Wildfowl on the Severn

A short brief by Paul Walkden

Fowl within the Severn area is a subject all local fowlers should study, so as to know and understand their build up and movements. Members having joined within the last seventeen years will have been involved with assessment at Slimbridge and so a grounding will have been established with Wildfowl species.

The Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust which was established in 1946 as The Severn Wildfowl Trust at Slimbridge by the late Sir Peter Scott probably brought about the greatest change in the area; the Berkeley family had always kept the new grounds as a goose area, where on occasions through the season, driven goose shoots would occur. The reason for driving the geese was that, the Whitefronted Goose is renowned for feeding and roosting on the same grounds and as such, the normal goose pattern of flighting from the marsh inland to feed does not happen, and so the driven goose shoot was the norm.

The Trust enclosures were like a magnet to wild birds and over the years many birds have benefited. The Gadwall was a rare bird in Gloucestershire but now is often found moving about the area and found on many ponds, lakes and flood meadows.

Another bird which was largely unknown in the area was the Bewick Swan, now an established winter visitor, many birds moving from Slimbridge daily to feed on Walmore Common near Westbury on Severn which is a RAMSAR site, or the Tewksbury Hams when flooded.

All the dabbling species have increased, with good numbers of Pintail, Shoveler and especially the Mallard which when severe weather sets in many thousands congregate in the Trusts enclosures. At the onset of a cola snap Teal will begin to leave and numbers pass through heading South onto the Continent, some reaching as far as North Africa. Teal build up in numbers early season, often reaching upwards of two thousand over recent years, these birds then thin out leaving southwards as the Wigeon begin to build up. Teal that spend the winter with us have generally come from further afield.

Diving ducks are another duck which have increased. Tufted duck and pochard appear to spend their entire winter on Rushy Pen at Slimbridge. However, some do move off in the evenings and reports from various ponds confirm this.

If disturbed in the day they flight to the Frampton pools, crossing the Frampton marsh There is always a flight of Diving and dabbling Ducks as well as the Canada and Greylag geese which often move to the Trust at the onset of dusk and sometimes return at dawn.

Some feral birds which are protected and may be encountered locally are the Mandarin which is a tree duck and is well established locally. The Goosander is another regular since a brood was reared fully winged on the Rushy Pen, this was a family of young brought in when the duck had been run over in Wales Numbers of Ruddy duck which escaped from the Trusts enclosures in the early days have colonized Somerset and the Midlands, amongst other areas, this interesting little duck which has had a population explosion, have started moving to the continent and is now threatening the European stifftail the White Headed duck by hybridizing. Research currently under way on how to reduce the population of the Ruddy Duck. Canada and Greylag geese were brought to the Frampton Court Estate in the early fifties by joint agreement with The Wildfowl Trust to enhance the park lake, for sport and in the hope that they would fly between Frampton and Slimbridge, they make a spectacular sight crossing the marsh often at flight time, the sight and sound always set the pulse racing. Under the agreement with Frampton Estate many members have had the opportunity of a feral goose or two over the last 6 seasons.

In the early days of the Trust, Pinkfeet were common on the New Grounds, they arrived early in the season and built up to around 200 before moving off around Christmas time, but gradually they decreased until now they are scarce in any number. This appears to be a natural move northward, Lancashire now being the nearest area where they appear in any number. At Martin Mere the Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust Centre, counts of 20,000 are not uncommon. Wildfowlers should always be aware that any of the Grey geese, Greylag, Bean, Pinkfoot, Lesser Whitefront, Greenland Whitefront can be mixed in (and often are) with our Russian or European Whitefronts.

The Upper Estuary has been an S.S.S.I. (Site of Special Scientific Interest) for some years and in 1988 was designated a RAMSAR site (of international importance). In 1989 the Lower Severn was designated an S.S.SI. And finally a RAMSAR site in 1995. The Estuary is one of the top 10 Estuaries in Britain for birdlife, of International importance for Bewick Swan, Shelduck, Gadwall, Dunlin, Curlew and Redshank. On a National scale the area is of prime importance for European Whitefronted Geese, Wigeon, Teal, Mallard, Pintail, Shoveler, Pochard, Tufted Duck and Grey Plover.

With the continued pressures on Wildfowling it s essential that wildfowlers understand and now their quarry species and be able to recognize them by their JIZZ. This is a word used by birdwatchers to give instant recognition based on shape, size, silhouette, sound and movement.

The year was 1956. Five shooting men were talking about wildfowling in Cecil Purcells Gun Shop in Gloucester. One of the five proposed that they try to form a Wildfowling Club so an advert was placed in the local newspaper for anyone interested to meet at the Northend Vaults, Gloucester. The chosen day arrived and 30 people attended. The meeting was called to order and it was decided to form a committee.

The first Chairman was Geoffrey Haines with Sid Ferris as Vice Chairman, Cecil Purcell Secretary and John Treasure Club Solicitor. There were 10 committee members. A list of rules was drawn up, of which some were taken from the Kent wildfowlers Rule Book. One of the members that night was John Lifton a local vet who was a member of the Kent Club, who took over from Cecil as Secretary until he emigrated to New Zealand. The name decided upon was the Gloucestershire Wildfowlers Association with an annual subscription of £1.

At that time members had no land to shoot over so to keep members together Ernie Limbrick organized clay shoots twice monthly at a Hardwick farm. Incidentally, clays were 1s 6d for 5 and cartridges 7s 6d a box, a far cry from today’s prices.

A year later Geoffrey Haines suggested the club should approach Major Clifford of Frampton Court regarding the right to shoot on the Frampton Marshes. A meeting was arranged and the outcome was a 5 year lease at £1 a year. Later that year we leased Mrs. Campbell’s and Mrs. McDonalds foreshore at Frampton, also the foreshore on Lydney Park Estate. The committee decided to create three categories of membership: Registered, Associate and Full. This rule still applies today.

In 1972 a Duck rearing sub committee was formed, in the first year 250 plus ducks were ringed and released.

Another sub committee was set up to organize a Sports field Day. This took place at Whitminster on Mrs. Grants Farm. Good publicity was given beforehand and a profit was made on the day. Attendance was approximately 2,000. This event was repeated the following year.

In the winter of 1978 Ian and Richard Chappell and myself were looking for a project for the club members. Mike Ounsted from the Wildfowl Trust suggested that we could renovate the Berkeley Decoy at the Trust which had fallen into a bad state. This was a long term project and a magnificent chance for the club to start a close liaison with the Wildfowl Trust and thereby form a link between the three national interests Wildfowling Clubs, W.A.G.B.I.(now B.A.S.C.), and The Wildfowl Trust. The project was put before club members in the spring of 1979 and passed. Although a sum of money from club funds was given to start, the cash soon ran out. Materials were expensive therefore we had to beg, borrow and steal avoiding any poor substitutes which might spoil the finish. Club members gave up spare time at evenings and weekends. By working hard the House Pipe was completed by mid August 1979 and was catching Ducks in September. Richard Chappell became the Decoy Man, a post he still holds today.

In the ‘80’s more foreshore was leased. Hill Flats and Arlingham giving members large areas to shoot over. In 1986 the Sports field Day was re—born under a new name,” The Country Sports Fair’, which ran for six years at Frampton Court Estate by kind permission of Lt. Cl. P R H Clifford our Associations President, it was coordinated by Paul Walkden and a sub Committee, headed by Bob Feirn.

The ‘90’s have seen the establishment of the Wildlife Habitat Trust Stamp programmed by B.A.S.C. with support from G.W.A. Substantial donations to this fund have resulted from a run of successful auctions spearheaded by Peter and Joanne Wildgoose. We hosted the 1994 National Wildfowling Conference. Members of your executive committee are involved at National level with our National body ‘The British Association for Shooting and Conservation’ and include the following committees: Wildfowling Liaison Committee, Disciplinary appeals Committee and Trustee of the Wildlife Habitat Trust. 1996 is our 40th Anniversary and the highlight will be a function in the Great Ha1l at Berkeley Castle by kind permission of our vice President Major John Berkeley.

Land purchase is something that your Committee are now seriously looking at, and hope that foreshore will be bought, safeguarding wildfowling for future generations of GWA Members.

This is a brief insight of the clubs history from 1956 — 1996. And what of those five men who met in the Gun Shop in 1956? Three are sadly not with us anymore but I know they would be proud of the G.W.A today.

The five men were C. Haines, C. Purcell, J.A’Bear, E. Limbrick, and myself.

History of BASC

The Black Hut at Patrington Haven on the Humber, where WAGBI was conceived.

The Wildfowlers' Association of Great Britain and Ireland, known as WAGBI, was founded by Stanley Duncan, a Geordie whose work later took him to Hull. He was an engineer. He was also a highly experienced wildfowler and naturalist and his object in forming the Association was threefold. He sought to help the professional wildfowlers, then eking out a meagre living on our coasts; he was becoming alarmed at the increasing drainage and subsequent development of much excellent wildfowl habitat and he realised that as time went by it would be necessary to defend the sport of wildfowling against factors that were moving contrary to its interests, namely the growing enthusiasm of extremists bent on total protection of wild birds.

Today there are no longer any professional fowlers other than for a few guides. But there is a new breed of protectionist and, thus, the threats to wildfowling grow stronger - much more so than was the case in 1908 when, having canvassed and obtained the support of far-seeing and experienced sportsmen, our founder called an inaugural meeting in his wildfowling hut, which, until destroyed by floods, stood at Patrington Haven, not many miles from Hull. Rules were adopted, Stanley Duncan became the Association's first Honorary Secretary which office he held for 40 unbroken years. The famous wildfowler and sporting author Sir Ralph Payne-Gallwey, Bt., was elected President.

WAGBI, with the support of a small committee, built up a system whereby there would be, in every wildfowling district, officials capable of giving advice and able to represent and support wildfowling and associated interests whenever they became threatened or were likely to be so.

The Threat to Wildfowling

The long expected attack on wildfowling came in 1953, when legislation which the Association regarded as both unfair, unnecessary and very restrictive, was introduced in Parliament.

Although a strictly voluntary organisation, with no paid staff, a small group of public-spirited men gave considerably of their time, energy and private funds, determined that the interests of wildfowlers be given a fair hearing and their beliefs recognised and upheld. Many meetings were convened and thousands of letters written, whilst there was considerable lobbying of Members of both Houses for, in the opinion of those serving the WAGBI cause, there had been very considerable misrepresentation of the true facts.

The protracted and sometimes heated deliberations culminated with the Protection of Birds Act 1954, which, thanks to WAGBI's intervention, was a far more balanced piece of legislation than had first been contemplated.

The effect of the publicity and behaviour that preceded the 1954 Act was so profound that throughout the country there developed a determination that never again should genuine sportsmen find themselves in similar circumstances. All over the country those who valued their sporting heritage and its future began to seek membership, and many of them, with WAGBI's help and advice, set about forming local clubs and associations, thus bringing together many who, individually, could do little to safeguard that future, but collectively could and would - if it became necessary. This did not mean, however, that wildfowlers would cease to follow their sport singly or with a companion or two as they did in Stanley Duncan's day.

Wildfowl Conservation

In 1949 the Nature Conservancy came into being. Its functions, of relevance to wildfowlers, were to provide advice on the conservation, control or protection of natural fauna and to establish, maintain and manage nature reserves in Great Britain, many of which embrace shooting zones jointly created and managed with WAGBI.

When the Conservancy was first formed it was felt that the cause of wildfowling had been ignored whilst the naturalists were well represented and, therefore, decisions would be made and discussions would be held without reference to our opinions. Ultimately an informal wildfowl discussion group was set up at which all shades of opinion were represented.

This group, founded at a time when wildfowlers were full of bitterness and suspicion at what they considered to be the 'scheming and unfair propaganda' that had taken place behind the scenes prior to the 1954 Act, became the recognised and fully established Wildfowl Conservation Committee in 1960.

It constituted a formal gathering of many interested bodies with a genuine interest in the future well-being of wildfowl and their habitat, whilst providing its members with regular opportunities for discussing a wide range of concerns. From a beginning fraught with suspicion and mistrust grew, among many things, complete accord and confidence, with the chair alternating between the Wildfowl Trust and WAGBI.

The Growth of WAGBI/BASC

In 1950 WAGBI had five affiliated organisations, namely Southport & District Wildfowlers' Association (1887), Morecambe Bay Wildfowlers' Association (1929), Blakeney and District Wildfowlers' Association (1927), Frodsham and District Wildfowlers' Club (1938) and the Tay Valley Wildfowlers' Association (1949). Subsequently it has grown into a huge organisation some 120,000 members, over 1,600 affiliated clubs and registered shooting syndicates and a staff of 70.

In 1981 WAGBI changed its name to the British Association for Shooting and Conservation (BASC). This change was agreed at the Annual General Meeting of that year in recognition of the fact that shooting sports required a single representative body and that WAGBI was the most suitable placed organisation to take on that role.

The formation of local affiliated organisations, now covering all forms of sporting shooting and not merely wildfowling, with the support and backing of their parent body, BASC has provided much-needed common meeting grounds.

In 1975 the Gamekeepers' Association of the United Kingdom (founded in 1900) became a part of the Association.

Throughout the UK support, help and guidance is provided by full-time regional directors centred on four English regions - the North, East and South East, South and South West, and Midlands - and there are three national centres - Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland.

National headquarters at Marford Mill is responsible to Council, which is elected by the Association's members. It is very much a full-time and professionally administered operation. Under the chief executive it has specialist teams covering:

firearms
game and gamekeeping
media and communications
research
conservation and land management
training

The Association is represented on, or works most closely with, many committees and organisations, including the Countryside Alliance, British Shooting Sports Council, Central Council of Physical Recreation, Clay Pigeon Shooting Association, County Conservation Trusts, Crown Estate, Duchy of Cornwall, Duchy of Lancaster, Game Conservancy, Gun Trade Association Ltd., International Council for Bird Preservation, International Waterfowl and Wetlands Research Bureau, National Trust, Nature Conservancy Council, Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, Water Recreation Sub-Committee of the Regional Sports Councils, Wildfowl Trust, national, regional and local nature reserve committees, and FACE (UK) (Federation des Associations de Chasseurs de la EU), for which we provide the secretariat, Council for Country Sports and the Standing Conference on Countryside Sports. The last three 'umbrella' organisations the Association helped to found.

The Association's current work, responsibilities and aspirations are complex, broad-based and becoming more so as the world shrinks, the countryside changes and the people demand greater access to it

But ours is an ancient and honourable sport that the BASC, as was the case with WAGBI, is determined to maintain for future generations as well as its current devotees.

BASC Services

 Article reproduced from the July 2002 Edition by kind permission of The Field
 “You Are Now In Their Sights”

 Max Hastings spells out why no sportsman can afford not to march on 22 September.

Where will YOU be on Sunday 22 September? Dozing at home with the papers? Holidaying in Portugal? Pottering round the golf course? If you plan to be doing any of those things you do not deserve to call yourself a countryman. The Countryside March offers us all the best chance we shall get to display the anger and resentment of hundreds of thousands of law-abiding people at Labours proposals to abolish hunting with hounds.

As the Governments consultation period draws to an end (Mr Alun Michael has done about as much serious consulting as a hanging Home Secretary before signing a death-warrant in the days of capital punishment), the Countryside Alliances big demonstration has got to work. However, the risk with all mass protests is that each one must be bigger than the last. If it is not, our opponents will seize on the opportunity to say that opposition is flagging. The forces of New Labours class warriors will seem to have worn down the spirit of the countryside. The numbers must be there on 22 September to make the impact we need on the people of Britain and the media, even if our rulers want to close their eyes and ears.

About now, some readers will look up from The Field and mutter crossly one of three things: Why should we turn out for the Countryside Alliance when it has been stupid enough to try to make a deal with that twister Blair?, What difference can it make when the Government is going to ban hunting anyway? or Why should shooters and fishers care about foxhunters? First, of course, we are going to march for the sake of the countryside and all our sports, not for that of any organisation. I would also strongly argue that John Jackson and Richard Burge have pursued the only rational policy in seeking to negotiate with the Government. What was the alternative? To sulk in a tree? To throw rocks? To embrace the Tories? In terms of practical politics, it matters not a fig what we think of New Labour. Barring a cataclysm, the party is going to be ruling Britain for at least the next eight years. Burge, Jackson and the CA retain my own warm respect and support, for what that is worth.

It is true that Mr Blair has behaved dishonourably about foxhunting. His staff had given private assurances to many of us (not only to the CA) that there would be no outright ban, and lobby correspondents were constantly briefed to that effect. In the end, because of trouble with the Labour left, Mr Blair decided that the price of betraying the rural community by voting for a hunting ban was smaller than that of upsetting his own back-benches. It is worth adding that our side missed an important opportunity, when the Lords rejected the Middle Way last year, at the behest of Tory peers who had their own political fish to fry. Labour politicians sympathetic to hunting said privately before the vote that it offered the best chance we would get to push through a compromise. The morning after its rejection, a senior minister whom I respect told me that, by throwing out the Middle Way, he believed the Lords had dished hunting for the cheap thrill of mustering a big vote against the Government.

The only course now is to turn to public protest, to show that a ban on foxhunting will cost the Government much more public anger and bitterness against the persecution of one of this countrys great historic minority cultures than it reckons upon. The CA is the only rural organisation we have got, and a vast improvement on everything that has gone before. If we do not give it our whole-hearted support we are simply abandoning the battlefield.

What difference can the March possibly make? There is a chance that a big demonstration, warmly received by the media and the public, will give the Government the excuse it needs to backtrack at least as far as the Middle Way. Forget the status quo. From the day Labour was first elected in 1997, there was no chance of going on as we were. But if a battery of regulations is the price that must be paid for keeping hunting alive, then pay it we must.

Why should shooters and fishers care? Because the RSPCA and the League Against Cruel Sports have declared that the moment hunting has been done to death the struggle will begin against other fieldsports. Once parliament has conceded the principle that it is wrong to kill one species of animal for pleasure, what rational grounds are left to allow other forms of killing for sport to continue? There will be permanent conflict in the Commons, as MPs introduce private members bills against game-rearing, stalking, then fishing. There will be guerrilla warfare in the media and the CA will be continually in the front line, fighting our battles. If it is not, we shall lose them by default.

So far, too many fishers and shooters have been passive spectators. A CA fund-raiser told me how dismaying he found it to contrast the cheques from gamekeepers who enclosed a days beaters wages with the deafening silence from many big shots. I have heard some people say: We gave a big cheque 10 years ago and it did no good We turned out for the Rally We came to the last March. They seem to believe the fight to save fieldsports is a one-off affair, like the Jubilee. It is not, and never can be, because our opponents will not allow it to be.

The CA will need more money, more members and probably more marches. If you are not up for that, why not give up hunting, shooting or fishing now, and have done with it? If you intend to go on with country sports without contributing to the fight, then you seem a pretty wretched sort of sportsman. But if you want to save the countryside we have known and loved, and as our children hope to do, get out there on 22 September to strike a vital blow in the campaign which means so much to us all.