Dear Natural England I’m planning to do some walking over grouse moors during the grouse shooting season and I came across your very useful website as I was trying to plan my trips. Living in Northamptonshire, my nearest grouse moors are in the Peak District National Park so that’s where I started my search. Your…
Category: BAN DRIVEN GROUSE SHOOTING
NT, grouse shooting and public access
I’m grateful to Andy Beer of the National Trust for his response on this blog this morning. NT, in deciding, rather unnecessarily in my view, to seek ‘partners who can demonstrate how moorland management and shooting can deliver great nature conservation in a way that is compatible with public access’ open up some interesting questions to…
A response from the NT’s Andy Beer
Dear Mark Thank you for the invitation to respond to your blog, which I picked up on Twitter. When we made the decision to terminate the existing tenancy in 2016, we felt that we sent a strong signal about our sense of purpose in delivering the High Peak vision. That sense of purpose remains…
An NT supporter comments on decision to go for grouse shooting
This is a comment posted on an earlier blog post by a committed NT supporter – I thought it worth giving more profile because it’s very powerful. NT must surely realise what they are doing, through their own choice of action, to alienate their supporters and paying members. The offer of a guest blog here…
NT has been prompted into saying something – but not much
This appeared on Twitter a little while ago. The offer is still open to the National Trust to do a better job of explaining why they want to persist with grouse shooting on their land (for they don’t have to). Copy deadline tomorrow evening so that it could appear before Hen Harrier Day and well…
The National Trust grouse shooting muddle
I’m getting feedback from many people about how disappointed they are with the NT position on grouse shooting on their land – the land whose purchase and management we, as NT members, have funded. One guy told me of a conversation he had with a NT staff member where he was told that ‘the upland…
England is 320 pairs of Hen Harrier short of potential
News on the RSPB Skydancer blog reveals that this year there were 3 successful Hen Harrier nests in England (out of 7 attempts) – they produced 10 fledged young. Considering this was generally regarded as an excellent vole year – whereas 2016 was a poor vole year – the standstill in Hen Harrier breeding numbers…
Update on National Trust pro-grouse-shooting controversy
National Trust staff are responding badly to enquiries from their membership about why on earth they are seeking to recruit a new shooting tenant to 4000+ha of their upland landholding in the Peak District. Having ousted their current tenant because of what could be called irreconcilable differences, probably over the future of birds of prey…
Guest blog – Hen Harrier reintroduction by Ian Carter
Ian Carter has worked as an ornithologist for more than 25 years. He was involved with the Red Kite reintroduction programme in England and has a keen interest in the conservation of raptors, bird reintroductions and wildlife management more generally. He is particularly interested in human attitudes towards wildlife and the complex ways in which…
Do me a favour Ian Botham
England’s former greatest cricketer was doing his annual job of showing shooting in a poor light this morning. Oh for a live petition now! It would have amassed tens of thousands of signatures after this boorish performance by Beefy – Radio 5 Live breakfast at 08:40 – 08:48). It’s clear that 5Live regarded ‘Both’ as…