I WOULD like to respond to the rather sad and pathetic letter (last week's letters page) that criticised me, for my lack of wildlife knowledge and my rubbishing of the views of  a specific gentleman.

I've read and re-read my letter and can find no reference to any one person, or, have I mentioned any physical injury done to humans, there may have been, but I don't know of any, and I only write about damage and disruption I have seen.

Let me also say that I am responding because I want to, not, as demanded by a Mrs, Mr or Miss somebody, who hasn't got the guts of his or her convictions.

I am not exchanging letters through a newspaper. If any boar lovers have anything to say to me they can see my name and where I live.

I'll have a debate with anyone. I'm not too bothered about nasty remarks, I live too near the ood to be frightened of owls, sorry about the word ood, but us Foresters can't spell nun to good.

But getting down to the real issue.  I don't have to be some so called wildlife expert to stand on my doorstep and witness the grassland around my property continuously ravaged, my pathways turned into rivers of mud, adjoining pavements covered with turned over clods.

I don't have to be an expert to see neighbours' land treated in the same way.

I don't need to be an expert to see mile after mile of road verges, open land, etc forever being turned over, (no wonder people are seen walking in the road at night they can't get on to the verges now.)

The people of Whitecroft, Parkend, Viney Hill, Soudley, Yorkley, Ruardean etc don't have to be experts to see their neighbourhoods turned into muddy ploughed fields.

Go along and try telling the footballers of Harrow Hill, Whitecroft and Soudley that they should be wildlife experts before they can say their grounds been ravaged.

All-in-all I don't need to be one of these so called wildlife experts, nether do we need any useless, pointless poll or referendum to see that this once green and pleasant land is being torn apart by this introduced, artificial pest.

Interference by these blinkered people who caused and exasperated our situation can now see the consequence of their past interfering actions in Somerset.

A long time ago this excellent productive farmland area was drained by knowledgeable local people with input from the expertise of Dutch engineers.

With continuous improvements the drainage system they created worked well for hundreds of years, but a few years back along came the narrow minded busybodies called wildlife and environmental experts and called for dredging to be stopped  as it might be affecting wild goose ganders and now look?

So, like I stated previously, if anybody's got something to say, say it to my face not behind some nom de plume in a newspaper and if they like they can come and help me and my neighbours relay the turf.

Oh and I better point out to them, it's green side up, but then again I'm no expert mind.

– Ivor Ellis, Lower Milkwall.