I will lift up my eyes unto the hills…

‘I will lift up my eyes unto the hills from whence cometh my floods’ As the Moorland Association brags, 70% of the UK’s drinking water comes from the uplands – so do 70% of the UK’s floods, for water has the habit of flowing downhill.  The River Ouse flowing through York, or over York, is…

2015 – a bad year for driven grouse shooting

Few Red Grouse were shot in the UK this year, mainly because of disease and bad weather. But regardless of grouse bags, this was a very bad year for driven grouse shooting and hastened the end of this worthless hobby. The case against driven grouse shooting is that it depends on intensive management that involves…

Dear Mr Trump

Dear Mr Trump Your environmental credentials in the UK set you apart from most other golfers standing for the Presidency of the USA. Please tell me that you are in favour of driven grouse shooting (I bet you are!). Nothing energises an online petition quite as much as being associated with you (see here and…

An ex-gamekeeper writes…

Having just finished reading your book ‘Inglorious’ I’m prompted, and indeed inspired, to write to you. I’d like to begin by telling you something about my background. Since childhood I have been passionately interested in wildlife, with birdwatching at the fore. I was brought up in the conurbations of Manchester where I was born in…

Legal clarification from Natural England

I’m grateful to Natural England for getting in touch today over the issue of medication of Red Grouse raised in Ruth Tingay’s Guest Blog of Monday. Here is what NE wrote: ‘In the recent guest contribution to your Blog, Dr Ruth Tingay asked for clarification from Natural England and Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) regarding the…