Musings from the Merse
Saturday, April 04, 2009
SOMETHING TO GROUSE ABOUT?
Around the Lammermuirs the air is full of smoke. This is Sign of a Borders Spring # 56. Slash and burn somewhat reminiscent of parts of the Third World. No slash actually except for/by farmers caught short far from home comforts but plenty of burn. This is not to turn the acres of heather into something more productive for humankind but to encourage the growth of green shoots, Phoenix like, amongst the ashes-the staple diet of wee Grouse chicks. Who then grow up to be fine game birds providing sport for wealthy visitors-stockbrokers (if any left) and dismissed Bankers fresh from perching on their large pension pots, sitting comfortably in/on their Butts, Purdeys poised.
The image of the heather fire is from near Longformacus that rather unusual village in the foothills of the Lammermuirs which seems geared primarily for the shooting. Perhaps the only village in the known world where worshippers cannot bring their cars into the Church car park which is reserved purely for beaters. As you my revisit here
Verb sap: if you are an overweight hunter wishing to walk off your aforementioned pension pot you would be wise avoid the charming walk along the road towards the Warch Water reservoir.Or at least do not be tempted to try the charming rustic bridge close to the road. If you are about the average weight for a HBOS executive director (16.2 Stone apparently, or that may be a Scottish front row forward)) you would be in danger of falling straight through the rotten planking which has mostly been repaced with grass sods. In this event you would be in severe danger of damaging any
remaining assets
Around the Lammermuirs the air is full of smoke. This is Sign of a Borders Spring # 56. Slash and burn somewhat reminiscent of parts of the Third World. No slash actually except for/by farmers caught short far from home comforts but plenty of burn. This is not to turn the acres of heather into something more productive for humankind but to encourage the growth of green shoots, Phoenix like, amongst the ashes-the staple diet of wee Grouse chicks. Who then grow up to be fine game birds providing sport for wealthy visitors-stockbrokers (if any left) and dismissed Bankers fresh from perching on their large pension pots, sitting comfortably in/on their Butts, Purdeys poised.
The image of the heather fire is from near Longformacus that rather unusual village in the foothills of the Lammermuirs which seems geared primarily for the shooting. Perhaps the only village in the known world where worshippers cannot bring their cars into the Church car park which is reserved purely for beaters. As you my revisit here
Verb sap: if you are an overweight hunter wishing to walk off your aforementioned pension pot you would be wise avoid the charming walk along the road towards the Warch Water reservoir.Or at least do not be tempted to try the charming rustic bridge close to the road. If you are about the average weight for a HBOS executive director (16.2 Stone apparently, or that may be a Scottish front row forward)) you would be in danger of falling straight through the rotten planking which has mostly been repaced with grass sods. In this event you would be in severe danger of damaging any
remaining assets
Labels: Burning the heather, Grouse, Longformacus, Slash and Burn
Comments:
I had occasion to laugh at a similarly well-maintained bridge over the track between Darnchester & Hatchednize on Friday - the footbridge (marked on OS maps) consists of 2 ladder-type steps up to a span consisting of 2 pieces of very warped 4x2 (the slats being long gone). I took the coward's option and rode my bike through the ford instead.
Obviously the EEC health and safety culture has yet to reach the Borders. Perhaps someone should dob in the landowner to the safety police. It seems strange that someone can't have a jewellery stall at a craft fair without having liability-for-whatever insurance yet landowners can get away with this. Yeeeeagh.....
Post a Comment
# posted by 
: 6:54 PM
: 6:54 PM