You know you're getting that bit more
'mature' when you spend August Bank Holiday doing DIY rather than
socialising. However, inbetween hammering and painting I did find
time to take the dog and the kids for a walk.
We parked in our usual
secluded spot, and armed with some tubs to collect blackberries, we
set off. No more than 100 yards and we came across the scattered
remains of a crow. Further along, more feathers, this time a dead
seagull. Further along again, we spotted discarded shotgun cartridges
- hundreds of the things. Their brass shells ground into the earth to
form an unpleasant scaly mass.
There are certain organisations that
vociferously defend shooting and who claim to be 'the voice of the
countryside', as if country-philes and the pro-shooting lobby are one
and the same thing.
If shotgun enthusiasts love the unspoilt beauty
of the countryside so much, why can't they act responsibly like the
rest of us and pick up after themselves? Even my three-year old knows
it is anti-social to leave your litter behind.