30 SEPTEMBER 2019 WWW.SHOOTINGGAZETTE.CO.UK
he got on with it. “You’ve got to
be more accurate, so it’s more of a
challenge,” he explained.
Tim was brought up shooting,
and it was great to learn that his two
children, Emma and Robert, aged
18 and 16 respectively, are having
the same experience.
At School House Walk, the
Guns were spread across a stubble
fi eld looking up the hill towards
a cover crop at the top where the
birds would appear from. And
appear they did. The birds fl ew
well, partridges and pheasants
intermingled, and the way the
young pheasants fl ew boded
extremely well for later in the
season. The pickers-up swept in,
after the Guns had used their own
dogs, and picked all the partridges
while Guns then retired to the cars
to be treated to sloegasms.
During the break I had a chance
to chat to Malcolm Black and Barry
Gillings. Both of them had been
coming to Worlaby for over 30
years. If they weren’t shooting they
were picking-up here, and were
sharing a peg today. “It’s one of the
best shoots in Lincolnshire,” they
explained. Both remember Tim
when he was at school and enjoyed
telling some stories, including the
time Princess Anne joined the
shoot. “She didn’t join the Guns,
but joined the pickers-up, spending
the day with us.Ó They have
obviously dined out on this story
many a time and it sounds like they
enjoyed the experience.
There was another drive before
lunch, Brogdale, where there was a
water retrieve for Barbara Bowman’s
labrador. All the dogs enjoyed a
swim in the lake before we headed
back to the chapel for a quick lunch
stop of soup, pork pie and sausage
rolls. And then it was time for three
more drives after lunch. Tetford
Hill Top was where I joined JohnHarris who was shooting with his
Beretta .410. The sun was on our
backs, the stiff north westerly breeze
made for some excellent birds. John
turned to me and said, “there’s no
better place to be, the surroundings
are beautiful and the birds excellent.
The steep banks are typical of classic
Wold drives that produce high,
strongly fl ying birds”.
At the drive’s end I caught up
with picker-up Martin Poulcher
who was working eight dogs -
seven cockers, mostly related, andShoot manager Craig Dennis.