Wednesday 21 March 2012

A PAT on the trap


No moths last night because I didn't switch on the light, but the trap has attracted half-a-dozen other small visitors. They are PAT-test approval stickers, PAT standing for Portable Appliance Test.

This exciting development is thanks to Kevin Hill, seen here hard at work, who added the moth trap to a morning replacing a couple of more everyday but dodgy fittings in the Wainwright home. He's a very nice and expert electrician and I would link to his email except that he says he has more than enough on. But if that changes I'll let you know.

This was his first moth trap encounter, however, and ditto for his wife Elizabeth who has had an interesting career spanning telecoms, the RAF and other work. Maybe they will invest in a moth trap themselves one day, or even make their own. I've always liked the fact that my gadget, known grandly as the Robinson Trap, is the work of a husband and wife team.

You can read more about it and alternatives here on the website of Watkins & Doncaster, entomological suppliers so venerable that I used to save up for bits and bobs from them when I was a primary schoolboy. Indeed they go back to my late grandparents' youth.

Why all this to-do? Because in three days' time, the trap will beam from the roof of the Guardian's London headquarters at King's Place, to help a talk I am giving on Sunday morning with my excellent butterfly colleague Patrick Barkham on Sunday morning.

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