MAPS
Colour overlays have been used for clarification.
red - cottage and and garden.
yellow - pens
green - pasture fields
dark green - trees
buff - cover/game crop
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Map 2
There were three drives either side of the cottage: the last drives of the day. Earlier drivers took place east & north of the cottage.
blue - beaters
yellow - beaten pheasants
cerise - flushed pheasants over Guns
Before the pheasants could be flushed south to north over the Guns, pheasants were beaten (a) from the SSSI meadow, pen and woods north of the cottage. A stop stood in the narrow gap between the band of trees in the pasture field, causing the pheasants to turn south up to the cover crop above the cottage which is on higher ground.
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On completion of the first drive (b) the Guns walked from the SSSI meadow east of the cottage, round the bottom of the garden to the pasture field west of the cottage.
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On completion of the second drive (c) the Guns turned round, so they faced north and the pheasants were flushed (d) back over them north to south.
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Despite notifying the landowner in October 2012 of the Common Decency website, the 2012/2013 season shoot proceeded as it had done previously, as shown above.
Map 3
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In May 2013, the closer oblong pen was dismantled and the field south of the cottage was sprayed off, which the cottage owner was given to understand would be returned to pasture.
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The former action thereby removing the propensity of pheasants north of the cottage.
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The second action of removing a place to drive pheasants to and flush from, negated the attraction of placing Guns either side of the cottage, or put the other way round, if no Guns were going to be stood either side of the cottage, there was no need for a cover crop above the cottage, to flush pheasants from.
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Map 4
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In June 2013, the south field was ploughed, tilled and sown and a new pen was constructed south of the cottage.
In July, the freshly sown field grew not into grass as expected but a game crop and a new area behind the central band of trees was sprayed off. It became a game crop too.
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Map 5
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In 2014, some of the top field was returned to pasture, but a broad strip of maize was sown on its western side.
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The north west game crop was expanded.
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The dismantled pen north of the cottage was re-built, at half its previous length.
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Map 6
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In 2018 the whole of the top field, south above the cottage was sown with maize.
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In the intervening years the game crop in the north west field behind the central band of trees changed shape and dimensions and other areas of land also became game crops.
Map 7
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Beating and flushing paths in 2018
The first drive of the day is (a).
Later pheasants are driven (b) east to west.
(c) and (d) being the penultimate and final drives of the day.
Map 8
Some measurements to indicate scale.
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