caught fishing would be in serous trouble but these estates attracted me i loved to fish these lakes they were mostly stocked with Rudd roach and pike some of the Rudd were big some over three pounds we never had scales in those days you would guess the size but they were very big you could not get your hand around them we never had landing nets only your hands it was on these estates that my love of wild life started especially the fox he was an old rogue of the country side it was sad to see him hunted and shot but like all things he had to be kept in check the birds came first but the keeper never killed them all you would see the odd one or two when out and about what a handsome animal he is with his beautiful rustic red coat but he certainly can inflict a lot of damage to farmers and keepers i have been called out by farmer freinds old foxy had got into the chicken pen not content to take one he killed the lot over forty hens you could not afford to let that happen so he had to be sorted.. well a bit more latter
petethecrip
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petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #216 3 Jan 2012 at 4.35pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #215
AS i walked through the woods to the lake the wind roared in the tree tops the old trees creaked with age some of oaks were years old i was there for a purpose to catch the trout from sirs lake it was stocked full of beautiful rainbows they were put into the lake for the friends of sirs and for his own pleasure, and believe me when i say it was also for my pleasure i will not mention the owners name although he was a lord i do not want to embarrass his family but just say he has long gone but his family still live by that old lake in the woods, all i would carry was a bag on my back and my trusted rod and reel and my tin of red worms gathered from a local farm it was a necessity in those far off days we needed the trout for food out i cast keeping low behind the big reed bed i felt for the bite with my finger and thumb i did not have to wait long they were greedy fish you would feel the bite it would pull the line then the top of the rod would loop over no net in those days play it to the side and into the bag but this estate was not easy to poach you were always on the look out for the keepers there was at least six on this big estate and they were out at night looking out for deer poachers and such they even looked after sirs trout lake i was lucky i never once came up against them, it its funny old life years latter i became a friend of the head keeper and would be invited on the hare drives there were hundreds in those days you could shoot a hundred in a good day maybe more it was revenue for the estate the money they got for the hares was plowed back into it.

Over the years i got to know sir quite well he would always have a chat if he came across you on the hare drives he was a true country man little did he know i had poached his trout years before, but getting to know the keepers and gaining there respect led to many things i was asked if i would attend the big fox shoots they held on the estate i had even by then got a reputation for foxes i loved them, but i also knew they needed to be controlled on these big estates as they reared hundreds of birds for sirs syndicate and many friends as far as the hare drives i was always a bit suspicious about the guns if i did not know them as some used to get quite excited and you had to be on your guard as you may get a pellet or two i have seen it happen the bloke further up the line has been shot in the legs not badly but bad enough to ask the offending gun to remove him self from the shoot with a few choice words from the keeper.

I must admit i was tempted to have a few of sirs birds but i had gained his respect so left well alone he had another lake on the estate that he let me fish i caught some big eels from there ,i don't think i had one under three pounds i also caught a few carp nothing big i suppose the biggest was five pounds but did not complain as it was free it is now a few years since i walked that estate the keepers are all dead sir died the estate is still run by the family, i have some great memories about my poaching those trout years ago and my friendship with the keepers and the shoots that i took part in now it seems a long time ago i suppose it is i am now approaching seventy years old not like the youngster that poached that estate many years before. well a bit more latter





petethecrip
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petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #215 31 Dec 2011 at 2.21pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #213
WELL i hope you all had a nice Christmas i ended up with the lurgy but had some great presents from my family and friends how things have altered over the years when i was a youngster you would hear the carol singers they would come to your house and sing but not any more but we all had a Christmas, our presents were wrapped in brown paper but we did not mind , i can remember lying in bed and listening to the bombers as the past over our house i was not very old at the time but i can remember it as if it was yesterday what a noise they made the house would be all blacked out that was over sixty years ago my grandad died in 1947 he was a big influence in my young life it was he that introduced me to fishing and the delights of the country side he took me to see old Harry Edwards the local rabbiting man who thinned the rabbits out on the big estates there would be rabbits hanging every where you looked he would pass my grandad a rabbit wrapped in news paper how much harry grandad would say nowt to you charlie as you makes a good job with my boots when i bring them in for repair grandad was a shoe repairer he also made boots for the local gentry but that was years ago he died in 1947 at the age of 52 young really but he had a big influence in my young life introducing me to fishing and the delights of the countryside my father had died in the war so i was brought up by my mother we also let a room in our house to a land girl called Joan hay she is still alive and a grand old age it was she that introduced me to bomere as she worked for the local farmer Mr lock i was only young but i would wonder around old Mr lock would say keep thee away from that pool as you may drown it did have reputation a few had committed suicide in the lake my great uncle drowned trying to swim across the lake whether he had cramp no one knew but he disappeared and was never seen again he still lies in the depths of that lake they tried to find him but failed.

When i went down to bomere i would walk into the woods and watch the keeper feed his young poults in a pen behind his house he never knew i was there i would go birds nesting clime the trees height did not worry me the woods were a wonderful place for a youngster like me if had been caught i would of been in trouble i learned so much about nature from those woods but it was much latter before i poached the place latter on the woods were full of pheasant hundreds i used to think how i could catch a few but i was far to young old Mr lock would say thee will be in big trouble if them keepers catch you , i was only about eight years old when mum met and married a man called Bert pemberton i had my name changed to pemberton my real name was wood he was a signal man on the railway it was not long before we moved to craven arms he died four years ago he was a great father who encouraged me to fish and shoot he bought me my first real gun only an air gun but i soon became very accurate using it and shot a few pheasants but that stopped when i met old SAM the keeper. well that it for now more latter i wish you all a happy and prosperous new year
tinofmaggots
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tinofmaggots
   Old Thread  #214 24 Dec 2011 at 9.21pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #212
Merry xmas to you an yours Pete.,

Thank you for the reads..
petethecrip
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petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #213 24 Dec 2011 at 11.24am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #212
It was the night before Christmas as we made our way across the fields the frost glistened on the grass leaving our tracks for all to see the sky above was covered in twinkling stars the moon cast shadows over the distant fields but i had promised our friends a couple of birds apiece i could not let them down the year was around 1959 things were still quite hard i had taken a friend with me tonight his name was jack a wily youngster who was no stranger to breaking the odd law but as we walked he seemed on edge whats up jack i said, whim get caught shooting the birds from these woods, there was a little bit of gypsy in our jack and he was very dark skinned i had never seen him frightened before no jack i said they will all be at the pub they will not expect any poaching to night he answered Na i suppose not but what about the ghosts that haunt the big lake there is only two ghosts tonight jack that's you and me i have poached these woods for years and have never seen out.

On we went towards the distant wood but our jack was not saying much he seemed a bit down and quite what about the ghostly bells that come from the lake Pete, i had heard this story before and said to jack its been made up by the keepers to keep the likes of us away i don't know about that Pete my grandad heard them years ago god jack i have never seen you so scared pull yourself together there's nowt in those woods that will hurt you, we climbed the fence into the wood and made our way under the canopy of trees to the main covert there was ice on the side of the big lake my ears tingled from the cold, you can hold the light jack ill shoot the buggers it was not long before we had a few nice birds in the bag, for once it was quite nice to have company we have got more than we want jack lets call at the compases one of the local pubs and raffle a couple of birds with the domino's what if Gerry in there bugger him its Xmas they will soon go, Gerry will be at the fishes, we started to walk back through the woods when the bloody bells chimed out jack took one look at me and was gone leaving the bag with the birds behind i was doubled up laughing it was the bells from condover church calling the faithful for midnight communion. Poor old jack before i caught up with him he had made it to the railway line did yer hear them ghostly bells Pete i had to laugh no jack they were from condover church i must admit the lake being in a valley made the bells seem if the came from the lake we made our way home across the fields funny i could not get jack to come again he was deeply superstitious and really believed he had heard the ghostly bells of Bomere woods. well that it for now have a peaceful christmas and an happy new year more latter
petethecrip
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petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #212 22 Dec 2011 at 10.34am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #211
"At solstice, the woods were bright in a snowy way, the sky pearl gray above the stately maples and gnarled burr oaks. An Alaskan marooned in the urban Midwest, it took me years to find this nearby patch of relatively undisturbed land where I can sense the power of wildness. Now I go there often, watching the seasons unfold their changeful unchanging patterns in the increasingly familiar forest.

I especially like to walk among the sleeping trees in the half-lit silence of winter dawns. The trail I follow winds and twists, new patches of mixed woodland appearing at every turn. That morning, I reached a point where the path turns sharply left to follow a small ravine. In spring, ephemeral ponds—lively with salamanders, loud with frogs—form in the creases of the forest there. But in frozen winter, I expected nothing beyond silence and wind.

So I did not see them at first, three deer beside three empty larches. When I made them out—gray-dun hides against a gray-dun world—they were motionless, white tails aloft like flags of distress. I stopped in my tracks, thinking how lucky I was to meet the animal my Celtic forebears called the spirit of wildness on that auspicious day."

May i wish you all a very happy and peaceful Christmas and very happy new year
petethecrip
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petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #211 20 Dec 2011 at 11.50am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #210
As i stood in the woods i remembered the time i poached the woods and stream belonging to the condover estate the keeper was old frank bell although dead for many years his house still stands and the big wood known to the locals as bells wood is still there old frank chased me on more then one occasion with the police and under keepers joining in i was fishing this one night when i heard the barking of dogs and the voices of approaching men i ran the field beside the stream and decided i would cross the water fall to the other side belonging to condover blind school but i fell in it was not that deep only about three feet but it felt very cold and i shivered from head to foot it was two in the morning. I made for the river bridge staying to the side of the stream i knew it would hide any scent from the approaching dogs up into the wood i went hiding the rod and fish then up this big old fir and that is where i stayed i watching as the keepers and police passed under this big tree i giggled to my self not aloud i could hear them talking as they followed the dogs further down stream i could see from the torches they used it was Sgt landers and also pc sharp Stan who i was freinds with in latter life, they soon returned and gave in for the night i stayed up that tree for at least another hour until things had settled down picking up my rod and fish on the way home i picked up my bike which i had hidden in condover i had one job to do before returning home, i got on my bike still very wet and took two trout and tied them on old bells gate it was my way of saying thank you i still wonder if he had them for break fast that old fir i hid up still stands to this very day and looks the same as it did all those years ago i could not clime it now but i have my memories of times long ago.

I was really frightened this one night i thought i was going to be caught i had been shooting a few pheasants with my trusted air gun and torch when i heard a shout i have got you this time bloody hell it was old bell and not by himself he had others with him including the police the estate was surrounded by a big stone wall i ran the path out of the wood and over the wall hiding the rods and birds on the way crossed the adjoining road into the field jumping into the ditch it was dry thank god i could hear the shouts in the distance i ran the ditch coming out by the farm known as the green now belonging to Jim Davies it did not take me long to clime the bales in the barn and cover my self up it was not long before i could hear voices god they were at the farm, why i don't know but i heard them call the chase off and they returned the way they had come i was shaking with excitement my adrenaline must have been sky high i gave it an hour for things to settle then collected my gun and birds from the undergrowth picked up my bike i had hidden it in condover and started for home i arrived on the out skirts of the village only to see the police land rover blocking off any access to my house, the crafty bug;;; had twigged it may be me so i turned left into the field arriving at the back of my house over the hedge went my bike followed by me through the hole in the hedge it was not the first time i had used this way to get home i put the pheasant in the shed i was awoken in the morning by a knock on the door my mother answered it was the Sgt where was i mum said in bed before he could answer she said all night it was now six in the morning mum was not amused about being got up so early away they went they could not prove a thing don't make me tell lies again she said as she was a very honest women but it was all forgotten when eating the pheasants for Sunday dinner. well that it for now more latter
petethecrip
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petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #210 20 Dec 2011 at 9.16am  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #208
In reply to Post #206
hi pete , spotted a bird round my way a while ago , about the same size as
a blackbird . it had black blue and white feathers, bit like the blue on a magpie
but defoe wasn't one of them. spoke to a game keeper who told me it was a field-fare
but it wasn't , just wondered if you had any idea what it would have been





hi ralph feel i must apologize to you concerning the blue in the magpie, the amount i have caught over the years in the larson. for the local farmers i should have known better, it does indeed have iridescent blue green sheen on its black wings infact talking to a member on here it could even of been a young magpie that you saw once again i apologize .
petethecrip
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petethecrip
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   Old Thread  #209 15 Dec 2011 at 8.04pm  0  Login    Register
In reply to Post #206
Some local guy asked if i would continue my stories my answer was very simple as long as you all enjoy what i write i will continue, i have not done all i would like to have this year owing to my health i have been struggling to walk owing to my breathing and my back complaint i am now waiting to see a specialist for my back problem which is called senosis, i have just had a scan on my lungs unfortunately i have emphysema caused by me smoking a pipe for over forty years i have not smoked for at least four years but the damage has been done and walking to fast and to far really makes me struggle to breath but i am not ready for old nick just yet i am waiting now to see another specialist and things can be done but there is no cure so if you smoke please pack it up as i would not like to see you all like me.

Well that's enough of that lets get on with my stories heavy snow is forecast for Shropshire tonight followed by heavy rain we certainly need the rain some of our lakes need a big top up i have never seen them so low the ground is still very hard in our area and the recent rain has just not soaked in. Getting back to the wild life going down to my syndicate last Saturday i followed a little Merlin he flew a foot off the ground then skimmed the hedge row to my right and landed in a gate way and allowed me to stop and watch him i was only about maybe a yard from him he was a male with his bluish grey back he just stayed where he was and only took to flight when i put my window down but for me it was a privilege to have seen him this is not the first time i have seen this little hunter and it is always in the same lane. Another bird that has shown up on our shoot is a hen harrier it is a female and she is by her self with no male, how long she will stay i don't know maybe she is only resting coming down from the hill country to the lowlands as food is more available IE rabbits and small birds i just hope English nature does not see the bird as all and sundry may be rolling up to watch her after all it is a triple ssi site even my syndicate has to watch what we do although we have a good re-pore with them and really get on well together they like to see us around as our feeders do feed other birds as well as our pheasants.

The river Severn is bank height it must have rained quite hard in wales i would not mind having ago for the barbel as some real biggies come out in the winter my friend the bailiff has had a few doubles already i think the biggest was over twelve pounds ill have to look for the photos he sent me but he slipped putting back the big one, and ended up in bed hurting his back quite severely i think he is now back in circulation but have not seen him for a couple of months well the foxes should now be mating for all you night anglers you should now hear the vixen calling and the dog answering with with a sharp bark, she will have now chosen the earth she will have her cubs in at a latter date and will lie in this earth on her own out of the bad weather keeping her self warm the cubs will be born early march april not to far away, i hate these dark nights when i poached they were a great help but now i am getting old i prefer the light nights if any one wants to ask any questions regarding wild life please do i am only to glad to help and answer what i can . well that's it for now more latter.
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