Having driven to Wales Thursday night we enjoyed a meal & great banter around the piano.

The room was clean, modern but had a good through draft with the door rattling throughout the night.

Waking up we had a deep carpet of snow and sleet falling. Full breakfast all round with flickering lights in the dinning room set us up for the day ahead. The snow caused problems with the telephone & card machine so a quick whip round and we were all paid up.

We headed off for our walked up woodcock shoot day in the Welsh countryside. Being in a micro climate we only had about 5cm of snow and the temps stayed above zero but that wind chill was a bone numbing minus 5c.

I got the first woodcock of the day, then completed the day by adding pheasant & duck from a night flight on the pond.

Brilliant day, Tony our host very accommodating and Jimmy the keepers stories had us laughing over lunch.

Walked for over 4 hours around the shoot in the snow. Relatively flat compared to my local Stanley & Charcutt shoots.

Snow melt running down the fields like a sheet waterfall. Wading through a few fords & streams.

Ian’s beaters stick went floating off the downstream -whoops sorry Ian. Mastered art if climbing barbed wire fences and escaped any tears or rips in clothing or flesh.

Woodcock challenging, duck flying high & phesants just didn’t want to fly – too wet for all, don’t blame them really. Had some horses for company on one drive who weren’t gun shy at all !