Innehållsförteckning för May 2024 från The Field

The Irish government has extended the stalking season by three months for mature male deer (now ending on 30 April) and by one month for female deer and antlerless males (now ending 31 March) in a bid to tackle overgrazing. Ministers also announced that the 2024-25 season for male deer will start on 1 August, a month earlier than usual. “Deer are an integral part of the Irish landscape but overgrazing by deer has become a serious pressure for native woodlands and for peatland habitats across Ireland,” said Malcolm Noonan, Minister for Nature, Heritage and Electoral Reform. “Extending the open season will provide landowners with greater flexibility for deer management and should, with time, help us to bring deer back to sustainable levels locally and nationally.” Charlie McConalogue, Minister for…

CLAY PIGEON shooting isn’t the most obvious way to gain a sporting blue. Trawl a freshers’ fair and many have never heard about it, let alone had the opportunity to experience the thrill of shooting (and occasionally hitting) clays. That’s why the university clay-shooting clubs perform such a vital role, this year bringing together 90 students to compete at the annual Varsity match. Cambridge University’s Clay Pigeon Shooting Club (CUCPSC) was founded in 1978; the Oxford equivalent, set up in the 1960s, was re-established in 2009, coinciding with the first official Varsity match. Since then this healthy rivalry has reared its head annually to test the shooting skills of students. This year Cambridge hosted the competition at the Cambridge Gun Club over a day that consisted of 100-bird Sporting clays…

ANY PROPERTY with water, be it a chalkstream to fish in or a riverbank to walk along, commands a premium, both commercial and emotional. Young Harry Britton, aged five, might not measure the water in monetary terms yet but he has already caught a bag of life skills. His father Simon Britton is a partner in rural agricultural consultancy at Knight Frank and, like his own father, a passionate fisherman – three generations of anglers. Britton’s love of the sport and its rivers informs him in his working life, caring deeply about what the future holds for water in all its functions across fishing, farming and the environment, both built and natural. Water also happens to be a necessity of life, on land and sea. Rural agents are invariably going…

THERE is a sound that all fishermen long to hear: the music of a screaming reel after a slight tug from the fish on the line followed by a long run. The purpose of a reel is simple: to store line and to help play the fish. Nowadays we view it as an essential feature of an angler’s kit. However, it was only in the middle of the 17th century that the reel became popular. The Chinese were most likely the first to invent the reel, in around 300AD, but the earliest reel to appear in England was in the 1650s, at a time when interest in fly-fishing was beginning to grow. In his book The Art of Angling, Thomas Barker describes what might be considered an early reel: ‘……

BREEZILY drop into conversation at an early July dinner party that you’ve spent the previous weekend festivaling in the West Country, and let your host imagine you jostling to the Arctic Monkeys at Worthy Farm, warm cider in hand and face bedecked in glow paint. The truth, of course, for any sane Fielder, will have been a different sort of festival at the end of June, an hour-and-a-bit back down the A303 heading east from Glastonbury. The Chalke History Festival in the Wiltshire village of Broad Chalke, nestled below the ancient chalk downs, is a place where panamas – not bucket hats – abound, where red trousers are de rigueur, and where vintage tents fill with those savvy enough to have bagged tickets for speakers from Private Eye editor Ian…

I SOMETIMES WISH we had called our daughter Iris, although she might not have thanked us for it. For me, it is a name of infinite romance, since Iris was the Greek goddess whose task it was to carry messages between heaven and earth, crossing between them by a rainbow bridge that she painted in the sky. And, what’s more, she wore a coat of many colours to do it. It’s such an appealing conceit that it’s no surprise that her name was given to the plant genus Iris, as no other group of plants can boast such colour variety. Since childhood, I have loved irises in almost all their iterations because of that mad generosity, which – depending on the kind of iris – enriches the garden from late…

Across 1 Fake cartridge used to relieve stress on gun’s firing pin during storage (4,3) 5 Term for e.g. curlew’s nest dug in shallow ground (6) 8 A small, non-native, white-rumped deer (4) 9 Roman goddess of the hunt (5) 10 Yorkshire river for game, coarse fish – part of delta, I recall (4) 11 For example, a realistic lure to attract birds (5) 13 Moorland plant liked by red grouse (7) 15 Historic annual gatherings at this village in the Grampians (7) 17 Money for enclosures for stray animals (6) 19 … estate on River Dee, North Wales for clay shooting, fishing – conger, perhaps? (6) 20 … and Silverdale, AONB in NW England – sort of sandier (7) 21 Farrier’s work – scaring off small animals, we hear (7) 23 A clay-shooting discipline, together with trap shooting and sporting…

DESPITE ITS development as a place of innovation, Cambridge maintains a rural feel with cattle grazing lush pastures beside the flowing Cam still. The Fitzwilliam Museum looks out across the Peterhouse deer park to observe this timeless pastoral scene on Coe Fen. Yet in the museum itself, change is happening and old ways are being challenged. In March The Telegraph reported the institution’s growing concern regarding the effect that some of its famous British landscape paintings may be having on visitors. British landscapes can evoke ‘dark nationalist’ feelings, new signage warns the viewer, much like the public health warning on a packet of cigarettes. The museum’s ambition appears to be to look at history through a wider, perhaps fairer, lens and confront the perceived status quo. In doing so, it…

The Field guide to British birds The Angling Trust has been awarded a new National Angling Strategic Services contract by the Environment Agency following a competitive procurement process. It started on 1 April 2024 and will run for four years, during which the Trust will concentrate on introducing more people to fishing, providing advice to grassroots clubs and fisheries, administering a project fund for the development of clubs around the country and building effective partnerships with the police, angling clubs and fishery owners. Jamie Cook, chief executive of the Angling Trust, said: “All anglers who buy a fishing rod licence deserve to have clarity on where that money is being spent and how it is impacting fish and fishing. As a not-for-profit organisation and the national governing body for fishing,…

Defra has announced a new general licence (GL45) for the release of common pheasants and red-legged partridges on or near certain Special Protection Areas (SPAs) in England. The licence ensures that these gamebirds can now be released over a number of SPAs without having to make individual applications. If a shoot is in an area not covered by GL45, it will still have to apply for an individual licence. This marks a significant change in policy regarding the release of gamebirds within certain areas, particularly SPAs or within a 500-metre buffer zone. Last year, Defra announced that such releases would no longer be allowed under the existing general licence (GL43). This decision was made because of concerns about the potential transmission of highly pathogenic avian influenza from gamebirds to wild…

PICTUREMAPS FISHING MUG Joyce & Joan Dishwasher safe, bone china mug featuring fish and flies. Can be personalised. Price £16.50 joyceandjoan.co.uk ENAMEL FISH MUG Annabel James Half-litre capacity enamel mug decorated with a colourful array of species. Price £14.95 annabeljames.co.uk SHOAL OF FISH MUG Seakisses Fine bone china, 375ml-capacity mug, designed in Cornwall. Dishwasher safe. Price £16.50 seakisses.co.uk MACKEREL PRINT ENAMEL MUG Dollyhotdogs Lightweight, durable mug with a stainless steel rim. Price £13 dollyhotdogs.com PERSONALISED FISHING MUG Emma Bridgewater Hand-painted half-pint earthenware mug made in the UK. Price £26 emmabridgewater.co.uk…

AMID THE perennial noise about failing salmon numbers, untreated sewage, and river stocking, one group of gamefish seems to have gone unnoticed: our big, wild, native brown trout; glorious leopards of fish weighing three pounds at least but preferably even double that. There’s a UK history of these powerhouse river beauties; think AE Hobbs and his more than 800 Thames leviathans 100 years ago. But what of their status today? Are they in decline or merely overlooked? Where and how might you catch the trout of a lifetime by design? And how will you know whether your spot-splashed monster is, in fact, wild? Perhaps it doesn’t matter whether a catch is a true nature’s masterpiece or a well-mended trout off a lorry long ago but we all know it does.…

THERE are few, if any, better people to take advice from than John Buchan. In fact there is a good argument that The Complete Richard Hannay contains more and better lessons in life than all the self-help books ever written. The whole premise of John Macnab is, after all, a cure for middle-aged futility, while The 39 Steps is a rather radical solution for ‘the best bored man in the United Kingdom’. My favourite advice, however, is delivered by Hannay’s friend Tom Greenslade, the local doctor, at his Cotswolds home, Fosse Manor. In The Three Hostages, Hannay and Greenslade are faced with a particularly impenetrable conundrum and the doctor resolves to solve it through the medium of walking: ‘At ten o’clock precisely I start on a walk – right round…

IT MAY SURPRISE the reader to know that fishing has not always been conducted with a rod and line. Throughout history and indeed across the world, the use of multi-bladed spears or tridents was an accepted fishing practice. Such a multibladed weapon – a bronze trident dated to about 3,000BC from the Sumerian city of Ur – is in the British Museum. The use of multi-blades for fishing outside of Europe is also evidenced by examples from such places as Fiji, Borneo and Greenland. In Europe they were used mainly for otter hunting or for fish and eels, particularly in the 18th and 19th centuries. In the case of Britain, it was in Scotland that the fish, eel or salmon spear was most popular and where it was known by…

THIS MONTH’S test gun is a Yildiz Pro CCH with 3in chambers, steel proof marks and 32in fixed-choke barrels equipped with a 9mm-7mm tapered sighting rib. It weighs in at just over 8lb 2oz. The action has a colour case-hardened-effect finish, hence CCH, and there is an adjustable comb atop the substantial butt. Chokes are constricted at 1/2 and 1/2 but the gun’s stablemate, the Pro Black Adjustable (which has a plain black action), comes with multichokes as standard and 28in, 30in or 32in barrel options. The CCH as tested, though, is only available in this 32in Long Tom fixed-choke form. A big gun, the Yildiz presents as an evolved product of modern Turkish gunmaking. I am not a great fan of ersatz colour case hardening (an increasingly encountered process…

IF THE ROADSIDE farm shed in Devon’s Clyst Valley in which Ronald Dart started his pick-your-own business in 1971 was a small acorn, Darts Farm Shop is the mighty oak that grew from it. While still a family business, run by Dart’s three sons, it has developed into not just a nationally recognised farm shop but a one-stop lifestyle Mecca. There is a food hall brimming with home-grown and local, artisan produce; an in-house chocolatier and gelateria; a vineyard; a small-batch cidery; restaurants; and the sort of perilously tempting shopping experience that can see one popping in for a birthday card and coming away with a new kitchen. There’s even a spa and an award-winning hair salon. This transformation probably wouldn’t have surprised Dart, who died in 1982: he was…

Scottish sporting estates wishing to shoot grouse will now require a licence following the passing of the Wildlife Management and Muirburn (Scotland) Bill at Holyrood on 21 March. The licences will be valid for up to five years. Muirburn and certain wildlife traps will also be subject to separate licensing regimes. Ross Ewing, director of moorland at Scottish Land & Estates, commented: “Licensing of grouse shooting represents a seismic change for rural estates and their employees. The legislation goes far beyond the stated intention of deterring the persecution of raptors by introducing a broad range of relevant offences under which licences can be suspended or revoked. Many of these offences bear no connection to land managed for grouse shooting. “As the Bill has made its way through parliament, the government…

THIS MODERN mansion house in Shropshire comes with nearly 50 acres of land, including a mix of gardens, parkland, a lake, three ponds, a tennis court and a helicopter landing pad. The main property has seven bedrooms as well as a two-bedroom flat, and there is also a three-bedroom cottage in the sale. In the basement of this modern country house, with a lift to all floors, there is a snooker room, games room, bar area, wine store, cinema and card room. There is also an angling room, and an indoor swimming pool with changing rooms and a steam room. All floors boast underfloor heating, and the external walls are highly insulated. The Mount was once part of the Brogyntyn estate, with the original Edwardian property demolished about 20 years…

Dear Freddie, THE BEGINNING of this month marks the start of the new hunting year and, although no physical hunting takes place until autumn, it is also the date that Masters are appointed or reappointed by the hunt committee and new kennel staff – huntsmen, kennel huntsmen and whippers-in – begin their duties. Committee members who have served their term of office (generally three years) retire and are replaced, and new secretaries take up their posts. I know you have hunted for several seasons and are well versed in the etiquette of a hunting day. However, when I was your age, I was more interested in watching hounds and knew little of the enormous amount of hard work that goes into running a hunt. There are around 230 packs of…

IN 2018 THE first call from the Wild Trout Trust (WTT) came through to the Derbyshire Angling Federation (DAF) about Snake Lane weir. Located above the village of Duffield, close to where the River Ecclesbourne meets the River Derwent, the 1970s construction was stopping Atlantic salmon in their tracks. After making the 1,400-mile journey from their feeding grounds in Greenland, the fish were blocked from reaching their historic breeding grounds upstream by a wall of concrete too high to jump. “There was no way to physically get past it,” says Steve Clifton, the DAF’s managing secretary, who’s been fishing these waters for five decades. The WTT had a solution: demolish the weir and install a socalled ‘fish pass’ in its place. This boulder-strewn, stepped rock ramp would enable salmon, trout…

DRIVING towards Newmarket along the Bury Road, any time between dawn and midday, it’s a safe bet that views of the famous Limekilns gallops will be lit up by the sight of gleaming thoroughbreds – the area is home to some 3,500 of the world’s finest equine athletes – working alongside the busy highway. Newmarket has been synonymous with horses ever since James I built a palace there, having discovered the wild heathland out hunting in the early 17th century. However, the town’s real rise to racing prominence followed the restoration of Charles II in 1660. In 1669 the King, who was nicknamed Old Rowley, built a new palace at Newmarket and from then on moved his entire court there for the duration of the racing season. Charles II’s legacy…

Sporting artist Under the hammer Royal Armouries Sporting dog The boot room Gun review Country queries Gardening Farm shop Cookery Wine Travel Books Field testers From the archives Find Graham Stevenson on Instagram @offthefly or visit: offthefly.com HEMINGWAY would have approved of piscatorial portraitist Graham Stevenson’s inspiration to paint trophy fish. Stevenson remembers: “I was in Dubai and racing my catamaran. It was too big really, so I switched to a smaller one and started fishing. I noticed guys with motorboats trolling for fish with handlines and a small lure, so I gave it a try. I was catching Spanish mackerel. Then I hit something heavy, which I thought might be the bottom, and then it moved, and it was a big barracuda – about 110cm – on the line.”…

MY FIRST experience of dogs and fishing was, looking back on it, quite amusing, though it wasn’t at the time. I was in my early teens and out walking my cocker spaniel. He was a keen swimmer in the pond on our local common, a stretch of water that also attracted coarse fishermen. On one memorable occasion he swam too close to one such fisherman, who told me in no uncertain terms that if I didn’t call my dog back, he would throw me in the water to join him. As the fisherman was much bigger than me, both the spaniel and I beat a hasty retreat. Most sporting dogs have a close affinity with fur and feather but not with fin. In 50 years of spaniel ownership I have…

THE MONTH of May often heralds a sporting pilgrimage, whether it is towards Gloucestershire for Badminton or south for the trout. However, finding somewhere decent to stay on route can be a challenge. I’m a great believer in trying to make the journey as enjoyable as the destination. This probably comes from spending my formative years subjected to a series of highly eccentric family holidays with jet-setting parents who (a) seemed surprised to have children in tow and (b) were the opposite of stoic when it came to travel delays. The journey was never pleasurable, more a feat of endurance. Now, under my own steam, I revel in the itinerary plotting involved in getting to my destination (although nurture wins when it comes to going home – in a ‘oner’…

MAY IS THE best of the spring months for the trout angler. In Wales, it is true, trout are caught in March and the avidity with which they will come at a fly in that hungry month may well appeal to an angler equally starved for sport; but for real enjoyment of the finer shades of fly-fishing practice one must wait for the good feed of May and the discrimination which it brings to the trout. For the man who aspires to salmon, it is different. The heavy rains in January brought up the salmon on the Wye much earlier than usual, and they were able to pass up to the higher reaches about Hereford and Hay, and even beyond. I get many enquiries as to the possibility of getting…