Perhaps unusually for a Londoner, I can trace my family back to the 16th century. For about 500 years, my ancestors lived in the same northern Italian village with a quiet existence of hill farming, foraging and market hunting. Their life was mostly outdoor, simple and frugal.
My father was particularly keen to impress upon my young and ungrateful mind how blessed I was to have the opportunities of modern education. His childhood, in contrast, seem to consist of climbing trees barefoot for wild honey, breeding doves to sell to the infirm, and roaming the Apennines for wild hares with his doting hound. Call me spoilt, but I always felt a pinch of envy when he would regale me with tales of his teenage years wild and free.
However idyllic a childhood he may have had, this was no future for a growing man to support a family in difficult times. World War II had left Italy wretched, pitiful and poor, so at the tender age of 17 my teary-eyed dad entrusted his dog to his father, kissed his mother and stepped on a bus to trade the green hills of his valley for the iron sky of the big smoke.
After a somewhat rocky start, he quickly forged a path for himself with old-fashioned grit and elbow grease.
Denne historien er fra February 05, 2020-utgaven av Shooting Times & Country.
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Denne historien er fra February 05, 2020-utgaven av Shooting Times & Country.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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United we stand
Following United Utilities' decision to end grouse shooting on its land, Lindsay Waddell asks what will happen if we ignore our vital moors
Serious matters
An old gamebook prompts a contemplation on punt-gunning
They're not always as easy as they seem
While coneys of the furry variety don't pose a problem for Blue Zulu, he's left frustrated once again by bolting bunnies of the clay sort
Debutant gundogs
There's lots to think about when it comes to making the decision about when to introduce your dog to shooting
When the going gets rough
Al Gabriel returns to the West London Shooting School to brush up on his rough shooting technique
The Field Guide To British Deer - BDS 60th Anniversary Edition
In this excerpt from the 60th anniversary edition of the BDS's Field Guide To British Deer, Charles Smith-Jones considers the noise they make
A step too far?
Simon Garnham wonders whether a new dog, a new gun and two different fields in need of protection might have been asking too much for one afternoon's work
Two bucks before breakfast
A journey from old South London to rural Hertfordshire to stalk muntjac suggests that the two aren't as far detached as they might seem
Stalking Diary
Stalkers can be a sentimental bunch, and they often carry a huge attachment to their hill
Gamekeeper
Alan Edwards believes unique, private experiences can help keepers become more competent and passionate custodians of the countryside