Innholdsfortegnelse for October 2024 i The Field

The National Gamekeepers’ Organisation (NGO) has published its Deer Management Strategy for England. Produced in conjunction with deer managers and stalkers around the country, the strategy proposes to increase the deer cull in areas where it is most needed while expanding the venison market in the UK through grants to convert suitable premises for processing. The deer population is believed to be the highest it has been for 1,000 years and the impact on woodlands, as well as species such as the nightingale and dormouse, has been marked. It is hoped that an increase in culling will help achieve the Government’s commitment to boost England’s woodland cover and tree canopy cover to 16.5% by 2050, as a high population of wild deer has a significant negative effect on the growth…

Email charlotte.mackaness@futurenet.com CHEQUERED CUFFLINKS Holland & Holland The diamond chequering pattern found on Holland & Holland stocks depicted in sterling silver and gold cufflinks. For snappy dressers and sharpshooters. Price £575 Tel 020 7499 4411 hollandandholland.com RUSSET CHECK SHOOTING BREEKS Huntsman For sporting elegance in the field, these reverse-pleated-design breeks have Alcantara-trimmed Velcro calf straps, belt loops and brace buttons. Price £695 Tel 020 7734 7441 huntsmansavilerow.com DERBY QUILTED FIELD COAT Cordings Quilted wool shooting coat with detachable fur collar. Tailored in Austrian loden with reinforced shoulders and leather trims. Price £529 Tel 020 758 4122 cordings.co.uk LOCKWOOD WAISTCOAT Alan Paine Fully lined yet waterproof and breathable; machine washable with an adjustable waist and bellow cartridge pockets. A flexible friend for the field. Price £165 Tel 01623 415775 alanpaine.co.uk NUBUCK…

GUNS OF my generation tended not to wear ear defenders, which is why most of us are now deaf,” says Sir Johnny Scott wryly. “It just wasn’t considered the done thing when I was young but now I advise everyone to wear them.” Shoots are noisy places, and those involved – regardless of whether they ever even pick up a gun – should never underestimate the potential, permanent damage that can be done. “It’s never too late to start wearing hearing protection,” insists Richard McKearney, an audiology adviser from the Royal National Institute for Deaf People (RNID). “Indeed, it is all the more important that those who have already experienced some damage protect the hearing they still have. Over 18 million people in the UK have some kind of hearing…

AT 19 PICCADILLY, on a corner formed by the junction of Air Street, stands a landmark that is to my mind every bit as synonymous with London as the Houses of Parliament, the double-decker bus or Nelson’s Column. It is Cordings, a temple of tweed, corduroy and moleskin that has been outfitting gentlemen – and ladies, too – since 1839. This shop has been here since 1877, having relocated from The Strand, and it remains today what it has been for a century or more: a place where a countryman feels at home in the heart of the seething metropolis. And as this veritable Sirius in Britain’s sartorial firmament is celebrating 185 years since one John Charles Cording founded his business as an ‘outfitter and waterproofer’, what better time to…

NINETY-ONE years ago, the British Tunny Club was established to facilitate the competitive sport-fishing of Atlantic bluefin tuna in the North Sea. Each year aristocrats, movie moguls and moneyed sportsmen would descend on Scarborough and Whitby in North Yorkshire in their motor yachts to do battle with Thunnus thynnus from open rowing boats, piloted by local oarsmen. The photographs that survive from this period show determined chaps in stiff collars and hairy tweeds beside bluefins weighing more than 700 pounds on the gantry. This sport ended shortly after the Second World War when the overfishing of herring stocks by industrial trawlers effectively called time on the annual migration of large tunny into British waters. By the 1990s, a bluefin sighting had become a rare event in the UK, with only…

THE INTOXICATING scent of freshly turned soil, diesel fumes and burgers, alternately overpowering each other as they waft on the breeze, can mean only one thing: competition ploughing. Ploughing is a skill, and the modern 12-furrow reversible ploughs pulled by a satnav-guided caterpillar-style tractor capable of turning over as many as 80 acres a day can be traced back more than 4,000 years. In about 2000BC, during the shift from hunter-gatherer to farmer, Homo sapiens came up with a basic hand-held hoe, often only a tree branch used to scratch away at the ground and break the surface to produce a basic tilth in which to plant agricultural crops. As the brains of the operation, once man had worked out how to produce iron and work it into a shape…

IN THE era of muzzle-loading sporting arms, a plethora of N THE era of muzzle-loading sporting arms, a plethora of accessories were called for to keep the sportsman going in the field – far more than are required today. The need to replenish the powder flask was certainly a necessity, if not essential. Therefore, among the many accoutrements available, gunmakers were able to supply the sportsman with powder magazines that could be taken into the field – ones that could hold up to 10lb of powder in special tins. Those shown here are examples of the two most common designs, namely the mahogany case with tins, and the copper barrel. The mahogany magazine illustrated was retailed by John Manton & Son, one of the great London gunmakers, in about 1825…

THIS MONTH’S test gun is a Beretta DT11: one of the most popular high-level competition guns and used by both trap shooter Nathan Hales, who won the gold medal at the Paris Olympics, and skeet silver medallist Amber Rutter. The latter almost secured gold too but was denied by a controversial decision during the shoot-off (a miss was called on a target that appeared to be visibly broken). Meantime, more than half of the shooting competitors at Paris 2024 were using Beretta shotguns, and 14 out of the 15 medal winners opted for the well-proven DT11. Although we have looked at the DT11 previously and been impressed, I thought it would be interesting, in light of this outstanding Olympic success, to explore one of the latest models. GMK was kind…

ONE OF Warwickshire’s most beautiful estates ensures that Ragley Estate Butchers is pro beautiful estates ensures that Ragley Estate Butchers is provided with a bountiful larder, including venison, partridge, pheasant and lamb. These, along with a host of carefully selected local produce, are sold via the award-winning Hillers Farm Shop. Hillers is founded on a rich farming heritage that began when the family began leasing land from Ragley for fruit growing in the 1920s. The shop is now run by fourth-generation sisters Emma and Sally, and they are still one of the estate’s longest-serving tenants. The unique relationship with a dedicated Ragley Estate Butchers counter in store means that connections between the family and the estate are as strong as ever, providing complementary products to customers. In what is very…

LOOMING above the velvet-clad sofa in North Lodge, a wing of Charlie and Caroline Glad sofa in North Lodge, a wing of Charlie and Caroline Gladstone’s 200-year-old hunting lodge at Glen Dye, is a painting of the 19th-century Prime Minister William Gladstone, Charlie’s great-great grandfather. Alongside are a taxidermy owl, a roaring open fire, tartan flasks and wicker picnic baskets – but also fluoro talking art (‘Yes! We’re happy’ declares one print, ‘Explore’ implores another), a record player primed to blare Fleetwood Mac, enamelware mugs and vintage school chairs. In the foothills of the Grampians, here is the antithesis to a dusty tartan-carpeted Scottish hotel: a slice of cool in the Highlands. In 1990, when the eldest of their six children was just six months old, the couple left their…

GAME SHOOTING has never been more popular. Hundreds of thousands of honest, hardworking, decent people take part every week of the season. Most of them don’t even shoot: they beat, pick up, drive the game cart and have their lives enriched in a myriad different ways by simply being part of it. Unfortunately, success and increasing demand bring greater scrutiny, and it is obvious that shooting will be attacked as those who wish us ill see the opportunity of a new Government. If we take the Labour Party at its word, and I’m happy to, properly conducted game shooting is safe in their hands. But the key part of that sentence is ‘properly conducted’, and there is the rub. What do we say when we are asked, as we will…

Game Fair charities receive more than £12,000 after 2024’s event at Blenheim A total of £12,034 was raised for The Game Fair’s official charities – the Country Food Trust and Tackling Minds – over the three days of this year’s event at Blenheim Palace. SJ Hunt, chief executive officer at the Country Food Trust, said: “We are simply delighted with the amount raised at The Game Fair this year. We would like to thank the countryside community for its continued, unwavering support so that we can carry out our work. All funds raised will go towards providing high-protein meals to people in need.” James Gower, The Game Fair’s event director, added: “It just shows what a wonderful community we have here at The Game Fair.” Find us on social media…

Insect abundance on the South Downs has declined by 37% over the past 50 years, according to the GWCT’s long-running Sussex Study. Steve Moreby, senior entomologist at the Trust, said: “While we have seen a decrease in insecticide use in the past 15 years, herbicide usage continues to increase and this has resulted in a decline of what we call ‘chick food’ insects, with a knock-on effect on red-listed species such as partridge, skylark and yellowhammer.” The biggest declines in terms of species were aphids, ground beetles and ladybirds, which make up a large percentage of a farmland chick’s diet. However, the GWCT insisted farmers are not to be blamed. Dr Julie Ewald, who co-authored the study, said: “Farmers cannot be held responsible for the impact of the intensification of…

THERE WAS no shortage of young, talented shooters in the 55-strong field at the National Federation of Young Farmers’ Clubs’ (NFYFC) Clay Pigeon Shooting National Final at Oakedge Shooting Ground in Staffordshire in July. Given the popularity of the sport among YFC members (for both work and pleasure), the NFYFC devised the competition, now run in collaboration with BASC, with the aim of encouraging members to understand legislative and safe-practice requirements. Competitors had to demonstrate both shooting skills and awareness of safety regulations by holding a BASC safe shooting certificate. The competition is divided into two age categories: 17 and under and 28 and under. Those who took the plate had benefited from skills passed down through generations, allied to regular practice. Harry Dickens, a 20-year-old YFC member from Bedfordshire,…

ON THE market for the first time is Newliston, a Category A-listed Georgian mansion time is Newliston, a Category A-listed Georgian mansion 10 miles from Edinburgh city centre. Reputedly the last house designed by Scottish architect Robert Adam, this three-storey property boasts 13 bedrooms, five reception rooms and a three-bedroom self-contained apartment. There are 764 acres in total, including landscaped gardens, parkland, woodland and arable land, as well as a 14-strong portfolio of let residential and commercial properties, together with leisure and development opportunities. A stable block with a bell tower, a quadrangle, commercial cookery premises and nine stalls are also part of the sale. The grounds feature a yew garden, an avenue walk, a series of ponds and a lake. There is also a hard tennis court. Agent: Savills…

Dear Freddie, A LITTLE bird told me that the keeper on a neighbouring estate where you helped in the beating line last season has offered you a shot at a roebuck from a high seat now that you are of legal age. Good for you: it just shows the benefits of getting involved. Britain has six wild deer species: red, roe, fallow, sika, muntjac and Chinese water deer. Red and roe deer are indigenous, fallow have been here since the Norman Conquest and the last three are descendants of deer introduced in the late 19th century. Numbers of red deer managed by professional stalkers on Highland deer forests remain fairly constant at about 300,000, but in the rest of the UK, the population of the other species has been relentlessly increasing…

I’M A belt man. I haven’t worn braces in 30 or so years. “Rubbish,” countered my own style guru, my wife. “I’ve seen you in braces.” And she’s right – but only rarely and for very specific purposes, such as with my once-large-waisted, hand-me-down, morning-coat trousers. I certainly needed braces for those, as one doesn’t wear a belt with a morning coat. Black tie? No. An ancient velvet cummerbund – a form of belt in itself – holds my trousers locked in place. Army parade uniforms? Accepted. Those trousers have to hang millimetre-perfect, and only braces can do that. But we wore a regimental stable belt most of the time. Belts win again. Belts are a no-no with a classically tailored suit, which should not even have belt loops. When…

THE HUNTING field is a welcoming place but it is not immune to wider society’s tendency to buy, rather than earn, what is desired. One might spot someone who has been able to fork out on another expensive pair of boots or breeches instead of polishing or patching old ones. However, the right to wear hunt buttons is granted purely on merit, and for this reason these small but significant additions to a hunt coat have, justifiably, been treasured for generations. There are many strands to the hunt-button story. Tom Arthey, Joint Master of the Pytchley with Woodland, unpicks why they are bestowed: “Individual packs have their own etiquettes but in general they are awarded to subscribers who have actively helped the hunt, whether it be on or off the…

IS NEUTERING your dog really a good idea? The question was prompted by a friend after she had taken her spaniel bitch to the vet to have her final puppy injections. “The vet assumed that I would be having her spayed, and even went as far as asking me if I would like to book her in,” my friend told me, adding: “I’ve never had any of my previous dogs neutered, and I’m not convinced that I should do so now.” For many years, routine neutering has been the norm in Britain and, as a result, we have one of the highest proportions of neutered dogs of anywhere in the world: about 80%. In the USA, it’s about 83% for male dogs but lower for bitches. Intriguingly, routine neutering is…

Send queries to Rosie Macdonald, Country Queries Editor, The Field, Future Publishing PLC, 121-141 Westbourne Terrace, London W2 6JR. For more, visit: thefield.co.uk Email country-queries@hectareshouse.co.uk Follow Rosie on Instagram @dizzy_m Heavy weather Q I recently inherited a barometer but the hook obviously wasn’t secure and it has now fallen off the wall. I am unsure if it has any value but it is quite sentimental. Advice on where to take it would be appreciated. SJ, Camberley A For a repair or restoration of an antique barometer, contact Alan Walker, a leading expert in the field based near Newbury, on 07770 728397. There are two types of barometers – aneroid and mercury – and repair of the latter is often more straightforward. A quote and timescale can be given on inspection…

Hunting Kind: those who hunt need protection under equality law Hunting Kind has prepared a legal case to try to prove that people who hunt are a minority group whose hunting days should be protected under UK equality law. The campaign group has been advised by a leading human rights lawyer that it could secure legal protection for those who hunt under the Equality Act 2010. Ed Swales, chair and founder of Hunting Kind, said: “With Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer’s legal background, one would hope he understands the detail and the plain fact of the matter that we are a minority ethnic group of British people who hunt. We see hunting as a really important part of wildlife management. We’re picking up the foxes, hares, deer or rabbits that…

New world heritage site The Flow Country of Caithness and Sutherland has been awarded world heritage status by Unesco. One of the world’s biggest carbon stores, holding roughly 400 million tonnes, the area also has historical significance with evidence of human activity dating back thousands of years. Olympic glory for Team GB Team GB excelled in the shooting and equestrian events at the Paris Olympics, winning seven medals across the two sports. Ros Canter, Laura Collett and Tom McEwen [pictured, below] took gold in the team eventing, with Collett also picking up an individual bronze. Scott Brash, Harry Charles and Ben Maher topped the podium in the team showjumping, while Lottie Fry won two bronze medals in dressage: one individually and another with her teammates Carl Hester and Becky Moody.…

On 14 November Women Who Work in Fieldsports (WWWF) is organising an evening for connection and camaraderie at the Borders Distillery in Hawick. This is a purely social event offering an opportunity for women from across the Scottish Borders, North Northumberland and beyond to network, share experiences and celebrate their involvement in the fieldsports industry over drinks and canapés. Set against the backdrop of this historic distillery, the evening promises a blend of knowledgeable discussions between guests from various areas of the industry, as well as the chance to enjoy some of Scotland’s finest spirits. Those in attendance will have the opportunity to tour the distillery, gaining insights into the art of whisky-making and sampling a variety of the distillery’s renowned products. The event is not only about fostering professional…

IN THE opening pages of Evelyn Waugh’s Brideshead Revisited, the narrator, Captain Charles Ryder, finds himself back, in middle age, in the grounds of a stately mansion he had known in his teenage years. It was for him a strange feeling of elegy and optimism, and one I was to experience throughout the GWCT ‘Devon High Four’ day as we visited four estates I had first encountered shooting in my teenage years; a feeling tempered by time but also, for the estates, sporting and dynamic futures. These brilliant GWCT days, which raise upwards of £40,000 for this most worthwhile of charities, are, however, more like a challenge undertaken by Anneka Rice than one of Lord Sebastian Flyte’s 1920s ‘flapper’ parties. First comes the generous consent of the shoot owners. Then…

WE’RE ALL more than capable of turning up and looking the part for a day in the field but it is what lies beneath that counts. Are your underpinnings less Bear Grylls and more threadbare and chills? Are your thermals, in fact, pants? Done correctly, layering can keep you as cool, warm, dry or supported as the situation demands. Shopping for new base layers, however, can feel like going back to science class without having done one’s homework. To make sense of it all, it’s best to return to the basics. “Most of these base layers are about surface level thermal regulation,” explains Simeon Gill, senior lecturer in fashion technology at the University of Manchester. “In essence, how well they can support the local environment close to the skin.” This…

EVER SINCE haberdasher Albert Thurston opened the first shop for these gentleman’s accessories in 1820 at London’s Haymarket, braces have been an enduring staple of the well dressed. Whether for formal or casual wear, braces offer a touch of elegance to the wardrobe. With a good pair of button braces the wearer knows that, whatever the situation, his trousers will hang infinitely smarter when held correctly at the waist, and he is in no danger of suffering the red-faced ignominy of loosening them following a particularly good club lunch. Unlike the uncomfortable cinch of a belt, for those of us with a more bespoke body shape, braces refuse to penalise the wearer for a life well lived – and allow for far better ease of movement on those tall pheasants…

IT IS 8.30am on a beautifully crisp October’s morning. A group of horses and riders circle in anticipation on a hillside, looking out over the hills and valleys of East Devon. Wisps of autumnal mist drift across the landscape. My horse, a seasoned hunter and hunting correspondent’s horse, is staring intently at the wood at the bottom of the valley, scanning to see the red-coated huntsman and his hounds emerge. Yet there was no huntsman, no hounds and no horn. Instead, we were waiting to start the first roads and tracks stage of a unique horse trial: the Redpost Equestrian BE100 and BE90 Three Day Event at Bicton International Horse Trials. Held under the auspices of British Eventing, this is the only long-format three-day event that survives in the British…

THERE are a few things particular to every man or woman that make life worth living; the sort of things that we go on doing not because they will make us wealthier, healthier or wiser but quite simply happier. For me, this is Sunday lunch: a life routine that has become so ritualistically entwined into my being that to go on without it would send me into what my mother (and great ‘Sunday luncher’) would call ‘a decline’. No matter how dreary a particularly dragging week may be, the grounding pleasure that awaits on Sunday is but a few days’ slog away. And was it not ever thus? Roasting meats for a post-church feast seems to have been made habitual during the reign of Henry VII, who decreed his royal…

Feather napkin ring My Fancy Feathers An ingenious way to keep game permanently on the table, My Fancy Feathers uses feathers sourced from local rough shoots and gamekeepers. You can coordinate table settings with your quarry and ensure you have a mixed bag by lunchtime. There are six styles, using pheasant and partridge feathers: pick any combination or a matching set.  Price: £10 each  Email: lucy@myfancyfeathers.co.uk myfancyfeathers.co.uk Henry coat stand Rowen & Wren Rowen & Wren has relaunched this neatly space-saving coat stand in a lovely antique brass finish. Perfect for slender halls, awkward entrance spaces or flanking the boot room door. Six generous hooks with a handy umbrella or stick stand will instantly tidy up. Fittings for solid or masonry walls are included.  Dimensions: height 182cm, width 47cm, depth…

ONE OF the more potent attractions of gardening is the conviction we garden attractions of gardening is the conviction we gardeners develop that horticultural tasks and duties are dictated – in broad terms – by the rhythms of the growing season. We know in advance that we will be sowing hardy vegetable seeds in March and tender vegetables in April, doing the ‘Chelsea chop’ in May, planting out tender annuals in June, feeding the roses in July, pruning raspberries in August, planting bulbs in September, October and November, and pruning apple trees in December. The calendar that we gardeners carry in our heads settles our nerves and gives us a strong, if often illusory, feeling of control. October and November usually find me surrounded by paper bags of bulbs, puzzling…

Across 1 Sir Henry ___, legendary racehorse trainer (5)  4 A true sidelock Longthorne gun; major Oxfordshire stately home (8) 8 Plus-fours have a four-inch fold over this joint (4)  9 Mound forming the site of a castle – Bailey’s companion? (5) 10 Horses ___ to rise on their back legs (4)  11 Time of year… to add a bit of spice? (6)  12 North Pennines grouse moor – provides short vacation at Caithness town (7) 14 Crabbie’s Fox Hunters’ Chase at Aintree is for such an everyday enthusiast (7) 16 Revolutionary as a pigeon whirly device? (6) 18 German rifle regarded as forefather of modern boltaction rifle (6) 20 Feargal ___, ex-pop star, now passionate campaigner against river pollution (7)  22 Northumberland fishing village famous for kippers (7)  23…