SHOTGUN WEDDING

The Editor’s article in the September issue [Young in the field] about the ‘sacred rule of grouse’ reminds me of a wedding in the early 1970s of a delightful girl called AN.

She came from deepest, darkest Devon and married someone from Norfolk, who was a keen shot and had a lot of friends who enjoyed shooting. At the time of her wedding, quite a few of the groom’s friends did not attend as they were shooting in Norfolk. They sent a telegram to the groom saying that they hoped the bird he was going to bring back to Norfolk did not have foot-and-mouth disease, which was prevalent at the time.

Robert Hutchinson, by email