Indholdsfortegnelse for October 2025 i The Field

Charlie Flindt Three years ago Charlie Flindt retired from arable farming (after 40 years), a career that dovetailed nicelywith being motoring correspondent of The Field for 22 years and lead columnist for Farmers Weekly. He and his wife handed most of their tenanted farm back to the National Trust for it to ‘rewild’ but they continue to run cattle and environmental schemes on the remaining 110 acres. They also have a four-gun/four-beater rough shoot on the land, plus Charlie spends many evenings playing his Roland keyboard in two bands – and not worrying a jot about 2am finishes and 3am Big Macs. What does October hold? “I’ll be self-publishing my fourth book, Did We Really Do That?, a compilation of tales from farming’s glory days. If it goes as well…

Email charlotte.mackaness@futurenet.com VINTAGE YELLOW GOLD AND SAPPHIRE CUFFLINKS Hancocks Calibré sapphire and 18ct gold cufflinks by Boucheron from the 1950s, with original case. The bars detach with a twist-and-pull movement. Smoothly does it. Price £6,250 Tel 020 7493 8904 hancockslondon.com MARSH ISO JACKET Laksen This 100% waterproof coat is one for inclement days: cartridge pockets with drainage holes and quick-loader straps, plus storm cuffs, adjustable hood and lined hand-warmer pockets. Price £549 Email customerservices@williampowell.com williampowell.com JUMP BAT Swaine Crafted from high-quality leather and topped by an engraved sterling-silver nail. Top-notch accessory for elegant equestrians. Price £360 Email enquiries@swaine.group swaine.london REGAL LEATHER SHOOTING GLOVES Farlows Cosy, water-resistent gloves to keep the cold at bay but designed with action in mind – the trigger finger folds back. Offered in an array of…

I AM STANDING on the summit of Black Brows in the heart of Grizedale Forest shortly after dawn on a soggy October morning and looking west across a rolling swell of brown woodland to the distant silhouette of the Old Man of Coniston. There is nothing to betray the presence of the few houses and roads that lie concealed within the folds of this spectacularly wild landscape, which is bordered to the east by the 101/2-mile-long Windermere lake and to the west by Coniston Water. Unlike the open and more popular areas of the Lake District further north, this part of the Furness Fells (the name given to a plethora of steep hills lying north of Barrow-in-Furness) is almost entirely smothered in trees. Grizedale means ‘valley of the pigs’. The…

SELECTING appropriate shooting footwear can be a gambit. In a 1931 issue of The Field, polo authority General RL Ricketts wrote: ‘Shooting boots are of many kinds, from the watertight white whale-skin production of the high-class London bootmaker, costing many pounds, to the grass shoe of the Kashmir mountains costing as many pence.’ The sporting arena is varied, spanning everything from blanket bog to walled garden, but to thrive across this spectrum of habitats the correct footwear is vital. Being appropriately shod is the difference between a memorable day in the field and trench foot, bone-dry elation and soggy misery. Lindsay Waddell, a former chairman of the National Gamekeepers’ Organisation, says: “As a young man going into keepering, I was told by an elder statesman that my feet would be…

Sporting artist Under the hammer Royal Armouries Sporting dog The boot room Gun review Country queries Gardening Fieldtofork Cookery Wine Travel Books Field testers The Last Hurrah Benjamin Blake’s paintings regularly come up at auction, fetching about £500. His work is exhibited at galleries throughout the country, notably the Salisbury Museum (salisburymuseum.org.uk). WHAT IS a status symbol? When Scottish actor Ewan McGregor told an incredulous Jeremy Clarkson on Top Gear that his everyday car was a Toyota Prius, we knew Clarkson had been comprehensively outplayed. In the complex world of cool, the most surprising items can convey your style and wealth, and during the early 19th century, having a Benjamin Blake painting of a game larder hanging on the wall meant you had arrived. It was the Dutch who first…

WILLIAM of Wykeham reckoned that manners maketh man but there’s no record of whether he thought the same about dogs. While I’m unsure whether 14th-century bishops kept pet dogs, I’m certain that if William did have one he would have insisted that it was taught manners. A polite dog with good manners is a pleasure to own or encounter; a dog with no manners, however, is a complete menace. But what, you may ask, is the sort of conduct you expect a canine companion to have? The perfectly mannered dog is one that knows how to behave. It doesn’t bark when you don’t want it to, it ignores other dogs when out for a walk, it doesn’t leap up at people and it instantly obeys a number of simple commands.…

Across 1 Small deer with bark-like cry (7) 5 Black-headed goose with grey/brown body (6) 8 Guns that are symbolic? (4) 9 State of soil ideal for seedlings – ‘Love in mist’! (5) 10 e.g. a jag used in gun barrel cleaning (4) 11 Pot-grown, dwarf tree cultivation (6) 12 Purloin bit of a horse’s bridle? (7) 14 Juvenile given shooting experience (5,3) 16 George, 18th-century renowned painter of horses (6) 18 Platform for top three sporty types? (6) 20 Palatial venue of International Horse Trials 2025 (8) 22 A Balearic island and Spanish laying chicken upset Marconi! (7) 23 To store fodder in a silo (6) 25 (and 3 down) Equine competition at e.g. Hickstead (4,7) 27 Surrey’s highest hill and SSSI: in trouble I think! (5) 28 A gem of a red-coloured…

WITH PUBLIC finances deteriorating the Government is increasingly looking at other ways to fund nature recovery. One option is accessing money through natural capital trading, including ‘biodiversity net gain’, ‘nutrient neutrality’ and opportunities to trade carbon. However, in this clamour for new sources of private finance, the Government risks overlooking one of the most significant existing contributors to nature conservation and one that has been with us for centuries: land management for sporting interests. Thirty-three years ago, when the GWCT inherited the 800-acre Loddington estate from the late Lord and Lady Allerton, it did not turn to the public purse to fund the introduction of environmental measures but rather initiated a privately funded pheasant shoot. Instead of just recording the gamebird bag this yielded, the GWCT counted the songbirds too,…

There were multiple opportunities for visitors to this year’s Game Fair to donate to the show’s official charity partner, The Gunmakers Trust. These included an option on the website and at the box office, as well as at the event itself. After a record-breaking attendance of 128,000 visitors to Ragley Hall over the July weekend, just shy of £11,000 was raised. This money will go towards supporting the Trust’s work, including the apprentice bursary scheme that is so crucial in providing support and training for the next generation of skilled gunmakers. “We attended the show as an exhibitor for the first time, enabling us to interact in a unique environment with the British gunmaking trade, fellow liverymen and supporters of education and training at the grassroots level,” says Robin Curtis,…

A BASC report has highlighted the pivotal role shooting plays in supporting the Government’s nature-recovery targets. It also sets out how this contribution could be maximised. ‘Shooting and national nature recovery goals’ states that shooting currently delivers more than £1.1bn annually in environmental benefits, including carbon sequestration valued at around £380m per year, and is a key contributor to sustainable land management. However, the report sets clear proposals outlining how this could be expanded, such as investment in research to better demonstrate shooting’s value, as well as stronger collaboration with the sector, government agencies and conservation bodies. “As policymakers push forward with ambitious environmental goals, BASC is committed to ensuring that shooting’s positive role in conservation is recognised, promoted and further developed,” says Sarah Pinnell, BASC’s head of land management.…

THIS YEAR is a special milestone for the Royal Agricultural University (RAU) at Cirencester as it marks its 180th anniversary. The RAU – or Royal Agricultural College, as it was when founded in 1845 as the first such institution in the English-speaking world – is celebrating with a calendar of special events that included its annual Friends of the RAU lunch at which staff and alumni were joined by representatives from local businesses, government and community groups in recognition of all their support. Before the lunch, RAU vice-chancellor Professor Peter McCaffery unveiled a new sculpture, specially designed and made for the University’s 180th anniversary. Aries, which depicts a ram’s head, is made from 6mm steel rods recycled from agricultural machinery and was crafted by RAU alumnus Will Carr working with…

A GRADE II*-listed, nine-bedroom Georgian house sits at the heart of this 240-acre country estate. Ebberly House is approached through a Grade II-listed gate screen of two Ionic columns supporting a pediment, while the front entrance – with a four-pillared portico – opens into an octagonal hall with a flagstone floor. The property stands in mature grounds with two walled gardens and a stable block. Seven cottages are also part of the sale, as is an extensive range of modern farm buildings. The estate runs a family shoot and the land includes woodland, pasture, ponds and a park. There is also a swimming pool, a pool house and a tennis court. Among the reception rooms of the main house are a drawing room with a vaulted ceiling and ornate plasterwork,…

THE hunting correspondent’s job is always varied: meeting new faces, riding different horses and crossing unfamiliar country while trying to remember where you’ve been and who you’ve been introduced to can be challenging. Changing into my hunting kit after a three-hour drive, I wondered what the coming hours would have in store. Within moments of arriving at the Waveney & Norfolk Harriers’ kennels near Ilketshall St Andrew in Suffolk it was clear it was going to be a fun-filled day, full of laughter and surrounded by people who are passionate about their hounds. Remarkably, these kennels are home to all three packs of harriers based in East Anglia, including the Waveney & Norfolk’s studbook harriers and their pack of West Country harriers, which they hunt when in the former North…

IMAGINE there’s no heaven. Too nebulous? Then imagine the Church had never shown any interest in fermented beverages. It’s impossible to survey the modern-day array of wine, beer, cider – and let’s not overlook that otherworldly herbal digestif niche – without recognising our debt to the monastic communities who refined and preserved these life-affirming drinks. Burgundy fans are particularly in the red. Famous grands crus such as Clos de Vougeot, Clos de Bèze and Romanée St Vivant were originally demarcated by medieval monks, major landowners at the time. Let’s not forget nuns either: Clos de Tart, today part of François Pinault’s luxury goods empire, belonged for many centuries to a female Cistercian order at the inaptly named Tart Abbey. It was also monks who recognised the suitability of Pinot Noir…

I AM FEELING a tad disconsolate this morning and find myself reflecting on the sometimes weird psychology of buying at auction. I’ve been monitoring an upcoming lot all week, ever since an auction alert led me to check it out on the internet. And there, of course, is the plot spoiler. If I got that alert then so did hundreds, if not thousands, of others. Worldwide. It was for three ancient Islamic bowls. I’ll spare you the details but suffice to say, come auction kick-off earlier today, the internet pre-bidding had reached the giddy heights of £18. I almost – but not really – allowed myself to start believing I was on for bargain time. Dream on. I underbid at £300, not willing to go higher for items I had…

WELL, IT was quite a summer, wasn’t it? My best garden memories are of clouds of butterflies and picturesque insects on the raspberries and sedums; my worst of watering – endless, tiring watering – which was somehow never quite enough for plants to do anything more than survive. After the crash of butterfly numbers the year before, caused by the excessively wet and miserable weather, it was so heartening to see them revive and revel in the heat. Before their flowers went over, lavender bushes were almost obscured by dozens of peacock butterflies. And jostling them on the Verbena bonariensis were a myriad of different beetles, almost all quite beyond my power to identify but reminding me of what the prominent biologist JBS Haldane said about the Creator having a…

WHETHER it is the seat of your breeks splitting after a good lunch as you struggle back on to the gun bus, the tip of your rod snapping off in a car window or a double-sole delamination of your stalking boots on a scree slope, kit malfunctions in the field are infuriatingly inevitable. ‘It struck me that they showed greater signs of wear and tear than I had anticipated,’ bemoaned an Edwardian fishing contributor in 1911, lamenting the integrity of his waders while standing in steady drizzle on Tweed. The damp angler continued: ‘I may mention that I discovered afterwards that they had been discarded four or five years before, so it is little wonder that five minutes after entering the water I presented the appearance of a patient in…

Joint campaign aims to defend legal hunting The British Hound Sports Association (BHSA) and Countryside Alliance (CA) have agreed to launch a joint, integrated campaign to defend all forms of legal hunting. It will be chaired by former defence secretary Sir Ben Wallace, with Sam Butler as vice chair, and is a response to growing political and legislative threats – not least the Labour Government’s commitment to ban trail hunting. “This campaign is about defending lawful activity – including trail hunting, which the Government has specifically committed to ban – and protecting the people, standards and rural infrastructure that underpin it,” said Sir Ben. “Last year, there were over 12,000 days of lawful hunting carried out across England and Wales, yet in the 20 years since the original and draconian…

The South Downs Farmland Bird Initiative recently published the results of 10 years of monitoring on farms across the South Downs National Park. It showed increases in red-listed species such as skylarks (up 20%) and corn buntings (up 43%), plus stable grey partridge populations against a background of continued national decline. The monitoring and habitat creation behind the rises in farmland bird species over the past decade have been driven by the Farmer Cluster model pioneered by the GWCT in 2014. Six farm clusters have been set up, with farmers working with the National Park Authority and others to promote nature-friendly farming. Beetle banks, conservation headlands, wild-bird mixes, supplementary feeding, hedgerow planting and management and wildflower margins are among the measures. Many of these are based on GWCT science and…

COLONEL Thomas Thornton, of Thornville Royal and Falconers Hall in Yorkshire, was one of the more outrageously eccentric sportsmen of the Georgian era. Born in 1751 as the son of William Thornton, MP for York, and the heiress Mary Myster, he was educated at Charterhouse and the University of Glasgow. Passionate about fieldsports from childhood, he was particularly fascinated by the ancient art of falconry, which had virtually died out by the 18th century. On reaching his majority, Thornton came into an enormous fortune and an estate near Harrogate. There he formed a sporting establishment at Old Thornville, with no expense spared on creating the finest stables and kennels in the county. He put together his own pack of foxhounds, established a racing yard and soon earned the reputation of…

GOODBENT MOOR, also known as Wessenden Head, lies down a long track off the A635 from Greenfield to Holm-firth, where it crosses the high moors of the northern Peak District. Goodbent marches with Meltham, Crowden, Wessenden, Saddleworth and Snailsden; the last is reputed to be the site where, in 1836, grouse were first driven to guns placed behind rocks or in ‘driving holes’. At the time Snailsden was owned by the Spencer-Stanhopes of Cannon Hall and, despite comments in the press that considered driving grouse to be unsporting, the family continued to experiment with placing butts and extending drives. In 1843 50 brace was considered a big day but as old, territorial cock grouse were shot out, allowing room for more breeding pairs the following year, numbers rose dramatically, with…

WHILE THE sporting lodge has its genesis in solid but simple accommodations built for warreners, the rabbit gamekeepers of Norman times, the brief from the Victorian heyday onwards has been ‘party on in opulence’. Look at Georgiana, Duchess of Bedford’s Endsleigh in Devon: a functional hunting lodge on the Tamar that she transformed in the early 1800s into a picturesque cottage orné Marie Antoinette would have been proud of. Or Belvoir Castle, rebuilt in romantic Gothic Revival style in 1832, with a King’s suite created for the Prince Regent and Elizabeth Saloon in Louis XIV style complete with panelling bought from Madame de Maintenon, Louis’ second wife. No wonder guests, including Queen Victoria, would stay for weeks. At heart, this is the kind of welcome that today’s sporting lodges are…

THE TIE is to a suit what braces are to trews: a timeless item of clothing giving one the opportunity to add some colour and character when dressing. Yet there has been a rebellion in the ranks. Men of a certain age are no longer wearing ties, with some even declaring the tie is dead. However, the mantle has been taken up and reversed by the younger generation hailing ‘long live the tie’. This is confirmed by Ollie Severn of William Powell Sporting. “The majority of our clients are of the older generation and they shoot a lot, probably 30-plus days a year. They tend not to wear a tie,” he reveals. “Whereas for those whose day’s shooting represents a very special occasion, mostly a younger crowd, a tie seems…

SWORD canes are objects that evoke fascination and are now highly sought after by collectors. Although often viewed as novelties today, they once served a very real purpose, harking back to a period in Britain prior to the formal establishment of official police forces. During this time, individuals were largely responsible for securing their own personal protection, and local communities were expected to essentially police themselves. For this reason, it was not unusual for private citizens to arm themselves for their own safety. There have been various ‘panics’ throughout British history that served to reinforce the perceived necessity of carrying a sidearm of some kind. Examples include the so-called Popish Plot of the late 17th century, which led to the popularity of the ‘Godfrey dagger’ for a short period of…

THIS MONTH’S test gun is a bespoke Manor & Co .22 revolving carbine – a most unusual (but repeatable) custom creation. It is built on a centrefire-sized frame with interchangeable .22 Long Rifle (LR) and .22 Magnum cylinders (in .22 LR the cylinder capacity is nine shots; in .22 Magnum, eight). The gun weighs in at just under 4½lb with a 19⅞in barrel (overall length is a handy 36in). While the Manor carbine has open sights, the rear element can be swapped for a rail suiting Weaver-type scope mounts. [Legally, this long-barrelled revolver is a Section 1 firearm and may be held on a firearm certificate.] The aesthetics of the Manor carbine are excellent, with London finish and striking wood (Turkish walnut). It was displayed at the World Gunmakers’ Evening…

The Bradley Hare, Wiltshire A former 19th-century coaching inn, the Bradley Hare is nestled in the grounds of the Duke of Somerset’s estate on the Wiltshire-Somerset border. Set in the village of Maiden Bradley on the edge of Cranborne Chase, it offers access to plenty of shooting country as well as being within walking distance of organic food producers, art galleries and artisan beauty treatments for those whose horizons extend beyond the sporting. Within the Main House there are seven elegant bedrooms, and a further five larger rooms in the Coach House, several of which are dog friendly. Rooms are beautifully styled by James Thurstan Waterworth: everything the light touches is Farrow & Ball, and each private space is brimming with antique furnishings and luxurious fabrics. The curtains for the…