gon2seed
(and me! - Ed)
Didn't really know which thread to put this in really, so made up a new one. It could have been in Stafford Memories or in the News thread.
It's happened again, some total f***wits have broken into Victoria Park Aviary, and killed four birds.
Over the years I can remember at least four occaisions when this has been done, mercifully this time there were relatively few casualties.
What posseses someone to do such a thing? I do know that evidence suggests people who inflict cruelty on animals are at much greater risk of going on to harm people. Many of our worst serial killers have been involved in extreme animal cruelty in their formative years. So I hope they catch these hoodlums and they get some justice and some therapy.
The aviary is a Stafford constant, I have visited it countless times, and it is a testament to Stafford's relative trouble free nature that this is a sporadic event. It would be a tradgedy if the aviary had to go because of vandalism. I am old enough to remember the large goldfish pond which was just behind the aviary, about where the wooden bridge over the mill pool stream is now. The goldfish were huge, and when they re-developed the the Park in the 70's, moved the waterwheels, and reduced the weirs, they got rid of the goldfish pond, and must have released the fish into the Sow. How do I know? because myself and my mate actually caught a large goldfish on rod and line from the big pool that used to be behind the Peugeot Garage. It was very deep where the mill races are, and legend had it, that the pool was inhabited by a huge pike.
My angling buddy was Lloyd Czepleski, who once won the Stafford Junior angling title, and Midland Championship. He was also an enigma, in that he was in the remedial group at primary school, but ended up with a 1st in micro-biology from East Anglia (chosen because of the great fishing on the Broads!) before post grad' studies that took him to the USA, where he was working on developing a process for speeding up fermentation in the brewing industry, that was potentially a huge money saver. Unfortunately I lost touch with Lloyd so I don't know whether your pint of Stella was produced with his help.
Wonder how Lloyd would have prospered in a Grammar School system (OO! little bit of politics? Ed.) Presumably he'd have been consigned to a secondary modern, and declared incapable of doing O' levels and/or a degree!
Finally, before anyone has a go, I no longer fish, The Venerable Mrs Seed used to constantly question my wish to torture innocent creatures with a hook, hauling them from their home, etc'. And in the end I had to see the sense in her arguement and packed my rods away for good!
It's happened again, some total f***wits have broken into Victoria Park Aviary, and killed four birds.
Over the years I can remember at least four occaisions when this has been done, mercifully this time there were relatively few casualties.
What posseses someone to do such a thing? I do know that evidence suggests people who inflict cruelty on animals are at much greater risk of going on to harm people. Many of our worst serial killers have been involved in extreme animal cruelty in their formative years. So I hope they catch these hoodlums and they get some justice and some therapy.
The aviary is a Stafford constant, I have visited it countless times, and it is a testament to Stafford's relative trouble free nature that this is a sporadic event. It would be a tradgedy if the aviary had to go because of vandalism. I am old enough to remember the large goldfish pond which was just behind the aviary, about where the wooden bridge over the mill pool stream is now. The goldfish were huge, and when they re-developed the the Park in the 70's, moved the waterwheels, and reduced the weirs, they got rid of the goldfish pond, and must have released the fish into the Sow. How do I know? because myself and my mate actually caught a large goldfish on rod and line from the big pool that used to be behind the Peugeot Garage. It was very deep where the mill races are, and legend had it, that the pool was inhabited by a huge pike.
My angling buddy was Lloyd Czepleski, who once won the Stafford Junior angling title, and Midland Championship. He was also an enigma, in that he was in the remedial group at primary school, but ended up with a 1st in micro-biology from East Anglia (chosen because of the great fishing on the Broads!) before post grad' studies that took him to the USA, where he was working on developing a process for speeding up fermentation in the brewing industry, that was potentially a huge money saver. Unfortunately I lost touch with Lloyd so I don't know whether your pint of Stella was produced with his help.
Wonder how Lloyd would have prospered in a Grammar School system (OO! little bit of politics? Ed.) Presumably he'd have been consigned to a secondary modern, and declared incapable of doing O' levels and/or a degree!
Finally, before anyone has a go, I no longer fish, The Venerable Mrs Seed used to constantly question my wish to torture innocent creatures with a hook, hauling them from their home, etc'. And in the end I had to see the sense in her arguement and packed my rods away for good!