Innholdsfortegnelse for November 2017 i The Field

“There’s one misconception: pheasants are not as easy to shoot as their detractors claim” IT’S hard to think of a better gamebird than the pheasant. Handsome, tough, adaptable, easy to rear, strong flying and delicious, the pheasant has it all. Yet in some circles it has become fashionable to dismiss Phasianus colchicusas unworthy of a true sportsman’s attention, especially compared with wild game such as grouse, grey partridges and even woodpigeon. However, there’s more than a whiff of inverted snobbery in such an attitude – or, perhaps, it is a case of familiarity breeding contempt. It may even be because pheasant shooting has become too popular for its own good. You can, if you so wish, buy a 1,000-pheasant day if your pocket is deep enough. Shooting pheasants in such…

The Kennel Club’s (KC) new centre for working dogs in Northumberland aims “to become the premier site for all working dog activities in the north of England”. “This comes at a time when working dog clubs are finding it increasingly difficult to find suitable land to carry out activities such as field trials and training days,” said Caroline Kisko, KC secretary. Under headkeeper Raymond Holt, the 7,550-acre Emblehope and Burngrange estate – which the KC bought in 2016 – offers pheasant and partridge shooting across woodland and moorland. “The Kennel Club has something special here for the future of the working dog in this country,” said Jon Kean, secretary of the Scottish Field Trials Association. “The terrain offers superb opportunities for all breeds of gundog to demonstrate their natural abilities.”…

“Many of the guns had been dispatching game for more than a century” The British weather, in keeping with the emphasis on tradition, decided to treat competitors to steady rain throughout the British Side-by-Side Championships, held once again at the Atkin Grant & Lang grounds in hertfordshire. But nothing could dampen the competitive fervour of those attacking the 120-bird Sporting course with a range of British guns, many of which had been dispatching game happily for more than a century and were now smoking a range of “loopers” and “teal” with ease and panache. An array of classes, from 12-bore to .410, meant there were plenty of prizes, with the overall high Gun award going to Marc Ingate, who scored 111 ex 120 with his Purdey, a feat that earned…

BARVAS ESTATE, ISLE OF LEWIS The Barvas estate on the Isle of Lewis has been described as “a year-round sportsman’s paradise”. There is salmon and trout fishing over three complete river systems, including Barvas River and Loch Barvas, Arnol River and Loch Urrahag. The estate has a 25-year sporting lease over 34,200 acres, including walked-up grouse, red deer stalking, walked-up and driven snipe and woodcock and wildfowling. Accommodation includes Barvas Lodge and Bothy, with a total of eight bedrooms, and two three-bedroom cottages, which are currently occupied by the housekeeper and gamekeeper. The Barvas River is just 150 metres from the end of the lodge garden. Barvas, 12 miles from Stornoway, is just under three hours by ferry from Ullapool or a short flight from Edinburgh, Glasgow or London. Agent:…

It is shooting in Wales – but not as we know it. The birds may be high, fast and furious, the terrain majestic if steep, wreathed in the autumnal foliage of ancient woodland, but it is the sheer luxury, comfort and organisation of the stay and day that assaults the senses and leaves the world outside behind. Welcome to the Bettws Hall Lodge in the small Welsh border village of Bettws Cede-wain, where the River Nant Bechan runs past whitewashed houses and the Bull & Heifer pub, complete with open fires, offers an excellent and informal restaurant and a demon dominoes team. This is the childhood home of Gwyn Evans, who founded Bettws Hall in 1988, and the two lodges form a courtyard around a Georgian house on his former…

 Putting together lists of outstanding guns is always an interesting exercise. When the criteria set concerns price it is not quite as taxing as when a specific sporting application is to be considered. Here we are going to look at what might be considered – after much practical trial in the field and elsewhere – to be the best guns on the market for high-bird work regardless of cost. Function is all. The only question here is what works best. The evaluation is not entirely subjective. I have asked for the opinions of other sporting professionals to supplement my own (and there was a surprising amount of concurrence). “A dedicated high-bird gun is usually a 12-bore and significantly heavier” Before listing any models, however, let’s try to define more precisely…

The commission – to stalk and shoot a red deer stag – seemed straightforward enough; with the opportunity to test the new Swarovski telescopic sight and range-finder binoculars included, it was an assignment I was particularly looking forward to. It was only when I attempted to fit the 30mm tube scope onto my old Mauser rifle that I realised it was not compatible with the 25mm mounts. A short drive up the west coast to visit a stalking friend yielded no joy with his rifle, either, and suddenly the whole mission was in jeopardy. To further complicate matters, the friend I had invited to shoot his first stag was forced to stand down at the last minute, leaving me with no one to take out on the hill and no…

Gunnerside and Milton belong to shooting, fishing boasts rivers Spey and Tweed, and foxhunting has Badminton. The very name conjures up images of horses, hounds and green parkland surrounding the magnificent stately residence that has been the spiritual home of the sport ever since the Fifth Duke of Beaufort changed from hunting stag to fox after the famous Silk Wood run in 1762. A Duke of Beaufort has endured at the helm of the four-days-a-week pack ever since, most notably the 10th Duke, who was simply known as Master throughout the hunting world and beyond. Since his death in 1984, the hunt has continued to flourish under the joint mastership of the 11th Duke and Captain Ian Farquhar, who carried the horn with distinction for 26 seasons before handing over…

The last Sunday before Advent, 26 November, is Stir-Up Sunday. So forget the roast and push the papers to one side, for there is nothing to get you in the festive spirit as quickly as making your own Christmas pudding. And there are few things for which the cook will be more grateful than an element of the feast that requires such little thought on the day itself. But this is a dying art (I use the term loosely because there’s little artistry involved). Even friends whose culinary wizardry far exceeds my own don’t bother to make a Christmas pudding. That may be because supermarket offerings have rather improved (news that Morrisons is to sell a Pedro Ximenez-soaked version this year has prompted me to revert to rum in a…

IN July 1917, just before the Third Battle of Ypres, commonly called Passchendaele, Field Marshal Sir Douglas Haig, a cavalryman, told his army commanders on the Western Front that “opportunities for the employment of cavalry in masses are likely to offer”. Meanwhile, on the other side of No Man’s Land, the German chief of staff, General Erich Ludendorff, an infantryman, was convinced that “trench warfare offered no scope for cavalry”. Instead, he wanted to turn them into infantry and give their horses to the artillery and transport: “The wastage in horses was extraordinarily high and the import from neutral countries hardly worth the consideration.” One of Ludendorff’s other problems was the shortage of corn and forage. Many parts of Germany were starving. The winter of 1916-17 became known as Kohlrübenwinter…

“ One word sums up the B15: crisp. The gun looks and feels good. It shoots without vice and there were no malfunctions of any kind ” SINCE testing a similar gun some months ago in 12-bore guise and being suitably impressed, I’ve awaited the arrival of this new 20-bore, D-grade version of the Browning B15 with interest. The B15s, reminiscent of the earlier B125 models, are of part Japanese and part Belgian manufacture. The metal parts emanate from the Miroku factory in Japan (which makes most Browning over-and-unders now) but they are assembled traditionally on the bench in Belgium by the same artisans who still make B25 Superposed guns. The B15s, moreover, are stocked in high-grade Turkish walnut, hand chequered and oiled, and engraved and finished in Belgium, too.…

‘Horses are this amazing combination of speed, power and delicacy’ FROM Leonardo da Vinci to any Pony Clubbing 10-year-old, there is something about the horse that compels us to try to capture its unique form and unquantifiable beauty. I’m surprised my teachers were ever able to decipher my homework amidst the obsessive failed studies of pasterns and flexed hocks that decorated the margins. Charlie Langton’s images of horses are rather more on the Leonardo lines but he is gripped by the same bug. “I grew up around horses and I used to have this little Welsh mountain pony called Whizz who was the worst behaved but I would spend all summer mucking around with him. “I find horses fascinating to look at. They are a balance of power and beauty.…

The November Countryside Alliance Race Day at Cheltenham is now firmly established on the hunting and racing calendar. The highlight is the CA lunch and auction – this year attended by the Princess Royal, Zara Tindall, Sir AP McCoy, Jilly Cooper and a host of generous bidders – which raises money for both the Countryside Alliance and the Injured Jockeys Fund, of which Tony McCoy is president. No one has been more supportive in his bidding in recent years than Bernard Gover, a member of the Royal Ascot Racing Club that won the Derby with Motivator in 2005. But did he know what he was taking on when he bought a 250-bird day near Lambourn with well-known trainers acting as loaders, Miriam Francome helping with the shoot lunch and the…

In the north-east of mainland Greece, on the border between the provinces of Macedonia and Thrace, the River Nestos flows out into the Thracian Gulf opposite the island of Thasos. It has wound down from the high (just short of 2,000 metres) ridge of the Rhodope Mountains that separate Greece from Bulgaria, through foothills and across farmland, to its wet, wooded delta. This small cross-section of habitats harbours an unusually rich mix of galliformes – birds of the pheasant family. Seven or maybe eight species can be found here, including capercaillie and hazel grouse – both at the southern limit of their range – chukar and rock partridge. The World Pheasant Association (WPA) has just launched a conservation project in the Nestos Delta, in partnership with the Hunting Federation of…

 On occasions, success holds no secrets. The sources of John and Sandra Halstead’s half-century of gundog achievement with their famous Drakeshead Labradors are immediately apparent. From the first glimpse of their beautiful kennels at Brinscall, Lancashire, to listening to the couple capping each other’s sentences as they tell a story that began back in the 1950s, you can understand why they are the most successful retriever triallers of all. “ ‘It ended up as a bet: if Sandra placed in the trial, I would get her the coat’ ” Teamwork was a foundation laid from the start. Sandra Halstead begins the tale by describing what happened at Butlin’s Filey Holiday Camp while they were in their teens. “I was very keen on horses as well as dogs then and so…

Hunting folk are a thrill-seeking bunch. Immaculately turned out adrenalin junkies who hurl themselves through the air at breakneck speeds. And what’s wild in the field, gets wilder on the dancefloor and there’s nothing like a good hunt ball to shake out the manes and test thrusters’ real stamina. The annual knees-up is hotly anticipated and with more than 200 hunting packs in the UK and Ireland up for a slice of the frolics and fundraising, and revellers chomping ever harder at the bit, balls get bigger and better each year. Historically, hunt balls were held at big houses of hunting estates or local town halls where the space could host some few hundred revellers and be decorated lavishly. Garlands were strung, tiaras polished and when guests arrived following dinner…

In our house, it has become Stir-up-resentment-and-ill-feeling Sunday. As I make a batch of puddings to be conveyed to friends and family, my husband never fails to point out that it would be cheaper to courier a van-load of Fortnum & Mason’s puddings. But his lack of festive feeling is no match for my surfeit. What is perhaps a little discombobulating for the virgin Christmas pudding-maker, however, is the lack of precision inherent in any recipe. But rather than being disconcerted, one should embrace the possibilities that this entails. I minimise the quotidian mixed fruit in favour of more flavoursome figs, dates, prunes and even apricots, while omitting the culinary perversion that is candied peel altogether. You have options when it comes to the alcohol, too: brandy, whisky, rum and…

The waiting area in the hospital is, as usual, full. The patients already have hoods over their heads, so it is little wonder that there are none of the usual grumbles about the NHS. However, these patients are the day’s falcons waiting for a preliminary medical examination at the Abu Dhabi Falcon Hospital, the largest of its kind in the world, treating 11,500 falcons a year. In the seven emirates of the United Arab Emirates, the falcon dominates. Falconry is the sport of the ruling sheikhs and also the local Emiratis, reflecting their cultural past, with the falcon featuring on the currency as well as being the emblem of the UAE. The Abu Dhabi Falcon Hospital is run by Dr Margit Muller, who came here from Germany 16 years ago…

COOKING with alcohol, and by this I mean adding it to the food and not just your glass, can make a dish far more enjoyable. Scientifically, this is due to the fact that alcohol brings out the flavour of ingredients. This is because it is able to bond with fat and water molecules, and by doing so can transport flavour from the food to our aroma receptors. Also, as alcohol evaporates it helps to carry aromas from the food to our nose, increasing our overall enjoyment of the dish. When using spirits in recipes, I find it best to add them at the beginning of cooking so they have time to mix and mellow, then add a small splash at the end to enhance and freshen the flavour. Don’t be…

“ There were three cockerpoos at one Sussex shoot – they were an asset in the beating line ” THE first dog I had a serious relationship with was a neighbour’s big black spaniel called Pip; I used to walk him every day after school. Pip wasn’t a pure spaniel, he had some labrador blood that helped explain his colouring and his size. These days we would call him a springador but back in the ’60s he was just a crossbred spaniel. I suspect he was an accidental cross, as few people then deliberately produced crossbred gundogs. Today, everything has changed and crossbreeds are all the rage. I’m sure that I now meet more pet cockerpoos (pictured) than pure cockers and I certainly know far more labradoodles than I do…

“ ‘Lambs are made in autumn and not spring’, so the shepherd’s eye for detail now is critical ” MORNING mist lingers, hiding the spectrum of golden, orange, red and copper hues across the hedgerows and woodlands. No sooner do the rays break through to reveal the glowing colours than the sun starts dropping in the sky and evening draws in. We are deep into autumn and with hay cutting and the browning, parched summer pastures a bygone memory, the grass has greened up as the soil temperatures hold but are refreshed by seasonal rains. The rejuvenated grasslands provide a contrasting vivid green throughout the landscape. Broadly termed the aftermath (originally an old English farming term translated as “after-mowing”), this grass growth is a vital last bite of nutrition before…

A pioneering project is underway to save the world’s rarest duck, the Madagascar pochard. The Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust (WWT) turned salmon cages into floating aviaries at its Slimbridge Centre in Gloucestershire and tested them by housing a flock of UK native ducks for five to 10 days ahead of release. Tanya Grigg, conservation breeding officer at the WWT, said the trial went “really well” with the birds looking at home in the novel floating aviary and faring well after release. In Madagascar, however, the wetlands are in an unhealthy state following years of over-fishing and pollution. The salmon-farming cages being used for the real release were due to arrive at the WWT’s captive breeding centre near Lake Sofia in northern Madagascar this October. In autumn 2018, the 40 birds…

1 SPICE 94 & GARDEN 108 SEEDLIP A non-alcoholic, distilled spirit in two flavours; the grown-up option for the festive ferriers. • Price £30 each • Tel 0800 280 2440 • www.bbr.com 2 CASHMERE BIB WILLIAM & SON Colourful, warm, six-ply cashmere that leaves arms free to swing. Useful piece. • Price £195 • Tel 020 7493 8385 • www.williamandson.co.uk 3 PLASMADRY CORDUROY SHIRT MCNAIR Revolutionary technology waterproofs without plastic. Best Yorkshire corduroy, with four pockets in three colours. First rate. • Price £325 • Tel 01484 846666 • www.mcnairshirts.com 4 BOTTLE COASTER SCOTTISH SILVER Sterling silver-plated gamebirds follow my leader over dinner. • Price £145 • Tel 0131 445 3823 • www.scottishsilver.com 5 BELT MACKENZIE & GEORGE Vegetable-tanned leather with guineafowl and pheasant feathers sitting on the hips. The Warwick comes with an inset cartridge top. • Price £90 (Drayton), £120 (Warwick)…

From one end of the line came a merry shout: “It’s no use standing behind Ed, he never misses.” There was some truth in the remark, for Edward Iliffe was downing bird after bird with lethal precision as high pheasants and partridges streamed over the double line of guns; but nobody grudged him his good fortune, for it was he who had won this cracking Gloucestershire High Four Day and brought a team of seven friends to share it. In this, the fifth year of the High Four shoots, the Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust (GWCT) had again organised a raffle in which the prize was a day spread across four great Cotswold estates. In all, 250 tickets had been sold at £200 apiece, with everything depending on the generosity…

I am clearly not mixing in the right circles as, to me, a day’s shooting means either driving around in a convoy of (hopefully) four-by-fours or bundling into the ubiquitous converted farm trailer towed by a tractor, a combination that is long on practicality but short on comfort. This old-style method of transportation caters for umpteen guns, beaters and sundry dogs, which can all pile into the trailer with guns in their sleeves and piled on a bench; cartridge bags underfoot; canines scrapping and everyone shivering and huddling together for warmth when the British winter decides to show its teeth. But there is, I am learning, another world out there. A world of luxury and pampering, where the guns do not hang on for dear life as the unsprung trailer…

“ Whites have a delicious, spicy creaminess to them; the Pinot Noirs are smooth and supple ” SIX OF THE BEST ALSACE WINES 2016 CAVE DE TURCKHEIM PINOT BLANC (£7.50, Wine Society) A perfect quaffer from a tip-top co-operative. 2016 KUHLMANN-PLATZ GEWURZTRAMINER (£10 if you mix six, Majestic) Crammed full of ripe, spicy, lychee notes. 2013 DOMAINE WEINBACH SYLVANER RESERVE (£10.80, Justerini & Brooks) Dry but scrumptiously fruity, from a 400-year-old estate. 2014 HENRI EHRHART PINOT GRIS GRAND CRU PFERSIGBERG (£12, Tanners) Creamy, spicy and utterly wonderful. 2015 DOMAINE PAUL BLANCK PINOT NOIR (£15, Waitrose) Pinot Noir really shines in Alsace and this is a cracker. 2014 DOMAINE TRAPET RIESLING BEBLENHEIM (£17, Corney & Barrow) Deliciously vibrant, fresh and racy. I’m just back from Alsace and, gosh, I love it…

MY earliest sporting memory takes me to the banks of the River Dee with my grandfather. Aged three – and dressed in a tweed flat cap, my frog wellies and the prettiest dress I could find (much to everyone’s dismay) – I caught my first, and only, salmon. I think my grandfather had a little more to do with it than I did but it remains my greatest sporting triumph and one that has proved elusive ever since. I felt I had dressed appropriately for such an occasion, my grandfather did not. He believed that you dress as a gentleman to shoot, catch, chase or stalk a gentleman. I learned to hunt with my grandmother, shoot beside my father and cook the game we brought home with my mother. My…

“ Fiat has done a clever deal with Mazda, which puts a proper roadster in its showrooms ” THE Fiat 124 Spider is not exactly what it seems. If you believe the advertising, it’s the latest in a long line of Fiat sports cars, stretching back through classics such as the Barchetta and X1/9, all the way to the original 124 Sport Spider of 1966 – it’s Italian soft-top motoring at its purest. Well, not quite. The “new” 124 Spider is actually a reworked fourth-generation Mazda MX-5 and is built on the same production line in Hiroshima. It’s easy to sneer at such a blatant case of badge engineering and chuckle at the irony of Fiat, which supplied old models for Eastern Europeans to copy through the 1960s and ’70s,…