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With hundreds of miles of underfished water, canals represent a vast, untapped fishing resource. From shallow, secluded rural waters to giant urban ship channels, they offer a staggering diversity of angling potential which is open and affordable to all.Britain's canals have never been in better shape, with a huge range of species to target. From classic roach fishing to specimen carp, pike and increasingly common surprises like chub and zander, this book covers everything from traditional to ultra-modern techniques.This is more than just a 'how to' volume. With details of venues and notable fish records from every part of the UK, this book also represents an essential guide to Britain's canals. Whether you're planning a short break or looking for a fresh challenge on your local 'Cut', Dominic Garnett's book is packed with inspiring ideas, beautiful photography and invaluable information.

Working at the sharp end, Scottish vet Hugh Cran describes his daily and nightly challenges working in Kenya as he encounters rabid dogs, a horse pageant that goes horribly wrong, missing tortoises, entire herds of sick cattle and corrupt policemen: he even witnesses how a witchdoctor successfully identifies a thief. Busy from early morning to midnight, Hugh never turns down a call to help an animal in distress, even if this means driving across floods or deserts, surviving vehicle break-downs or insanitary operating conditions on arrival. In this book, Hugh falls in love, marries and starts a family, climbs Kenyan mountains, survives a life-threatening health crisis, a surgery fire and a serious legal accusation.Throughout it all, he remains a dedicated and hardworking local vet, serving his African community, no matter what.He has promises to keep...

Right Royal is an irresistible racing ballad, written by former Poet Laureate John Masefield, about a dream which turned into a feat of madness: a vice familiar to many in the world of gambling! The poem was first published in 1920 and two years later a new edition was brought out, illustrated by Cecil Aldin. It has been out of print ever since. The action of the poem centres on Charles Cothill, the central character of the story, who enters his steeplechaser Right Royal for the English Chasers' Cup, a race with obvious parallels with the Grand National. It is run over four and a half miles and features formidable fences. Right Royal has earned a reputation for being ungenerous and temperamental, with remote prospects. But on the night before the race, Cothill dreams that the horse will win and the haunting line echoes throughout the poem: 'It's my day today--I shall not have another' The whole of the poem draws the reader in to the rash stake the young love-lorn jockey puts on his horse, and captures all the thrill of the races as the enthralling events of the day unfold. A tale of exhileration and heartbreak, folly and love, this is a spell-binding piece of flowing writing by one of Britain's finest poets. Cecil Aldin's fine illustrations beautifully capture the thrills of horse racing.

Shropshire has inspired many writers over the centuries: its bucolic rolling fields and orchards, its dramatic wild hills and moors, its ramshackle market towns, its patchwork of copses and hedgerows, its bleak and beautiful mountains. Extracts from Charles Dickens to Henry James, from Kathy Swift to AE Housman, from Bill Bryson to Pete Postlethwaite, are matched with stunning photographs by Shropshire's Geoffrey Taylor, who has captured the landscapes that drew out the words. Also featuring extracts from Samuel Johnson, Roger Evans, DH Lawrence, Henry Kingsley, Wilfred Owen, Mary Webb, John Milton, Simon Evans, Tom Sharpe, Edith Pargeter, Phil Rickman, John Masefield, John Betjeman, Ellis Peters and many more.

Few people hunting today are fully aware of the history of their sport. Accounts of the subject can be somewhat dry and academic. So, in an easy and entertaining manner, here is a concise summary of how this much-misunderstood sport has survived and flourished through centuries of change, to the benefit of the fox and its environment. Concise chapters gallop through the history of hunting from 1066to the present day, interspersed with snippets of hunting verseand song Index of foxhunting packs in the UK, Ireland and North America Specially-commissioned line illustrations of hunting scenes byAlastair JacksonHunting is a sport with not only a colourful history, but also a promising future. The next generation still responds with great enthusiasm and commitment to the appeal of foxhunting, providing eager recruits each season to the hunting field.This book will appeal to social historians and all who hunt today.

Many smallholders have plunged in at the deep end and learnt the hard way, through experience. But Phyllida Barstow, author of the childhood autobiography My Animals and Other Family, was already involved in animal husbandry when, as a young woman, she embarked on her own smallholding enterprise. Here is her lively, informative and witty account of her first-hand experience throughout her lifetime in Gloucestershire, with chickens, dogs, cats, horses, sheep, peacocks, alpacas and even honey bees.As she points out, smallholding is not a summer idyll but, truly, a job for all seasons, all hours, all weathers. She also has to deal with fallen stock, pest control, disease outbreaks and slaughter. Her tips include those on animal handling, training, breeding and delivery. Her wry and practical attitude towards her animals is imbued with respect and often affection for her charges.This account of the realities of modern smallholding is both entertaining and informative.

A flock of birds, even a skein of geese perhaps -- but a cete of badgers, or a grist of bees? The collective nouns of animals and birds have long inspired and intrigued us. Many have their roots in medieval times, in particular applied to those creatures hunted by man, and subject to the etiquette of their proper group names. Author Steve Palin has beautifully illustrated and given the background to about fifty different animals and birds with interesting collective nouns -- and listed 420 of them in his glossary. This elegant little book will appeal to all those with a fascination for the English language, those who want the answers for quizzes and crossword puzzles, and those with an interest in animals and birds.

This is a book for boat-flyfishers: those who spend time afloat in pursuit of trout, who know how difficult and frustrating the sport can be - but also how thrilling and rewarding.Few trout anglers have fished as widely as Dennis Moss, and fewer still have his ability to convey the skills of boatfishing with such insight and passion.He tells of his experiments with a new kind of improved drogue, of the breakthrough of the intermediate flyline, his discoveries about hook strengths and he shares his all-time favourite stillwater flies.This book will tell you a great deal about the craft of boatfishing and, as you learn, you will be taken to some fabulous locations and on some thrilling trips.This fully revised and updated edition includes new material on summer caenis fishing, dry fly techniques and latest leader compositions.

Thirty shooting stories in pursuit of pheasant, mallard, geese, hares, mink, even an old wild goat, these modern tales involve bi-lingual dogs, an ignominious goose, red-letter days and disappointments, days on boglands, grouse moors, smart shoots and estuaries. Punt gunning, rough shooting and wildfowling, dawns and dusks and assorted brushes with ecstasy and near-death. Douglas Butler has an ear for a good shooting story and, as an inveterate shooter himself, knows just what curious, unexpected, dramatic things can sometimes happen when out in the fields, woods and marshes with fellow guns and dogs.

This is the first book to be written on this fascinating, severely declining species, the black grouse. Author Patrick Laurie's lively natural history is interwoven with his account of his on-going battle to reintroduce them on his farm in the Scottish Borders. His beautiful illustrations convey his passion for these vulnerable birds, so full of character, from their aggressive lekking behaviour to their desperate struggle to survive against nearly-impossible odds in modern Britain. * Black grouse range in Britain has shrunk by 95% in the past 100 years, with 25% of that decline since the 1990s. * Mature black grouse consistently fly higher and faster than almost any other gamebird, making them fantastic, testing quarry for sportsmen. * If we allow raptor predation to increase, we risk losing this iconic bird species in Britain altogether. * During the frozen winter of 2009/10 almost half the population of black grouse being monitored by the Game and Wildlife Conservancy Trust in the more treeless North Pennines were killed off by heavy snows and frost. * The author explains why he believes it is still possible to stage a major black grouse renaissance in moorland shooting.

From the world's largest tripe factory to the Battle of Wigan Lane; from the Peterloo massacre to the first British canal - Lancashire can claim it all.It was one of the poorest parts of Britain due to its difficult terrain, poor soil, estuaries and bogs, but it went on to become one of the wealthiest through coal, cotton and slavery. Lancashire had: the first town to be lit by gas the first council houses the first motorway.Its people included: the last hangman the most charismatic modern barrister, George Carmen urbane broadcaster Alistair Cooke great actors including Thora Hird, Leonard Rossiter and Ian McKellern.It has suffered some of the greatest tragedies: the massacre of the Lancashire Pals in 30 minutes of the First World War; countless pit disasters; the pounding of the BlitzBut it replied by producing some of the greatest comedians: from George Formby to Ken Dodd to Peter Kay. Not to mention the many great cricketers, rugby players and footballers.A lively and informative book.

An unlikely but firm friendship between a professional wildlife photographer and a retired vicar with a passion for aviation has resulted in this extra-ordinary collaboration which celebrates the diversity of Shropshire, as seen from the air. Over a period of two years, Mark Sisson (below left) and the Reverend Henry Morris (below right) have met up at short notice, weather permitting, to fly over different parts of Shropshire. Angling the small Socata aircraft at 45 degrees, Vicar Henry has put Mark in the right position to photograph the network of canals, waterways, ridges, hills and valleys, patchworks of crops, quarries, monuments, towns and villages. Mark has tried to capture the surprises and the beauty of Shropshire from the air.

"You will not find a more experienced and enthusiastic airgun hunter than Ian Barnett who, in this new book, takes the reader on hunting forays to field, wood and farm in search of rabbits, squirrels, corvids, pigeons, rats. As the year progresses, he describes the many tactics needed to pursue particular quarry, he offers countless technical tips, looks at the pros and cons of using certain airguns and pellets and offers some excellent recipes! To read this is to discover the thrill and fascination of airgun hunting, enjoying the great outdoors from the depths of winter to high summer. "

This is the golden age of bullfighting. In the last 60 years, the number of bullfights (corridas) held in Spain has increased almost ninefold, peaking in 2007. Great bullfighting names have the status of football stars, with heroes including Cayetano, Jose Tomas, Enrique Ponce and Morante de la Puebla, their styles ranging from the flamboyant and breath-takingly reckless to calm domination and technical mastery.Many English-speaking tourists on holiday witness this most ancient and colourful of spectacles, but few understand what is really going on.This illustrated guide acknowledges that attending a bullfight is controversial and will not appeal to everyone. It throws light on the bullfighter's art and outlines the structure of the corrida, the key players and the various moves and stages.A fascinating and complex event is defined step-by-step in layman's terms. The music, the excitement and reactions of the crowd and the drama are all put into context and one of the most ancient and unusual of modern spectacles becomes clear.This book is designed to give readers of whatever persuasion an understanding of bullfighting, so that they can either increase their pleasure in watching a corrida in Spain, France or South America, or simply learn what is involved in this most complex, moving and controversial of spectacles.

It Happened in Shropshire is a vibrant and compelling account of the county's diverse heritage; its heroes, its battles, its discoveries, its crimes. Bob Burrows's highly readable prose transports the reader through time, racing across the landscape of Shropshire's past from the woolly mammoths of 10,000 BC, the Roman occupation of Wroxeter and the Battle of Shrewsbury, to the Industrial Revolution and to the sporting achievements and murderous exploits of recent years. The book celebrates Salopians of national renown such as Charles Darwin, Clive of India, Wilfred Owen and Percy Thrower, as well as commemorating the accidents and disasters of:Shropshire's ghostly pastand presentThe legends of 'Mad Jack' Mytton and the charismatic outlaw Sir Humphrey KynastonA celebration of Salopian sporting champions: Ian Woosnam, Sandy Lyle, Richie Woodhall, Billy WrightShropshire's notorious and also its heroic vicarsThe 'Black Panther' and other Salopian murderers exposed

Ian Niall, sportsman and naturalist, shares with his reader the joy of the countryman, captured in these varied recollections which draw on a lifetime observing nature, studying wildlife, shooting and fishing. His fascinating essays cover corncrakes and partridges, snipe and woodcock, foxes, hares and pigeons, duck and geese, trout and pike. His unerring eye for all the nuances of nature finds its perfect partner in C.F. Tunnicliffe's matchless illustrations. Together, author and artist have created a celebrated classic, an elegy to a passing world, that will delight a new generation of country lovers and book collectors. Bernard O'Donoghue, the distinguished poet and countryman, writes in his foreword to this book: 'This is a grown-up's nature book, with all the pleasure remembered from childhood books that introduced us to nature writing. Niall's appreciative eye is wonder-fully served by C.F. Tunnicliffe's illustrations which are the sealing distinction of a perfectly executed book.'

Ailments and illnesses can be healed and alleviated using these kitchen cures suggested by the author of "Hedgerow Medicine".

Edward Miller has been running a successful B&B enterprise in a peaceful part of the Lake District for over 25 years. Here he tells his story of how it came about and how he learned through trial and error to not only make a decent profit out of it, but to enjoy (nearly) every minute of it.The book is full of incidents, some beyond belief, others rib-tickling or just plain bizarre. But it is also full of practical advice and tips, all of them summarised at the end of each chapter.With cartoons by Robin Grenville Evans.

Falling truly, madly, deeply in love with one animal after another was a recurrent theme of the author's childhood, actively encouraged by her beautiful, impetuous mother as she single-handedly held the family together during the war's darkest days.While her husband's regiment battled through the Tunisian desert to Italy and Austria, she criss-crossed beleaguered Britain with children, ration books, and an unwieldy train of rabbits, dogs, cats and ponies, dreaming of land of her own.But farming can't be learned overnight, and translated into the reality of 400 acres of hilly, rain-lashed Radnorshire, that dream became a challenge for all ranks. Dragooned into acting as unskilled, unpaid labour for jobs that would make today's Health-and-Safety freaks blench - burning rushes, driving tractors, riding on Land-Rover bonnets and towering haywains - the children came to look on boarding-school as a rest-cure, though they retain from those days of carefree, unregulated farm life a treasure-house of memories.This elegant memoir, told with disarming honesty and gentle humour, follows the development of a lively, headstrong, self-effacing young girl into womanhood.

John Cowan is headkeeper on a large Scottish estate, and has worked as a gamekeeper all his life. In this new book, he passes on everything he knows about the profession he loves.The book is crammed with fascinating practical advice - but it is also a very entertaining read for anyone interested in the day-to-day challenges and joys of running a busy sporting estate.It can be read for its countless tips and gamekeeping wisdom, or simply for pleasure, for the unique insight into the hard-working but rewarding life of the modern gamekeeper.With informative drawings of traps and snares by Roger Penwill and classic wildlife illustrations from C.F. Tunnicliffe.

Fans of Maynard will be delighted to read his further adventures in bacon curing. The last of the traditionally-apprenticed bacon curers, the author regales and inspires his readers with tales ofvisits from the health inspectorshis colourful customers and work colleagueshis tips on curing, smoking and sellingthe burglaries, bungled deals and triumphshis growing reputation in the fieldtravels to learn how to make parma ham and much more.This book is the same addictive concoction of humour, tragedy and plain common sense, told in Maynard's disarmingly frank manner.

In this rich collection of angling tales, Chris Yates has paired together his experiences of carp, barbel, pike, roach, gudgeon, chub, even bass.Within each pair of essays, the angling anecdotes mirror each other in strange and surprising ways.Falling in Again finds Chris in search of a 'lost' carp lake, being mugged on the River Mole, and dangling breadcrust for chub from an overhanging tree, but throughout he is exploring the patterns of angling, the links between angling in boyhood and middle age.These are tales of fishing in innocence and experience, in which the mysteries of angling remain greater than the man, whose destiny is to keep falling in again.

Maynard Davies, the last of the apprentice bacon curers, tells his intriguing story in his own distinctive style.Always one to turn a challenge into an opportunity, Maynard took pleasure in learning the skills of the oldmaster curers of the Black Country and he shares with the reader the secrets of top quality bacon, learnt over a lifetime: the methods, recipes, smoking and curing. His passion for, ashe puts it, 'good food for good people', is his motivation - made by experts, using the best ingredients, and cutting no corners.Funny, wise and very human, Maynard's unsentimental tale will remind readers that old fashioned virtues of pride in one's profession, hard work, an open mind and a lot of optimism go along way.

"Every day is a feast day with The Poacher's Cookbook. * Stumped for a new way to cook pheasant? * Do you yearn for grouse roasted in the traditional way? * Do you want to prepare eel in green herb sauce or crayfish Swedish style? * Do you long for the inspiration for puddings to follow your game dishes? Then the The Poacher's Cookbook is for you - and your family and friends. Spiced with poaching and sporting anecdotes, country lore and sketches of country characters - a book to read in bed or have propped up by the kitchen stove. With Prue Coats' enthusiasm and practical advice you will astonish yourself, your family and your guests."