Merlin Unwin Books – förlag

World-class deer hair flytying instructor Barry Ord Clarke shares his lifetime’s knowledge: step-by-step instructions for over 40 of the best deer hair fishing flies plus comprehensive background on all the techniques, tools and materials.A QR code links to the author tying deer hair flies online. This gives flytyers the best of both worlds. They can work carefully at their own pace using the book, while the QR code next to his sequences takes them straight to the optional video which gives the overall visual tying lesson.Deer hair is considered by most flytyers to be challenging to use – but it needn't be so.From classics with a twist such as the Muddler Minnow to a new look Goddard's Caddis to the Sparkle Dun, Deer Hair Diver, Skitter Bug and Henry's Fork Stone among countless others…An unmissable masterclass in deer hair.

This stunning large format photographic book is the first to showcase throughout the course of a year, that iconic game bird, the rare grey partridge.Renowned photographer Tarquin Millington-Drake spent over 500 hours in hides, capturing the unfolding of a grey partridge restoration project on local arable farmland.Observing the elusive greys’ movements and habits, he gradually attuned to these beautiful little birds and managed to capture the thriving progress of the grey partridge as it established a foothold on this former farmland.Tarquin’s photographic account, with short descriptions of each season, tells the story of the year in which the colony is established, outlines the farming practices that create the premium habitat and all-important thriving insect numbers, also following the often solitary life of Frank the young keeper, whose tireless efforts earned him a Purdey award.

Following the success of his ground-breaking first book in this series, Barry Ord Clarke (recently voted Flytyer of the World) is sharing his latest innovations in this publication.As with his first book, each step-by-step photographic tying sequence is linked to the online video of him tying each of the flies featured.This gives flytyers the best of both worlds. They can work carefully at their own pace using the book, while the QR code next to each sequence takes them straight to the optional video which gives the overall visual tying lesson.Flies included are: The Ubiquitous Nymph, Danica Mayfly Nymph,Moose Mane Nymph, Clarke’s All Purpose Emerger, Midge Emerger, Emergent Sparkle Pupa, Hares ear soft Hackle, All Fur Wet Fly, Hares Ear Parachute, Anorexic Mayfly, CDC Mayfly Dun, Mallard Slip Wings, Compara Dun, Clarke’s Caddis, Diving Caddis, Dyret, Welshman’s Button, Fluttering caddis, Red Panama, Giant Stonefly, Braided Blue Damsel, The Worm, Float Foam Ant, Madam X, Foam Cylinder Cranefly, Phantom Zonker, Gummi Grub, Silicone Fry.

Beneath the smoothly civilised surface of the wealthy stalking party assembled for sport amid the wild grandeur of a Scottish deer forest, tensions are steadily ratcheting upwards.Though the fishing and stalking are all they could wish, a lethal cocktail of sexual, social, and inheritance conflicts has combined to produce a highly dangerous situation in this untamed landscape where natural hazards threaten the unwary as much as man-made ones – and accidents don’t always happen by chance. D.P. Hart-Davis’ fast-moving and sinister thriller is handled with aplomb by this experienced sporting author.

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 youthCatlow writes with great wit, modesty and insight.

Vintage gun expert Diggory Hadoke (author of Vintage Guns and The British Boxlock Gun & Rifle) has now produced an accessible work on the subject for which he is best known: the hammer gun.With a fascinating mixture of historical analysis, practical application and personal reflection, he makes a robust case for the Victorian hammer gun as the finest sporting gun available today, just as it was a century ago.The reader will discover all that is worth knowing about the subject: how the guns were devised, crafted and used, how they were perfected and how they work.Modern applications are given equal weight to historical ones and subjects such as the selection of suitable ammunition, stripping, refurbishing and customising will prove invaluable to anyone contemplating taking a hammer gun into the field and using it as they would a modern gun.More than a reference book, this is a clearly-written guide for owners and collectors that will prove invaluable for buying and maintaining  Victorian hammer guns.

This book explores in practical detail many of the ways, old and new, in which people can shoot bullets by their own force, without the aid of explosives.David slew Goliath with a stone from a sling, but it was a large stone and Man has long been shooting small stones and carefully rounded bullets of clay, glass – and latterly steel and lead – from a variety of weapons without recourse to gunpowder. The bow and arrow has been Man’s choice for the last 10,000 years, when modern firearms have been unavailable or unsuitable.There is currently an explosion of interest in making primitive archery equipment. The author has been building bows and shooting flint-tipped arrows since adolescence. But the addiction has led to stronger stuff: to experiments with making and shooting pump-up airguns, stonebows and home-made lead musketballs.Richard Middleton’s narrative is lively, humorous and full of exciting information and experimentation. In this quirky and clever book, he invites you to share the thrills of his garden shed experiments.

This is a ground-breaking fly tying book.• It is the first to have a QR code/YouTube link for every single pattern demonstrated. You can now watch the whole process online then turn to the matching chapter in the book to find the recipe and follow all the step-by-step instructions so that you can tie your own fly in your own time.• It has an online link with the author – expert tyer Barry Ord Clarke – who you can contact direct if you run into any difficulties! He will respond to all questions.• The book’s focus is on techniques: world-class fly tyer Ord Clarke demonstrates with crystal-clear photographs his own ‘takes’ on how to tie your own excellent flies – simply and quickly!

**This is the Merlin Unwin Books edition and is the only one currently available which contains the iconic Raymond Sheppard illustrations which capture with remarkable verve and accuracy the dramatic highlight of each story. All royalties from the sale of the Merlin Unwin Books hardback edition go to the Corbett tiger reserve in India.**This is the Merlin Unwin Books edition and is the only one currently available which contains the iconic Raymond Sheppard illustrations which capture with remarkable verve and accuracy the dramatic highlight of each story. All royalties from the sale of the Merlin Unwin Books hardback edition go to the Corbett tiger reserve in India.The presence of a man-eating tiger in the Indian province of Naini Tal spread fear and panic throughout the impoverished rural community. This tigress had already killed 434 villagers by the time Jim Corbett was approached to track and despatch her in 1907.These thrilling and moving tales are Corbett’s first-hand accounts as, over the ensuing 29 years and at the request of desperate locals, he expertly tracks and kills various specific tigers and leopards which had become man-eaters, driven to this by injury or extreme old age.No one understood the ways of the Indian jungle better than Corbett. A skilled tracker, he preferred to hunt alone and on foot, sometimes accompanied by his small dog Robin. Corbett derived intense happiness from observing wildlife and he was a fervent conservationist as well as a tracker and ace shot.He empathised with the impoverished people amongst whom he lived, in what is today Uttarakhand, and he established India’s first tiger sanctuary there.Corbett’s writing is as immediate and accessible today as it was when first published in 1944.

With the help of expert casting instructors Symonds and Maher, you can now become a master of the flyrod. Whatever your present abilities, this book will leave you with the perfect casting skills for all situations.Flycasting, that key pre-requisite to all successful trout and salmon fishing, can be a stumbling block for many anglers. This clear, well-illustrated guidebook will show you, step-by-step, how to execute all the casts you will ever need: from basic Overhead cast to Double-handed Spey cast, and from the simple Roll cast to the flamboyant Snake cast, and many more. Packed with useful tips on:•  which cast to use and when•  how to improve your casting techniques•  how to correct bad habits•  latest casts from around the world•  advice on best casting rods, reels and flylinesThis book will transform your casting skills whether you are a complete beginner or an already experienced flyfisher.

Britain’s hedgerows abound with forgotten remedies for countless health problems.Julie Bruton-Seal, practising medical herbalist, together with her co-author, the editor and writer Matthew Seal, have responded to the growing interest in natural medicine by aiming this book at the amateur who wants to improve his or her health in the same way that mankind has done for centuries around the world: by using local wild plants and herbs.There are clear instructions about which plants to harvest, when, and over 120 recipes showing how to make them into teas, vinegars, oils, creams, pillows, poultices or alcohol-based tinctures. Julie and Matthew explain which ailments can be treated, and what benefits can be expected.As well as being packed with practical information on using 50 native plants, Hedgerow Medicine also gives a fascinating insight into the literary, historic and worldwide application of these herbal remedies

The Klinkhåmer Special is probably the most popular fishing fly in the world today. It floats on the end of fly lines on salmon, trout or grayling rivers, from Britain to USA, and Scandinavia to Mongolia. This year marks the fly's 40th anniversary and to celebrate the occasion, its creator Hans van Klinken has at last written his long-awaited first book.Flyfishers for salmon, trout, grayling and coarse species will for the first time learn from Hans himself the secrets behind his miracle Klinkhåmer Special which has caught its fans hundreds and hundreds of fish: the thinking behind the design, the testing, the variations, the reasons for its remarkable success.Full instructions for tying Hans' most important flies are included in his engaging and revealing account of his life in flytying and fishing.

Jim Corbett was the local hero of northern India in the 1920s and 30s when he tracked down the man-eating tigers and leopards which had killed hundreds of poor villagers.His exploits still thrill thousands of readers all round the world today, and his enthusiasts will welcome Ian Douglas’ new biography packed with 90 previously unpublished photographs, private letters and reports which throw new light on Corbett.His friendships, his fishing, his guns, his accounts of the tiger tracking and his views on the jungle he so loved, are all here

This exceptionally clear and easy-to-use beginner’s guide shows you exactly how to create universal fishing flies, step-by-step. Each of the 12 patterns is linked by QR code to a YouTube video showing the author tying the fly in question.12 key trout patterns demonstrate the most important flytying techniquesFlying AntElk Hair CaddisThe F-FlyHare’s Ear NymphCopper NymphPheasant Tail NymphHair Wing DunKlinkhamerMontana NymphWoolly BuggerZebra MidgeZonkerThe book also includes Barry's recommendations for a beginner's flytying kit and materials and lots of useful advice and tips.

Fish feel pain is the battle cry of animal rights activists who would love to see a ban on recreational fishing and all use of fish by humans. Their claim is rooted in research purporting to demonstrate beyond doubt that fish and aquatic invertebrates are capable of experiencing pain.The fish feel pain claim has gained traction over the last 20 years, and in many parts of the world legislation now recognises fish as ‘sentient’ beings, with some potentially dire and far-reaching consequences for the 3 billion people worldwide whose livelihoods depend on fish and fishing.This book puts the widely accepted dogma under the scientific, social and philosophical microscope. And its findings challenge the whole premise that fish feel pain.

People love mushrooms. They want to pick them and eat them. but when they get home and try to check them, the fears crowd in. The reference books are vague. Too many dangerous look-alikes. Is the colour in that photograph exaggerated? A field mushroom suddenly seems worryingly like a Destroying Angel....the mushrooms are all discarded.Here is a mushrooming guide with a totally new, positive approach. Forget all the other 500 species. You only need to know these 24. And you need to know them fully, without a shadow of a doubt.Alex Schwab's mushrooming rules are few but they are fixed rules. His key identification points leave no room for uncertainty. And he promises you these mushrooms will all taste delicious.Mushrooming without fear for the first time.

Man has been fishing for trout and salmon with the fly since the time of the Ancient Greeks. Devising ever more ingenious methods of doing so, his rods, reels, lines and flies have evolved in fascinating ways.With a delightful blend of wit and erudition, Conrad Voss Bark tells the story of flyfishing, from the Macedonian 'plumes' of old to the hairwing streamers of today.He spotlights the sport's formative protagonists – Juliana Berners, Robert Venables, Isaak Walton, Charles Cotton, Alfred Ronalds, George Kelson, J.C. Mottram, Dr Bell, and many others, using his journalist's skills to appraise the prevailing dogmas, the breakthroughs in tackle and to re-live the great debates and controversies, including the famous Skues-Halford dispute.Throughout, flyfishing is seen against the broader canvas of changing times in Britain, Ireland and North America.Today there are new forces which are shaping flyfishing history: water pollution, drift netting, over-kill, timeshare, catch-and-release and the explosion of new materials from which tackle and flies are made.Not since Waller Hills' classic History of Flyfishing for Trout of 1921, has a broad survey of this fascinating sport been tackled with such individual style and verve.

In this rich collection of angling tales, Chris Yates has paired together his experiences of carp, barbel, pike, roach, gudgeon, chub, even bass.Within each pair of essays, the angling anecdotes mirror each other in strange and surprising ways.Falling in Again finds Chris in search of a 'lost' carp lake, being mugged on the River Mole, and dangling breadcrust for chub from an overhanging tree, but throughout he is exploring the patterns of angling, the links between angling in boyhood and middle age.These are tales of fishing in innocence and experience, in which the mysteries of angling remain greater than the man, whose destiny is to keep falling in again.

'Whether you are tangling with a tarpon or tricking a little brown trout, the knot matters. That's why anyone interested in catching (rather than losing!) fish, should read this book.' Charles Jardine, Countryside AllianceHere are 24 essential knots that every fisherman - game, coarse and sea - needs to know.This compact little reference book (ideal for slipping in the fishing bag) shows you in clear, step-by-step drawings exactly how to tie the knots and when to use them. Also included is expert advice on the latest in knot-tying tools and line connectors. This is the clearest, best-value knot book available. No angler should be without it

When Laurence Catlow, a classics master at a Cumbrian boarding school, sees a beautiful pheasant in flight, he wants to reach for his gun.In this diary of his sporting year, he asks himself, between days on the local rivers and shoots, why this is so.His answers are surprising, controversial and convincing. They provide an articulate response to the anti-fieldsports arguments, and he presents them in an entertaining, frank and amusing manner.Throughout 1995, Laurence's diary records his hopes of buying some precipitous shooting ground in the Pennines, his fishing days on the Eden, Wharfe and other rivers, the arrival of a second gundog and days spent together on shoots. All this activity is interspersed with Laurence's quest for his true motives in killing what he most loves. He looks at foxhunting, vegetarianism, man as a hunter, man as created in God's image and man as a creature doomed, himself, to die.Nearly 25 years later, this diary remains highly topical, thought-provoking and original. yet its tone is also very human and it comes from the pen of a true nature-lover.

This is the true story of the most remarkable horse in history. In 1678, a beautiful mahogany bay Karaman colt is foaled in a stable on a feudal landholding in the Balkans. Yet this is no ordinary colt: this is a colt with a destiny. He is destined to become the magnificent Byerley Turk, the first Foundation Sire of the thoroughbred line. From his early days the young horse is hard-schooled in the disciplines of war. In 1683, in diamond and ruby-studded harness in the ranks of the glittering Ottoman sipahi, he fights as a charger at the Siege of Vienna.Seized as an exotic prize from the Siege of Buda three years later, he is ridden across Europe to the Royal Barracks of King James II in Hounslow, England, where he is acquired in 1687 by Captain Robert Byerley. In 1690, as a charger in the ranks of King William's army, he faces sabre and cannon at the Battle of the Boyne, but not before romping past the winning post at Downroyal and snatching the King's Plate.After two years of bitter campaigning in Ireland he is shipped back to England, where his owner, now Colonel of his regiment, retires him to Goldsborough Hall in Yorkshire.Here the horse is put to Stud and begins a long well-earned retirement. He died at the age of 25 in 1703.No stone marks his grave. Until now his story has never been told. But on racecourses throughout the world today, his blood thunders on.

Maynard Davies, the last of the traditional bacon apprentice-boys, later master-curer, shares here with the reader his lifetime’s knowledge of the art of smoking and curing.In this practical manual Maynard explains, step-by-step, how he did it all in his day – from choosing the best raw ingredients, to building one’s own smokehouse, to the secrets of making the best sausage.After working in the profession for 60 years, Maynard wanted to pass on his expertise to the next generation, in the hope that enthusiasts will get as much satisfaction from producing their own hams, bacons, sausages and countless other products, made with pride from the best ingredients, as he has always done.

After three years working as a young vet in rural Aberdeenshire, Hugh Cran decided that it was time for a change. He got it. He took a post in Kenya and, forty years later, he's still there, still working, still loving every exasperating, challenging, unexpected moment.This is a page-turning account of working as a vet at the sharp end.Cattle owned by the Maasai herdsmen or the white settlers might take up most of Hugh's time, but these cattle are assailed by lightning strike, snake bites, disease passed on by zebra and wildebeest. He's up against sun cancer, witch doctors - who knows what to expect next?Travelling miles on rough roads, Hugh never knows if he will be performing surgery on dirty sacks, besieged by every species of Kenyan insect, by the light of a failing car-headlamp!But the colourful people who frequent Hugh's Nukuru practice, the sheer vitality of the Kenyan scene and the rewarding nature of the grinding task in hand, keep him answering that persistent phone, day and night, and heading off into the unknown.

Falling truly, madly, deeply in love with one animal after another was a recurrent theme of the author’s childhood, actively encouraged by her beautiful, impetuous mother as she single-handedly held the family together during the war’s darkest days.While her husband’s regiment battled through the Tunisian desert to Italy and Austria, she criss-crossed beleaguered Britain with children, ration books, and an unwieldy train of rabbits, dogs, cats and ponies, dreaming of land of her own.But farming can’t be learned overnight, and translated into the reality of 400 acres of hilly, rain-lashed Radnorshire, that dream became a challenge for all ranks. Dragooned into acting as unskilled, unpaid labour for jobs that would make today’s Health-and-Safety freaks blench – burning rushes, driving tractors, riding on Land-Rover bonnets and towering haywains – the children came to look on boarding-school as a rest-cure, though they retain from those days of carefree, unregulated farm life a treasure-house of memories.This elegant memoir, told with disarming honesty and gentle humour, follows the development of a lively, headstrong, self-effacing young girl into womanhood.

Edward Miller has been running a successful B&B enterprise in a peaceful part of the Lake District for over 25 years. Here he tells his story of how it came about and how he learned through trial and error to not only make a decent profit out of it, but to enjoy (nearly) every minute of it.The book is full of incidents, some beyond belief, others rib-tickling or just plain bizarre. But it is also full of practical advice and tips, all of them summarised at the end of each chapter.With cartoons by Robin Grenville Evans.

Our kitchen shelves are full of remedies for all sorts of illnesses and accidents. In fact most domestic accidents occur in the kitchen. But if the home has hidden dangers, it also contains many handy but often overlooked ingredients for treating household emergencies and common ailments, from bee stings and cuts to sore throats and chilblains. The products for these remedies include herbs and spices, fruit and vegetables, oils and vinegars, and many other familiar items.  In Kitchen Medicine the authors of the successful Hedgerow Medicine now move indoors to describe the wealth of healing and emergency remedies that sit unused and idle in the kitchen. Superb illustrations adorn a lively text. The ailments and illnesses that kitchen medicine can address are comprehensively listed, making diagnosis and cure both immediate and easy.

It Happened in Shropshire is a vibrant and compelling account of the county’s diverse heritage; its heroes, its battles, its discoveries, its crimes. Bob Burrows’s highly readable prose transports the reader through time, racing across the landscape of Shropshire’s past from the woolly mammoths of 10,000 BC, the Roman occupation of Wroxeter and the Battle of Shrewsbury, to the Industrial Revolution and to the sporting achievements and murderous exploits of recent years. The book celebrates Salopians of national renown such as Charles Darwin, Clive of India, Wilfred Owen and Percy Thrower, as well as commemorating the accidents and disasters of:Shropshire’s ghostly past…and presentThe legends of ‘Mad Jack’ Mytton and the charismatic outlaw Sir Humphrey KynastonA celebration of Salopian sporting champions: Ian Woosnam, Sandy Lyle, Richie Woodhall, Billy WrightShropshire’s notorious and also its heroic vicarsThe 'Black Panther’ and other Salopian murderers exposed

This compact, little pocket book – the first ever to feature the natural insect next to its matching artificial fly – arms the angler with all the information he needs to select the right fly from his flybox.• Superb photographs of aquatic insects (larvae, pupae, adults)with the artificial flies positioned alongside them• Times of hatching   • The geographical distribution • Whether it is a river fly or a lake fly, or both • Life cycles of the insects • Clues from the river and from the trout’s behaviourPeter Lapsley contributes regularly to Flyfishing & Flytying and is author of several fishing books. He is a qualified national game angling instructor.Dr Cyril Bennett is one of the UK’s leading entomologists, specialising in river insects. His photographs of insects – some never before captured on camera – add a unique element to this book.