THE BOOK OF DUCK DECOYS. | |
| The fresh birds would soon follow, and being very hungry would swim far enough under the net to get caught. At such times a few wild ducks would have the pinion feathers cut from one wing; they soon got tame and attracted numbers of Mallards, especially in the spring. "About one mile to the SE. of Grovehurst Pool is another smaller abandoned Decoy on my property, called Kemsley; this has not been in use for 100 years, but I am told was used for taking Teal, the larger pond being frequented by ducks. I well remember the Teal in my Grovehurst Decoy, sometimes to the number of 500, trying to sit out of the way of the ducks, even seating themselves on the top of the low hedge, fencing in the pond from the surrounding cover, so as to be out of the reach of their larger neighbours." About six years ago Mr. G. Webb of Tunstall, near Sittingbourne, commenced to enclose about 240 acres of salt land near the mouth of the River Medway, at the lower end of Chitney Marshes, only a few miles from the Grovehurst Decoy, and he has lately formed a large square pond, planted round with alder, willow, and sedge, in the hope of attracting wildfowl, though no "pipes " have yet been constructed. But the water from the creek that fills the pond being salt, the ducks will not drink it, and consequently do not remain long, although a good many have been seen there at one time during the past season (1884-5). | |
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DECOYS IN THE COUNTY OF LANCASTER. | |
Decoys in use. None. | Decoys not in use. Orford Hall. |
| Hale Decoy Today 2003 click here. | |
| Hale Decoy, 9 miles SE. of Liverpool and 7½ miles S. of Prescot, on a small peninsula on the N. bank of the Mersey River, and opposite Frodsham and Runcorn in Cheshire. The only Decoy worked in Lancashire is that at Hale, belonging to Colonel J. Blackburne, M.P. This Decoy is situated near the village of Hale, is within 150 yards of a high road and 450 yards of the Mersey Estuary. | |