Blog

October 2025
Author: Pheasant Tommy

October ended up being a strange month for the fact that no walk took place. This was due to Mario inspired shenanigans which resulted in the month’s walk being moved, an additional hole in Rachel Reeves’ budget and stubborn resistance in the inflation rate for the UK. Arguably not all were Mario’s fault.

In a strange quirk of fate, the walk, now slated for November, is proving to be quite popular and likely to be one of the best attended in 2025, justifying Mario’s sage rescheduling. Regular readers will be shocked to discover that Mario has been asked to attend a Pheasant hearing on the matter, though his heroic demeanour and understated good looks are bound to see him fend off any frivolous charges. However, one must never underestimate Pheasant chicanery and the episode may well affect his chances in the 2025 awards.

Despite no walk, the Pheasants flocked together for Olly Smith’s wine tasting evening at St Mary’s church. The event was advertised as showcasing eight wines, but shockingly there were only three to sample on the night and no breadsticks. Olly put on a good show and the Pheasants were crafty enough to leave the venue with the remains of a bottle of Taylor’s late vintage port for research purposes.

The added gaps in the late October window allowed a few Pheasants to try the Octoberfest at the Drayman’s Arms where society business was discussed over cheese platters and a few 0.5% beers from the sensible Mario. Creeky eventually joined once several taxis had tried and failed to reach him, and the trio became four as Bellars turned up for last rites in the Albert.

October ended with a lot of planning discussions for the festive calendar and a date for the Christmas award event was agreed upon. In true Pheasant tradition, with the date fixed, the pluckers have actually yet to book a location for this annual cultural highlight. The species can never be accused of being hasty.

With the remaining walking calendar for 2025 in disarray, Tommy did at least do a recce for the October-in-November walk.

Sepetmber 2025
Author: Pheasant Tommy

September continued to bring good weather for Pheasant walks and events.

The beginning of the month saw numerous pheasants flock to the Poets House for Whiskey Tasting with Joel Harrison. A generous selection of five different offerings, coupled with some fancy tumblers to take home saw the attendees well taken care of and suitably squiffy.

Following increased public recognition of the Pheasants we were asked to help advertise a walking quiz around Ely. After an inglorious start by Mario and Tommy, further reinforcements were drafted in as Bellars joined the fray to help finish both quizes.

The end of the month saw a new walk being undertaken, with the Pheasants making the most of ideal Autumn weather to visit picturesque Pakenham and the surrounding area. A preponderance of cows on the walk caused Bellars undue anxiety.

With October just around the corner and Christmas and award season looming, it will prove to be a busy period for the group.

August 2025
Author: Pheasant Tommy

This traditionally quiet month kicked off early with a trip to Bury St Edmunds on the first day of the month.

With four pheasants setting off on the train they were soon settled into the Canon Street Brewery with a sausage roll and deep in discussion of where to go next. With Mario pining for the Four Artichokes and a different eating establishment, the team ended up in a curry house where Pheasant Tom struggled to keep his eyes open. The night ended with coffee and dominos to help wake him up for the train ride home.

The end of August saw two events in quick succession. First was the 5^th Year anniversary of the first pheasant walk and saw a large turn out for the Three Churches walk. The team were treated to a short sub 10km walk, bacon turnovers, champagne and asparagus as festivities got underway. This was followed up by drinks at the Affleck Arms and locally produced pies and chutney.

The month finished with the Prince Albert beer festival where Mario had set up a rendezvous with Bruce (from the Easy E riders, shown below) who had somehow stumbled across the pheasant website on the Internet and had been suitably impressed to reach out to us.

September promises to be a busy month with a couple of events, a pheasant birthday and the new Thurston walk.

June/July 2025
Author: Pheasant Tommy

The beginning of this double month saw a veritable cornucopia of activities happen in quick succession.

Starting with the final section of the Camino de Canary, the fabled trio of Adrian, Mario and Tom welcomed along special guest Creeky. The write up of this seminal event can be found here.

This was followed by another favourite pheasant pastime at Cromwell House as the intrepid flock once again attempted to escape from a locked room. Despite dodgy time keeping by the event organisers and some unfortunate shuffling of important documents the team once again managed to triumphantly exit from their containment within the allotted time.

June finished with the Hargrave walk as the team battled the oppressive heat and longer than advertised distance to complete the 6th walk of the year.

July saw more extreme heat events and a trip to the new Ely curry establishment to celebrate pheasant Stu’s birthday. The standard of food received a mixed reception and service was particularly suffering from teething issues.

The seventh month finished with a Long Melford walk, which itself culminated with a most salubrious visit to the Nethergate Brewery for drinks and pizza.

It was during this summer recess that goodbyes were said to the “Rage Rover”, as Creeky’s bane was finally put out of its misery. A minute’s silence was held before the party kicked off and its replacement duly celebrated.

On to August and more heat!

May 2025
Author: Pheasant Tommy

May continued to bring in the sunshine which coincided with an uptick in Pheasant activity.

The month started with a compulsory trip to Bury St.Edmunds for Mario’s compleanno. Taking in the lovely Four Artichokes watering hole, including food, the pheasants finished off the day by pestering a holidaying couple all the way from the Nethergate speak-easy to the Cannon brewery.

The middle of May was taken up with the annual Pheasant away weekend, this time to Snainton. Much enjoyment was had in the lovely Yorkshire countryside as seven pheasants partook of this year’s trip.

The month ended with a book talk about old musical instruments in St Peter’s church. It was a gem of a talk and the group was treated to a selection of bone pipes, mouth harps and lyres. Mario had to be restrained from joining in or falling asleep.

June is already gearing up to be a busy month.

April 2025
Author: Pheasant Tommy

Due to a later Easter and various holiday commitments, April came and went in a hurry. As the pheasants scattered to disparate places like Portugal and Devon there was just enough time to undertake a short recce of the monthly walk prior to the event. This proved to be beneficial as the reduced mileage helped on what turned out to be a very hot day.

Besides the walk there was great news as Pheasant Tim became a grandfather. This was followed by an impromptu celebratory session in the Minster after a Pheasant call for support went out.

With only three weeks remaining ’til the annual Pheasant away weekend, preparations for this highlight of the year were much in evidence with increased signs of new gear being acquired. Credible reports mention new boots, trousers and a even rumour of a new T-shirt for Mario!

April finished with the final stage of the Camino de Canary Pheasant planned for early June along with upgraded accommodation which is something for the travellers to look forward to. Initial transportation planning was also set in motion for the away weekend.

March 2025
Author: Pheasant Tommy

Following a particularly busy February, it was always going to be hard to reach the same feverish level of activity in March. The month’s events kicked off on the very first day at 7am at Ely Train Station as the Pheasants undertook stage 1 of the Camino de Pheasant Canary, having first already completed stage 2 back in 2024 due to railway complications. It’s safe to say that the walk was long, hazardous and relied on Pheasant Creek to retrieve the motley crew back home after an arduous trek.

Despite a few small gatherings for coffee, no other formal activity took place until the end of the month whence five keen pheasants tackled the third monthly walk of the year at Barnack and the grounds of Burghley House. The walk ended in excitement due to a wrong turn and the surprise appearance of Captain Creeky, Pheasant Creek’s alter ego.

There was some time left in the month for future walks to be scoped out and allocated, while the Pheasants were cajoled into coughing up to pay for the away weekend in May. Some tears were shed as funds were extracted in order to recompense Pheasant Bellars for having booked it in the first place.

February 2025
Author: Pheasant Tommy

February promised to be a busy affair and so it turned out.

The month started with the annual beer festival at the Maltings, which provided the opportunity to launch our first disruptive marketing campaign for the pheasant website. This was followed with a sophisticated wine tasting event at St Mary’s church, where the pheasants got to experience orange wine and a number of other offerings of dubious merit. The flock managed to neck more than their fair share of the plonk, which helped turn matters a tad rowdy.

It was then onto the second walk of the year as another large group of pheasants took part in the Shouldham walk. This was extremely well received, with charming and varied surroundings including an enchanting riverside jaunt which allowed for a time honoured game of Pooh sticks. There may have been a pylon or two along the way.

Hot on the heels of the walk was another book event where we learnt about the Great Seige of Malta (1565). Mario just about managed to hold himself in check, as at times the naive and under researched author resorted to erroneous tropes when describing the Jewel of the Mediterranean, calling the island “arid” and of it being “in the middle of nowhere”. The fact that the gentleman left Ely without any missing teeth is testament to Mario’s self control.

This left the pheasants with only a couple of days rest before March and the return of the Camino season.

January 2025
Author: Pheasant Tommy

The New Year began with a flurry of furious activity as the Pheasants finally managed to organise themselves and get a date and location booked for a May away weekend at Snainton. Hopefully the weather in the Yorkshire Moors at that time will be as kind as it has been on previous bootcamps.

Besides the away weekend several events were finalised in the diary for the near future, including a book signing, a wine tasting and the annual Ely beer festival.

Finally, eight Pheasants turned up for the first walk of 2025 in Great Bricett, Suffolk. Despite the seasonally cold weather, missing paths and near calamity for two of the party at a small bridge, everyone managed to find their way to the much needed pub at the end.

December 2024
Author: Pheasant Tommy

A busy December started with a delayed walk around Dalham in the grip of Storm Darragh. Despite the limited attendance, cheap beer at the Affleck Arms and a coffee morning at the village hall were the walkers’ just rewards.

This was followed by two additional events including an escape room from which, I am pleased to report, the pheasants duly fled. A firm favourite followed with a trip to Bury St. Edmunds, and despite a cruel and egregious seasonal malady claiming one prospective attendee, two pheasants were still able to make an excellent day of it.

That left the greatly anticipated pheasant award ceremony at which Pheasant Mario became the first two time, back-to-back winner of POTY. The photo competition was graced by Bellars’ title worthy entry, while a majority of the pheasants won awards over several categories.

With only the troublesome Pheasant away weekend left to be hammered out by the end of 2024, the omens are promising for a hectic and eventful start to 2025!