Friday, January 28, 2022

28/01/22

 



Music - The Manchester Rambler: heard this on Radio BBC 3 this morning, so went down the rabbit hole of exploring.  It was written by Ewan McColl above when he was 17 years old.  It was written to commemorate the Kinder Scout Rebellion on the 24th April 1932.  When the urbanites took on the gamekeepers of the moor and challenged the right of free access to the moors.  

The game was won, we now have freedom to roam but with certain rules. I did not know that the Young Communist League was part of the movement but of course it would be part of their beliefs.  Access to roam freely in the countryside.

The gamekeepers have upset the ecology of the moors, shooting and poisoning  predators such as the hawk family, just to keep the balance of the moors right for the production of grouse to shoot.  

Another thing I get cross about, the absurd shooting of small creatures for sport, the millions of pheasants that are set free in this country for shooting.

Of course you have to pay handsomely for this right to shoot, the landowners jealously guard their ownership of land, except perhaps in Scotland.

I suspect in this animal loving country that eventually there will be a charter for sentient beings to be treated humanely.  There is a movement world wide to stop cruel practices. Such acts of cruelty of force feeding ducks for the production of Foie Gras, or the cruel practice of cutting off shark fins.  Dogs killed inhumanely in such places as Korea or Thailand, slowly the force of good is beginning to be felt.  Poor Moon bears kept for the production of bile in small cages.  Slowly, slowly, inch by inch the battle is fought and sometimes won.

Went off the driven track there!  But to get back to Kinder Scout movement, still remembered every year. It was the same old battle between the classes, rich and poor, but of course 'Up North' there are the cities of working people who had the right to demand access to the land.

Now we have beaten tracks, that often need mending as the feet of the walkers wear away the footpaths. Still people leave farm gates open allowing animals to stray.  Uncontrolled dogs chase sheep, and, a personal one here, people who will insist on adding stones to cromlechs and building those funny little towers of rock from prehistoric sites.

8 comments:

  1. Agree with all of this Thelma. Sadly there is no accounting for folk.

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  2. Although I never shot any birds when I had guns (clays only), I certainly prefer to eat game than animals which may have been driven miles to an abattoir. I think that if you eat meat such distinctions should be important. Although I detest any form of hunting animals, I would still go along with stalking and fishing.

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    1. True Tom, when I was a child my grandfather often went shooting to Wales for rabbits and fishing for salmon, so often our fridge was well stocked. I learnt from him, that you 'hung' both rabbit and beef for a period of time to get a better flavour. Luckily though as the new vogue for vegetarianism/vegan grows, less meat is eaten.

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  3. Anyone who has ever had a cat or dog knows they are sentient beings, and I think the idea that humans are different from all other animals and the only ones that have self-awareness is mistaken. We're the same in principle in every other respect, only different in degree, so the sentient beings legistlation is progress.

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    1. It moves slowly but surely. One thing I hope to see is the stopping of slaughter of dolphins in Japan in Taiji and of course in the far Northern Scandinavian countries.

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  4. I've finally decided our footpaths are the public trails by both the national government, and state and local organizations.

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    1. Yes Joanne having gained the freedom, we have the National Parks to thank for keeping them in order and for local people to keep them on their toes.

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