A SHOULDER TO LEAN ON

What a brave article by dear old Laurence Catlow in Shooting Times (5 October). Anxiety visits many of us from time to time. I certainly believe that anyone who is open about it with their medical team shouldn’t be worried about the loss of the lifestyle that keeps them healthy and happy. Owning a stocked gun cabinet is no more a risk than owning a car and they don’t take cars off people, do they? The modern take on this seems to be: “It’s OK to not be OK.” I hope in sharing his worries with us, using the power of the pen, Laurence is showered with respect from the country sports fraternity. I would be delighted for the Editor to

his character. Sadly, in a typical modern practice, a relationship with a doctor is very rare. With our modern risk-averse society, I doubt he would have been treated as well elsewhere.

Good luck to you, Mr Catlow — I hope you carry on shooting and fishing for many more years. Mike Ball, by email share my email address with Laurence and if he ever feels a need to reach out, I can offer a shoulder to lean on.

Ian Barnett, Norfolk abundant wader in the UK, and in international terms, they are of ‘least concern’.

So, as Mr Galbraith says, there is no reason why we cannot shoot some and take a modest and sustainable harvest.

Mike Swan, by email

Woodcock are the most abundant waders after the winter migration