Innehållsförteckning för September 2021 från The Field

IN the face of what is being called the sixth mass extinction on Earth, it is perhaps understandable to feel overwhelmed and disempowered. But, occasionally, the plight of a familiar species penetrates our national psyche, precipitating wider awareness and urgent action. The much-loved curlew is one of those species. Headline figures outlining overall UK declines of 50% in the past couple of decades – and the truly shocking threat of extinction as a breeding bird across all of Ireland, Wales and large swathes of lowland England and Scotland – have certainly focused minds across the board. Over the past couple of years, Curlew Recovery Summits have been hosted at Highgrove and 10 Downing Street. These resulted in the Defra-supported Curlew Recovery Partnership England (CRP), which has a steering group of…

SADDLE UP The Bicton arena is hosting a five-star horse trials to replace the cancelled Burghley fixture. Taking place on 2-5 September, it will be Britain’s only CCI5* (the highest level of competition) this year. Captain Mark Phillips will design the cross-country course. Visit: bicton-arena.co.uk SPOTLIGHT ON NATIONAL HUNT The National Horseracing Museum has put the spotlight on the thrills of jump racing with its latest exhibition, aptly titled Mud, Sweat and Tears (entry is included in the museum’s admission fee). Looking back at the Cheltenham Gold Cup, the Grand National and legendary horses such as Red Rum, it traces the history of the sport from the 18th century, when the Irish began racing over fences, to the modern day. Go to: nhrm.co.uk/mud-sweat-tears A RURAL CELEBRATION Covid didn’t stop Hampshire…

The Countryside Alliance, BASC, British Game Alliance, CLA, Game Farmers’ Association, Moorland Association, National Gamekeepers’ Organisation (NGO) and Scottish Land & Estates, with the GWCT acting as advisers, have joined forces to form Aim to Sustain, a partnership that sets out to promote the role sustainable shooting plays in boosting biodiversity, protecting the countryside and supporting rural communities. At the launch, which took place at The Game Fair, Nick Herbert, chairman of the Countryside Alliance, likened the initiative to a “NATO for the countryside, a signal to the opposition that we are ready to make the case robustly for our world”. The nine partner organisations are no strangers to working together. Many were already part of the Shoot Liaison Committee, an informal group that has helped protect and grow the…

EMAIL SARAH.FITZPATRICK@FUTURENET.COM WOODFORD SHACKET GALLOX Organic cotton design based on the American ‘chore jacket’, which is ideal for the hours spent doing jobs around the garden, yard or pens. Designed and made in Devon with environmental impact in mind. ♦ Price £135 ♦ Email hello@gallox.co.uk ♦ gallox.co.uk PHEASANT CHECK SHIRT CORDINGS Variations on the traditional Tattersall check in good colours for stubbles and moors, these classic brushed-cotton shirts are generously cut with long tails to stay securely tucked in. Removable collar stiffeners and one breast pocket. ♦ Price £69 ♦ Tel 020 3096 7592 ♦cordings.co.uk DONEGAL TWEED SUIT TROY LONDON Limited-edition, three-piece suit with city and country applications, woven and finished in Donegal. ♦ Price Norfolk jacket, £590; high-waisted trousers, £320 ♦ Tel 020 3457 8549 ♦ troylondon.com NORFOLK TWEED…

This residential estate in East Lothian has a country house dating from 1560, which has been extensively restored. The estate, bordering the River Tyne, is set in 22 acres of gardens and parkland and there are three additional properties in the sale. Stevenson House, with a lift to all floors, has eight bedrooms, six reception rooms and a snooker room. The formal gardens have mature specimen trees and there is a wild garden leading to a riverside walk. There are seven acres of post-and-rail paddocks and courtyard stables. The house is a rare example of a ‘grange plan’ house, built in a square shape around a central courtyard, with a turnpike staircase at each corner. The property is 2½ miles from the county town of Haddington. Agent: Rettie & Co…

The description of some fish as ‘coarse’ was thought up by those archetypal snobs, the Victorians, and applies to any species that wasn’t gamefish. But what a misnomer it is. There is nothing coarse about the freshwater fish in our rivers. Pike, perch, roach, rudd, chub, dace, barbel and carp (of which there are three different sorts) are in no way coarse, and perch and pike are particularly beautiful. The former has a huge dorsal fin and black stripes running down a silvery bronze body and the latter is the shark of fresh water, with a body built for speed and a head full of needle-sharp teeth. I hope, but do not believe, that the Victorians described them as ‘coarse’ because they are mostly inedible. There are recipes for pike…

WHEN an individual or organisation has become successful, we often describe them as being ‘on the map’. For sculptor Andy Scott this is literally the case, as his twin 30-metre-high steel sculptures of horses’ heads, The Kelpies, have their own pin on Google Maps, beside the M9 at Falkirk. Location is important to Scott’s work, and he will fight to be true to his sense of place. With The Kelpies, Scott remembers: “It was quite traumatic. As a sculptor the scale was important, but at several points in the process we talked about reducing the scale. In the end I had a line in the sand. I was insistent the landscape there is big sky country. It needed to be that size with the hills in the distance. They wouldn’t…

WARNING: if you are a labrador enthusiast (and I suspect a majority of Fielders are), you may not want to read any further. I recently had an email from a reader who told me that his grandparents had always had black labradors, as had his parents, but now he is in a position to get his first dog he wants something different. “Let’s face it,” he wrote, “black labradors, or any colour of labradors, are so boring. They may be brilliant at bringing you your slippers, but there’s something inescapably dull and predictable about a lab. My children want a cockerpoo, but I do want a proper gundog even if it is going to be mainly a family pet. Any suggestions?” He did add a couple of provisos. If possible,…

IT feels great to be free, doesn’t it? And after the misery of months under lockdown, what better way to toast our newfound liberty than by ditching the mask, grabbing the corkscrew and making merry? Well, The Field Wine Club is here to help you do just that with three absolutely cracking wines in different price brackets, courtesy of our partner Private Cellar. They all come from the remarkable Rothschild family estates in South America. I’ve tried them once, I’ve tried them twice. Good grief, since your continued happiness is my only goal, I’ve selflessly tried them three times on your behalf and I cannot recommend them highly enough. There are two branches of the mighty Rothschild clan making wine: one owns Château Lafite-Rothschild; the other Château Mouton-Rothschild. These, of…

IT IS nice to know that in an age of ludicrously complicated 4x4s, the Fiat Panda is still leading the way in simplicity – as it has for four decades. It’s true that the Cross is a lot more sophisticated than the puritan Mk1 (which was my first 4x4, hence my soft spot for Pandas) but it still puts function over form. Let’s start in the cabin. There’s a slot for a key, which starts the engine. There’s a manual handbrake (odd shape, but we’ll let that pass). There is a simple six-speed gearbox, with a perfectly chosen first gear for pootling. No low-ratio box. If your off-roading experience is only complete with a touchscreen and an encyclopaedic list of terrains to choose from, you’ll be disappointed. For the rest…

Horses take centre stage at Belvoir Castle this month (11th-12th) when the Leicestershire stately home hosts its first-ever Festival of the Horse, featuring horsemanship displays, often with a historic twist. One of the show’s highlights is the medieval jousting and pageantry by the Knights of Nottingham. “We have been performing for more than 50 years and at Belvoir Castle for more than 40 of them,” says the Knights’ Sam Conway. “We always love returning to such a spectacular venue. For anyone who hasn’t seen us perform, you can expect plenty of cheering, booing and lots of laughter as our knights, squires and men at arms fight for their chosen sides. Look out for Sir Frederick of Flawforth on your way into the event, paying special attention to one of the…

THE St Leger, commonly referred to as simply ‘The Leger’, is the oldest Classic race on the British racing calendar, dating back to 1776. The race also serves as the final instalment of the five British Classics for three-year-old thoroughbreds and is undoubtedly the feature clash of Doncaster’s annual St Leger meeting in mid-September. It is a race steeped in history, although its inaugural running was contested under a different name. Anthony St Leger and Charles Watson-Wentworth, the 2nd Marquess of Rockingham, joined forces to create the clash known as ‘A sweepstake of 25 Guineas’ – a nod to the winning first prize. Following a lavish dinner party in 1777, the name was amended to the ‘Rockingham Stakes’, in honour of the man who contributed to its establishment. However, it…

LETTERS MAY BE EDITED FOR CLARITY OR SPACE INSTINCTIVE GUNS I read with interest Mike Yardley’s article on the side-by-side [The enduring appeal of the side-byside, January issue]. He is to be applauded for both promoting it and dispelling a lot of myths. One of the points he makes is that the side-by-side is a far more instinctive gun to use and, as such, the match between gun and shooter is more important. This is certainly correct. However, in vintage guns there are material differences in construction and therefore handling characteristics from maker to maker. This is especially true as it relates to barrel profile and barrel weight, which impacts the handling qualities of the gun – the barrels may feel longer or shorter than they actually are based on…

VILLA MOU SAN STEFANOS, CORFU, GREECE Located in a secluded bay in the north-east of Corfu at Agios Stephanos, Villa Mou, with seven en-suite bedrooms, has its own private access to the beach. It has views over the Straits of Corfu to the mountains and the Greek mainland. There are terraces for outdoor entertaining and a swimming pool. The villa has the potential to be developed into a boutique hotel, with more than 12,000 square metres of land. Agent: Collins Tel: +44 (0)7579768343 Guide price: €17.5m ATLANTIC AVENUE AMAGANSETT, NEW YORK, USA This house, inspired by its seaside setting, was built in 2017 and intended to balance indoor and outdoor living spaces. The property, stretching to 3,000 square feet, has five bedrooms and there is also a separate guest cottage.…

The wood used for most European sporting gun stocks is Juglans regia (walnut). Other woods may be used occasionally for small-scale artisan production in the USA, including cherry, maple and myrtle (all of which may be seen in muzzle-loading guns). Beech is commonly seen in some cheaper, mass-made guns (including most air rifles and rimfire rifles), and birch is used frequently in laminated stocks. Walnut is a slow-growing, deciduous tree with pinnate leaves, found from the Balkans to the Himalayas and throughout Europe. It is also grown in the USA and New Zealand. The native American walnut is Juglans negra, sometimes called ‘black walnut’ (actually a deep red colour). This is also used for gunstocks and may be encountered in Japanese-made Brownings and high-grade Mirokus. Juglans hindsii, also known as…

REAL MACNAB A salmon on the fly and a stag, as the trio did in John Buchan’s John Macnab. They must be ‘poached’ in legal sporting manner from an owner who accepts the challenge. CLASSIC MACNAB A stag, a salmon and a brace of grouse. The Classic Macnab epitomises the best of country sports in the Highlands – and is the sporting test behind The Field and BASC’s Macnab challenge. SOUTHERN MACNAB A couple of snipe, a sea-trout and a roe buck, again, all taken within the day. MACMARSH A foreshore goose, a pike and a fallow buck. MACNORFOLK A bass on the fly, a brace of wild grey partridges and a fallow buck. MACSCANDI A moose, a capercaillie and a trout on the fly within 24 hours. MACARGENTINIAN A…

Having spent the past 10 years or so flying the pheasant flag – not only because I love the meat but, more importantly, because having a demand for the by-product of our sport is our strongest form of defence against those who wish to defile it – it feels strange now to feel the need to be extolling the virtues of a meat that, during that time, has been the largest success story of the wild meats. But I fear we are heading for troubled times on the wild deer front. In short, there has been a cataclysmic demise in demand for venison due to the restrictions placed on the hospitality sector – wild venison’s greatest ally. With supermarkets demanding the consistency that more closely monitored and food-rationed farmed or…

The heroic deeds of Highlanders, both in these islands and elsewhere, have been told in verse and prose, and not more often, nor more loudly, than they deserve,” wrote the Reverend Charles Kingsley in his 1865 novel Hereward the Wake: Last of the English. Critically, Kingsley, regius professor of history at Cambridge and better known perhaps for his children’s story The Water-Babies and the historical fiction Westward Ho!, then adds, “but we must remember, now and then, that there have been heroes likewise in the lowland and the Fen”. Hereward ranks with Robin Hood in the pantheon of legendary lowland heroes, although rather more rooted in fact. His domain was the windswept wetlands of East Anglia in the aftermath of the Battle of Hastings, and this year sees the 950th…

IN a stunning moment of self-awareness, I’ve realised that when the gods of the auction hunt are with me my mood is upbeat and I smile as I write. Conversely, when those same gods thwart me – and that is as often because there is nothing I want to buy that month as me then being outbid (again) – my mood darkens and I wonder why I bother to study auctions only to come away empty handed. I’m in such a mood right now and this month’s grievance is ‘bits’ – both the way that a much-needed ‘bit’ tends to cost significantly more as a single item than it does when sold as part of a whole and, second, auctioneers’ infuriating trick of lumping together ‘bits’ and selling them as…

/re/PURPOSE SCALLOP RUG JENNIFER MANNERS Handmade and as soft as wool but able to withstand the worst your dog throws(up) at it, these rugs are a revolution. Made entirely from recycled plastic they can be used indoors and out. They are stain and water resistant and, with a 50,000 rub count, deemed to be of commercial grade. Price: £370 per square metre for recycled material Tel: 020 3903 0687 jennifermanners.co.uk ETERNAL FLAME DAVID HARBER Dancing round this would be a great way to see the summer out. This Dark Planet Hemisphere table is made in Oxfordshire with hand-placed dark puddle stones and a polished, stainless steel vortex with fire mechanism run on mains, bottled gas or biofuel. Tel: 01235 859300 Price: £29,578, inc installation and delivery mainland UK davidharber.co.uk SALOME…

I FIRMLY believe that the reason I achieved Olympic success at London 2012 as a pistol shooter was because I lived, trained and, most importantly, enjoyed everything there is about rural Dartmoor, where I grew up and remain to this day. In my sporting career I’ve been lucky enough to travel the world, meet some incredible people and have the most amazing experiences that I will cherish forever. But there’s no place like home. At school I did every sporting activity available and managed to represent my country, region and county in cross-country running, netball, hockey and athletics. At home I enjoyed all rural activities, from loading for my best friend’s dad, Barry Colton, out on the pheasant drives to dreaming of catching a salmon. Horses run through the Geikie…

The jury is still out on this sporting season, with the pandemic and a sketchy outlook for grouse casting a bit of a shadow over proceedings. “There is excitement across the board,” says Debbie Collins of BASC. “It will obviously take time to repair the damage caused by Covid, but the optimism from the shooting community is inspiring.” But BASC is cautioning that COVID-19 restrictions have had an impact on the grassroots. The number of shotgun certificates issued in March was the lowest since 2009. BASC has now set out to encourage new applicants and is calling for firearms licensing departments to “get back to full capacity”. For sporting agents working with international Guns there’s uncertainty over travel rules. “We had huge, huge demand for days, more than ever before,”…

I realise this is no ordinary shoot when a butler approaches from beneath the towering ramparts of a magnificent castle to offer a choice of sauces to go with my pre-shoot bacon butty. The Leicestershire fortress has been the seat of successive Dukes of Rutland since the 16th-century, and the lady serving coffee outside the portico entrance – the eye is drawn in equal measure to her immaculate Crow and Jester shooting suit and futuristic, Covid-compliant visor – is none other than Emma, Duchess of Rutland. As her personal assistant and Belvoir shoot sales manager Charlotte Ayliff explains, the first let day of the season was presented with a huge challenge when new Covid regulations came into force just a few days earlier. “Thankfully, BASC were straight onto the case…

As every self-respecting reader of The Field knows, a dog is not for Christmas. Rather, it is for retrieving, pointing or flushing out game. At the very minimum, it should be able to keep us company while out on a stroll or sheltering from the heavens in the elderly, short-wheelbase Land Rover. As the first of this season’s partridges appear on the sportsman’s horizon, there is a pressing question that needs to be answered: which dog? Which is the gundog of choice, the one that leaves all others panting in shade when Perdix perdix – or, indeed, Alectoris rufa – hove into view? To find out, I turn my address book to its final page and pick up the phone to Nick Zoll, founder and manager of a syndicate operating…

The sun rises over the stubble and the mist that clings to the valley below lifts like the curtain on opening night, such is the happy anticipation of that dedicated band who awake before dawn to stand covertside. Hounds wait in expectation for a sign from the huntsman, their huffs forming clouds as they ready to leave. Saddles creak, bits jostle, jackets strain (summer weight) and “Good mornings” are uttered in hushed tones. There is a reverence to these early mornings of companionship following hounds. Put quite simply, it is magic, even allowing for the four o’clock reveille. Of course, once the alarm has sounded there is then the difficulty of locating the hunter in the dark (greys and early morning mists can cause havoc and guarantee arriving late). But…

Few men have royal approval to raid a prince’s orchard but Barney Wilczak does. Four or five times every autumn, the former conservation photographer can pick as many apples as he wants from the private orchard and apple bank at the edge of HRH The Prince of Wales’ Highgrove estate, in Gloucestershire. The collection comprises some of the UK’s oldest and rarest apple varieties, including a sapling from the apple tree in Sir Isaac Newton’s garden at Woolsthorpe Manor, in Lincolnshire. Wilczak, a recycling proponent, takes his spoils back to the timber and Cotswold-stone lean-to greenhouse of the family home in Stratten, near Tetbury, where, with the help of his partner, Hannah, and two Czech stills, he presses and ferments them to make heritage fruit brandy: the authentically British Capreolus…

FROM Roman times, water dogs were carried on board ship, from which they were used to retrieve objects from the sea and to carry messages between boats. They have continued in that role but by the Middle Ages they were accompanying men out hunting wildfowl. They had waterproof coats and could swim and dive as well as the ducks themselves. Different breeds developed across Europe, however, the English water spaniel, pictured on the right, was dying out towards the end of the 19th century and by the 1930s the breed was considered to be extinct. Ben Marshall painted Diver (left) and Shuckleback fighting over a stick against the background of the sea for Mrs Frances Orby Hunter of Lincolnshire. The playful scene portrays them more as companion animals rather than…

ONE of the constant annoyances for any sportsman during the 18th and early 19th centuries was the variable consistency of the gunpowder that was sold for use in his sporting gun. To ensure that he had consistent and reliable powder was essential if the sportsman was going to be a successful shot, and particularly so if competing in shooting competitions on which money might be wagered. How, therefore, could the 18th-and, indeed, the 19th-century sportsman ensure the consistency of his gunpowder and what was available to test it with? The essential piece of equipment to achieve this was an eprouvette, more commonly known as a powder tester or powder gauge. Although originally developed to test the quality of the gunpowder used by artillerymen, they rapidly became available from the early…

THIS test gun is an extra finish model from Miroku – the new side-plated MK11 Game. It’s a single, selective trigger over-and-under with hand and laser engraving, Invector Plus multichokes and fleur-de-lys steel shot proof. The style of decoration is quite bold and will appeal to many, although my own preference is usually a little plainer. That said, the gun certainly has the ‘wow’ factor. Both the engraving – fairly open deep scroll and game scenes on the plates – and the well-figured walnut stock drew much positive comment during testing. This MK11 weighs in at 7lb 10oz – not especially heavy by modern standards. My preference in an over-and-under field gun, however, would be a little lighter. The balance here is still good (on the fore-end iron). When you…

THE final weeks of summer are usually some of the most splendid to be outside, and so the perfect opportunity to wheel out the barbecue a few final times. When barbecuing partridge, I prefer to keep the skin on and spatchcock/butterfly the whole bird. To make sure the meat cooks evenly, I cut a few slits into the inside of the legs. The carcasses can be thrown in a pot to make a stock or popped into the freezer for a later date. Lean meat, like partridge, does benefit from being brined to help keep it moist but it’s also important not to overcook it or leave it resting for more than a couple of minutes. As with all meat destined for the barbecue, marinades, dressings and sauces make them…

SOMETIMES, only a beer will do. A G&T, a dry martini, a frothsome fizz, a Kiwi Savvy Blanc, a bone-dry Manzanilla or even a whisky and soda are all very well (and they usually do me very well, thank you) but, just occasionally, when a thirst first threatens, it simply has to be a cleansing lager. An ice cold Asahi Super Dry invariably hits the spot these days and I’ve developed quite a taste for it. It’s crisp, clean and refreshing and, unlike most piss’n’ wind lagers, actually tastes of something and boasts a bit of bite. The excellent Brooklyn Lager, too, has become quite a staple. “We had a beer’n’ food soirée and didn’t miss wine once. It was all delicacy and tastiness” But where the heck does one…