SITTING by this Devon pool, I have noticed shoals of sticklebacks and minnows just inches from my feet.

I haven't seen a Jack Sharp in years. Let me have your stickleback memories, please. Perhaps we can start a dialogue along the lines of the great shad and bullhead debates earlier this year.

In fact, I just noticed a male robin redbreast' defending his nest. He's kept very busy, for he's built it next to a huge shoal of fry. Although they have no malicious intent, these tiny fish spook very easily and as their line of retreat passes the nest, our pugnacious little friend is kept very busy, lunging and slashing with his side spines. This is a kind of piscatorial Rorke's Drift, fry Impis throwing themselves at a lone Michael Caine figure of the ramparts. I just thought I'd share that one with you.

EXETER staged a large festival this summer, very similar to our own here in Worcester. In fact, browsing through a programme, I noticed a number of familiar names that have appeared in the Faithful City. Festivals are now very much a feature of life in summer throughout Britain. Of course, our continental cousins have been staging theirs for centuries, and only now we are playing catch-up. Still, better late than never.

AND finally.... I know we all go abroad these days, but you really should try a Devon seaside holiday - it's wonderful!