Saturday 12 April 2008

A model gun punt

Gary Spratling in Australia has kindly sent pictures of a lovely model of a duck punt his father used in the middle of the last century. It gives a great idea of the size of the gun, which must have delivered a hell of a kick when fired. Gary makes the point that the number of yachts on moorings nowadays must make it very difficult for puntgunners, and the recent spate of waterside developments must have made it even worse. The top end of Portsmouth Harbour now has a very ritzy marina where wildfowlers used to stalk their prey. Firing the gun in the wrong direction could gouge a lot of expensive gelcoat these days.
Gary writes:
"Hi Chris, further to your note on duck punts this is a model that my father built of our duck punt, which was used on Portsmouth Harbour during the 50's and early 60's . By the time I was old enough to take the punt out myself, I don't think any punt gunning was taking place. Even then, the harbour was starting to fill up with moored yachts. I believe the duck shooting took place further up the harbour past Portchester towards Fareham. They also towed punts round to Southampton Water and the Beaulieu River.
Regards,
Gary"

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