Indholdsfortegnelse for August 2025 i The Field

Robin Hereford Following the chance discovery of an antique map in a Hampshire junk shop as a child, Robin Hereford has spent more than 25 years working in the art world. The founder of Hereford Art, he gives valuation and sale advice on fine art, antiques and luxury items. He has a particular passion for paintings but admits to struggling to decide whether Old Masters, sporting art or modern British are his favourite genre. What does August hold? “August is traditionally the quiet season in the art world. I’ll be escaping my desk to explore the British countryside, from Scotland to Cornwall, accompanied by rod and gun, with my family in tow. Inevitably, though, there will be a few unscheduled visits to various galleries and antique dealers along the way.”…

Email charlotte.mackaness@futurenet.com COMBROOK LADIES SHOOTING WAISTCOAT Alan Paine Favourite of the lady gun – with back vents, shaped shoulder panels and adjustable back belt – now in a new ‘Willow’ tweed. Stand in line for this one. Price £229 Tel 01623 415775 alanpaine.co.uk NOSILIFE PRO TROUSER III Craghoppers Anti-odour and insect, stretchy and quick-drying fabric with security pockets, sunglasses wipe and an adjustable hem. The catch of the summer for anglers. Price £90 Email support@craghoppers.zendesk.com craghoppers.com THE CHAPMAN WEEKENDER Chapman Crafted in Carlisle from British dyed and bonded canvas, and full-grain leather. Four pockets and a waterproof section for whatever a weekend away throws at you. Price £730 Tel 01228 514514 chapmanmade.uk WOOL AND SILK HANK Campbell’s of Beauly With hand-rolled edges and its majestic grouse design, this is a…

THE art of double gunning began in the 19th century with the advent of driven shooting. A method for those sporting Victorians to deal with high volumes of game, it sits among the greatest traditions of British game shooting. Few techniques combine heritage, skill and utility quite like it. Rooted in the grouse moors of the north (where addressing fast coveys of wild birds in order to harvest the surplus and maintain a healthy grouse population requires swift shooting), double gunning transforms driven shooting into something far more than a test of marksmanship: it becomes a performance of timing, efficiency and smooth repetition. At its essence, double gunning allows the sportsman to shoot continuously by alternating between two shotguns. As one gun is fired it is handed to the loader,…

IN JANUARY this year four Eurasian lynx were discovered on the loose near Kingussie in the Cairngorms and were quickly trapped. Just where the animals came from remains a mystery but they were all unnaturally tolerant of human presence and showed signs of serious malnutrition. NatureScot has confirmed that it had not granted any licences for lynx reintroductions, and speculation on the animals’ origins has ranged from a genuine escape from unlicensed premises to the deliberate ‘dumping’ of unwanted captive-bred kittens or possibly even a maverick rewilding attempt. At around the same time that the lynx were captured in Scotland, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) was projecting that the UK human population would grow from 67.6 million in mid-2022 to 72.5 million by mid-2032. Though there may be no…

IN THE SPRING of 1760 an iron-grey grandson of the famous Godolphin Arabian was foaled at Murrell Green in Hampshire. He grew to be no higher than 14¼ hands but during the course of a long and glittering career captured the imagination of a nation and left as his legacy one of the most prestigious contests in the racing calendar and one of the oldest clubs in the world. As was customary at the time, Gimcrack – ironically, the seldom-used noun means a showy object of little use or value – began racing as a four-year-old and won all seven starts he contested that first season. During a demanding career that followed the diminutive entire was to have eight different owners, including Lord Bolingbroke (who paid the princely sum of…

“I AM SURE that all of you who are present here realise how much the building of this ship meant to the late King, my father,” spoke the late Queen on a gusty River Clyde in Glasgow, launching HMY Britannia in 1953. “He felt most strongly, as I do, that a yacht was a necessity and not a luxury for the head of our great British Commonwealth, between whose countries the sea is no barrier but the natural and indestructible highway.” Due to post-war austerity, the bottle smashed against her hull was Empire wine, not champagne. Still, Britannia made fitting use of that natural and indestructible highway, providing vivid formative experiences for His Majesty the current King, his younger siblings and so many others who boarded or merely beheld her,…

Email: sarah.fitzpatrick@futurenet.com Parsonage obelisk Pentreath & Hall Designed by Ben Pentreath for his former home, the Old Parsonage in Dorset, these structures deliver an immediate garden upgrade. Manufactured in accoya and finished with a Farrow & Ball colour of your choice (seen above in exterior eggshell Babouche), they are equally striking supporting a rambling rose or standing alone. Dimensions: base diameter 50cm x 50cm, height 190cm Price: £2,275 Tel: 020 7430 2526 pentreath-hall.com Outdoor fabric Penny Morrison The classic Ashok design is now available in three colourways as an indoor/outdoor fabric made from Seaqual Yarn, which is crafted partly from recycled marine litter and recycled polyester. Easy on the planet and the eye, the fabric is resilient, washable and colour-fast enough for any outdoor entertainments. Price: £186 per metre (137.2m…

I WONDER if you remember the haunting clarinet playing by I Emma Johnson that heralded the beginning of the 13 episodes of The Victorian Kitchen Garden in 1987? It is in my head now as I recall this jewel of BBC television, since this summer marks 20 years since the death of its undoubted star, Harry Dodson. This series seemed, and still seems to me, to exemplify the best that the small screen could offer in the way of garden history, the like of which I doubt we shall see again. When Jennifer Davies of the BBC met Dodson, while looking for a place to film a series about the heyday of the country house garden, she found the ideal man to demonstrate what it had been like to be…

WHEN GROUSE stocks are low, we often look for the single, most obvious cause, such as high parasite burdens, louping ill virus (LIV) or poor weather. But in reality, the recent declines in grouse numbers result from a complex interplay of factors that aren’t clearly understood. This is why more research is essential. Our 2025 spring pair counts across England and Scotland showed a 35% decline in red grouse numbers across our annual monitoring sites. This reflects the impact of the poor 2024 breeding season and highlights the challenges faced. For some regions these low numbers reflect a longer-term decline with consistently low grouse stocks. It is clear that a better understanding of the factors limiting red grouse recovery is needed. The GWCT’s new uplands research programme is designed to…

A team of British military veterans has travelled from London to the top of Mount Everest and back in a record-breaking seven days to raise awareness of of veterans’ causes and funds for charities such as Scotty’s Little Soldiers, which supports bereaved military children. Everest ascents can take up to two months but the group, which included veterans’ minister Alistair Carns and three Special Forces veterans, were able to complete the mission in record time thanks to a revolutionary method that saw them acclimatise to altitude and prepare at home beforehand. This included spending months sleeping in hypoxic chamber tents that simulate oxygen levels at 5,000 metres altitude. Despite this extensive and, at times, extremely tough preparation, the attempt was not without drama. The team escaped a sudden avalanche as…

News that the Environment Agency has now escalated a letter of concern to a ‘formal objection’ has been welcomed as a ‘game changer’ by campaigners in Berkshire’s Kennet Valley. They are fighting plans for an intensive poultry unit on the floodplain of the River Kennet, a highly sensitive Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). Natural England, the government body charged with protecting SSSIs, has also expressed unease. Residents and angling clubs have been working with the Angling Trust and Fish Legal to coordinate objections to the 32,000-chicken unit, plans for which will be considered by West Berkshire Council. All groups have voiced significant concern about the risk of nutrient pollution leaching into the river and underlying groundwater. The Kennet [pictured, above], which campaigners say is already under pressure from sewage,…

GAIETY, glamping, a country fair, cocktails and a clay shoot: the Hilldrop Charity Shoot and Festival held at Hilldrop Farm in Wiltshire this May had it all and more. This glorious gathering and fundraising enterprise is the brainchild of Tim Eliot-Cohen of Hilldrop Shoot. There were a remarkable 56 teams on the starting list for the clay shooting competition. The 336 guns were transported to the six stands in a fleet of gleaming Ineos Grenadiers, with over 50,000 cartridges spent before Mark Landau and his top guns were declared the winners, having dusted a mightily impressive 331 out of 350. Clay shooting wasn’t the only sport on offer at Hilldrop Farm: pig racing, axe throwing and a host of garden games were enjoyed as part of the country fair, attended…

UNLIKE BUCHAN’S protagonists in John Macnab, this sporting adventure has its origins in an excess of ebullience rather than ennui. At the Countryside Day held at Cheltenham last year, a fine lunch crossed with a winning horse produced a successful bid in the Countryside Alliance auction. These charity fundraisers are often fertile ground for fieldsports fun yet prizes too frequently languish forgotten until the time to claim has passed. This time, post-auction ennui did not take hold. It is north to Invermark, part of the Dalhousie estate in Angus, that this merrily-won Macnab attempt takes me on a dank autumnal day. Covering 55,000 acres with heather-clad moors, salmon fishing on the North Esk and a deer forest established in 1853, Invermark is eminently suited to the challenge. Headkeeper Gary Maclennan…

ON ARRIVAL at the Taylors’ house in the leafy Nairobi suburb of Karen I am greeted by the sight of a Sykes’ monkey glaring at me from the railings of the upstairs balcony while munching a banana pinched from the kitchen table. If that’s not sufficiently bizarre, Joss Taylor, my host and former secretary to the Kenya Fly Fishers’ Club (KFFC), is advancing slowly up the stairs towards the intruder brandishing a large landing net. Although Taylor’s intention is undoubtedly catch-and-release, having seen the reaction of various mammals caught up in nets, I am more than relieved when the thief makes good his escape via an open bedroom window. Welcome to Kenya – I am here to accept an invitation from the KFFC to speak at their annual dinner within…

THE ADAPTABILITY of dogs to human society is one of this species’ most striking characteristics. Pugs may take domesticity to extremes, huskies may retain a more obvious genetic link to their wild cousins and foxhounds serve a very specific niche but one breed in particular is surely the ultimate hybrid. Watch it morph from sofa slouch to mass murderer in the time it takes to say ‘rats’. My in-laws’ example, the irrepressible Pip, manages to balance a benign tolerance for overzealous grandchildren with an equally intense intolerance for any pest that might flash a careless whisker. She is, of course, a border terrier. That combination of temperament and sporting instinct in a single, handily compact package has made the border terrier one of this country’s most popular breeds. Outranked only…

TODAY MOST sporting rifles are fitted with or at least are capable of being fitted with a telescopic sight, but that was not the case in the 19th century. The Royal Armouries’ collection has three examples of one of the earliest telescopic sights: the Davidson telescopic sight, invented and patented by Colonel David Davidson. One of the first attempts to create such a sight was in 1776 when Charles Willson Peale collaborated with David Rittenhouse in the USA to mount a telescope to a rifle as a sighting aid. However, they were unable to mount it sufficiently far forward to prevent the eyepiece impacting with the operator’s eye during recoil, so it would be another half-century before the first viable scope hit the market in the 1830s to 1840s. For…

THIS MONTH’S review looks at a gun we have tested with less enhanced specification previously. It is a William Powell Princeps 12-bore over-and-under. Weighing just over 8lb, the deluxe single-trigger gun has 30in, 3in-chambered, high-performance steel-proofed barrels with a solid, tapered sighting rib and profusely engraved, colour-case-hardened-effect action. The fore-end iron is extended in Boss style and there is a long trigger-guard with engraved steel cap. It is fixed choke (1/2 and 1/2) with multichokes an option. First impressions are favourable. This is an attractive model set off with tight scrollwork on its rounded action bar, well-figured, dark Grade 4 wood and extra finish detailing. The tight scrollwork works well. William Powell notes it is hand cut in its marketing: the result is pleasing and suits the gun’s smooth-shaped action.…

GAME FOR IT When the Scottish hill eludes you, get your venison fix with a subscription to Deer Box: easy-to-cook, wild venison delivered to your door from land managed across Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire, Berkshire and Hampshire. We’ll be ramping up summer entertaining with the BBQ box (£69.99), packed with sausages, steaks, burgers, mince and kofta. Visit: deerbox.co.uk THE FIELD’S BLACK BOOK Sweeping up its tree-lined drive in Ayrshire, it’s clear that Glenapp Castle is old-school grand, with turrets, towers and a chandelierclad dining room. But tucked away in the walled garden is its newly launched restaurant, The Azalea, inside the estate’s Victorian glasshouse (one of the last remaining Mackenzie and Moncur glasshouses, also found at Balmoral). As dusk beckons, sit down to a menu raided from the castle’s kitchen garden (garden…

Across 1 Glorious day for the start of the grouse season? (7) 5 Serious disease of potatoes etc (6) 8 Collective noun for godwits: heard in church? (6) 9 Vehicle used in e.g. scurry driving (8) 10 See 12 across 12 (And 10 across) Bamboo material traditionally used for fishing rods (5,4) 13 Male pigs reared for meat (4) 14 A barrel’s wooden strips (6) 16 Fired gun quickly, without precise aim – for a photo? (4-4) 18 Clay shooting discipline with five targets/stands (8) 21 (And 28 across) Black and white sheep-herding dog (6,6) 22 Calls like a crow (4) 24 Corn by-product used for e.g. animal fodder (5) 25 Ringdow is another name for a ___ pigeon (4) 27 Devon town and name of one of UK’s three staghound packs (8) 28 See 21 across 30…

An area of heather moorland the size of Birmingham is being lost every year, a study undertaken by The Heather Trust has revealed. While it has long been recognised that moorland is vanishing or being degraded, the Trust’s Heather Futures research is the first time it has been quantified. “This is of great concern, not just to The Heather Trust and our members but to the many people who live and work in the uplands whose livelihoods depend on sustainable moorlands,” said Katrina Candy, the Trust’s director, who cites overgrazing, undergrazing, commercial afforestation and native woodland expansion as causes. “Our upland habitats are undergoing a period of rapid change driven by changing societal values, climate change and legislation,” added David Jarrett, the ecologist who led the Heather Futures project. “While…

There are varying definitions of wildfire but simply it is an uncontrolled vegetation fire that requires a decision, or action, regarding suppression. Wildfires destroy surface vegetation and the wildlife that resides there. In the uplands they can burn into the peat soil, releasing significant amounts of carbon. They also impact on the economy, critical infrastructure, water quality and more. Government regards wildfires as ‘natural’, though most in the UK are caused by human action. Rather than focusing on the need to manage the vegetation, it is increasingly relying on suppression by the Fire & Rescue Service. Fire intensity is increased by the amount of ‘fuel’ available, while rewetting the soil is dependent on rain – in short supply during hot weather. Surely managing the vegetation is the logical approach? Vegetation…

IT WAS with anticipation that 13 teams from all over Europe gathered in the private grounds of Windsor Great Park, by kind permission of HM The King, for the Skinner’s World Cup in May. Over two days the cream of the canine crop (all labradors of varying hues, bar one golden retriever running in the Dutch team) competed in 10 challenging working tests set by veteran Pete Castleman and Nikki Urquhart. After the first day, with nerves settled and five working tests under each team’s belt, competitors convened in the chapel at the Beaumont hotel (formerly a Catholic school) for a convivial dinner where headkeepers and previous event hosts swapped stories with participants and familiar field trial faces. After a brief, well-received speech from Ben Skinner, thoughts turned to the…

THIS ESTATE, above the Elwy Valley, is just over 500 acres in total. Its centrepiece is the 11-bedroom Grade II*-listed 18th-century hall, with period features including marble fireplaces, oak floors, mahogany doors and intricate panelling and plasterwork. The hall also has an adjoining three-bedroom flat. There are five other residential properties on the estate, as well as a farmhouse with 248 acres, stabling with eight boxes, outbuildings, a theatre and a chapel. Garthewin offers diverse opportunities, such as for equestrian use and potential as a glamping site. An eight-acre 18th-century pleasure garden surrounds the hall, and there are also two ornamental lakes. The acres comprise grassland, grazing land and 52 acres of woodland. The Garthewin estate is 22 miles from Ruthin. Agent: Fisher German ♦ Tel: 01244 409660 ♦ Guide…

ASKING FOR instructions, the feed merchant’s delivery driver said casually: “I don’t suppose the postcode’s any use?” Of course it wasn’t, so I proceeded to tell him the real way to find our yard: “Turn up by the village shop and drive about 400 yards until you see a hedge with three horses’ heads looking over. Beyond that is the gate; just leave it there.” There are some places where no amount of sat-nav would have helped. On wonderful illustrated medieval maps an explorer might bottle out and simply draw some doodles captioned ‘Here be dragons.’ But this is exactly our destination. We want to go where there be dragons. Or if not dragons, at least stags in rut; partridge coveys; spate rivers. That is where the maps that matter…

APART FROM for two hours either side of low tide, the island of Oronsay stands alone off the south side of Colonsay in the Inner Hebrides. A tiny jewel in the Atlantic, it has a population of five or six, a 14th-century priory and the inky tracks of tractor tyres and footprints of oystercatchers on the Strand wiped clean with each tide. Heading north, towering out of the roaring sea 45 miles west of the Isle of Harris are the hostile rocks of St Kilda. Visitors brave the waves to marvel at Britain’s largest colony of Atlantic puffins and learn of how its last remaining islanders were evacuated in August 1930, a way of life that had existed here for 4,000 years – surviving on gannets, fulmars and puffins for…

Sporting artist Under the hammer Royal Armouries Sporting dog The boot room Gun review Country queries Gardening Field to fork Cookery Wine Travel Books Field testers The Last Hurrah Terence Lambert’s bronze sculptures are exhibited at Bettws Hall (bettwshall.com) and his painted work regularly tours. Visit: terencelambert.com IF CAST AWAY on a desert island, wildlife artist Terence Lambert would definitely request to take his paints: “It would have to be beautiful watercolour paper and a set of pencils.” But he wouldn’t be allowed to take them, because to him they are not a luxury. “That is the basic thing of what I do. Everything starts with a drawing,” he says. The end product isn’t a luxury either but a necessity in illuminating our understanding of the natural world Lambert depicts.…

SOME YEARS ago I met a man with a real passion for grouse shooting. However, he saw driven grouse as an expensive and overrated indulgence, and walked-up grouse over spaniels as a waste of energy. The only way for a gentleman to shoot a grouse, he insisted, was over pointing dogs. This, he explained, was shooting in its purest form: a man and dog working together to outwit a wild and challenging quarry. Grouse shooting over pointing dogs is a highly specialised sport, and its popularity is restricted by the relatively few opportunities to try it. The two essentials are a suitable moor and a trained dog but it is equally important that the gun is fit and prepared to walk, often on difficult terrain and possibly for several miles,…

THERE IS a pleasing familiarity on arrival at The Fife Arms. The gillie team, as the staff are known, dressed in fetching house tweed designed by Araminta Campbell, give one an immediate sense of having just come off the hill. Indeed, it was with some effort that I had to remind myself that this was not the case – the most adventurous part of my trip north of the border this time had been navigating the road through Glenshee in an unfamiliar hire car. This former Victorian coaching inn sits in the heart of the Cairngorms at Braemar and still benefits from their perspicacity of placement. Travellers passing through the Highlands today will find not just a delectable bed for the night but a beacon of art, culture, history and…

A HIGHLAND first-timer would be forgiven for their confusion as they marvel at the emptiness of the place in its late-summer glory: no nose-to-tail traffic on the A9 north of Perth like its Cornish counterparts in August; the Caribbeanworthy beaches seemingly deserted; and the purple-carpeted hill devoid of braying holidaymakers. But the puzzle won’t take long to solve. Step forward the unrelenting, torturous midge. A barrier of entry to test any sporting soul heading north, the price you pay to revel in the deserted Highlands’ playground at the turn of the Twelfth – and Scotland’s unintentional trump card that stops the crowds descending in their hordes. ‘Ladies and gentlemen, do you know what midges are?’ asked one enraged writer in an 1870 issue of The Field. ‘I do not say…