Innholdsfortegnelse for July 2015 i The Field

YOUNG GUNMAKERS The Gunmakers Company Charitable Trust has launched a bursary programme to encourage the gun trade to take on apprentices. TAG-AND-RELEASE Research to find out what happens to marlin after they are released by anglers has satellite-tagged its first striped marlin along the Kenya coast. ASPIRING ANGLERS Hand-tied by fly-dressers in Kenya the new Allwater™ fly set launched by Charles Jardine is raising funds for Fishing4Schools. WILDFLOWER MEADOWS Plantlife’s Coronation meadows project has so far created 180 hectares of meadow at 35 sites. WILD GREYS Researchers at the GWCT are hoping for a warm summer to repeat the breeding success of 2014, which saw an 18% increase in grey partridges.…

THE 2015 CLA Game Fair, to be held at Harewood House in Yorkshire from Friday, 31 July until Sunday, 2 August, will once again feature the final of the popular Game Chef of the Year competition run in conjunction with The Field . The competition, which this year has been divided into two categories – one for amateur cooks and the other for professional chefs – is designed to find two unrecognised talents who relish cooking with game and whose philosophy is to showcase the great British countryside through their food. Judging will be by Jonathan Young, Editor of The Field , and Mike Robinson, the UK’s leading game chef and owner of the Pot Kiln in Berkshire and the Michelin-starred Harwood Arms in London. The amateur final will see…

EVER since the ice sheets receded at the end of the past ice age our islands have been home to a rich variety of wild flowers. Who has not paused to take in the delights of a glade awash with bluebells or a field sprinkled with red poppies? Look longer and there are myriad colours and shapes to behold – wild flowers that, owing to their diminutive size, are often overlooked. Yet while we are familiar with at least some of the names, few will give more than a passing thought as to how these flowers received their titles. Many will be aware of the origins of the daisy in “day’s eye”, a reference to how it follows the sun across the sky, and that the dandelion is from the…

IN 1802 The King of Spain, Carlos IV, received a wonderful gift from his ally Napoleon to cement the third Treaty of San Ildefonso. The deal returned Louisiana to France and gave Carlos Tuscany but, crazy about shooting, it was the gift of 11 magnificent guns that he prized the most. This gun, acquired by the Royal Armouries in 1942, is one of them. The maker was Nicolas-Noël Boutet (1761-1833), one of the greatest gunsmiths of all time and a consummate survivor who worked for successive royal, republican and imperial governments. In 1793 his atelier, later the Manufacture Nationale d’armes à Versailles, was established in the outbuildings of the former royal palace. Most of its output was for the military but Boutet’s speciality was fabulous armes de luxe and his…

NATURALISTS IN PARADISE: WALLACE, BATES AND SPRUCE IN THE AMAZON  by John Hemming Thames & Hudson, £20 IT is over a decade since I ventured to the Amazon on a somewhat ill-conceived sojourn. Our trio was dogged by illness, chased by a legion of wild capybara and had a close call with a big cat. So my respect for naturalists in paradise was at a fairly high level, even before reading Hemming’s account of their stamina and sang froid in the face of such verdant inhospitality. These three had in common a love of natural history. It led them to brave the virgin rainforest in search of specimens and species. Untrained as scientists, they all survived and returned home to deserved fame. Wallace sent his essay on natural selection to…

A life-size memorial to a warhorse and trooper of the First World War, the first in Britain, is being unveiled in Hampshire on 3 July. Sculptor Amy Goodman was commissioned to complete the £80,000 sculpture to remember the horses and men who served at the remount camp outside the town of Romsey. At the camp more than 120,000 horses and mules were prepared for life on the front. After the war the camp was demolished but the hard core was used to raise the ground level of the War Memorial Park in Romsey. “All my career I’ve wanted to sculpt a life-size horse as a public memorial. It is such an honour to be involved in such a project as this,” the Hampshire-based sculptor said. The trooper has one arm…

THE world’s biggest annual flower show celebrates its 25th anniversary this year with a giant floral cake and a 900sq metre maze at the Thames entrance to Hampton Court Palace. Special trains with crews with carnations in their hats brought thousands of visitors to the first show in 1990, conceived by management consultant Adrian Boyd. Last year more than 142,000 people visited the 500 exhibitors. “The show has changed dramatically over the last 25 years. It has grown in size and stature in the gardening calendar. The quality of exhibits gets better every year and the sheer scale and variety of plants never ceases to amaze me,” said Sarah Squire, deputy chairman at Squire’s Garden Centres, which has taken part in every show so far. Roses have always been an…

SPANISH BOOTS REALLY WILD CLOTHING Made for walking. Wardrobe essential for well-shod fillies. Price 15% off selected boots Tel 01491 352600 www .reallywildclothing.co.uk SUBSCRIPTION THE FIELD Visit our stand. Price from £17 Tel 0330 333 4555 www .thefi eld.co.uk SHOOTING COAT OLIVER BROWN Eminently useful. Price 50% off (was £495) Tel 020 7259 9494 www .oliverbrown.org.uk MEMBERSHIP COUNTRYSIDE ALLIANCE Save 20%. New adult members receive a drinkable extra. Price single membership £69 Tel 020 7840 9300 www .countryside-alliance.org.uk HUNTSMAN JUMPERS WOOLOVERS Crew- and vee-neck staples. Price two for £60 Tel 0845 073 1044 www .woolovers.com VINTAGE MAP GAMEBOOK ATLAS AND I Personalised locations. Price £55; 15% off orders when you produce a copy of The Field . Tel 07738 086843 www .atlas-and-i.com…

NEVER ask a lady her age – nor how many geese she bagged last season. “One or two,” replied Mollie Bretherton, turning back to the targets while her father, Kevin, whispered proudly, “When conditions are right, she’s on the marsh two or three times a week.” Father and daughter were at the West London Shooting School’s (WLSS) brilliant simulated game layout at Great Tew, Oxfordshire, along with seven other guns and their mentors. And it was all down to another Bretherton, cousin Lewis. Last Christmas The Field and WLSS offered a prize of a day’s clay-busting for a full team of 16 to the shoot that did most encourage young guns. The winning entry came from Lewis, a foreshoreman with the Preston and District Wildfowlers, who explained lucidly the considerable…

I SHOULD have left the swingometer earlier but it was, to misquote Kanga, a case of just one more election result and then I really must go home. For anyone who wants to live in a flourishing countryside rather than a Countryfile theme park, this election was the most important for generations. Yes, there was the hunting issue but also at stake were the very principles of conservation. In the next few weeks, the Law Commission will present to government a review of wildlife legislation that could, if adopted, result in a myriad of English and Welsh laws (including the Game Acts) being condensed into a single act. Meanwhile, in Brussels the European Commission is conducting a “fitness check” of the European Birds and Habitats Directives. The RSPB’s ties with…

As part of that unceasing struggle for perfection that distinguishes The Field , this year’s Top Shots list attempts to place the laurel crown of immortality on those who shine in different firmaments. We have, therefore, divided the Fabled Fifty into five categories: grouse gurus; pheasant professors; all rounders; ladies (unquestionably); and the Young Bucks, by which we mean those yet to reach respectable middle age. As ever, the FF have been selected using one harsh standard: are they truly and obviously outstanding? Our international jury has pondered long, interrogated hard and found the following make the ranks of the heaven born. GROUSE GURUS NICK BAIKIE A former grousekeeper – he came up through the ranks under the guidance of Jeremy Wearmouth at Gunnerside – Baikie now manages a significant…

THERE is something evocative and possibly even tribal about sporting art. Whether it be the colour, motion, characters and humour depicted by Snaffles, an amusing rendering by John Leech of an out-of-control Jorrocks or a modern piece such as a huge canvas of a hound by Tania Still, the unifying theme is that sporting art stirs the blood. Hunt-country maps also take their place as an important part of sporting art’s history, often as that vital piece that makes it on to the wall of the smallest room. Such is the allure of the hunt-country map that it has spilled into the digital age, as early demand for the Countryside Alliance’s new map proves. When I unearthed a dusty 1992 edition hunt-country map from a cupboard in the our Kennington…

THE unsung hero of many Scottish salmon rivers is the sea-trout. It is a truly magnificent fighting fish and wins hands down in the contest against its better-known opponent. Some years ago I had taken a middle beat on the Spey in early June. The weather was warm and a bit on the bright side. So, on the advice of our gillie, Sandy, we divided the day into three parts. The morning session took us through to lunch, which sometimes started quite early, was usually protracted and certainly not teetotal. We then returned to our lodgings for a serious siesta. Dinner was taken early so that we were back on the river by 8pm and fishing for salmon until about 11pm. We changed to lighter, singlehanded rods to fish for…

“DAD!” exclaimed my daughter, tearing into the kitchen, “I’ve just found a strange man who looks like Rumpelstiltskin, with shaggy hair and a straggly grey beard! He’s sitting on a little stool, with a sharp knife, surrounded by loads of wicker in the dark room next to the Satan pit.” “So, you’ve met the Vicar of Bewcastle,” I replied.“The Vicar of Bewcastle? How long has he been here and why is he in that windowless room and what on earth is he doing?” “About two months and, to answer your other questions, his hobby is making wicker baskets and he also carries out the odd exorcism, so he is ideally situated to deal with all the nasties in the Satan pit.” “I can’t believe you didn’t tell William and me…

CASTLE HOWARD SELLS TREASURES Castle Howard is selling 10 treasures with a combined estimate of £10 million at Sotheby’s on 8 July to raise funds for the upkeep of one of Britain’s grandest country houses, including a 1542 portrait of Henry VIII (above). WANTED: FUNDS FOR FLY CENSUS The Salmon & Trout Association is raising funds to conduct a river-fly census of all the different species of water flies and shrimps on targeted rivers. For more details, visit www.salmon-trout.org NT GLASS PROJECT This summer the National Trust is removing all but one of the 18 Tudor stained-glass windows in the chapel at The Vyne in Hampshire so that they can be cleaned and fitted with protective glazing. Visitors can view the work during guided tours on 26 June and 17…

The 57th CLA Game Fair is being held at Harewood House near Leeds in Yorkshire from 31 July until 2 August. The fair has a revamped fishing village, new gundog competition, reintroduced sporting dog pavilion and a Great British village area. On Gunmakers Row 24 BASC-accredited coaches will give lessons to novice and experienced shots. In the cookery theatre Field Editor Jonathan Young and game chef Mike Robinson will be judging the final of The Field/CLA Game Chef of the Year competition on Friday (for amateurs) and Saturday (for professionals) and on Saturday afternoon in the Game Fair theatre Jonathan Young will be talking about the highs and lows of The Field’s Macnab Challenge, the annual quest to shoot a stag, catch a salmon and bag a brace of grouse…

THE LEAD AMMUNITION GROUP It is with disappointment that I have reached the decision to resign from the Lead Ammunition Group (LAG) in protest at abuses of process and evidence that render the group’s work so flawed it can never reach any scientific conclusions. The LAG was set up under the Labour Government in 2010 at the behest of the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust and RSPB, following scientific evidence from America, to advise DEFRA on any risks to wildlife, human health and livestock from the use of lead ammunition, and how to mitigate them. It has not yet produced a report. I had served on the LAG since 2013 and represented the shooting community on the group. The chairman circulated a draft Lead Ammunition Group Report in April, which the…

I TRY not to leave the UK in the summer months as I think that the English countryside, bathed in warmth and lit by the sun, is truly one of the most wonderful places in the world to be. Not only that, but it’s polo time. However, it appears the universe doesn’t want me to play this season. The run of bad luck began back in January, when my trusty Argentine gelding got a mystery knee infection that ate away part of the bone. Many months later, he is fat and happy but still a bit lame, so no polo (and possibly no hunting either) for quite some time, if ever. The rest of the ponies got fit with no incident, so I happily booked in for the first chukkas…

FOR those who inhabit worlds where Picassos are two a penny and Monets mundane, hot on the list of collectables are fossils and dinosaur relics. Brad Pitt, Nicolas Cage and Leonardo DiCaprio are among celebrity fossil hunters, the latter two having engaged in a bidding battle for the skull of a Tyrannosaurus bataar a few years ago. However, you don’t need a Beverly Hills budget or an A-list mansion to accommodate a predilection for the prehistoric: there is a fossil to suit almost every home and depth of pocket. “Fossils are rare, decorative, wild, sometimes a bit blingy but always unique,” says Dale Rogers, whose showroom is on Pimlico Road, London’s interior design hub. “While you’d be surprised how many people are quite into geology, most buyers’ interest is sparked…

EVERY time you raise a glass of something hoppy in one hand it engenders a desire to scrabble for something equally appealing with the other. It used to be a scampi fry, a jar of whelks or even a buxom wench. But either they no longer hit the mark or are less sanguine. So choose from the growing assortment of great British goodies available next time you place your order at the bar. Traditionally, anything piggy- or potato-based has partnered a pint at the pub. And no one is keener on both than Rupert Ponsonby, co-founder of Mr Trotter, purveyor of pork scratchings. “The pig passion began on my wedding day. My mother-in-law thought that flowers were a waste, so bought us eight piglets instead,” says Ponsonby. The other founders,…

MY dear missus has been in the garden a lot this month, cutting back, pruning and dead-heading whatever dares catch her eye. Indeed, it seems that she no sooner plants something than she digs it up or chops it down. I can track her progress simply by following the petals, leaves, stalks, branches and piles of earth she leaves in her wake. Needless to say, it falls to me to clear everything up. It’s Marina’s way of leaving little love tokens for me, I’m sure, not unlike her procession round the kitchen where I pad mutely behind her washing up the ridiculous amount of pots, pans, dishes, saucepans and myriad utensils she abandons as she goes. She might know where the fridge, store cupboard and cooker are but has yet…

IN Rob Gearing and Simon Wilkinson, Spartan Precision Equipment has the perfect combination of massively enthusiastic inventor and quiet business acumen. Five years in development, its Javelin Bipod (launched in February 2014) introduces a fully modular systems platform for stalkers. Like most great inventions, it is based on a simple design concept: a magnetic adaptor allows the bipod to be readily attached and detached from the rifle. The super-light, carbon-fibre bipod weighs just 133g. Bipods are an essential aid to shooting but tend to be heavy, imbalance the rifle when carried and dig into the shoulder. Furthermore, they can get in the way when shooting from the standing position using sticks. The Javelin Bipod cures all such problems while fitting neatly into a pocket or belt pouch. The secret is…