adzyvilla

I didn't see much when walking the dogs earlier today, perhaps they are sheltering from the wind....

Currently I'm only dreaming of some roost shooting and decoying the remnants of maize strips, but I'll have to wait as my two farms are strictly off limits until the end of the pheasant season. Not to say that I haven't been doing a bit of impromptu recon in the local area. Mid and central south Norfolk so far seems to be enjoying slightly increased numbers of pigeon making the most of the abundant ivy berries and other natural food sources in the woods and hedgerows, but mostly steering clear of the very average rape fields that dot the landscape here abouts. This last week I have seen separate flocks of 60-70 in two different areas (one North and one south of dereham), and my favourite roost wood hosting well over 50. Hopefully this is of some interest to local PW members. Would be keen to find out if the woodies are bothering with rape yet in other localities.

A fellow Ben Davidson fan? I thought I was th only one....

As pushandpull says, its been 'around the corner' for decades. Like many things, where there is a will there is a way. What use would the powers be have for abundant cheap limitless energy and its easy availability for the masses? If it was necessary, we'd all be using it already.

None of my direct family have a history of military service (world wars excepted) but my great uncle joined the navy at 16 and was a survivor of the sinking of HMS Prince of Wales by the Japanese. Cant imagine my dad on a battle ship, he gets sea sick on the Isle of White ferry....

Interesting thread to read, I myself haven't done much of significance or happen to me so I suppose in many ways I'm fortunate. I sometimes wish my father would write a book or at least record his exploits as he has had an eventful 76 years on earth (so far). I'm sure there are many on this forum with a few tales to tell and hopefully they will share here. A life lived to the full with few regrets is a life lived well.

I'm with ultrastu on this one, my armsan a612 has been brilliant in 6 years of heavy use, the only negative being the rubberised plastic stock is peeling in several places, but that doesn't bother me. Never put anything smaller than 28g through it but its not been fussy no matter what I've put through it.

Had a mate who has his own landscaping/gardening business around to help me cut my overgrown 200ft long mixed hedge right back this year and all his gear (trimmer, long reach and chainsaw) was milwaukee. Very impressed with how long the battery lasted before they needed charging, and being lighter than all my two stroke gear were pleasant to use over extended periods. He has recently switched from dewalt to milwaukee as his preferred make but I understand they are quite pricey.

I think phillip Webster is a top bloke, I used to go to lings in Massingham but Phil gets all my business now. We do have a gun shop like the one in the OP just down the road from me, where he either likes you or he doesn't and nothing in between. I've not heard many have a good word to say about him.

I've had a few, averaged one ever 6 months for the first 15 years of driving. First car was a mk1 golf gti which my dad and I rebuilt over 2 years and I learned all about car repairs and maintenance from it. It will always have a special place in my heart. Most fun was a Toyota celica GT4 st185 in the castrol rally livery. Wish I'd kept that one as they are silly money now. Fastest (but only just) was a subaru impreza wrx, the first of many subarus for me. Rarest was car 003 of 150 Ford racing pumas. Shame I didn't have it for long as it was certainly not a daily driver and I couldn't afford to run more than one car at a time. I've spent an obscene amount of money on cars but I don't regret a single penny. I have calmed down a lot now and been driving the same subaru xv for 5 trouble free years.

Well it was a bit of a cock up from the word go. I got there first of the beaters and noone else was about so I waited a bit then decided to look at my phone. One message from the keeper telling me the day was cancelled. But just as I was leaving the farmyard, the keeper steamed up in his kubota in a lather and told me it was back on. The boss had tried to cancel but half the guns had already arrived by that point although I hadn't seen anyone (we share the same yard) Then the other beaters started to arrive as the keeper phoned them all one by one, except the solitary picker up who he couldn't get hold of. All the guns finally all arrived by 10, an hour after we were supposed to start and had agreed we would shoot straight through and do 5 drives. The rain was relentless and despite some decent clothing, I was soaked through after 2 hours and 3 drives walking through 300 yard strips of 8 ft high maize and ankle mangling brambles. At this point the guns decided to head back to the yard for a change of clothing, but we didn't have the same luxury. They were gone for 45 minutes (turns out they were having drinks and bacon rolls). They finally turned up again and we completed the last 2 drives just after 1. They then asked if we could do another as the rain had eased a bit (it hadnt). The keeper blew his top at this point and we beat a hasty retreat back to the yard. I was back home and had my feet up by 2, a massive £35 richer. Total bag for the day? 19. Two blank drives. If my dog hadn't made a solid retrieve from a fast flowing deep ditch it would have been 18. It was a woeful spectacle for all involved and the poor birds deserved a more dignified end.

I think the average age of this team of guns is about 80, so we will have to see how keen they are!

Needless to say, come 6am this morning, it was clear my day was not going to be made. Still, off beating tomorrow (unless it gets rained off) so I can forget all about it until Monday!

A little thing that makes my day is getting to work and finding out that no extra **** ups have occurred since I left the previous evening.

Doesn't make much sense to me. He's going to be on significantly more money than the previous manager, plus whatever they had to pay him to leave. Is it really affordable for a second rate team in what is arguably the most competitive league in club football? I suppose they are banking on the big name of Rooney being able to draw in some higher profile players, a formula that fails as often as it works. I feel sorry for John eustace, but I'm sure he's shown enough to attract the attention of some more worthy employers. As a villa fan, I wish him all the success of his previous managemental ventures.

My non shooting non country pal watched it and his main takeaway was that packham is an even bigger knob than he thought. This from a guy who watches springwatch etc. Maybe it hasn't done CP any good?

The farm i grew up on was sold for housing when dad gave up the lease and retired 16 years ago. It was a wonderful 350 acre mixed farm with about 200 acres under arable and the rest water meadows which hosted cattle and sheep over the years and two blocks of low lying woodland that often flooded. Despite the meadows all being home to rare orchids and invertebrates and the woodland having several TPOs on ancient oaks the whole lot was cleared, the meadows drained and 400 houses and a school built in its place. The blood, sweat and tears we as a family, but in particular my father put into that place over the 30 years we were there, only to see it all bulldozed and concreted over nearly tipped the old man over the edge when he foolishly went back to look a few years later. The houses suffer terribly from subsidence issues due to the wet ground and the whole site looks a mess. I have many fond memories of cutting my teeth pigeon shooting in the bigger wood, beating on the little shoot we ran for many years with the neighbouring farm (now also partly built on) and shooting my first duck on the flooded meadow one wild November night. I despise the greed and avarice that motivates the builders of these housing estates on green sites while thousands of acres of brownfield lies empty and wasted.

Its all in the Windsor framework. We haven't left and we never will.

Im fully aware of this and the complete lack of attention this is getting in the legacy media, doing the governments dirty work by ignoring it. Thanks for airing it on here so it can be seen by a wider audience, and I urge all of you who care to at least try and warn others who might not know. I have lost count of the amount of times I have contacted my constituency MP about a whole range of matters, who used to just reply along the lines of 'thanks for writing, but i think you should leave it to the adults' and now no longer replies at all. As Stonepark suggests, there isn't going to be a political solution as it appears to be the problem, a mixture of blind dogma bordering on religious zealotry on the part of some, and good old fashioned vested interests on others. Parliament is all sewn up by the uniparty and their direction of travel is clear, so what other options do we have? I dont want a 4am knock at the door from special branch so I'll leave it there.

Hi Marsh Man I had a similar problem in my subaru XV, which use as my shooting transport so a spare was vital. The spare wheel well is very shallow so initially I got a full size steel wheel (plenty second hand on eBay) which sat in the footwell behind the front passenger seat. Then I had the idea that I would get a space saver and make a new raised boot floor so it would fit. A bit of 8mm ply, some upholstery foam and a piece of cheap black carpet later, I've sacrificed about 2 inches of boot floor, but the spare now fits perfectly along with a jack and wheelbrace. The dogs don't mind the slightly reduced headroom and I can now have more space in the back for kit and occasional passengers.

We use 3m at work for high quality finishing.

Getting in on the carbon capture and storage scam early. A lot of acres to offset his lavish lifestyle and get some of that lovely tax payer £££

Great pics, and it looks like you had the weather for it. Thanks for sharing

We get them flying over the house (normally in the early morning) all the time and we are 20+ miles in land.

Unfortunately ditchman one Gordon brown went through a court case to establish that manifesto promises are nothing but hot air. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/general-election-2015/politics-blog/11541708/The-court-case-that-proves-you-cant-sue-politicians-for-breaking-their-election-promises.html