Where It All Began
From The Start to The Heart
This is the rough un edited version of chapter 1 from my first book, The Ole Hedge Creeper (from the start to the heart) there are 7 books out now in total 3 of which are game cooking books with more coming soon, with all the money from my books going directly to Pass It On Young Sports, if you would like to support future generations of young Countrymen and Women there will be a link at the bottom of this article, I will personally sign each one too.
THE START
(Chapter 1 My 1st day in the field)
The very 1st memory I have was on a cold Wednesday December morning at 5am 1974, I know it was December as all the Christmas Trimmings were up & I know it was a Wednesday as Dad & his Muckers always ferreted on a Wednesday as this was always the traditional day they had off of the docks as they were all dockers, 5am was the time as over the years this was the normal time to meet & this 1st time was no exception, I awoke with Dad tripping over my toy tractor as he tried to sneak down stairs then hearing my Mums soft voice from the kitchen, I heard her say shut up you noisy bugger you will wake the babies, Too late even back then I could hear a ferret sneeze from a 100 yards, I am 2 years old well nearly 3 so I grabbed my teddy bear & checked that my little brother was OK then went down stairs to the smell of fresh bacon cooking & the kettle boiling, As I write I have tears in my eyes just remembering all this, Well now I knew Dad was going ferreting this morning as I heard him on the phone to his pals the night before & I had been keeping onto him for weeks to take me & did not want to be waiting on the back step again waiting for his return, So he made me a promise if I was up when he was ready to go I could go ferreting with them, Well he did not think that was a promise he would have had to keep for a few years I think I can still see the look of shock on his face when I came round the corner in my Rupert Bear pyjamas carrying my Teddy Bear, Mums says my 1st words were I am up so you have to keep your promise Daddy you have to take me with you, As I looked around I could see all my uncles there, They were not really my blood uncles but I still think of them as so, right there stood in front of me was a man mountain Uncle Les well over 6ft tall ex-Army & built like a tank who gave me a wink & said yeh lad you can come as Uncle Chris/Barry & Uncle Bill gave Dad some ribbing saying there ya go a chip of the ole block & you can't go back on a promise, Well dad was not too happy to start with as he kept trying to say you're a bit young & it's too cold for you etc. but the lads just ribbed him even more, So Uncle bill sat me on his knee & told me a story of when he was a boy & of all the old time ferreters of who had gone before me, Let's just say I was enchanted & all I could think about was getting out there I could not eat my scrabbled egg on toast fast enough, Then came a knock at the door who was that???? could it be my Ole Pappy but no it was my Dads younger brother My Uncle Dave stood there, I can see it now it was like meeting the hippy from the young ones with his long hippy hair white daps(trainers to you modern kids) blue jeans & an Army camo coat, Although Uncle Dave is Dads brother we are more like real brothers now & in later years he was my best man at my wedding but we will get to that later in the book or next one, Dave came in kissed my mum said get the kettle on then ruffled my hair nicked my toast & said you're up then you coming ferreting, Well I was more excited than a ferret Faced with a Rat as Mum tried to dress me in one of those thick padded suit things with my Rupert The Bear Wellies gloves & hat to match, Well it seemed like a life time to this 1st time ferreter as we drove to the farm about an hour or so away I must have fell asleep as the next thing I know good ole Gyp our Whippet was jumping all over me licking my face as if to say come on boy we are here wake up.
(Chapter 1 My 1st day in the field)
The very 1st memory I have was on a cold Wednesday December morning at 5am 1974, I know it was December as all the Christmas Trimmings were up & I know it was a Wednesday as Dad & his Muckers always ferreted on a Wednesday as this was always the traditional day they had off of the docks as they were all dockers, 5am was the time as over the years this was the normal time to meet & this 1st time was no exception, I awoke with Dad tripping over my toy tractor as he tried to sneak down stairs then hearing my Mums soft voice from the kitchen, I heard her say shut up you noisy bugger you will wake the babies, Too late even back then I could hear a ferret sneeze from a 100 yards, I am 2 years old well nearly 3 so I grabbed my teddy bear & checked that my little brother was OK then went down stairs to the smell of fresh bacon cooking & the kettle boiling, As I write I have tears in my eyes just remembering all this, Well now I knew Dad was going ferreting this morning as I heard him on the phone to his pals the night before & I had been keeping onto him for weeks to take me & did not want to be waiting on the back step again waiting for his return, So he made me a promise if I was up when he was ready to go I could go ferreting with them, Well he did not think that was a promise he would have had to keep for a few years I think I can still see the look of shock on his face when I came round the corner in my Rupert Bear pyjamas carrying my Teddy Bear, Mums says my 1st words were I am up so you have to keep your promise Daddy you have to take me with you, As I looked around I could see all my uncles there, They were not really my blood uncles but I still think of them as so, right there stood in front of me was a man mountain Uncle Les well over 6ft tall ex-Army & built like a tank who gave me a wink & said yeh lad you can come as Uncle Chris/Barry & Uncle Bill gave Dad some ribbing saying there ya go a chip of the ole block & you can't go back on a promise, Well dad was not too happy to start with as he kept trying to say you're a bit young & it's too cold for you etc. but the lads just ribbed him even more, So Uncle bill sat me on his knee & told me a story of when he was a boy & of all the old time ferreters of who had gone before me, Let's just say I was enchanted & all I could think about was getting out there I could not eat my scrabbled egg on toast fast enough, Then came a knock at the door who was that???? could it be my Ole Pappy but no it was my Dads younger brother My Uncle Dave stood there, I can see it now it was like meeting the hippy from the young ones with his long hippy hair white daps(trainers to you modern kids) blue jeans & an Army camo coat, Although Uncle Dave is Dads brother we are more like real brothers now & in later years he was my best man at my wedding but we will get to that later in the book or next one, Dave came in kissed my mum said get the kettle on then ruffled my hair nicked my toast & said you're up then you coming ferreting, Well I was more excited than a ferret Faced with a Rat as Mum tried to dress me in one of those thick padded suit things with my Rupert The Bear Wellies gloves & hat to match, Well it seemed like a life time to this 1st time ferreter as we drove to the farm about an hour or so away I must have fell asleep as the next thing I know good ole Gyp our Whippet was jumping all over me licking my face as if to say come on boy we are here wake up.
This photo above was taken 30 years after my first day, ferreting the railway with the old masters, My Ole Dad and Uncle Dave (the hippy) with Billy one of the best dogs that ever owned me, the photo below is 50 years after that first day and we still hunt together now, we are more like three brothers, or The Three Musketeer's as were often called.
I remember that early morning air for the 1st time as the car door opened & Uncle Les Gave me a purse Net & said that's yours lad & it's a lucky one, This is a tradition I have carried on with every young un I have taken for the 1st time ferreting, I just could not wait to get to the sets & as my Uncles were deciding what sets to do 1st I was almost bursting with excitement it was a bit like waiting for Santa on Christmas Eve, Well we got to the 1st set & uncle Les Dog Skipper marked the 1st set to say a bunny was home now this is a bit of a true story but comical too, As Skipper(he was a Springer Spaniel) would mark to say bunny was at home he would break wind so the lads would say how many are home skip & however many break winds he did that was how many were at home, Now I can't write what they really said but I know you can all guess & the dog did not break wind to how many he just broke wind when excited but it is very funny & you had to be there & for a 1st timer like me that was the start of the most memorable day of my life so far, Dad taught me how to lay my net. I can still hear his voice in my head now make sure you put the ring down the whole so the rabbit trips over it & falls into the net make sure there is no tangles & the other ring is at the top & the peg is good & strong as the bunny will run of with your lucky net & we don't want that do we, Right then & there was the 1st lesson I got in field sports & was not going to be the last as we all learn something new every day That's something my Ole Pappy taught me, I still remember that 1st set we had 5 rabbits from it, The set was about a 15 hole with most being on the other side it was under a bramble hedge where 2 barbed wire fences met at a gate on the corner, As I sat on the ferret box behind my hole on the open field Dad whispered in my ear if a rabbit show at the net look away as it wont bolt if you look at it, also grab the rabbit not the net I still tell this to 1st timers now, As I sat there on my ferret box watching I could hear voices behind me in the net quick get another net over look out ones slipped the net back netted its self, But I did not move I knew my net was a lucky net Uncle Les told me so, Then there it was almost like in slow motion in a film everyone else was busy behind me & for the first time I heard that noise that makes all ferreters heart race & This 1sttimer the young hedge creeper was no exception, There it was again it sounded like a marching bands drummers??what was that I though my heart was beating out of my chest & no other sound existed but this drumming?? then I felt it under my feet & up through the ferret box & into me I could feel something magical was going to happen then all of a sudden silence for what seemed like hours but was actually seconds, Then there it was a rabbit sat in the hole just behind my lucky net I froze like a heron ready to pounce then In my head I heard my Dads words??? If a rabbit shows at the net look away it won't bolt so I looked away but just could not help but look out of the corner of my eye, Then all of a sudden as my ferret Sam caught up with it & it hit the net like a bullet from a gun I can still see this big buck rabbit in the air pursed good & tight in my lucky net as the peg held strong & pulled it back to ground. I was on it like Jason Robinson landing a winning try for England, My dad tells me all he could see was the bottoms of my Rupert the bear wellies sticking out of the rabbit hole with a load voice saying in the net in the net I got one in my lucky net, As my Uncles picked up the nets they kept saying well done lad that's the 1st of many & uncle Les giving me a cheeky wink saying see told you that was a lucky net didn't I, So that's where I cut my teeth ferreting & catching my 1st rabbit, The rest of the day went on much like this & I got another 3 rabbits in my lucky net but None So memorable as that 1st big buck & my own ferret Sam bolting it into my 1st lucky net that I still have hanging in The Cupboard to this day.
All my Books available from www.theolehedgecreeper.co.uk with all the money from these books getting ploughed back into Pass It On Young Sports Organisation www.pass-it-on-young-sports.org.uk securing our future country's sports for our Next generations and teaching them ethical hunting and conservation walks hand in hand.
Or another of my sayings as it was drummed into me as a boy, The Trophy Of Hunting, Is A Passion For Conservation.
TOGETHER WE CAN INSPIRE
Or another of my sayings as it was drummed into me as a boy, The Trophy Of Hunting, Is A Passion For Conservation.
TOGETHER WE CAN INSPIRE
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