Indholdsfortegnelse for March 2025 i The Field

Email charlotte.mackaness@futurenet.com BAKER BOY CAP Tom Lane Traditional eight-piece cap made in a choice of Yorkshire-woven cloths. Available in four sizes. A top-choice accessory for both lads and lasses. Price £75 Email info@tomlane.co tomlane.co STRIPED SILK SCARF Newmarket 875 A Newmarket blanket-inspired 90cm x 90cm silk foulard scarf made close to Lake Como. An odds-on favourite. Price £150 Email hello@newmarket875.com newmarket875.com TRAINING STARTER PACK Field & Fireside All the basics to get you and your gundog started with training, including a whistle in a choice of pitches, slip lead, dummy, training bag and treats. Price £58.50 Email contact@fieldandfireside.co.uk fieldandfireside.co.uk FULL-LENGTH MARLBOROUGH TRENCH COAT Holland Cooper A British-made classic: flattering double-breasted coat with belted waist and military-style epaulettes for added definition. A best-turned-out winner. Price £849 Tel 01608 658063 hollandcooper.com HEARING…

ENJOYING a remote setting in the charming north Suffolk countryside, this ring-fenced estate is a total of 802 acres, including commercial farmland managed under a contract farming agreement. The main house has six bedrooms, is moated and approached via a long, scenic drive. There are a further two five-bedroom residential properties in the sale, as well as a range of farm buildings. This estate offers a selection of sporting opportunities, including a stocked fishing lake. While there is not currently shooting over the land, the topography would allow for the creation of a good shoot. The estate lies to the south of the village of Chediston, about three miles from the market town of Halesworth. Agent: Savills ♦ Tel: 01473 234822 ♦ Guide price: £11.6m Properties of the month LODGE…

ON 14 FEBRUARY 1943 David Stirling was reported missing during a personal reconnaissance of the Gabès Gap. The Special Air Service’s (SAS) War Diary noted that he was a ‘believed prisoner of war’. Stirling’s rise had been meteoric. In early 1941 he had been a lacklustre Scots Guards subaltern attached to 8 Commando, with the nickname ‘Giant Sloth’. However, the unit he founded later that year – L Detachment, SAS – had, by the end of 1942, destroyed more enemy aircraft in theatre than the Royal Air Force, been raised to regimental status and he’d been promoted to Lieutenant Colonel. Cometh the hour, cometh the man? Perhaps. While it’s a step too far to credit Stirling with inventing a new form of warfare, his strategic vision, aided greatly by the…

Email: sarah.fitzpatrick@futurenet.com Tack-room cabinetry Daniel Baker Furniture It is so much easier to do required cleaning and maintenance if there is somewhere nice to do it. This oak-panelled tack room was created to accommodate 12 saddles plus all the usual accoutrements. It must be a positive pleasure to get the saddle soap out here, even after a soggy day hunting. Price: Baker’s commissions average £45,000 Tel: 07870 218125 danielbaker furniture.co.uk Garden cloche Claverton Cloches Extending the growing season in gardens from Balmoral to The Pig hotels, these Victorian-inspired cast-iron cloches will instantly elevate your garden. Built in the West Country to endure the British weather with style. Dimensions: 43cm wide x 43cm deep x 50cm tall Price: from £380 Tel: 01225 375259 clavertoncloches.com Estate fencing Cotswold Decorative Ironworkers Made in…

I WONDER if you have ever come across the HM Bateman sequence of cartoons, which first appeared in Punch in 1922, entitled The Guest Who Was Told To Make Himself Quite At Home, And Did So? The opening drawing sees the guest warmly welcomed by his hosts. He takes them at their word, pours his own drink, takes a cigar from a box, puts coal on the fire, chooses the wine from the cellar, hogs the fire and best chairs, comes down late and unshaven to breakfast, is rude to the servants, and kicks the dog. The host finally cracks when the guest makes up to his wife; the last drawing sees the guest sent packing, his host brandishing a shotgun. I am reminded of this timeless satire of social…

Across 5 Huntsman’s assistant, controlling hounds and so on (7-2) 7 Willow twigs used in basketry (5) 9 The favoured type of Macnab (7) 10 An alternative to e.g. cowhide for leather saddles (7) 11 Irish county location of Temple House woodcock shoot (5) 12 Range of Caesar Guerini guns for women (5) 13/24 Common large, black, dark-orange and white butterfly (3,7) 14 Not confined to one breed, retrieve gamebirds (7) 16 Small crow with silvery nape (7) 18 Patch of turf (3) 20 Teckels follow its scent (of wounded deer and so on) (5) 22 Sounds like acclaim for what a raptor does (5) 24 See 13 across 25 Type of hat – Melton Mowbray favourite? (4,3) 26 Highlands’ small cattle breed – upset yokel! (5) 27 French draught horse: Cher prone to move around! (9) Down 1 Owner of land bordering a…

A FEW MONTHS ago the BBC’s Countryfile sent John Craven to Farmoor Reservoir near Oxford to report on the winter bird population there. Craven was particularly enthusiastic about the cormorants he saw and the programme did, correctly, make the important point that there are two subspecies of the bird: Phalacrocorax carbo carbo and Phalacrocorax carbo sinensis. However, the distinction between them was not stressed. That is, the former is largely a maritime feeder and the latter is almost always a freshwater predator. Predictably, there was no investigation into the numbers or species of the fish these cormorants were eating, and they remained anonymous and ignored. Cormorants were portrayed as being as loveable and harmless as the robin on your shovel. They are not. Birds of the sinensis strain are causing…

Non-profit organisation Reel Recovery uses free fly-fishing retreats to improve the lives of men living with life-threatening cancer. It was formed in the USA more than two decades ago, and last year held its first event for British men with plans to expand this programme across the country in the coming months and years. Reel Recovery aims to help men in the recovery process by sharing the healing powers of fly-fishing, which it describes as ‘meditation in motion’, in a safe and supportive environment in the company of others who have a cancer story. Retreats, which are led by experienced facilitators, are free of charge. Last September it teamed up with the cancer care and clinical psychology teams at Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust and helped men from the north…

JOHNNY O’Shea was the hugely popular huntsman of the Cheshire foxhounds for 25 Seasons, from 1966 until 1991, and had an equally successful career in retirement from hunt service as a trainer of coursing greyhounds. Born in 1937, he grew up in a cottage in the stable yard at the Moyne estate in County Laois, Ireland. His father was kennel huntsman of the Laois (Queen’s County) Foxhounds and his mother worked in the big house for the Hamilton family, whose son Andrew was to become a lifelong friend. He was expected to help in kennels after school and on weekends, and continued to do so under his father’s successor when the former was injured. The reward was a pony to hunt on, given by one of the Masters. A natural…

SOME guns simply punch above their weight when it comes to the equation of ‘price x performance’. These are the guns one finds oneself reaching for time and again when opening the cabinet. In short, the workhorse: a shotgun just too hard not to champion. The guns that top shots drop into conversation after a day when they’ve wiped your eye. The ones we look to once the starter gun’s appeal has waned. For an aspiring workman needs the right tool; the gun you trust to get the job done (whether on game or clays) and thoroughly enjoy using. And all for less than £10,000. Read on for our round-up of guns that more than fit the bill. Beretta 687 EELL Classic Game This is Beretta’s 687 series flagship, the…

WHEN THE Sir Michael Stoute-trained Telescope romped to victory in the Hardwicke Stakes at Royal Ascot just over a decade ago, Mike Richards and his wife Joanna were there to revel in the son of Galileo’s champagne-fuelled glory on racing’s most glamorous stage. But unlike the sport’s handful of dominant owners blasé about the protocol of the winner’s enclosure, the Richards were part of the 12-person Wavertree syndicate, run by Highclere Thoroughbred Racing (HTR), riding high on their first Royal Ascot triumph. “It’s quite hard to explain to friends just what a thrill it is when you have a big winner – that sort of release of adrenaline is astonishing,” says Mike Richards. “This is not a financial investment: you have to assume you’re going to lose money. Some of…

AS PRIVATE schools, in line with hotels and theatres, have realised they must work harder to secure our spend, parents have been wooed with robotics, forest schools, 3D printers and more. But if you really want to wow a prospective student, get a dog. “I’ve definitely noticed more dogs featuring in our reviews,” says Janita Clamp, from The Good Schools Guide. “They’re being used more creatively, and are more integrated into schools as part of the pastoral department.” While nervousness about litigation and discrimination has impeded some school adventures, dogs have become more popular than ever, with hounds in all corners of Britain eagerly leading the way in the school cross-country, helping to clear the dining room and being sick as the school inspectors arrive. Nowhere are they more prolific…

READERS will doubtless have seen one of these in a James Bond film (think Never Say Never Again) or heard about them: fountain pens, ballpoint pens or propelling pencils that conceal a firearm. They were never introduced formally into any military organisation and are often thought of as the product of an author’s imagination. The reality, however, is different. Pen guns did exist and were used both legitimately and illegitimately, and they are probably the most common form of hidden firearm. The pen’s size, shape and weight made it ideal for this purpose, being always close to hand and deadly if used correctly (although it could be as dangerous to the user as to the intended target). These unusual weapons began to appear in the 1920s and were mostly sold…

THE FEATURED gun this month is a Chapuis Armes Super Orion Artisan C140 sideplate, a fairly recent model from the firm and the sideplated version of the C135 (also an extra-finish gun). Chapuis has been owned by Beretta since 2019 and its guns are distributed here by GMK. The C140 sits in a range that includes less embellished but mechanically similar guns. A C40, C35 and C30 (non-ejector) also exist but extra finish and engraving distinguish the test gun and its ‘boxlock’ C135 sibling. Apart from hand engraving, these models are hand chequered too and have upgraded wood and deluxe detailing. They demonstrate that Chapuis still offers traditional bench-based gunmaking skills at competitive cost. Our fusil superposé (over-and-under) has an attractive rounded action bar and pleasingly low profile. It weighs…

FROM TINY acorns grow mighty oaks. In the case of the retail experience at Rhug, the seed that developed into a flourishing business was a burger and butchery van, which started selling at the roadside in 2002. Some two decades later and there is now not just a destination farm shop in this picturesque corner of North Wales but a cafe, takeaway and drive-through, not to mention a dangerously enticing and extensive online offering and an award-winning organic beauty range to its name. Its success is less surprising given the roots for growth lay in the forward-thinking approach taken at the 12,500-acre Rhug estate, which has been organic since the turn of the century and is committed to carbon-neutral, regenerative farming. Amy Coleman is managing director of the farm shop…

WHO OWNS this bloody dog?” is the toe-curling holler no gun wants to hear. Take any pup in the limelight and their status as a scamp is unequivocally and fondly celebrated: there’s Hairy Maclary from Donaldson’s Dairy ruthlessly tearing across town; the affectionate naming of ‘Nipper’ in the 1898 painting His Master’s Voice; or Jip in David Copperfield with his endearingly high-maintenance requirement for a mutton chop every day at 12 ‘or he’ll die’. But no such lucky leeway for the wayward, trying gundog. Get a name as a non-bringer-backer, an eater or a nipper and they can expect to incur the wrath of a red-faced master and eye-rolling (if not blood-boiling) fellow guns. ‘With that sad why-should-this-happen-to-me? expression, a friend tells me the story of a labrador of noble…

Government recognises the benefits of grouse shooting A number of Parliamentary petitions calling for a grouse shooting ban – created by Chris Packham and colleagues at campaign group Wild Justice – have misfired spectacularly. ‘The Government has no plans to ban driven grouse shooting,’ confirmed Defra in a statement. ‘It recognises well-managed grouse shooting can be an important part of a local rural economy, providing direct and indirect employment.’ Defra also acknowledged that, in addition to boosting the countryside economy, well-managed shooting activities ‘can be beneficial for wildlife and habitat conservation’, adding: ‘We will continue to work to ensure a sustainable, mutually beneficial relationship between shooting and conservation.’ This support has been welcomed by shooting organisations. BASC’s head of uplands, Alex Farrell, said: “Moorland managed for sustainable grouse shooting is…

The GWCT has a long history of deploying working dogs in its research and monitoring work. Being on the Trust’s ‘payroll’ means you get certain perks, such as food, vet bills and insurance paid for. One specialist area canine employees focus on is the annual grouse and capercaillie counts. Specially trained pointing dogs help the research and advisory teams to search for and find by scent, ‘point’ and flush the birds during spring and summer counts. Once they have found the birds, they stay rigid on point until the handler arrives next to the dog. Together they then flush them, with the dog dropping, while the handler counts the numbers, age and sex of the birds as they fly off. Spring counts are done to assess breeding potential, whereas the…

THINK back to university or college days and memories of skipping lectures, partying in dubious fashion choices and nursing sore heads are likely to feature heavily. Witnessing the sunrise was most likely to happen when slinking back to digs after a particularly raucous night. While it would be foolish to suggest that such japery doesn’t occur at the Royal Agricultural University, there are students there who see the start of the day for far more wholesome reasons; with the responsibility of running the University’s pack of beagles, they are awake to tend not to hangovers but to hounds. Despite the change in the institution’s status from college to university, the pack is still known as the RAC Beagles (RACB) and is predominantly managed by the students. One integral to the…

RALLYING his men to the breach at the assault on Harfleur, Shakespeare’s Henry V cries: ‘I see you stand like greyhounds in the slips/Straining upon the start. The game’s afoot.’ Shakespeare wrote the speech more than 400 years ago, and the Siege of Harfleur itself happened nearly 200 years earlier than that. Yet here we are now on the ancient chalk downland of Berkshire, holding hounds in the slips ready to contest the modern form of a sport both Shakespeare and Henry V would recognise. It has to be admitted that some of the hounds competing are not ‘straining upon the start’ quite as much as others. The first Spring Meeting of UK Sighthound Sport (UKSS) has brought together sighthound owners from all over the country with a great variety…

NO BRITISH event or sporting day is complete without a pie: whether traditional pork, savoury steak and Stilton or sweet apple. I have always hankered after them, from Ribby’s pie of mouse and bacon in Beatrix Potter to pigeon pie in The Railway Children, in which Peter cried ‘perfectly ripping’ when he thought it was being proffered for breakfast. Then there was Gene Wilder in Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory with the unfortunate Violet Beauregarde and her blueberry pie chewing gum, and studying Great Expectations when Pip steals brandy and a pork pie for Magwitch; not forgetting a recipe for apple pie by Geoffrey Chaucer. Perhaps it comes as little surprise, then, that at school my moniker was ‘Jocky’: not for my similarity of build to Frankie Dettori but…

Sporting artist • Under the hammer • Royal Armouries • Sporting dog • The boot room • Gun review • Country queries • Gardening Farmshop • Cookery • Wine • Travel • Books • Field testers • The Last Hurrah THERE couldn’t be a more suitable artist to sculpt a large public memorial to the naturalist Charles Darwin than Jemma Pearson, who grew up surrounded by fascinating wildlife in the beautiful countryside of Dumfriesshire. “I was given a lot of freedom and there were always loads of animals, including the charming Mr Jackson: an abandoned jackdaw chick I was able to bring up and release back into the wild when old enough,” she remembers. Pearson instinctively began to model the animals around her: “I was always creating from the beginning…

IF YOU are ever asked to judge your village dog show – don’t. You will make far more enemies than friends, as there’s only ever one winner. There is, at least, a touch of humour in judging the dog with the waggiest tail but not a lot of smiling when the judging takes place at Crufts, for it’s a remarkably serious business. If you don’t believe me, go along and watch: this year Crufts, the world’s biggest dog show, takes place at Birmingham’s NEC from 6 to 9 March. I’ve been to Crufts many times. The first was when the show was still held at Olympia, and I was wearing short trousers. In those days it had an apostrophe and took place at the end of the shooting season: it…

IN DAYS gone by you might have found Spectator ‘Low Life’ columnist Jeffrey Bernard being propped up by the bar, and legendary Daily Express racing tipster Charles ‘The Scout’ Benson lounging on a banquette in the dining room. Next to them, in animated conversation, might have been actor Oliver Reed and champion amateur jockey Gay Kindersley, sharing lunch and the company of a leggy blonde. Welcome to The Queens Arms in East Garston, situated between Hungerford and Lambourn in the rolling Berkshire downland known as ‘The Valley of the Racehorse’. Today the mantle of this fine racing, shooting and wholly sporting pub, with 12 well-appointed rooms, has fallen to Freddie Tulloch who lives in Kindersley’s old house. From The Queens Arms he organises outings to Newbury races and recently he…