Shooting Times & Country – 21 August 2019

10 • SHOOTING TIMES & COUNTRY MAGAZINE

LETTERS

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Perhapsthefutureisn’tquitesobright

I’mstillgigglingatRichard

Negus’swonderful‘fast

forward’to 2079 (Wolves,

aurochs—andbeerrationing,

17 July).It wassuchan

enjoyableread,andclearly

writtenbysomeonewho

knowsandloveshissubject.

Ofcourse,aswithmuchof

cleversatire,a lotofwhathe

saysmaywellcontaina grain

oftruth.Therecentterrible

shootingsintheUSbrought

theusualsuspectsoutof

thewoodworktobarrackfor

morestringentfirearmslaws

here,regardlessofthefact

thatwehavethesomeofthe

world’sstrictestguncontrol

legislation.Massshootings

areAmerica’sproblem,not

ours—thelastmassshooting

intheUKwasCumbriain 2011

— but that doesn’t stop the ‘ban

everything’fanatics.Richard’s

visionofindividualsowning

firearmsbeingbannedand

gunskeptina ‘statearmoury’

mightnotbesofunnyeither.

Labourhasnowsetitssightso

grouseshooting(News, p.6),

probablytotaketheheatoff

JeremyCorbyn’slatestidiocy.

If suchfactionsstartlooking

atwildfowl,assuggestedby

Richard,I wouldn’tbeatall

surprisedif morespeciessuch

astealandwigeonweretobe

takenoffthequarrylist.

Perhapstheanswer

reallyis tohaveone,

umbrella,shootingsports

body,comprisingBASC,

theCountrysideAlliance,

theNationalGamekeepers’

Organisation,National

Farmers’UnionandtheGWCT.

Boris Johnson could probably

leadit afterhisstintinNumber

10;let’sjusthopetheycan

comeupwitha snappiername

thanBASCCANGONFUGWCT!

EdithLucas,

West Sussex

LETTER OF THE WEEK

ASYLUM

Finally,Labour’sloonieshave

takenovertheasylum.Jeremy

Corbyndoesn’tknowwhat

dayit is,JohnMacdonald,in

desperation,is suckinguptothe

ScottishNationalPartyandTom

Watsonis tryingtosuckupto

what’sleftoftheLabourParty.

SoJeremy’sthinktankcomes

upwiththeidea:let’sdragthe

Greensonboardwithpromises

ofbanninggrouseshooting.God

forbidthattheseloonies ever get

intogovernment.

J. Mathieson, by email

SWALLOWS...

I’vejustreadthearticlebyMike

Shortabouttheapparentlackof

swallowsinhispartoftheworld

theAvonValley(CountryDiary,

7 August).I haverecentlytaken

my grandson to see a collection

ofanestimated 500 swallowsand

housemartins,sittingmainlybut

manyothersinflight.Theyseem

tohavedoneprettywellalong

withtheswiftsinthisareaofthe

ScottishBorders.Butterfliesalso

seemtohavehadanexceptional

breedingseason.

D. Scott, by email

...AREBREEDING

IwasworriedwhenI readMike

Short’sarticle,havingseenvery

fewswallowsthissummer.I was

thereforepleasedwhenboth

landownersonoursmallshoot

inLeicestershiresaidtheyhad

thembreedingintheirbarns,

withoneofthemaddinghehad

10 pairsbreedinginthe barns

aroundhishouse.

I wasevenmoredelighted

todaytoseeatleast 20 swallows

swoopingovera herdofgrazing

cattle and later seeing them

linedupona barbed wire fence

intherain.

R. Everard, Leicestershire

DRIPFEED

AlanEdwardswrotea very

thought-provokingarticle

(Gamekeeper, 7 August).Though

therearemanyexpertsinmany

fields,theramblingsofsomeso-

called‘wildlifeexperts’reminds

meofmyfather’sdefinitionthat

anexis a has-been and a spurt

is a largedrip.

D. Claxton, Norfolk

AFAMILIARNAME

IenjoyedtheVintageTimespiece

byJohnMarchington(Beg, buy

ormarryit, 7 August).

Whatanexcellentarticle

thisis;humorousyetfullofgood,

solid,practicaladvice.Whata pity

there are not more authors of this

ISSN:0037-

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