SecretLeeds - History, culture and architecture in Leeds

I walk our dog around Cookridge and out into the Moseley Beck Valley and towards the Airport beyond.

Every time we go for a walk of around 30-40 minutes there's a "bang" in the distance that spooks her.

Immediately I think it's Farmer Giles and his shotgun, it sounds like the bangs from the sunday clay pigeon shotgun shooting.

But usually it's just one bang, sometimes a second follows but then that's it.......

Any ideas, all I can think of is maybe the Airport or a farmer has some sort of hourly bird scaring device??

Is it one of those butane/compressed gas powered bird scarers you see in farmers fields

The Royalty clay pigeon shoot.....

Does it happen on the hour or at a specific time?
There's the rail line down there too which causes a fair bit of noise and, if they have the explosive warning devices deployed, could cause a "bang".
Then, if you're nearer the station there's the possibility that some guy at the timber yard drops something.
If you can be a little more specific about the noise and the timing I'll ask people I know around there for ideas.

sparky415 wrote:The Royalty clay pigeon shoot.....

She knows all about that!!

So on sundays we try to finish our walk before they start!!

BarFly wrote:Does it happen on the hour or at a specific time?
There's the rail line down there too which causes a fair bit of noise and, if they have the explosive warning devices deployed, could cause a "bang".
Then, if you're nearer the station there's the possibility that some guy at the timber yard drops something.
If you can be a little more specific about the noise and the timing I'll ask people I know around there for ideas.

So kind of you to offer this. However there is a lot of people suggesting the following.......

cnosni wrote:Is it one of those butane/compressed gas powered bird scarers you see in farmers fields

Which fits exactly with what is happening.

Over say a 40 minute walk there could be no bang, one bang, two bangs or two close together.

This would be consistent with more than one bird scarer being operational!!

It does seem to be something my hound is starting to get used to now. MANY thanks for the kind replies

I might have a wander in this upcoming long weekend but I, too, think the "bird scarer" sounds a good explanation.

I shoot at the Royalty but there is a another private shoot next door which may be the one you can hear.

Generally, we only shoot between 10 & 12 on a Sunday morning. There is some shooting on a Tuesday evening between 5 & 7 and some saturdays.

I also walk the dog in the same area. I can walk from my home in Rawdon to Cookridge and the only time the dog is on the lead is to cross Bayton & Scotland lane, so many good walks in the area!

I didn't recognise Pounds's farm the first time I walked past, we used to live in Moseley Wood Gardens and get our eggs from there.


Back to the OP, It's a bird scarer

That sounds like the bird scarer at the airport. I know about the clay pigeon shooting at the Royalty but I thought there was another range in the area which seems to operate quite regularly. I could hear it from my house in Yeadon. Here in Farsley we can hear shooting from the TA range at Thornbury roundabout.