Innholdsfortegnelse for August 2017 i The Field

If you’re an ‘average’ gundog owner, there’s a good chance that you have a potential winner SHOOTING without a dog is like eating strawberries without cream. Yes, quite possible, and lots of people do it but they are missing an essential ingredient. Come home from a day’s shooting and tell your wife about the wonderful high pheasants you shot and she will feign interest; tell her how your spaniel beat all the picker-ups’ dogs to find a running partridge and she will listen with interest. I’ve shot over, or with, my own spaniels for more than 30 years. In the early, dog-free days I was dependent on other people’s dogs to find my birds. When I at last got a spaniel my shooting was transformed. Not only did I enjoy…

The road north to Auchnafree winds through that part of Scotland where arable country rolls out into scraggy glen and Perthshire becomes the Highlands. It was to be the first time the five-strong team, led by Marco Compagnoni, a lawyer from London, had shot at the estate. “We usually go farther north for the Twelfth,” Compagnoni’s godson, Daniel Hull-Sief, explains over a cup of coffee in a large tin shed, the walls of which are adorned with antlers and taxidermy. “We’ve been going to the same estate since I was about 14, which is almost a decade ago I suppose. It sounds silly but in some ways the departure is a bit emotional. We had some great days there, sometimes shooting well over 50 brace.” Across the table, a large…

‘There has been a change in appetite for game-shooters to wear glasses’ The Clay Pigeon Shooting Association’s ruling for hearing protection is clear: “The wearing of recognised and purpose-made hearing protection products is compulsory.” When it comes to eye protection, however, the rules are rather less strict. “The appropriate wearing of adequate and effective visible eye protection… is mandatory.” Eye protection must be worn but it needn’t be stringently “recognised and purpose-made”; “adequate” will suffice. This lack of strict regulation is certainly not due to low risk. A shard of clay or stray pellet could cause irreparable damage, as could a gun malfunction. These are not uncommon occurrences in the field and need only happen once for irreversible damage to be done. Simply wearing glasses does not guarantee protection; shooting…

Has the cloying ennui of mid summer ever been more apparent than it is this year? A summer of politicking, elections and more party politics than can be decently digested has brought on intellectual exhaustion in many of us. Fortunately, the cure for this enfeebling is at hand. Indeed, we expect more people than ever to rally to John Macnab’s standard and head to the hills come August for a dose of sporting exhilaration that is so much required. To rid oneself entirely of the final vestiges of the political swamp, the tawdry city and fetid heat, a spot of fishing or chasing the odd grouse is not enough. It requires something more vigorous – such as trying for a Macnab, the ultimate sporting adventure and one that’s bound to…

Hose Thorns, Ashby Pastures, Cream Gorse and John Ball are names that resonate with foxhunters around the world as the starting points of great hunting runs of the past. Along with other celebrated fox coverts the length and breadth of Britain, they endure as indelible testament to foxhunting’s sublime influence on our green and pleasant land. Many have a long and illustrious history and a special place in the hearts of their admirers. Nearly all were planted exclusively for hunting. Coverts don’t come more hallowed than the Fernie’s John and Jane Ball, which were established either side of the Leicester to Northampton road during Squire Osbaldeston’s mastership of the Quorn in the early 19th century. They are said to have been planted by a Mr Oldacre and named after his…

I must come clean: I’m a Londoner. For me, the countryside is a place of escape and beauty but it’s also unfamiliar and can sometimes unnerve me. On the up side, I’m a beekeeper and over the past four years that’s given me an increasing understanding of, and familiarity with, our natural world. My bees have opened my eyes and brought home to me the connection between the land, plants, weather and bee health to honey in all its incredible variety. Even in London these connections are obvious once you start looking. I set up Hive & Keeper for two reasons: to remind us all of the place and landscape the honey in each jar came from and of that place’s influence on the honey’s unique taste; to recognise the…

THIS month’s test concerns a 12-bore, non-ejector, 6lb 12oz hammer gun with 27½in barrels. Nothing special, you might think, until you learn that the maker is Luciano Bosis, one of Italy’s finest. His family attelier in Travagliato, near Brescia, produces something not much over 20 bespoke guns a year. An ex-Perazzi man (he worked there in the 1970s), Bosis is perhaps best known now for his Michelangelo sidelock over-and-unders but he has made a number of side-by-sides, too (including 15 hammer guns). An Anson & Deeley boxlock has been a recent project and a titanium over-and under. Luciano Bosis guns have a reputation for very fine finish. I have seen several proprietary, machine-made over-and-unders his daughter, Laura, has reworked. She once rounded (and exquisitely colour case hardened) the action of…

THE Food and Drink Federation has announced that this year’s salmon exports have grown by more than 50% in value to £186.7 million, topping the UK food export list – the result of a combination of greater promotion abroad and the weakening pound. This news will please Scotland’s aquaculture industry, particularly off the back of plans announced last year to double production from £1.8 billion to £3.6 billion by 2030. While excellent for the big business of salmon farming, it will raise concerns among environmentalists and fishermen. The conflict with disease, parasites and the wider ecosystem makes salmon farming a dirty word in some circles. As with all farming systems, some are better than others – and it may come as no surprise that I would say the organic label…

WHAT a difference a month makes. In my previous article I was contemplating peace and tranquillity amongst the bluebells; 30 days later, it’s Armageddon week – the Howard’s Way, involving dead things, food and weddings. The crisis opened with a real disaster: my wonderful mother-in-law was admitted to hospital at 2am on her 84th birthday with a suspected heart attack. This showcased everything most brilliant and desperate in the NHS. A two-hour ambulance wait, eight hours on a trolley in a corridor, superb trauma staff who immediately fitted her with a pacemaker, bureaucratic confusion on an epic scale about a release date, fabulous GPs but an aftercare plan that social services presumably are still mulling over a couple of months later. My only real gripe was that the consultant didn’t…

ALAN BRASSINGTON ON PAINTING LESTER PIGGOTT“ When I went to his home at Newmarket for the sitting, the racing was on the television and he just went on watching while I was painting” WIN, lose or just have another drink: everybody enjoys a day at the races. Aged 12, Alan Brassington wasn’t doing any drinking but he soaked up every other element of racecourse life as he and his grandfather toured Ireland’s racecourses in a VW Beetle. “Every summer holidays we would be off to all the race meetings. There were the local ones round Dublin, such as Phoenix Park (which has gone now), Dundalk and Punchestown, and, of course, the Curragh. Everybody at the Curragh knew my grandfather. We would arrive at the course and he would say, ‘See…

Driven grouse-shooting is often called the king of shooting and the pursuit of this fastest of birds is the ultimate challenge. Of course, different weather conditions, terrain and wind speed all have their part to play. Nonetheless, on its day, the driven grouse is as challenging as any quarry. Soaring pheasants on a high wind are some guns’ ultimate quarry but I would argue they are more predictable and when shooting grouse the weather and terrain is generally more hostile and the shooting more challenging. Certainly, grouse give you the widest variety of shot. We all have our own techniques, which we hope work when the time comes. These can be helped by practice – whether at pigeon, real or clay – good gun fit, suitable clothes and other kit,…

Getting into a grouse butt has to be one of the great fieldsport moments. It is the anticipation of the intense excitement to come. Grouse butts have huge character: old wood, wonderful stone, heather – none are the same. You have to get to know each in terms of its construction, its height, the fauna around it, where best to put dogs, gun sleeves, where to lean and how much room there is. Then there is the landscape around them, which shapes how the birds will come. If with a loader your discussion will surely be about how the birds fly, what dangers there might be, where flankers might pop up from. For a short time, it is your home. It is the same as getting into an Alta boat…

When I became engaged to my now husband, several people remarked on how romantic it was to be betrothed to a Scottish laird. As though he was going to whisk me off on his mighty white steed (he doesn’t ride) to a midge-free, pinnacled utopia where we could gaze, windswept, across hill and glens. In fact, ever since we first became romantically involved at one of Durham University’s two nightclubs, when I was actually covertly in love with the captain of the rugby first XV, I have endured comments about me “snaring a laird”. Many of the stereotypes synonymous with Scotland have become so embedded in our cultural consciousness that we have collectively given credence to these caricatures, be it Tory toffs in tweed, warrior-like Highlanders or the villainous, ferocious…

I feel utterly naked if I go shooting without my cap. I wear it whatever the weather and everywhere I go. It is a long-standing friend, bought in Scotland more than 20 years ago. As it is so large (size 64), it is theft-proof – anyone putting it on being instantly blinded and looking as if they are wearing the Sorting Hat from Harry Potter. This much-cherished piece of kit is decorated with two mementoes. The first is the remains of the fly with which I caught my first salmon on the River Glass at fasnakyle. It was the first time I’d worn the cap and I managed to shoot a brace of grouse before, later that evening, while standing on the river playing “dodge-the-midges”, by some miracle I caught…

Not only does the Twelfth announce a new season’s sport but, if the guns do their job, it ensures delicious fresh grouse are once again returned to the menu THE delight of receiving that precious invite, a day spent on a spectacular moor, the challenge of a difficult shot and then – my favourite part – getting to cook and eat that unique gamebird. Like any ingredient that really isn’t available fresh all year round, it is even more special when it is finally in season. For me, that wonderful first whiff of the brilliantly distinct meat is a truly magical culinary moment. For this issue, I’ve shared how to make a delicious grouse ravioli served in broth and a more simple but no less impressive warm salad. Making your…

IT’S no wonder labradors are so popular as they are remarkably easy dogs to live with. They are generally easy to train, will eat almost anything with enthusiasm and hardly need grooming. No, I’m wrong about the grooming. Labradors do need grooming but I suspect that many do not see a brush from one month to the next. Most labradors have a wonderfully dirt-resistant coat and if they do get muddy, the mud soon falls off, leaving the coat much as it was before. This is fine with a kennelled dog but if the animal lives in the house then a bit of brushing before it comes in will partly solve the problem. However, labradors are also great shedders of hair, something that’s all too apparent with indoor dogs. Here,…

“The Kodiaq skipped over the speed bumps so well that it sort of defeated their purpose” THE new Skoda Kodiaq has been a long time coming. While SUVs have been arriving from Jaguar, Bentley, Maserati, Uncle Tom Cobley and all, the Skoda showrooms have remained free of the must-have vehicle of the age. So why the delay? Did Skoda think that the Octavia Scout and Yeti covered all bases? Did it consider following the herd to be a trifle undignified? We now know the reason for the long wait: Skoda wanted to make sure it got its SUV absolutely right – and if it meant a lengthy delay, so be it. The first delight is the styling. Truly, the Force is with the team who wield the magic pens at…

Work to complete essential repairs to Jane Austen’s home in Chawton, Hampshire, has had to be restructured following the discovery of roosting evidence of serotine, long-eared and pipistrelle bats in the rafters at the Grade I-listed house where Austen lived for the last eight years of her life. The Jane Austen museum has launched Jane’s Fund to raise £250,000 towards the first phase of the exterior and interior building repairs. As funds come in repairs will be carried out to replace the lathe and plaster ceiling in the dining room, repair and paint the windows and restore the 1940s picket fence. External doors need painting, too, and brickwork restored and timbers replaced above the lean-to. A structural engineer’s survey is also needed of the front wall of the building. “We…

1 CARTRIDGE CUFFLINKS & BANGLE COUNTY EQUESTRIAN JEWELLERS Handmade, available in silver and brass, silver or 9ct gold. Keep the season in mind during summer. Smart on and off the field. • Price from £60 • Tel 01299 251131 • www.equestrianjewellers.co.uk 2 BLOCK PRINTED SHIRT INDIGO ISLAND Slim fit, pure cotton cambric in wonderfully jaunty designs hand block printed in India. • Price £75 • Tel 07816 326745 • www.indigoisland.co.uk 3 BOSCASTLE DERBY GAZIANO & GIRLING Bench-made in Kettering. Tan iguana skin for lounging lizard-like in the sun. • Price £2,130, including trees • Tel 020 7439 8717 • www.gazianogirling.com 4 POWERBOX PLUS 28L ELECTRIC COOLER CAMPINGAZ Something to keep the tuck cool on the way north. Four cooling modes, hinged lid, 12V or 230V plug options. • Price £90 • Tel 01275 845024 • www.campingaz.com 5 JUGS QUAIL CERAMICS Quirky, hand-painted…

This Welsh estate is regarded as the finest sea-trout fishery in the UK, if not Europe, with 10½ miles of double-bank sea-trout and salmon fishing on the River Towy. The five-year catch record for three of the six main beats is 56 sea-trout and 51 salmon. In addition to the exceptional length and quality of the river, the estate comes with 649 acres, including 479 acres of pasture and woodland. There are sporting rights over a further 3,366 acres of farmland and woodland – home to a diverse range of wildfowl. Golden Grove is also a haven for fallow deer. With the estate, owned by renowned sportsman Sir Edward Dashwood, together with a fishing partner, comes a three-bedroom farmhouse that could be converted into a fishing lodge. There is also…

Many of us have odd little shooting rituals. One of mine involves driving roughly half a mile before pulling into a layby to double-check I’ve packed a particular piece of kit. It’s a habit that was reinforced following the occasion when I arrived at a charity clay shoot only to discover I’d left the gun at home. A “friendly” journalist found this awfully amusing so my lapse appeared in a newspaper’s gossip column the following day. Only last season a fellow gun spent a formal day shooting in jeans after his wife had raided his shoot luggage and removed his breeks for dry cleaning… Such forgetfulness doesn’t usually create a crisis; normally, someone can lend you the missing gear. But grouse-shooting is different. Partly because a host is always under…

There’s a crystal clarity to the blue sky above, with barely a line where sea meets distant horizon. The sun beats down and seabirds call as they hunt. Golden sandbars sparkle, emerald seaweed cloaks the rocks on the shoreline and colours soften into dusky shades on the cliffs. As the tide turns the first grey shapes appear in fleeting glimpses as they spot the wading angler and bolt for the safety of deeper water. The rod wades slowly, cautiously, along the edge of the drop-off, where turquoise water becomes lapis blue. The floating line lands at the exact spot where the water deepens. In an explosion of spray the silver-grey flank of a feeding bass slashes at the lure. The rod strips line at high speed and the second take…

When it comes to dangerous wildlife, and compared to many other countries around the world, the British countryside can be regarded as reasonably safe. However, there is one little beast lurking in the undergrowth that can cause a debilitating disease and it’s on the increase. The creature in question is the ixodid tick. It has the potential to transmit Lyme disease, a bacterial infection that, left untreated in humans, can affect the heart, joints and nervous system. Lyme disease can be caused by three species of bacteria, Borrelia burgdorferi, Borrelia garinii and Borrelia afzelii, which are carried by the ticks and passed on to their host during blood feeding. In the UK, Borreliais usually transmitted by the deer or sheep tick, Ixodes ricinus. It can be difficult to diagnose Lyme…

I am not sure whether I’m feeling relieved or hacked off. Hacked off because I am once again the chief bridesmaid: the under bidder. Relieved because I do not have to explain to my long-suffering chief of interior design why the house needs a 6ft 4in tall, 16th-century, “wavy” bladed, two-handed sword. The fact that I have wanted one of these incredible looking weapons ever since I can remember was not, I knew, going to cut any stylistic mustard. I only get away with these forays into the underworld of arms and armour because, when man the hunter returns carrying ancient iron bravely won in the snake pit of the auction room, it can be banished in an instant to my study. Not this time, however, as prior research with…

I’m knee deep in bottles of fizz at the moment, doing my best to make sense of them for a book on champagne and sparkling wine I’m writing. Oh, it’s to be published in the autumn by Quadrille, since you ask. If I ever get the damn thing finished, that is. There must be almost 150 bottles here on and under my desk and ditto the sofa, the chairs, the coffee table and so on. I can’t even get to the telly to watch the cricket or the racing. Not only do I have to taste all the bottles – I know, it’s a ghastly job – but I’ve got to remember which ones I like and which ones I don’t like; which are worth including and which aren’t; which…

I DISPATCHED my first rabbit aged nine during one of my regular hunting trips with my father and our Harris hawk. I loved these trips, being outdoors, working my ferrets alongside the hawk and that I was part of what felt like an important (albeit fun and adventurous) operation that culminated in a happy farmer and Mum’s delicious rabbit stew. That is where it began for me. Shotguns didn’t feature until my mid-twenties. By this time, my father [David Carrie] had taken up shooting competitively and as a family we’d go along to international championships to support him. Although I had been around guns and the shooting circuit for a long time I never felt inclined to shoot. That all changed when Dad came home with a Webley air pistol.…