British Falconers' donate to NHS

The British Falconers' Club (BFC) has made a donation to aid NHS workers through a silent auction of its members for a day flying falcons on a grouse moor in North Yorkshire; this through the generous gift of the Levisham Moor Group and the Yorkshire region of the club.

"Every year falconers go north with their falcons in pursuit of grouse, and this year will be no different," said Steve Lambert the club's treasurer who organised the auction. "But thanks to one member's extraordinary generosity, we have been also been able to send £3,500 to the charity supporting health workers."

The BFC is a small club having some 850 members and only a very small percentage get onto a grouse moor each autumn. "It is not a cheap branch of our sport," said Yorkshire regional chairman, Steve Smith, "and to find extra to give to such a worthwhile cause is very heart-warming."

The relationship between falconer, dog and falcon in the pursuit of grouse in its natural habit pre-dates shooting and was practised by some notable characters including actor, James Robertson-Justice. It requires enormous dedication with the falcons climbing over a pointing dog to heights of 1,000 feet. Once this height (the pitch) is reached, the falconer sends his dog to flush and the falcon then stoops at speeds in excess of 100 miles an hour to strike the fleeing grouse.

Of course the grouse often escape but when she succeeds the falcon is rewarded and in the immortal words of early 20th Century falconer, Gilbert Blaine: "Cigars may be lit and the merits of the flight discussed".