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Kenzie - The wild goose man of Lincolnshire


mgsontour
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34 minutes ago, ditchman said:

i got badly done there many years ago.........me mates were always hard up and putting cartridges in their pockets and it was coming up to xmas....i rang the boys at the sale and asked if they had any cheap leather cartridge bags in for the sale...as luck would have it he said there was a box of 7 cartridge bags...all were slightly scuffed...so i said buy them for me if they dont go stupid.........

so he did.......£15 quid the lot..........

 

so i picked them up the next day ..had a quick look into the box ....yup fine......got them back home and thought i would wrap them up for xmas prezzies for my wildfowling mates......box was on the kitchen table

 

there i was watching TV ..having a beer .........my mrs comes in and says "are all your wildfowling mates queer "..???,,,,,,,,,,i said dont be stupid why

 

she said ............."they are ladys handbags you twerp"..............

 

i was not best pleased

Did you still give them to your mates ? 😁

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39 minutes ago, London Best said:

You are right there, MM. From the early ‘70’s I never spoke to a fowler that had a good word for ‘Kenzie. I think it was because the publicity had gone to his head a bit. 
And, from what I could see, he certainly never stopped poaching even if it was on a much reduced scale to his earlier exploits. Even in the 1960’s it was obviously impossible for him to operate in the same manner and with the same impunity he was doing in the 1930/40/50’s. 
Sitting in the houseboat one afternoon, I mentioned that I had never seen him call hares. “Got yor gun, bor”, and we were off. He walked me up the sea wall, across a dyke, then along a smaller dyke to the junction with another dyke in the corner of a 400 acre stubble field. “you ready”, and he began to call. Hares popped up and ran towards us like a flock of sheep. 
I count myself lucky to have known him before he started referring to himself as “the famous wildfowler”.

I would had loved to had known him , but in a way it might had been better to read about the man after he passed away rather than been in his company when he was alive , as towards the end of his time he might had been a different person than when he was in his prime so to speak.

I had a day out using my bus pass once to travel from Yarmouth to Sutton Bridge to go to the church there and have a look at his head stone , it took just over four hours on two buses , I finally got off at Sutton Bridge and walked down the road to the church , the grave yard wasn't that big but it was like looking for a neddle in a haystack , after walking up a few rows I saw a chap sitting on grass cutting tractor who funnily enough looked the spitting image of Kenzie , so I had no more to do than go and ask him if he knew where the head stone was , I was in luck , he not only knew where Kenzies was he also showed me Sids Wright , Mr Bromley and one of the Punt gunners who lived in the West light house , this one had a carving of a punt gunner pushing on to some fowl , Kenzies had some geese on his with the heading Kenzie The Wild Goose Man , the chap who showed me around was a diamond and his name was Mr Pooley ? , or very similar , he like me was getting on a bit and was soon going to be leaving off , he said he had some old photos at home and would I like to come and have a look , as I had another four hour journey to get back home I said I would love to but sadly not today .

I often wander what would happen if all the wild fowlers in that grave yard got together on a moonlight light and had one last go with the Pinks  and then recounted the days of old while having a few beers , what a night that would be :good:

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The gentleman referred to above was not "Rusty" it was Russell Lawson - first and foremost a very skilled professional punt gunner.

"One of the punt gunners who lived in the West Lighthouse" - this was Laurence Thompson, probably the greatest amateur punt gunner of his generation. Unlike the others mentioned here LT punted not just on the Wash but most spots from Loch Fleet southwards. His sons are still great fowlers.

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6 minutes ago, Pushandpull said:

The gentleman referred to above was not "Rusty" it was Russell Lawson - first and foremost a very skilled professional punt gunner.

"One of the punt gunners who lived in the West Lighthouse" - this was Laurence Thompson, probably the greatest amateur punt gunner of his generation. Unlike the others mentioned here LT punted not just on the Wash but most spots from Loch Fleet southwards. His sons are still great fowlers.

 

6 minutes ago, Pushandpull said:

The gentleman referred to above was not "Rusty" it was Russell Lawson - first and foremost a very skilled professional punt gunner.

"One of the punt gunners who lived in the West Lighthouse" - this was Laurence Thompson, probably the greatest amateur punt gunner of his generation. Unlike the others mentioned here LT punted not just on the Wash but most spots from Loch Fleet southwards. His sons are still great fowlers.

You are correct his name was Russell but the family affectingly called him Rusty.

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24 minutes ago, Pushandpull said:

The gentleman referred to above was not "Rusty" it was Russell Lawson - first and foremost a very skilled professional punt gunner.

"One of the punt gunners who lived in the West Lighthouse" - this was Laurence Thompson, probably the greatest amateur punt gunner of his generation. Unlike the others mentioned here LT punted not just on the Wash but most spots from Loch Fleet southwards. His sons are still great fowlers.

Regarding Laurence Thompson we seem to think he had Russell’s punt and or punt gun when he packed up but not sure.

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1 hour ago, marsh man said:

I would had loved to had known him , but in a way it might had been better to read about the man after he passed away rather than been in his company when he was alive , as towards the end of his time he might had been a different person than when he was in his prime so to speak.

I had a day out using my bus pass once to travel from Yarmouth to Sutton Bridge to go to the church there and have a look at his head stone , it took just over four hours on two buses , I finally got off at Sutton Bridge and walked down the road to the church , the grave yard wasn't that big but it was like looking for a neddle in a haystack , after walking up a few rows I saw a chap sitting on grass cutting tractor who funnily enough looked the spitting image of Kenzie , so I had no more to do than go and ask him if he knew where the head stone was , I was in luck , he not only knew where Kenzies was he also showed me Sids Wright , Mr Bromley and one of the Punt gunners who lived in the West light house , this one had a carving of a punt gunner pushing on to some fowl , Kenzies had some geese on his with the heading Kenzie The Wild Goose Man , the chap who showed me around was a diamond and his name was Mr Pooley ? , or very similar , he like me was getting on a bit and was soon going to be leaving off , he said he had some old photos at home and would I like to come and have a look , as I had another four hour journey to get back home I said I would love to but sadly not today .

I often wander what would happen if all the wild fowlers in that grave yard got together on a moonlight light and had one last go with the Pinks  and then recounted the days of old while having a few beers , what a night that would be :good:

What a cracking post 👍.

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12 hours ago, Pushandpull said:

The gentleman referred to above was not "Rusty" it was Russell Lawson - first and foremost a very skilled professional punt gunner.

"One of the punt gunners who lived in the West Lighthouse" - this was Laurence Thompson, probably the greatest amateur punt gunner of his generation. Unlike the others mentioned here LT punted not just on the Wash but most spots from Loch Fleet southwards. His sons are still great fowlers.

I remember seeing Mr L Thompson on the Fenland Wildfowlers D V D , the owner of the East Lighthouse then ( Mr Joel ) interviewed some of the members of the F W A and he asked Mr Thompson if he knew Kenzie , he said he did and went to see him in hospital when he was poorly , he said he reached in his locker to give him his woolly cap that he always wore when he was shooting , he told Laurence , here you are you can have this , I have wiped the sweat off my brow , blew my nose with it but I have never wiped my arsx with it , Laurence laughed and said he still had it at home somewhere.

If you want to look at the d v d then your more than welcome , just get in touch and I will post it off to you .

Edited by marsh man
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i never met Kenzie.....but the wildfowlers on the docks at lynn used to know him well...i will tell you a story later that was related to me by one of them when kenzie come over the wash to shoot wolverton flats....the dockers used to sleep on pontoon sheds and take a sack of coal with them and pies and bottles of whiskey............

later i will tell you what transpired one morning.....Lynn police will confirm it

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13 hours ago, marsh man said:

I would had loved to had known him , but in a way it might had been better to read about the man after he passed away rather than been in his company when he was alive , as towards the end of his time he might had been a different person than when he was in his prime so to speak.

I had a day out using my bus pass once to travel from Yarmouth to Sutton Bridge to go to the church there and have a look at his head stone , it took just over four hours on two buses , I finally got off at Sutton Bridge and walked down the road to the church , the grave yard wasn't that big but it was like looking for a neddle in a haystack , after walking up a few rows I saw a chap sitting on grass cutting tractor who funnily enough looked the spitting image of Kenzie , so I had no more to do than go and ask him if he knew where the head stone was , I was in luck , he not only knew where Kenzies was he also showed me Sids Wright , Mr Bromley and one of the Punt gunners who lived in the West light house , this one had a carving of a punt gunner pushing on to some fowl , Kenzies had some geese on his with the heading Kenzie The Wild Goose Man , the chap who showed me around was a diamond and his name was Mr Pooley ? , or very similar , he like me was getting on a bit and was soon going to be leaving off , he said he had some old photos at home and would I like to come and have a look , as I had another four hour journey to get back home I said I would love to but sadly not today .

I often wander what would happen if all the wild fowlers in that grave yard got together on a moonlight light and had one last go with the Pinks  and then recounted the days of old while having a few beers , what a night that would be :good:

I've got relatives buried in that grave yard, it's hard work finding anyone in there! 

A walk down the east lighthouse and a sit on Frank Harrisons bench is another one worth doing, whatever the weather.

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3 hours ago, Big Mat said:

I've got relatives buried in that grave yard, it's hard work finding anyone in there! 

A walk down the east lighthouse and a sit on Frank Harrisons bench is another one worth doing, whatever the weather.

Good afternoon Mat   ... It is surprising how many people are buried in that smallish grave yard , when I spoke on line to Fenboy who used to be a member on P W he knew the grass cutter well and I believe his surname is on a board ( Porky ? ) above one of the buildings when you first go down that main road from the swing bridge ?

I have walked down to the East Lighthouse and beyond ( another bus pass trip ) it is a fair ole walk from the bus stop but very enjoyable , the bench on top of the wall hadn't been there long as at the time it still looked new , I forget what it said on the little brass plate that was fixed to the back but it is a nice place to take the weight off your feet for ten minutes.

Also on my bucket list is to walk from Sutton Bridge along the Peter Scott path back to West Lynn then get the ferry back to Kings Lynn , have a meal before making my way back , just got to work out the Summer bus time tables and go on from there , I might even take my dog with me for company , tell yer , this retirement lark is not as bad as some make out :lol:

P S    Look after yourself and I hope you and your family are settling down in your new home :good: 

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5 hours ago, Big Mat said:

I've got relatives buried in that grave yard, it's hard work finding anyone in there! 

A walk down the east lighthouse and a sit on Frank Harrisons bench is another one worth doing, whatever the weather.

Stuck a tail feather from my first foreshore pink in that bench as I came off the marsh.

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There is a certain irony in a seat dedicated to Frank, who could out-stride most folk for miles when walking along the seabank. I can see the twinkle in those eyes now, Penelope's tale reminds me of the night I got back to the car park to find a neat row of three pintail tail-feathers tucked under my windscreen wipers by FH.  A delightful chap and one of nature's gentlemen.

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