One week after voting to leave, one of my ducks has decided to return to our back garden.  Don't they understand?  Out is out!  I suppose birds have more freedom than human beings and they certainly have no regard for borders, physical or political.  A lesson for us all? 

Is there life in Leyland?  Scientists have been asking this question for centuries.  Today though, Ben and I found some answers in a pond behind the medical centre on West Paddock.  The natives call this place “Stannings Pool” and it is rumoured to contain intelligent life-forms: Bream, Rudd, Tench and Carp are just some of the fish species that have been reported from this location.

Today, Ben and I chose to explore this hostile environment for ourselves.  Surrounded on all sides by weed-smoking, foul-mouthed youths, we dangled our lines into the filthy murk in the hope that we might discover intelligent life without getting our stuff nicked...

Devon was amazing this year, probably the best weather we have ever had down there: no rain whatsoever during the day and temperatures typically notched the early 20s.  Warmth and sunshine usually entice Mackerel up the River Dart, but not so this year for some unfathomable reason.  A more unlikely species of fish decided to play ball: Thin-lipped Mullet, a notoriously difficult species to catch.  On this glorious day in Stoke Gabriel I caught 3 of these hard-fighting beasts from the weir opposite the café.  I'll probably never catch one again...