ditchman Posted August 13, 2017 Report Share Posted August 13, 2017 (edited) Howard Carter (who dug up Tutankamun in old Egypt)...............blast boi ee come from Swaffham.... H Rider Haggard (famed Writer)................................................blast boi ee come fro just outside Swaffham Jon Mills......(famed actor)...........................................................ee come fro Belton...(just outside Yarmouth).. funny old world aint it Edited August 13, 2017 by ditchman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timmytree Posted August 13, 2017 Report Share Posted August 13, 2017 All related, all with 6 fingers on the left hand, same squint. All related to some fat bird up your way? Sounds like they came from Somerset! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ditchman Posted August 13, 2017 Author Report Share Posted August 13, 2017 i think they couldnt get out of Norfolk quick enough..........they never came back........... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gordon R Posted August 13, 2017 Report Share Posted August 13, 2017 I like Norfolk. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
7daysinaweek Posted August 13, 2017 Report Share Posted August 13, 2017 yes Rider Haggard wrote the book " I walked by night" one of my fave reads as a youngster, was about an account of a poacher in norfolk who main way of operating was longnetting, cracking read. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ditchman Posted August 14, 2017 Author Report Share Posted August 14, 2017 yes Rider Haggard wrote the book " I walked by night" one of my fave reads as a youngster, was about an account of a poacher in norfolk who main way of operating was longnetting, cracking read. wow...that is interesting.. well done that man...........i will get that book ...cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Velocette Posted August 14, 2017 Report Share Posted August 14, 2017 (edited) yes Rider Haggard wrote the book " I walked by night" one of my fave reads as a youngster, was about an account of a poacher in norfolk who main way of operating was longnetting, cracking read. I think that you will find that the poaching book was by Lilias Rider-Haggard,,a lady relation of Sir Henry of King Solomon's Mines fame. A good author nevertheless who wrote several books about Norfolk and was a friend of Henry Williamson (Tarka The Otter) when he was farming near Wells before WW2. He,incidentally,was a chum of Lady Sunn and other friends of Oswald Mosley when they were trying to get the government of the time to protect British agriculture from cheap imported food and goods. That basic notion did get a little out of hand leading to Mosley's internment for the duration. Edited August 14, 2017 by Velocette Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amateur Posted August 14, 2017 Report Share Posted August 14, 2017 Wasn't Nelson a Norfolk boy too - he was missing five digits and an eye. Terrible what inbreeding does Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
7daysinaweek Posted August 14, 2017 Report Share Posted August 14, 2017 (edited) wow...that is interesting.. well done that man...........i will get that book ...cheers Hey Ditchy I am sure you will find it a very interesting and enthralling read ditchy. Haggard wrote the book after the diary of this character was found after his death and was fascinated by the true account of his hard life. If you read it i am sure many of the places in the book will resonate with you, talks about places in swaffam, bungay, newmarket, cromer etc. It would be 35 + years since i read it but can recall many things from the book. He talks about longnetting as this was his favoured method around the victorian era and gives accounts of longnetting hundreds of rabbits nightly along with historical accounts of things that he experienced in norfolk in his life both good and bad. He travelled extensively around the whole area of Norfolk. Like many young lads i was seduced by this book as a youngen and consumed most hunting books with great enthusiasm and i even wrote a poem (below) after reading this book when i was about 12 which i had published in a poetry book. I am sure i still have the book, if i can dig it out the loft i will send it to you, once you have finished you can pass on to another. atb 7diaw As the night is dark and the wind does blow The darkness calls him and he must go Out on foot after his quarry He is a shadow of the night and has no worry He pits his wits against man and beast And for his foray he was rewarded a feast From wood to wood from field to field He reaps the treasures from natures yield Most people paint him as black as they can He is regarded as a thief and scoundrel of a man He cares no less for what their thoughts He carries on the skill that he was taught He loves his work with dog, net or gun There is no other that gives him such fun He sleeps in the day and works in the night For there’s no other as a poachers life P. Edited August 14, 2017 by 7daysinaweek Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ditchman Posted August 14, 2017 Author Report Share Posted August 14, 2017 Hhhahh great stuff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy135 Posted August 14, 2017 Report Share Posted August 14, 2017 (edited) Like that poem 7diaw :-) Edited August 14, 2017 by Andy135 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
7daysinaweek Posted August 14, 2017 Report Share Posted August 14, 2017 Like that poem 7diaw :-) Cheers Andy, i wrote it when i was a young whippersnapper! I could always be found day and night skulking around the local hedgerows, fields and ponds. Any game or vermin that flew, ran or swam was on me radar, and nothing was safe, well within reason. Out with the shotty, air rifle, fishing, ferreting, snaring, ratting, long netting and lamping among other things. Ahh those were the days. atb 7diaw Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NatureBoy Posted August 14, 2017 Report Share Posted August 14, 2017 Hey Ditchy I am sure you will find it a very interesting and enthralling read ditchy. Haggard wrote the book after the diary of this character was found after his death and was fascinated by the true account of his hard life. If you read it i am sure many of the places in the book will resonate with you, talks about places in swaffam, bungay, newmarket, cromer etc. It would be 35 + years since i read it but can recall many things from the book. He talks about longnetting as this was his favoured method around the victorian era and gives accounts of longnetting hundreds of rabbits nightly along with historical accounts of things that he experienced in norfolk in his life both good and bad. He travelled extensively around the whole area of Norfolk. Like many young lads i was seduced by this book as a youngen and consumed most hunting books with great enthusiasm and i even wrote a poem (below) after reading this book when i was about 12 which i had published in a poetry book. I am sure i still have the book, if i can dig it out the loft i will send it to you, once you have finished you can pass on to another. atb 7diaw As the night is dark and the wind does blow The darkness calls him and he must go Out on foot after his quarry He is a shadow of the night and has no worry He pits his wits against man and beast And for his foray he was rewarded a feast From wood to wood from field to field He reaps the treasures from natures yield Most people paint him as black as they can He is regarded as a thief and scoundrel of a man He cares no less for what their thoughts He carries on the skill that he was taught He loves his work with dog, net or gun There is no other that gives him such fun He sleeps in the day and works in the night For there’s no other as a poachers life P. Hey Ditchy I am sure you will find it a very interesting and enthralling read ditchy. Haggard wrote the book after the diary of this character was found after his death and was fascinated by the true account of his hard life. If you read it i am sure many of the places in the book will resonate with you, talks about places in swaffam, bungay, newmarket, cromer etc. It would be 35 + years since i read it but can recall many things from the book. He talks about longnetting as this was his favoured method around the victorian era and gives accounts of longnetting hundreds of rabbits nightly along with historical accounts of things that he experienced in norfolk in his life both good and bad. He travelled extensively around the whole area of Norfolk. Like many young lads i was seduced by this book as a youngen and consumed most hunting books with great enthusiasm and i even wrote a poem (below) after reading this book when i was about 12 which i had published in a poetry book. I am sure i still have the book, if i can dig it out the loft i will send it to you, once you have finished you can pass on to another. atb 7diaw As the night is dark and the wind does blow The darkness calls him and he must go Out on foot after his quarry He is a shadow of the night and has no worry He pits his wits against man and beast And for his foray he was rewarded a feast From wood to wood from field to field He reaps the treasures from natures yield Most people paint him as black as they can He is regarded as a thief and scoundrel of a man He cares no less for what their thoughts He carries on the skill that he was taught He loves his work with dog, net or gun There is no other that gives him such fun He sleeps in the day and works in the night For there’s no other as a poachers life P. Truly great poem 7days. Have old treasured copy of the book i have read many times. Both it and your poem sum up a way of life that my father, grandfather and gt grandfather as Suffolk countrymen and others knew lived and told of. Folk of spirit passion great knowledge of the natural world and skill. Born in a time to a way of life of rural poverty, suppression and necessity that few would condone or ever understand! Ditchy here's also a great dvd called The truth behind i walked by night. Telling the true story of the character Fredric Rolf. King of the Norfolk poachers. Tho he was a Bungay boi! NB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
7daysinaweek Posted August 15, 2017 Report Share Posted August 15, 2017 I wholly agree with your sentiment nb, the book as you say gives a fascinating account of the daily hardships of rural life in the late victorian era, his actions were done out of necessity. I recall in the book he was sent to the local gaol at about the age of twelve or thirteen for poaching and was not taken lightly as it is today. I read somewhere many years later that he ended his life by hanging himself. When i was sixteen i lived on me uncles couch in Tidworth, Andover and one of his good friend was an old chap Nobby who was very akin to to the man we speak of, he used to turn up with all kinds from rabbits to deer almost on a weekly basis, his knowledge of wildlife and its habits were exceptional. No doubt was the local keepers worst nightmare. atb 7diaw Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eyefor Posted August 15, 2017 Report Share Posted August 15, 2017 (edited) Just reflecting on village / country life - way back in the 1970's we moved in to a small village (which, although still a very nice place to live, has changed a lot since then) but an advert in the local village store at that time read - FOR SALE Neville's car. Apply Neville. That was it. Everyone knew Neville (the local woodsman), where he lived and what car he had. No laptop, mobile phone, Auto Trader, eBay nor t'internet needed. Edited August 15, 2017 by Eyefor Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ditchman Posted August 15, 2017 Author Report Share Posted August 15, 2017 Those were the days.................. i was lucky enough to witness thrashing time...im not that old but where i was born there were several thatchers in the area...so the farmer cut one field everyyear with the binder....we with the women stooked it....then we later pitched it on the trailer ...off to the yard to be stacked off the ground then sheeted over..... in the early winter...the steam engine came along towing the thrashing machine....it would set up next to the stack.......then around the stack a chicken wire fence was erected... .... then the local book maker would turn up...with his betting board...and all the lads in the area with terriers used to turn up....and thrashing would start....and the rats appeared ...and people used to take bets on the top ratter.........it was bloody pandimoniom.....there were flying rats ........rats blood....fighting terriers....the noise was blood curdling...and alcohol was present.....at my age it was 2 gulps of whiskey and i was sloshed.... the grain was bagged...and the sheaves were stacked on the lorries for the thatchers............... its all gone now..............wonderful memories....... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
racing snake Posted August 15, 2017 Report Share Posted August 15, 2017 Norfolk 'n good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
7daysinaweek Posted August 15, 2017 Report Share Posted August 15, 2017 (edited) Those were the days.................. i was lucky enough to witness thrashing time...im not that old but where i was born there were several thatchers in the area...so the farmer cut one field everyyear with the binder....we with the women stooked it....then we later pitched it on the trailer ...off to the yard to be stacked off the ground then sheeted over..... in the early winter...the steam engine came along towing the thrashing machine....it would set up next to the stack.......then around the stack a chicken wire fence was erected... .... then the local book maker would turn up...with his betting board...and all the lads in the area with terriers used to turn up....and thrashing would start....and the rats appeared ...and people used to take bets on the top ratter.........it was bloody pandimoniom.....there were flying rats ........rats blood....fighting terriers....the noise was blood curdling...and alcohol was present.....at my age it was 2 gulps of whiskey and i was sloshed.... the grain was bagged...and the sheaves were stacked on the lorries for the thatchers............... its all gone now..............wonderful memories....... Would have loved to have seen it ditchy, sounded like a wild time which was the total norm.We used to roam about ratting, everyone armed with sticks, catty's etc. Remember getting a back hander from a farmer when he caught me ratting with me terrier and ferret on one of his ditches. Funny thing was I got to know him a little later after that as i kept letting on to him and he gave me permission to do the rats and rabbits on the little bit of land he had. Cracking old fella, now sadly gone. On another tangent, the local pub has just been re thatched and the chap who has done the job is the same man who done it 25 years ago, came all the way up from Norfolk and so did the thatch. atb 7diaw Edited August 15, 2017 by 7daysinaweek Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ditchman Posted August 15, 2017 Author Report Share Posted August 15, 2017 the shame is most of the norfolk reed....for thatching comes from Holland...and i believe china............what reed we produce is done by half a doz blokes on the broards now ...one of them lives in the village and has a drawing out and sizing barn just down the road from me , where he works everyday........ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
7daysinaweek Posted August 15, 2017 Report Share Posted August 15, 2017 the shame is most of the norfolk reed....for thatching comes from Holland...and i believe china............what reed we produce is done by half a doz blokes on the broards now ...one of them lives in the village and has a drawing out and sizing barn just down the road from me , where he works everyday........ That is a shame ditchy, wonder why it has to come all that way when we have wonderful stuff here that has been used and tested over the age? When we were in norfolk the other week we walked up across How hill, we came across a couple of acres of reed and it was growing in a perfect block on a preworked field and it looked as square as a game crop sown. Does it hold game or would this have been for thatching use? it was only a stones throw from howhill estate. Judging by the amount of thatched cottages we came across craftsmen of this ilk must be in demand or is it a dying trade? atb 7diaw Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ditchman Posted August 15, 2017 Author Report Share Posted August 15, 2017 the problem is all about money...........The RSPB and the Broards Authority...give out subseties to the reed cutters/ bed managers.....managing and cutting reed /beds is bloody hard work..........students from uni try it and last maybe as much as 2-3 days before they escape there is a lot to to to maintain a bed....digging trenches...dykes....burning...cutting ....stacking ...all of which is done at the time of the year when it is the wettest and coldest........... there also has of late been a problem with the quality of the reed.....proberly due to the lack of management of the beds....and as a result there needs to be more time spent sorting the reed into different lenghts....which is what my mate does down the road............. so all in all ...it is the easy option to lift the phone and ask for 1000 bundals of so and so lenght reed.....and a few weeks later it arrives from god knows where..... cheap imports....thats all it is down to Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
7daysinaweek Posted August 15, 2017 Report Share Posted August 15, 2017 I take it it is cut by hand, do they use a scythe?, as you say sound like bleddy tough work in them conditions. The cost of the roof which was done on the pub near us was about 30,000, they had to replace all of the oak framing for the whole roof as it had been fire damaged. I know the chap who is the manager and he shown me his wood (ooer missus) when the job was finished and all the oak was pegged and dowelled and great workmanship. The total cost of the roof came to approx 80,000 he said. A cheaper to tile but the building is large and grade 11 listed so the costs were hefty. As you say cheap imports, bahhhh! atb 7diaw Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ditchman Posted August 15, 2017 Author Report Share Posted August 15, 2017 to cut they use a modern version of the Allen Sythe....powered by Honda.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
39TDS Posted August 16, 2017 Report Share Posted August 16, 2017 Just reflecting on village / country life - way back in the 1970's we moved in to a small village (which, although still a very nice place to live, has changed a lot since then) but an advert in the local village store at that time read - FOR SALE Neville's car. Apply Neville. That was it. Everyone knew Neville (the local woodsman), where he lived and what car he had. No laptop, mobile phone, Auto Trader, eBay nor t'internet needed. Going back 40 odd years, the local pub was on the side of a quite busy A road. George turned right off the main road heading to the pub car park, right into the path of the car that was overtaking him. George and all the members of the crowd that came out to see were insistent that there was no need for George to have indicated because everybody knew he would be going to the pub at that time on a Friday. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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