Faccombe
Faccombe is a village in Hampshire, situated a short drive south west of our house. The village is on the North Downs.
A large part of the parish is part of the Faccombe Estate which is used for pheasant shooting, which I find deeply disturbing. The pheasants are cute, rather stupid characters who are everywhere. They are fed by the estate, and then duped into being targets. There are many on the roads. They panic when they hear a car and then run straight at it instead of into the hedgerows. They finally realise they need to change direction or take off vertically and flap their wings like mad. Poor things. Should you so wish, you can find out more about the shooting season, which has just begun, below https://www.davidbeardsmoreshooting.com/post/pheasant-shooting-season
The estate is, or was, owned by the Landon family1,2 and includes, interestingly, a wind turbine, which has been there since 1993!
Starting from the Victorian Church of St Barnabas, we set out on part of the Test Way3. We passed corn fields and then descended through a wooded glade before being disturbed by the sound of pheasant shooting.
Fortunately the shooting stopped and the party drove off in convoy. We sat by a pile of logs to enjoy our sandwiches.
Clearly, Mr T had earned a pint! There is nothing traditional about the estate owned Jack Russell 4 This is a new, albeit tasteful, build overlooking the village pond. The Dog House accommodation is distinctly upmarket. I wouldn’t say no to a night there.
All in all, Faccombe is picturesque but rather weird. It could definitely feature in a TV murder mystery.
References
- http://www.theguardian.com/news/2007/aug/28/guardianobituaries.military
- arthurlandon.wordpress.com/about
- http://www.visit-hampshire.co.uk/things-to-do/the-test-way-walk-p1570951
- thejackrussellinn.com
DrT 
The photo really shows the beautiful colours of the pheasant. Usually you don’t see them so well as they are moving or flying.
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