Sandpiper sight so stag-gering

Stag parties are notorious for bawdy behaviour - with oaths that what happens on tour forever stays on tour.

- with STUART WINTER

But there was no need for vows of omerta on my prenuptials away with pals at one of the lesser known fleshpots of the western world - Wisbech Sewage Farm.

Back in the 1970s, this insalubrious Fenland location with its distinctive aromas inspired birdwatching pilgrims to seek out rarities arriving from all points of the compass. North American "peeps" - small shorebirds plumed in the rusty colours of the tundra - would pitter-patter on gooey sludge beds alongside Asiatic counterparts, an astonishing illustration of how birds weighing less than an ounce travel huge distances on migration.