THE BOOK OF DUCK DECOYS. | |
| It is threequarters of a mile N E. of Nacton, and, notwithstanding the adjacent railway, is admirably positioned as a Decoy. Nacton Decoys.-There are two ponds here on Nacton Heath, the property of Admiral Sir George Broke Middleton, Bart., of Broke Hall, one a small one of about an acre, for Teal, with two pipes, and another, almost joining it, of 10 acres with six pipes, two of which are not now used. Nothing is known with certainty of the age of these Decoys. The present lessee of Broke Hall, Mr. Edward Banbury, is of opinion that the number of Ducks visiting the spot is nothing like so large as formerly, though in the late season (1884-5) 500 fowl were taken in one week, and as many as 1,700 in the season. The Decoys are 2½ miles SE. of Ipswich; in the parish of Foxhall, and are sometimes spoken of as the Bixley or Purdis Hall Decoys. They are 2½ miles from the River Orwell, on its north bank, and three-quarters of a mile N. of the Felixstowe Railway. Fritton.-The lake at Fritton, 5 miles SW. from Yarmouth, and 6 miles NW. of Lowestoft, is 3 miles in length, with an average width of 300 yards, and surrounded by large oak woods, a great attraction to the Ducks by reason of the acorns. Eight Decoy pipes are now in use, but the remains of thirteen others now disused are still visible, making twenty-one in all. The only pipe worked on the north side of the lake, and that but occasionally, is in the parish of Fritton, at the Hall Farm. Lieut.Colonel Leathes, of Herringfleet Hall, works three pipes (formerly five) at the Herringfleet or western end of the lake, and Sir Savile Crossley four more at the Ashby or cast end, where there was originally a group of seven. Colonel Leathes says that he has no idea when his Decoy was first made, but that it is certain it has existed over 200 years, and that it has been worked by his family 160 years. When John Fisk (the old Decoyman previous to 1848) made what he called " a good haul," Colonel Leathes says the stone pavement in the courtyard at the hall, which is close to the lake, used to be covered from end to end with Ducks taken in one day; it took 600 fowl to do this, and he could often average 200 Ducks per day for weeks; and Colonel Leathes also tells me, he recollects 600 Ducks being caught several nights in succession, and this at the Herringfleet Decoy alone, whilst equal takes were being, made at the Ashby end of the lake. | |
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