Wet hairy beaver and an 18 year old bald pussy.

On a lighter note – and triggered by something I wrote at the Sniper Central forums (of all places….):

So yes, the water tank is sitting on swollen wood – and I’m sure due to this news that this page will get Google searches bringing people here who are searching for “Swollen wood” – but I assure you, this isn’t that type of blog, and there is a time and a place for that type of thing.

You may think this type of Google hit is unlikely, but honestly it is more likely than you’d think.

The admin side of this blog shows me all the daily hits, popular posts and links etc. It’s all very interesting – especially the part that tells me what people have put into search engines to get to this page. I think my favourite has to be “Naked hare and tortoise”. The mind boggles as to what that person was searching for!!!

One thing that can double a page web hits is the following – and I thank all the teenage lads out there for that.

Old bald pussy cat

If a picture of an 18 year old hairless cat doesn’t get people visiting my web pages, then maybe they are more interested in a picture of this fine thick furred Canadian critter…

Wet hairy beaver

It’s odd really that so much interest can be generated in teens by such specific wildlife and domesticated animals!

I shall let you know, dear reader, what the latest search engine hits are – and if this page did in fact bring more people in…

Secret Squirrel – Crouching Beaver

Hawley Lake has an airstrip – or at least it has a disused airstrip.

Two short runways cross on top of the hill. The history is a bit tricky to trace, but there are a few ideas around.

There is a thought that it was used for special operations with Lysander aircraft. This would make some sense, as the Lysander was superb for short field work.

Other talk says Beavers and various liason aircraft/helicopters used the strip to access Minley and/or Gibraltar Barracks (which have a certain hush-hush rumoury around them anyway).

Even Harrier and helicopter tests were thought to have been carried out here, to test sand damage and filters on desert based aircraft.

I don’t know the date of strip construction – which would be of some help – but until then, it’s a rumour of history. I do know that local airfields have been (and still are) used for secret squirrel operations.