Rural riddles


FORK HANDLES


Jeremy Hobson solves more of your pastoral problems


we viewed in Normandy (but didn’t buy for one reason and another!), I photographed this unusual fork hanging with other neglected equipment which included a horse saddle and fishing rod. Have you any idea what the fork may have been used for – its prongs were flattened rather than pointed. Shaun Evans


Q


Looking around outbuildings of a house


A thing of purpose – but what purpose? No need to purchase ‘deer’ camouflage equipment! Q


In retirement – and aſter moving here to


France – I’ve taken up wildlife photography. Sometimes it’s difficult to get close enough to the birds and animals I want to photograph and my pension won’t run to an expensive telescopic lens. I thought camouflage gear might help and wondered if you could recommend anything suitable – and a possible French outlet. Colin Manning


DEER DEER A


As far as concealment goes, the most important thing


your clothing needs to do is disguise your human form. Although it may help, I’m


not sure a particular camouflage garment is the answer – any drab colour that matches the landscape in which you are photographing should be sufficient. It’s actually undue noise,


human scent and sudden movement that birds and animals are most likely to spot


SAY PEAS Q


May… might that be the reason? Marcia Field


later in the season. I’m just wondering whether your soil might be at fault, or whether they weren’t watered sufficiently (although we did have a wetter than normal summer in many parts of both France and the UK). It’s too late to do so now (March-April) – and you will have


A


to have another attempt as you did last year – but in future, try planting sweet pea seeds in pots (preferably in the greenhouse if you have one) this September, in readiness for planting out in spring 2026. Sweet peas seem to flower so much better when grown in this fashion. You will, most likely, need to nip out the tops of the individual plants once they have reached the three leaf stage: doing


104 FRENCH PROPERTY NEWS: March/April 2025


so stops them from becoming too leggy and also encourages side-shoot growth –and thereby more flowers. The method of exactly how/where and when to nip out the tops can be found on YouTube and similar.


Sweet peas planted (did you mean seeds sown?) at that time ought to have flowered even if the blooms didn’t appear until


so keep a background behind you; keep off the skyline and stop moving whenever what you are watching appears to suddenly be on the alert. Keep movement to a


minimum, walk slowly and gently (don’t stand on dry twigs!) and keep downwind of any animals you are hoping to photograph. Finally, don’t wear strong-


smelling after-shave or similar when out and about on a photographic excursion.


Sweet smell of success


Last summer my sweet peas grew well outdoors but had hardly any flowers. I didn’t plant them until early


looks a little like a salmon gaff hanging to the right of it – makes me think it could be an eel fork or ‘gleeve’ used for catching eels at the bottom of a river bed. The prongs are, however, placed further apart than those on any other eel fork I’ve seen; in addition to which, the handle is shorter than I would have expected. Given the presence of the saddle, it may be actually nothing more than a stable fork – but if so, the flattened, rather than pointed prongs make it unusual for that purpose. Perhaps a knowledgeable ‘Rural Riddles’ reader can provide a more definitive answer?!


A


The fact that the fishing rod was there – and also what


© SHAUN EVANS


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