It was an argument over which was Europe’s fastest game bird that led to the production of the Guinness Book of Records. On 10th November 1951, Sir Hugh Beaver (Managing Director of Guinness Breweries) was with a shooting party in County Wexford, Ireland. Some Golden Plovers were shot at, and missed, which prompted a discussion as to whether they were Europe’s fastest game bird. Consulting reference books did not solve the issue, and it occurred to Sir Hugh that there must be numerous other questions debated nightly in the 81,400 pubs in Britain and Ireland, but there was no book with which to settle arguments about records. He discussed the matter with Ross and Norris McWhirter to see if their fact and figure agency could help. The result was the first Guinness Book of Records being published in time for Christmas 1955.
Bizarrely the question that was the reason for the creation of the Guinness Book of Records was not answered until the 36th edition in 1989: "Britain's fastest game bird is the Red Grouse (Lagopus l. scoticus) which, in still air, has recorded burst speeds up to 92.8-100.8 km/h 58-63 mph over very short distances. Air speeds up to 112 km/h 70 mph have been claimed for the Golden plover (Pluvialis apricaria) when flushed, but it is extremely doubtful whether this rapid-flying bird can exceed 80-88 km/h 50-55 mph - even in an emergency".
I used a shutter speed of 1/2000 to freeze the wings on this Red Grouse flying full pelt over the Peak District Moors.
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