QUESTION

Please can you tell me if they are ducks or geese in your village. We see them nearly every time we visit your village?

ANSWER

It is domesticated geese that you see wandering around Sedlescombe Village. They live at the Queen’s Head. The first geese at the Queen’s Head were Embden crossed with Toulouse. However, there was also a Brecon Buff gander at one time so the current geese are a bit of a pot-pourri. The Embden is a white goose with a long neck and broad body that grows to 20lb (30lb gander). The Toulouse has a grey plumage laced with white and is about the same size as the Embden. The Brecon Buff has a very light brown plumage.

(Thanks to information from John Cook, many-years landlord of the Queen's Head)

UPDATE: Sedlescombe Societies Association, a hard-working group in the Village who organise the Village Fayre every year, decided to allocate a small proportion of the profit from the 2011 Fayre to increasing the number of geese in Sedlescombe. The total number of birds that wander around the centre of the Village has increased to seven.