Innholdsfortegnelse for Oct-2018 i The Field

YOU don’t have to travel far through Scotland’s shooting communities to feel the anguish when prospects for a season are poor. With an estimated 70% to 80% of shoot days cancelled, there’s no hiding from the harsh consequences of the Beast from the East, followed immediately by the hottest, driest spell for many years. To appreciate the impact on estates and rural businesses you need only to listen to the voices on the ground. Philip Mackenzie, owner of Farr estate in the Monadhliaths, tells an all too familiar story. “At Farr we would hope to have 15 driven days per season and four or five walked-up days. This year we have cancelled all grouse shooting. Our 15 driven days would have produced an income in excess of £100,000, which we…

A record number of hen harrier chicks were raised on grouse moors this year, helped by a new management licence for the endangered bird. Defra’s figures show 21 of the 34 chicks raised this year fledged from land managed for grouse shooting. Last year there were no nests on grouse moors and only three successful nests in England, which produced 10 chicks. Under Defra’s hen harrier brood management scheme, if a landowner has two nests within 10km of each other, one lot of eggs can be taken for captive hatching. The harrier chicks are returned to the moors when ready to fledge. Andrew Sells, chairman of Natural England, described the increase in hen harrier chicks this year as “truly remarkable” and said the figures show that “responsible management of grouse…

ROW ONE The Field’s party on the terrace at Ragley Hall; Louise Baltesz; Tom Croft; Robin Smith-Ryland; Richard Mabbitt; British Open Sportrap Ladies Champion Hannah Gibson; Field columnist Roger Field and Andrea Davies; Gavin Gardiner ROW TWO Iona Sale and Ian Coghill; Clara Baltesz, Jonathan Baltesz and Adam Calvert; Claire Cullimore; the Marquess of Hertford, Fieldcontent assistant Sarah Pratley, Fieldcolumnist Eve Jones, game chef Tom Godber-Ford Moore; Ettie Neil-Gallacher ROW THREE Anita North; Alex Lofts; Debbie Williams and Anthony Shepherd; Major William Hignett MC; Tom Payne; Tiggy Waltere; BASC’s Bill Harriman and Veronica Downing; Louise Clinton ROW FOUR Former Team GB shooter Rachel Carrie; Amanda Anderson; Eddie Banham; Ben Buxton; FieldEditor Jonathan Young; Marc Newton; Eogham Cameron, Ewan Davy and Sam Rickitt THE Game Fair returned to Ragley Hall this…

It is 30 years since Robert Jones first started inviting guns to shoot in Wales and his Long Mountain organisation is now firmly established as a top destination for high-bird specialists. A jewel in his portfolio is Three Valleys, near Welsh-pool, set amongst dramatic hill and lowland scenery with established woodland, a finely appointed shoot lodge and a tributary of the Tanat running through it. Guns come, and come again, from all over the UK to shoot 250- to 500-bird pheasant-only days at Three Valleys, assured of sport of the highest calibre, every attention to detail overseen by Robert Jones himself and his experienced team. They shoot 34 days a season here. Not only can he accommodate whole teams of guns but is adept at matching single guns or mixed…

I am not going to lie. The temptation to invent British fake stews has never been greater than it has been during these past few weeks. The more I spoke to, sorry, listened to, our continental cousins passionately relaying the histories of their national hunting dishes, conveying recipes with such pride, the more I related to Gore Vidal: “Every time a friend succeeds, something inside me dies.” This culminated with a German friend of a friend, Leopold, laughingly saying, “But stews are not British, are they? It’s Irish stew, isn’t it?” “Oh no,” I replied. “We have beef stew.” I know, I know, rubbish response, I let the side down. Bigos, for example, is not just a hunter’s stew – it is the national dish of Poland. My friend Marta, the…

The resurgence of interest in beagling at Marlborough College – one of four public school packs, along with Stowe, Eton and Radley – has been little short of a phoenix rising from the ashes. Much of the credit for this must go to the enthusiasm of the pupils themselves, the encouragement of Jonathan Leigh, the recent Master (as the headmaster of Marlborough is called) and the timely incorporation with what are now called the Palmer Marlborough Beagles. This fusion sees adults managing the structure, organisation and day-to-day running of the beagle pack whilst on Tuesdays in term time up to two minibus loads of pupils may be found following the “jelly dogs” across some of Wiltshire’s finest downland. Gone are the days when parents might have complained about their offspring…

Of all the good things still left in this world, the sporting tweed ensemble is perched firmly amongst the top boughs, riding the gales of cheap imitations and nasty, “technical” alternatives like a rook in March. It is absolutely correct that a set of shooting tweeds be “built” rather than made. There is structure and substance here that speaks more of Tudor house-building than tailoring. This is countryside construction at its best and it has endured for centuries for several very good reasons: first off, and most importantly, it works. Proper tweed protects the wearer from the worst a Scottish mountain or Cornish snipe bog can hurl at it, and it does so in style. By “proper” tweed, we are talking about British wool, woven tightly in a style once…

There is a tendency in the study of military history for certain pieces of technology to become semi-legendary. The Spitfire is the classic example; striking in appearance, powerful, capable and – most importantly, perhaps – there when it was needed. The nearest equivalent in small-arms terms is the Short, Magazine Lee-Enfield (SMLE), supposedly nicknamed “Smelly” by the soldiers who used it (although evidence for this is lacking). The standard issue rifle of the First World War period, it was an improved variant of the old Magazine Lee-Metford and Lee-Enfield rifles (MLM and MLE), introduced in 1888 and 1895 respectively. Early actions against the Boer fighters in the South African War (1899-1902) had led to complaints against both British standards of marksmanship training and the Lee rifle, which for many seemed…

THE best part of creeping into autumn and having shorter days and cooler nights is that it gives us the perfect excuse to start cooking comfort food unashamedly. Cakes, pies and spiced sweet treats are all practically dietary requirements. This sort of fare is ideal on shoot days, helping to keep morale high, the cold away and sustain guns for the later drives. So, this month I give you an excellent selection of hearty recipes to try that will warm you up on the chilliest days. The spiced squash bread can be eaten at any time of day, as a snack at elevenses or it makes a great accompaniment to a bowl of autumnal soup. The apple and carrot cake is satisfyingly rich and sweet so perfect for your shoot…

“This gun has the potential for greatness… it might be used equally well for clays or game; it would excel as a high-pheasant gun” THIS month’s test gun will arouse some special interest because it is a new, upmarket model from industry giant Beretta. The gun in question is the SL3 over-and-under. Prototypes were built last year and the first guns arrived in this country a few months ago. It is a sophisticated, trigger-lock design with sideplates. It begins a new generation with concepts taken from both the SO10, with which it shares a similar bolting system and V-springs, and the DT11, which has a similar sear arrangement internally and a similar safety-catch. First impressions are good. The new gun has a quality look and feel to it. The action…

IN PRAISE OF PAPER I refer to Mark Crichton Maitland’s letter [August issue]. Most of my shooting has been done with vintage guns, dating to a time when paper cases were the norm. Mr Maitland quite rightly refers to the days when paper-cased cartridges were subject to swelling but with modern varnishes this is a thing of the past. I have shot with Hull Cartridge Three Crowns for the past 30 years, which are available in various loads. You do pay a bit more for paper cases but nothing replicates the smell of a paper cartridge as opposed to plastic. Stephen Ede Tetney, Lincolnshire A CLOSE SHAVE? It baffles me, given that advertisers of shooting clothing are obviously “aiming” at their target market, as to why all the men in…

This is a 108-acre estate only 26 miles from central London. The main house is Grade II-listed with six bedrooms. There are also 10 cottages in the sale, as well as an extensive range of outbuildings and garages. The land includes formal 18th-century gardens and parkland, and there is an outdoor swimming pool and a tennis court. The estate has equestrian facilities, including a manège and pastureland that are currently let on a commercial lease. There are 17 boxes in total, three portable stables, two foaling boxes and a large barn. A feature of the property is the collection of walled gardens, including a rose garden, a water garden, a wild garden orchard and a topiary garden. Dunsborough Park sits on the edge of the Surrey village of Ripley, five…

We shooters are a trusting lot. It really ought to take a considerable leap of faith to initiate a powerful explosion a matter of inches in front of one’s face, and yet we do so constantly, sometimes dozens, even hundreds, of times a day without giving the matter too much thought. We do not expect our guns to blow up, and by and large they do not. What makes us confident that we will not lose our fingers, eyes or, indeed, lives when we pull the trigger? Firstly, the knowledge that gunmakers operate to very high standards of quality and, secondly, that their products have been tested and pronounced fit, the evidence of which is demonstrated by those reassuring little marks that are stamped or engraved on the barrels and…

Robert Smith Surtees was the driving force behind the founding of The Field in 1853. More than 160 years later, the Robert Smith Surtees Society, as eccentric and indomitable as their hero, remain devoted to the man who gave us that hilarious sporting grocer, Mr Jorrocks. To celebrate Surtees’ legacy, they organise three commemorative events annually, one of which is The Northern Trip – an opportunity to hunt with different packs up and down the country. At the end of this year’s action-packed weekend at Badminton House in February, members were ushered out through the front door to pose for a photograph on the steps. As we did, I couldn’t help casting my mind back to the speech at the Goose and Dumpling Dinner the night before: “Given that the…

By the time you read this, it may already be too late and the Government will have introduced – or be about to introduce – legislation that has been described by antique dealers and historians as “cultural vandalism”: a ban on buying or selling ivory, making most of it, in effect, valueless. In fact, when this issue was initially being debated back in February 2017, the now former Ulster Unionist MP Danny Kinahan, who works with antiques, said, “We have watched IS destroying Palmyra and the Taliban destroying the two fantastic Buddha statues in Bamiyan. If we had a blanket [ivory] ban, we would be a little bit on the same page.” Which, of course, provoked howls of fury from the Labour Party and ban-supporting Conservatives. Kinahan, sadly, is no…

Polo Mints are celebrating 70 years in production . Launched by Rowntree’s in 1948, “the mint with the hole” is an old dog in no need of new tricks. Polos are scoffed today in astronomical numbers. Figures from 2004 show that 38 million Polos are produced every day, 140 consumed per second and around 100 million sucked a week. Apparently, this is what it takes to keep our breath fresh. Tim Richardson, author of Sweets: A History of Temptation and the world’s first confectionary historian, shares Britain’s adoration for Polos. “I love Polos,” he enthuses. “I love taking them out of the packet, using your finger. You can feel the hole and Polo embossing with your tongue. You can suck them down to a delicate ring until it finally breaks…

IT is human nature to prefer something that has “scrubbed up well”, as against something that looks, well, manky, be that members of the opposite sex or antiques. Visit any high-end antique shop or auction and you will see how things that gently gleam and look as perfect as possible usually fetch the highest prices. The more damaged or shoddy something is the more it will be marked down. “Hold it,” I hear you say. “What about semi-derelict houses and ancient, ‘barn find’ cars?” Yes, granted, when it comes to old cars and houses it seems that the more rot, weevil, rust and general mank, the higher the premium for the opportunity to bankrupt yourself renovating them and, in so doing, applying your personal stamp. And, yes again, over cleaning…

“When selecting desirable traits in the genetics catalogue, sexed semen is one option” A CUP of tea or bowl of cereal simply isn’t the same without a glug of the white stuff to wash it down. Heaven forbid that the children should swipe the final drop before I’ve secured my daily ration. British dairy farmers do a superb job of keeping us in milk for all 12 months of the year, enabled by a spread of calving through the seasons. However, autumn is the busiest calving window, triggering lactation and the next milking cycle. Generally, a heifer calf is sought after from cows with favourable and milky attributes, so she can be brought on as a replacement for any retired from the herd. With the aggressive and notoriously bad-tempered black-and-white…

I RECEIVED a call from my son a couple of weeks ago. He has been working for a wealth management company in London. He was due to attend a meeting with the board of the charitable investment arm of a big national supermarket chain. Could I remind him about the very funny tale involving the incarceration of his Godfather Percy and one of the scions of the said purveyors of comestibles to the general populace? He suspected that the telling of such a humorous ditty might well break the corporate ice and seal the deal. “ The old buffer’s face turned puce, he muttered ‘most unfortunate’ and turned his back on me. He had been the aforementioned chairman” One does not want to temper the enthusiasm of these Masters of…

Work is underway to reopen more than 150 miles of breeding habitat for fish on the rivers Severn and Teme. The £19.7m “Unlocking the Severn for People and Wildlife” project is being run by the Canal & River Trust, Severn Rivers Trust, Environment Agency and Natural England. Physical barriers on the Severn, Britain’s longest river, are being rerouted, enabling 158 miles to be reopened. This will benefit the river’s salmon as well as the threatened twait shad, which is only found on the Severn. Hundreds of thousands of these fish ran the river each May before weirs were built in the 19th century. Figures for the 2018 migration, carried out at Upper Lode Weir in Tewkesbury, suggest the run is now below 10,000. In July, work started at Powick and…

The story of European hunting is a rich one. The continent provides a wealth of world-class sporting opportunities, shaped over the years by traditional practices. From the moors of Scotland and imperial forests of central Europe to the Alpine meadows and plains of Hungary, the landscape has been crafted by hunting for hunting. Hunting in its widest sense is deeply connected with rural communities. Generations of employment, recreation and skills mean traditions run thick and feelings are strong. However, many of these traditions are increasingly under pressure as urban life encroaches on rural ways, the animal-rights agenda gathers momentum, social media rules over scientific debate, and governments’ kneejerk reactions inform policy. The fight to stop our traditions being ground down has never presented itself so strongly in what has seemingly…

We were on a packhorse bridge over the River Wye, just upstream of the delightful market town of Bakewell in the Derbyshire Peak District. Jack Perks was doing a fine, if unintentional, impression of a young John Cleese in his “Ministry of silly walks” heyday. Perks’ long legs probed the air as he crept across the bridge, his gaze hanging over the parapet like an overladen pannier. “My girlfriend says I am like a heron,” he whispered over his shoulder, “because I am always staring into rivers.” Then he stopped, bolt upright, and stared into a river. “There!” he said excitedly after a few moments. “Down there, look.” I do. This is the point where I feel I should write about the “crystal clear waters of the Wye” but it…

For more than 60 years now, Blaser products have been manufactured and designed in Germany, currently from our headquarters in Isny im Allgäu in the south-west of the country. Throughout its history, Blaser has been innovating and developing precision hunting equipment with an uncompromising commitment to quality and tolerance. As active hunters ourselves, the inspiration for our products is gleaned from time spent out in the field. Our passion for our sport in turn informs the design and development of the Blaser brand. Our commitment to fieldsports is the driving force behind our ideas, allowing us to continue to develop new products and showing us how we can improve our existing range. Our developments go far beyond hunting rifles. It is our goal to provide you with premium, fit-for-purpose hunting…

In every shooting wardrobe, aside from the obligatory tweed, there is one other essential, universal, item of kit: the v-necked jumper. Whether buttoned, with sleeves or without, it is a non-negotiable piece of the arsenal. Most often found in numerous shades of green, from forest and bottle to lovat and moss, they also appear in suitably muted blues, navy, purple and reds. Lambswool or merino, mixed or pure wool, they provide a useful, non-bulky mid layer and staple for keeping chills at bay in the lunch hut. It is impossible to have too many. Here is our pick for this season. CORNWALL LAMBSWOOL CARDIGAN ALAN PAINE Traditional fitting with saddle shoulder and jetted pockets in a choice of 10 colours. • Price £113 • Tel 01623 415760 • www.alanpaine.co.uk EXTRA FINE MERINO JOHNSTONS…

The cultural zeitgeist seems to dictate that art must be made accessible, as if there were somehow something elitist about talent, dedication and perfection. Such a trend risks promoting low culture alongside the celebration of second-and even third-tier proponents of their craft. One innovation that rather bucks this trend, to my mind, is the live streaming of opera and ballet from Covent Garden, the Met, the Bolshoi and elsewhere. Last year, more than 800,000 people worldwide watched cinema screenings from the Royal Opera House (ROH) and in excess of 727,000 watched World Ballet Day live. This is an annual event that takes place in the first week of October. Co-produced by the Royal Opera House, it is a collaboration between the Royal Ballet, the Bolshoi Ballet, the San Fransisco Ballet,…

DATING from the late 16th century, this interesting cartridge box of Germanic origin was acquired by the museum in 1855. Cartridge boxes, also referred to as patrons, were often a necessary accessory for the keen sportsman, especially in Europe. Decorated ones such as this are also known to have been used by military units that had to display the wealth of their patron in their equipment, such as bodyguards. Cartridge boxes fulfilled the need for rapid reloading in the field as they held pre-prepared cartridges for the firearm. This example has several close relations around the world in other museum collections. Intended for carrying extra paper cartridges, this type of patron was quite common during the late 16th century in the Germanic lands. The rear fixings indicate that it would…

TESCO MOSCATEL DE VALENCIA NV (£5.25) Giggle-makingly tasty dessert wine, great on its own or sloshed over fruit. SAINSBURY’S WINEMAKER’S SELECTION DRY MANZANILLA SHERRY NV (£5.50) A brilliantly priced example of the quintessential Spanish aperitif: bone-dry, slightly salty manzanilla. 2016 TORRES SANGRE DE TORO (£7.50, Waitrose) One of the best-value reds around, Spanish or otherwise. An absolute cracker. 2014 THE SOCIETY’S RIOJA CRIANZA (£7.75, Wine Society) Textbook rioja – soft, sweet and mellow – at a ridiculously modest price. 2017 RAMóN BILBAO VERDEJO (£13.50, Great Western Wine) From Rueda, a crisp, fresh, creamy, citrusy white of great character. 2016 VALSERRANO RIOJA BLANCO (£15, Private Cellar) You won’t find a better white rioja than this: deliciously herbal with a savoury finish.…

I AM the eldest of four siblings. My father, a country vet, introduced us early to the biological order of nature and I recall vividly the day he took me roe-buck hunting for the first time. I had joined him on rabbit hunts and pigeon shoots before but rarely went with him to a high seat – probably because I was too young to sit still. That evening, he decided to give it a try. We waited and watched and a roe buck appeared, marking its territory. My dad ordered me to cover my ears but I was already shivering and my teeth chattering – buck fever had hit me hard. The high seat was shaking so badly it was impossible for him to shoot. Luckily, this buck was meant…

AFTER a minute or two strolling round Isuzu’s new Huntsman special edition, I went all Henry Higgins: “By George, I think they’ve got it. I think they’ve really got it.” By “it”, I mean “what we really want from our countryside vehicles”. And good old Isuzu, niche maker of pick-ups and lorries (and the much-missed Trooper), has obviously been lurking in a rural pub or two, eavesdropping on the conversations of discontented owners of “country” transport. “We don’t want to drive a chrome-clad monstrosity with ‘THROB’ written down the side in 8in letters,” they sob into their pints of Gribble’s Old Gruntyfusters. The result? The Huntsman. Isuzu has taken the already excellent D-Max Utah Doublecab and given it a rural makeover. It comes in a lovely green (among other colours),…