Featured Book -Victorian (and earlier) Duck Decoys
Contributed by Cliff

What is a Duck Decoy? I thought it was a wooden or plastic duck used to entice wildfowl so they can be shot - yes, that's what they are today, but in Victorian times they were something very different. The Duck Decoys that are the subject of Payne-Gallwey’s book were very large traps covering several acres and during a season from December to March they were capable of taking 5,000 or more birds!

The word Decoy derives from the Dutch 'endekooy' or 'Duck Cage' and this provides an excellent idea of how the Decoy worked. The early and simplest Decoys were tunnels or cages into which the ducks were attracted by food and then trapped by dropping a 'door' to close the entrance. Read More

Theme of the Month - Fred J. Hando
contributed by Adam

Let us consider what attracts us to a book and makes us want to purchase and read it. Well for me, and I suspect most people, it is a combination of (in no particular order):-
Cover illustrations
Internal illustrations
Title
Subject matter

Being a Monmouthshire boy born and bred - I wonder what they call a native of Monmouthshire? However, I digress - anything with “Monmouthshire” in the title gets my interest. Secondly, being a country bumpkin (sorry I can't stand cities, and just about cope with towns), the dust cover illustration has to be a scene from the countryside. For illustrations I like....Read More.