Issue 57 - Red Fin Fever
At the tender age of nine an event in my life afflicted me with a terminal illness. Most diseases are physical, some are mental, but this is both - and much to my delight, I’m finding there is no known cure. I contracted the disease in the marshy Fenlands of the Great Ouse at Ely - a dangerously inspiring place for a small boy who loved wildlife and wild places. The problem I had was freedom to explore this wilderness, for I was a chorister at the cathedral school.Time was limited and our dormitories were encircled by high walls, the gates locked: it was a prison. But such barriers were of
little consequence to a child bent on escape and it was still dark when I stuffed pillows into the bed to simulate a sleeping presence.
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