And so we say farewell to David Cameron the former Prime Minister and now former MP for Witney – I wonder whether the constituents who wrote to him about grouse shooting will ever get a reply?
Mr Cameron will be remembered for accidentally getting us out of the EU when he himself wanted to stay in – that’s power for you! The PR PM did not appear to believe in anything very much and having diced with Scottish independence and proportional representation and won, he diced with Brexit and lost.
I wonder what he’ll do now? Is he picking up tips from Tony Blair on what ex Prime Ministers do?
Cameron can now go back to a spot of shooting without fear of being photographed in an embarrassing fashion and there was the rumour that he was interested in buying the house and grouse moors at Tillypronie some weeks back.
Tillypronie has everything you need to chillax as an ex PM; pheasant shooting, grouse shooting and a spot of fishing for salmon in the river Don and trout in the Lazywell lochs.
And all for just £10.5m!
But it seems unlikely that Cameron will buy the place from Philip Astor as this blog knows that a powerful consortium of conservationists is also interested in the property which has great potential, unrealised as far as we know, for flocks of nesting Hen Harriers.
Could this be where Henry finally finds a home and a ringtail?
He’s already had a look and likes some of what he sees. Here he is pictured at the gates of Tillypronie. Shall we all chip in to buy Henry a new home on Donside – not far from Balmoral and Invercauld.
Henry says please sign the e-petition to ban driven grouse shooting.
Any suggestions for a caption for this image?
Hooray Henry! I hope that powerful consortium is successful. Not quite sure if the blog is being tongue in cheek here but at c£875 per acre with quite a big cottage thrown in it looks a good buy to me. Recent Ntl Trust Borrowdale purchase was £3,100 per acre – without the buildings. The most immediately realisable chance for Henry – and a great many mates!
“Where’s that ringtail got to? I want to carry her over the threshold!”
Just checked Weds lottery numbers in the hope I could buy it! Sadly not. But would definately support a conservation buy-out. Presumably they could re-sell the house on separately?
“Can we go home now please? My spring-trapped leg still hurts from the other day”.
Mark, as Arne noted above I’m not sure how tongue-in-cheek this is either, but perhaps you could make that clear ASAP? At that price is would be eminently affordable to buy for conservation purposes and I suspect many people including myself would be very happy to contribute to its purchase. Just imagine; a former grouse moor properly managed would not only provide a much-needed haven for hen harriers and others but also by comparison would give the lie to everything the shooting lobby pretend regarding conservation on active shooting estates. Where do I send my cheque?
Hope Moor? Or Moor Hope?!
If you could persuade 120000 people to donate £100 each……
If only half of all RSPB members chipped in £20, it could be easily bought. I’d gladly send my cash in. Be great to see RSPB, Wildlife Trusts and NTfS mobilising behind this
If only half the RSPB members signed Mark’s e-petition it would easily have half a million signatures.
WW1 mode……..
It’s a long way to Tillypronie,
It’s a long way to go.
It’s a long way to Tillypronie
To the sweetest girl I know!
Goodbye, Peak District,
Farewell, the Bowland Fells!
It’s a long long way to Tillypronie,
But my heart’s right there.
I’d seriously be interested in contributing to the purchase – would be an amazing thing to be involved in.
Why not, we could all send a small amount to buy this estate, after all organizations like the RSPB (whose memberships are not cheap) should stepping up to purchase this grouse moor.
This would be an excellent project to Crowdfund. I’d contribute.
do Hen Harriers even come in flocks? Sheep and seagulls obviously but Hen Harriers?
Is there a collective noun for Hen harriers?
I’d be happy to chip in, as I’m sure many others would. Maybe BT and the National Lottery might help.
I can just imagine the squadrons of Harriers streaming out from Tillypronie. Think of all the imaginative names the chicks could be given.
I hadnt thought about the name angle before…. but could you imagine the headline the newspaper headlines…
“Gamekeeper shoots the Queen”.
“Prince Philip Poisoned”!
“Mrs May trapped in incident involving a rent crow”.
Now I am going to go for post traumatic stress treatment.