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Fences and walls, the future of boundary demarcation
Plenty of fish caught last week including several off the top. The dry spell of weather has broken and the first significant rain has fallen for a few weeks. Gaps in the weather invoke a trickle of...
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Euphoria followed, so we skipped home, pausing only for pints
Recent rain has added a taint to the river that continues to maintain a reasonable level. Weed has been cut back and the fringe knocked off to a height that still provides a viable winter habitat for...
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Angry Black Cats at the Gates of Zell
Half term and Madam and myself conquered Le Manche and swept across the Polders intent on reaching the Rhine. Midway up the German part of the Mosel to be exact and a room on the river at a place...
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Tackling Trees with Laced up Loins
It's time to tackle the trees. All those that tumbled over last winter have lay prone in the wood throughout the summer and now that the stingers are in retreat I have started on the tangle of forty,...
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Sleep sound, for tomorrow we march on Elstree!
First real frost and the outdoor fuchsia that remained in flower into the first week of December finally gave up and went off to bed. Forty eight hours of frozen ground has provided a definitive full...
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Fallen Trees I Have Known
Hello, and welcome to the latest edition of "Fallen Trees I have known"Mercifully abridged.Aspen and ash this week as it didn't seem very festive to be subjecting Christmas trees to the shock and awe...
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I'm Morethan Freeman, Thank you for listening
Happy New Year,and so to the eighth year of chucking out this guff that initially served as a reminder as to what I should be doing from one working day to the next but has warped into something...
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Freedom of Speech in a Modern World
Only through freedom of speech can tolerance be attained"One defeats the fanatic precisely by not being a fanatic oneself"Eric Arthur Blair
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Beefeaters Twitch across the Sky pursued by a Fair Failed Fuckwit.
The lower Dever valley is a very special part of the south of England that I am fortunate enough to enjoy access to. In an increasingly crowded corner of the county parts of the valley resemble the...
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Golden Chunks of Auto Factor and the worry of Hans Zarkov
A beech tree this week and a big bugger at that, two main trunks and a crown that was one of the highest in the wood. We will be burning the last of these logs watching the FIFA world cup in Quatar,...
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The Face of Fabulon and the spirit of Owain Glyndwr
Snow fell last week, which when accompanied by the extended cold snap, should provide mother nature with a definitive full stop to the four seasons just past and preparations will now be underway for...
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Proportion and Scale with Vitus Gerulaitis and Wilkinson Sword
In my current role of woodcutter in the enchanted forest I have passed the house made of gingerbread, Rumpelstiltskin has blurted out his name and the saw currently addresses trees near a magical...
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Matters Arising from Previous Guff
Season rods available on short stretch of the river Itchen above Winchester. Trout season runs from middle of April to middle of October with the possibility of grayling fishing in the winter. It is...
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Councillors Cox & Evans and an Old Sausage Heist.
Well, I ain't touched a chainsaw all week, and it feels goooood.The husky kicks back in a hot tub full of chain oil with a glass of fizzy two stroke, enjoying a brief sabbatical before we set about...
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Further Matters Arising From Previous Guff
Can I assure all concerned over what appear to be railway lines crossing the river, are in fact the metal girders exposed after long since being hidden beneath. Alex Guinness has had no input on...
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Picasso, Admiral of the Fleet, does Yoga
Another dry week, and the river drops a little lower, there are a few too many tree roots on show in the margins for my liking at this time of year.Please rain sometime soon.I have heard several...
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Thirty miles of Arcades Devoid of One Armed Bandits and Space Invaders
And so to Bologna and its 44km of arcades,Well I can work a one armed bandit and it's been a while since I engaged the evil forces of space invaders so with a suitcase full of cents and with some air...
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Scything Reluctant Ranunculus in Full Fig
This week I have been posed a few questions about working a scythe. I'd class myself as pretty proficient with such a tool after thirty years use on the river, principally cutting weed but occasionally...
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Tavares and A Mistaken Consent to Discharge
Well the calendar may trumpet the onset of May but a spiteful wind that is doing for much of the fruit blossom is more reminiscent of February when trees have a habit of falling on homes, stifling any...
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Crossing Over To The Other Side
Just a heads up (contemporary parlance) that Mary Berry's new series: "Crossing over to the other side" - a six part series examining the efficacy of Britain's best bridges,begins on BBC2 Friday 15th...
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