Books by Laurence Catlow

Set against the dramatic backdrop of the Pennines, Catlow's shooting diary records his year as an amateur pheasant rearer, gamekeeper, forester, dog-handler and all-round shooting enthusiast. But he also records his thoughts as he goes around his small shoot: his views on the right to roam, on why he loves the birds he shoots, his wine cellar, his other sporting interests. He airs his opinions on subjects as diverse as sport and the nanny state, game cookery, friendship, disobedient dogs and beloved hats.Interspersed with pheasant shooting are magical evenings duck flighting and expeditions rabbit shooting. He controls vermin such as mink, crows and foxes - all familiar activities to those who run small shoots.Catlow is shooting's most articulate exponent and this is an intelligent, funny and thought-provoking book.

""I need to start thinking like a shooter, for shooters and fishers, even though they are often the same person, think very differently." So writes author Laurence Catlow as his fishing season on the lonely northern rivers comes to an end, and he prepares for his next shooting season on his own small shoot on the edge of the Pennines. Many sportsmen enjoy both shooting and fishing, and in That Strange Alchemy, Catlow examines - fishing and shooting memories and why they differ - why both sports are so important to him - the loss of his shooting dog and the undertaking of a new one - best fishing days and how these differ from best shooting days - the anxieties of running a guest shooting day - fishing in middle age compared to in youth Catlow writes with great wit, modesty and insight."