The inland punt-gunner was a rare beast that was typically found in the Fenlands of Lincolnshire and Cambridgeshire, but was also seen in such areas as the Somerset Levels and the Norfolk Broads, although in the later there was a crossover between inland and coastal punts. Locally, three areas witnessed the inland punt-gunner, the washlands of Whittlesey, Welney and Cowbit.
Some of the most famous pictures of fen gunners that have been repeatedly published were taken by pioneering Spalding photographer Frank Parkinson about 1892.
In 1906 Mr Henry Pickering, then 88, revealed what it was like to pursue wildfowl with a punt on Cowbit Wash in the 1840’s many years before Frank Parkinson’s photographs captured this scene:
When about 20 years of age, he commenced to “paddle his own canoe,” or in other words, to manipulate one of the boats which the Fenmen used in their fishing and shooting excursions. This boat was about 16 feet in length and three and a half feet wide, and was propelled variously by a pole, a double-bladed paddle or two small paddles as occasion required. Rising on the stern was a heavy duck gun, about 8 feet long, weighing from threequarters to one-and-a-half hundredweight, and firing about 3lb. of shot.
Taking advantage of the cover afforded by the flags and willows, the practice was to creep up as near as possible to a flock of ducks at rest, and let fly before they rose. Given favourable conditions , these guns would do tremendous execution. Mr Pickering has bowled over 21 wild ducks with one shot. The great draw-back, as the gun was a muzzle-loader, and the muzzle projected far over the water, was that when it had been discharged, a journey had to be made back to land before it could be loaded again. Our informant also mentioned that he once killed eight wild swans with one shot, large bullets being needed for the purpose, as the small shot was not strong enough. He also shot 42 green plovers in one night in Bourne Fen.
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