I must, at some deep cognitive level, be a product of my environment. I have no family history here, but I was born and raised in Devon and I've lived here for most of my life. The hedge that I'm looking after had been right here for about 400 years. As part of looking after the hedge I've bought myself a billhook. I chose the one that seemed most practical. It's not too big. It's only sharp on one side so that you could hit the back of it, and the handle can be shaped to only be held one way round. It also has a sort of exaggerated choil so that you could tie a lanyard around the blade.
I found out after I'd bought it that this is the "DEVON" pattern of billhook. At some stage, my thinking must have become Devonish enough that I can pick the billhook out of a lineup despite never having seen one before.
Richard "Nature or Nurture" B
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