HISTORY OF DECOYS. | |
| Coles states that during the last years of its existence very few fowl were taken in this Decoy, for when Skelton began to cultivate the land round it, about the year 1843 or 1844, the birds deserted the spot. This was a few years before the Middle Level Drainage was commenced. Mr. J. M. Heathcote, in his - Reminiscences of Fen and Mere " (pp. 48, 49), has given a brief notice of this Decoy, with a rough sketch of one of the pipes. The Decoy was on property belonging to Captain Wells. T. G. Skelton, who remembers this Decoy well, informs me he recollects his uncle Richard taking -o dozen birds here each day on three consecutive days. Nor are these large takes at all unlikely, considering the nature of the surrounding country, which in those times abounded in large meres, and fens. Whittlesey Mere was drained in 1852, and the Decoy about the same date given up. This large mere was 3 miles long and a mile wide. It was the resort of eight fowlers, who regularly attended it, to shoot wildfowl during the winter, and to cut reeds and catch fish in the summer. Three of these men are at this date (1885) now living. They shot the fowl from small shallow boats, using flint guns 8 ft. 6 in. long, some of which are still to be seen in the district. | |
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DECOYS IN THE COUNTY OF HERTFORD. | |
Decoys in use. The Hoo. | Decoys not in use. None. |
| At The Hoo, near Welwyn, 8 miles WNW. of Hertford, is a small trap Decoy belonging to Lord Dacre, and used only to supply household wants. The one cage that is attached to the pool is 30 ft. long, 12 ft. wide, and 9 ft. high, and is covered with wire netting. When the fowl swim up the ditch under the cage they are entrapped by means of a falling door, worked by a wire from a distance, as is the case at Hardwick (which see), and other trap Decoys. The Decoy was constructed in 1870, and the takes are but a few dozen fowl in the season, as they are required from time to time for the table of the owner. | |