Blog

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!

November 2024
Author: Pheasant Tommy

November’s activities started early with the delayed walk at Sicklesmere. Reversing the direction enabled an early stop for breakfast which was a winner with the group and was perhaps the reason attendance was the highest so far for the year. Apart from walking, most of the month was taken up with harassing the over worked pheasant web team, who stoically addressed the numerous updates and modifications requested for the site with quiet professionalism.

The hotly anticipated AI pheasant drawings were received with much mirth along with the extensive, but not exhaustive, Customs & Ordinances page which helped to demystify arcane pheasant protocols. In conjunction with the pheasant archivist, the early history of the group was also documented for the very first time and suitably hidden within the depths of the site. This left just the final planning into the much heralded voting system for Christmas awards, organising prizes, booking locations and arranging other Christmas events.

December is set to be an exciting month with one more walk in the 2024 season to go and look out for hints on the 2025 pheasant away weekend.

October 2024
Author: Pheasant Tommy

This was a busy month for the pheasants as the delayed September walk took place in Hopton, along with the first stage of a new Camino between Norwich and Walsingham. Despite low attendance on the Hopton walk, feedback from those that attended was that the walk was very good, although the pub could have done better.

Besides walking, the pheasants attended a Simon Heffer talk on the English language at St Peters church having first had a swift stiffener in the Drayman’s Arms. Lots of discussion on the use of “less” vs. “fewer” and a general impression given by the author that lots of people were “thick” (his words not the pheasants’).

Great excitement also in this month as the Christmas Pheasant Meal & Awards event was debated and I’m glad to say, a location and date agreed in record time.

All that remained on the ‘to do’ list was to update the website and yearbook, plan the next walk for November and generally start to get ready for the awards extravaganza.

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