THE WAY OF A WILDFOWLER. By Charles Bingham.

2011 1st edition. 8vo (159 x 237mm). Ppviii,161. B/w photographs. Blue boards, spine titled in gilt. Edition limited to 350 signed and numbered copies.

"Charles Bingham's reminiscences celebrate more than seven decades of wildfowling and fishing. From an early age he was fascinated by wild nature and the pursuit of quarry of all sorts. At school at Oundle he caught and tamed birds - owls, kestrels, sparrowhawks among them; he ferreted rabbits and decoyed pigeons, and from the age of thirteen was already showing exceptional ability on the rifle range. Wildfowling became a great passion and he records here adventures in Ireland, on the Solway, in Scotland and elsewhere, including Kenya, in pursuit of feathered game. Obliged by his father's early death to take over the family business, Charles ran the company for years before selling up and moving with his family to the remote western fringe of Dartmoor to set up a fishing school. His descriptions of the fishing and the management of this enterprise will be of absorbing interest to salmon and sea trout anglers. [This book] describes a golden age of sport in the years after the war before traffic jams, health and safety, urban sprawl and officialdom combined to hamper the freedom of adventurous spirits in Britain. To read of those great days from the experience of a lifelong enthusiast is a rare pleasure." Edition limited to only 350 copies, 300 of which are numbered and signed by the author.