Innholdsfortegnelse for September 2017 i The Field

The hamlet of Whitfield lies to the south-west of Hex-ham in that gloriously wild and rugged part of Northumberland known as “Little Switzerland”, where the River West Allen runs through a deep and narrow valley, its sides covered in hanging woods of oak, beech and conifer. Whitfield Hall has been the ancestral home of the Blackett-Ord’s for the past 250 years and the sporting estate that goes with it covers 16,500 acres, of which 7,500 acres is rolling heather moorland. Over the past three decades, due to the foresight and dedication of John Blackett-Ord and his headkeeper, Stuart Maughan, Whitfield has been developed into one of the finest shoots in Britain. A Cumbrian by birth, Maughan qualified as a teacher in the early 1970s but found himself drawn back onto…

One of the most Pavlovian of smells is that of fresh calamari sizzling on a barbecue. As the picturesque harbours around France, Italy, Portugal and Spain are infused with the aroma of gently charring calamari and box-fresh sardines, a favourite evening’s stroll of mine is to pad around the Port of Nice in shorts and sandals, scoffing at the bling of the superyachts, while my nose leads me towards a tiny harbourside restaurant where the whiff of fresh grilled fish promises to make my toes curl with joy. I am a fisherman. I own boats and have licences and ocean-going qualifications, so I wear my Anorak of Fish Knowledge with pride. I am that annoying twonk who, when ordering, always asks if fish are fresh, frozen, farmed or wild. I…

From apple-bearing Roman invaders in AD43 to babies being baptised in Sussex cider in the 1300s, the history books overflow with mentions of the alcoholic drink. King Charles II declared his preference for the amber stuff over wine in the 1600s, as Briton Christopher Merret invented a cider fermentation method made in strengthened bottles that would later be adopted to make champagne. Adge Cutler’s Drink up thy Zider and the Coates Cider Company’s TV campaign in the 1970s – “Coates comes up from Somerset, where the cider apples grow” – sloshed their exaggerated Westcountry drawl about the British cider industry leaving an unfortunately primitive legacy at times. But championed by some true characters, artisan cider is fighting back across the nation, innovating and creating exciting, sophisticated products from the farm…

 THIS month’s test gun is unusual, even by the eclectic mix that features in these pages. It’s a 12-bore, 28in Beretta 486 side-by-side as redesigned by style guru Marc Newson – GQ magazine’s Man of Year “Creative Icon” for 2015. This rather fabulous creation came about, apparently, after a conversation between Newson and Franco Beretta. The former’s projects have been diverse and include watches and aircraft design, cars, kettles and airport lounges. They rest in the V&A, the New York MOMA and the Centre Pompidou in Paris. One of the most successful designers in the world, it would be fair to say Newson is bang on trend and something of a commercial as well as a design genius. “It’s strikingly decorated and unusually shaped. Some will love its daring style;…

 I WAS very lucky to be surrounded by horses when I was growing up. I always knew I wanted to ride and I can’t imagine what life would have been like without horses and riding. Why eventing? It was probably a natural progression for me, seeing as both my parents had successful eventing careers. But actually it goes deeper than that – eventing is the ultimate test of horsemanship. It combines three very different disciplines and so a horse and rider have to have a variety of skillsets to be successful. It’s quite like triathlon in that way. “I had been going to Burghley ever since I was small but riding there myself was amazing” Out of the three disciplines, cross-country has always been my favourite. In the UK, horse-trials…

 BACK in 1994, when Toyota launched the first RAV4, it was among the very first small/ medium 4x4s with decent car-like manners. That’s why they called it the RAV4: “Recreational Active Vehicle with four-wheel drive” – the acronym “SUV” was unheard of at that time. I remember driving over to the next village to check one out (yes, kids, villages had car dealerships back then) and being amazed at its simplicity and drivability. Mind you, my daily transport was a Land Rover 90 Diesel Turbo. “It whines a lot in electric mode and the road noise levels seem high for the price” More than two decades later, the RAV4 is still going strong and the SUV concept has taken a massive grip on the car-buying world. The marketplace is full…

 I HAVE always believed – a belief that has been frequently held up and cited by my children – that when it comes to embarrassing dads I am pretty much at the summit of the upper quartile. I suspect that young Barron Trump and Hafez al-Assad might have a thing or two to say about that but I fear none of the above can come close to the enormity of the sins of the father perpetrated on poor Handsome Sam, one of my daughter’s friends from Glasgow University. “And then the interrogation began. How much alcohol did he consume? What were the names of all his girlfriends…” Between ourselves, Handsome Sam, from a very early age, has nurtured an ambition to become a spy. In the cot, he was deciphering…

SIR Edwin Landseer’s triumph of Victorian romanticism, The Monarch of the Glen (right), has recently been bought from the Diageo drinks conglomerate for £4 million by the National Galleries of Scotland. From October, the magnificent 12-pointer will be exhibited in Inverness, Perth, Paisley and Kirkcudbright. It is appropriate that the painting begins its tour of Scotland in the Highlands, at the peak of the red stag stalking season, because it seems that it is indeed up there to be shot at. Sir John Leighton, director general of the National Galleries of Scotland, explained why he felt he had to move quickly to buy the painting. “We wanted to work with Diageo because we couldn’t have competed had the painting come up for auction. To the people who are regularly in…

TO ENTER: Send a small bottle of your homemade brew (no leaks, please – a small, plastic water bottle is preferred), stating the main ingredients, its age, your name and address and the recipe for making it, to Sarah Pratley at The Field, Pinehurst II, Pinehurst Road, Farnborough, Hampshire GU14 7BF. Entries will be judged by Nick Radclyffe, owner of Foxdenton, alongside an expert panel of Field semi-alcoholics. CLOSING DATE: Entries close on 15 October 2017 and the winners will be announced in the January 2018 issue. Unfortunately, we cannot return any of the entries. The Field slurps without spitting. CATEGORIES:Choose from two: “Traditional” is open to all classic, spirit-based bevvies that use hedgerow and garden harvest, such as our previous winners’ raspberry gin and Newbrough bramble whisky. “Off-piste” is…

As we picked our way along the dyke, the labrador rustled up a brown shape that flapped off into the gloaming. “A bittern!” we called in unison, the first any of us had seen. The old boomer seemed a long way from his usual fenland haunt but the Orkneys have always thronged with wildfowl, some less popular than our little brown heron. It’s estimated there are 15,000 to 20,000 resident greylags on the islands, their battalions swelled by 65,000 winter migrants, including some pinkfeet in October. The resulting damage to cereals and pasture has been so serious that Scottish Natural Heritage has endorsed a heavy cull programme and allowed the local sale of goose meat in an effort to encourage shooting. A prominent farmer, who has a thousand acres near…

Few birds can claim to have started a revolution. One, the grey partridge (Perdix perdix), has the distinction of starting two. It was not supposed to be this way. Few conservationists expected this small gamebird to revolutionise the government’s approach to conservation. Certainly not twice. The partridge, which responds well to local conservation efforts, has become a conservation champion. It may be in national decline but an emerging network of farmers and sportsmen, who are willing to apply practical solutions, is helping all of us remain optimistic about the bird’s future. The grey partridge has the potential to be prolific. Birds start breeding in their first summer and lay the largest clutch of any breeding bird species in Britain, averaging 15 or 16 eggs. Those conserving them can focus their…

 When Dick Saunders passed the Aintree winning post on Grittar to win the 1982 Grand National at the age of 48, he was hailed in the headlines as the “oldest jockey” to achieve this feat. In the hunting world, we cherished the fact that he was the first serving Master of Foxhounds to win the great steeplechase. He received a special award from the Masters of Foxhounds Association in recognition of his victory. Grittar belonged to a hunting man, Frank Gilman, chairman of the Cottesmore Hunt. “Dick Saunders was the first serving Master to win the Grand National” Saunders’ superb horsemanship was nurtured in the Pytchley hunting country in Northamptonshire, where his family had farmed for generations. His mother encouraged him to ride from infancy; at the age of five…

You will hurt yourself, Miss Bertram,” cries Fanny Price in Jane Austen’s Mansfield Park; “you will certainly hurt yourself against those spikes; you will tear your gown; you will be in danger of slipping into the ha-ha”. So Fanny Price implores Maria, eldest daughter of Sir Thomas Bertram, not to be led astray into the wilder sections of the park by the quick-witted Henry Crawford. It is just one example of the potent symbolism that the sunken wall, or ha-ha, has provided down the centuries. Funnily enough, ha-has were designed to allow in the wilder sections of the landscape to the formal gardens (or to the country house itself), by removing physical barriers. They made the dream of uninterrupted land ownership more real. The sunken wall appears to have its…

SEPTEmBER is the grand finale of summer produce with many ingredients at their best, such as tomatoes and figs, having had the benefit of a longer time in the sun and the chance to reach optimum ripeness and taste. It also means a greater variety of game is now in season, which pairs brilliantly with the summer bounty. many overlook how well gamebirds work with these lighter and often more acidic ingredients but I think their complex flavours allow the meat to complement a variety of tastes, from fragrant spices and herbs to fruits, vegetables and alcohol. When planning my shoot menus for this time of year I like to make the most of the ingredients available and tend to keep dishes as light as possible. CRISPY BUTTERMILK FRIED PARTRIDGE,…

 ACRE by acre the yield is monitored as the combine swallows another year’s harvest. The data raises questions about the discrepancies in performance across the farm, triggering hypotheses on crop nutrition, soil conditions, the weather and the impact of infinite miniature beasties. “The ultimate aim is to cut the costs of agrichemicals while still improving yields” Traditionally, the latter has been addressed with regular passes by the boom of doom, spraying a concoction of biocides to halt the prevailing pests. However, with increasing limitations on the effectiveness and usage of crop-protection products, progressive farmers have begun to incorporate beneficial ecology into pest management and not depend entirely on the chemistry set. It is often too late to adopt an ecological approach once the crop has suffered an attack, so holistic…

Study into social benefits of shooting Does shooting make you happy and increase your life expectancy? Professor Simon Denny from the University of Northampton (pictured right) thinks so – and wants to prove it. Denny, who is a keen pigeon shot and a member of his local syndicate, realised there was a gap in the evidence base for shooting following years of conversations with beaters as to why they enjoy ploughing through bramble and maize in all weathers. This month, he is launching a project, with funding from a trust, to identify the impact of game-shooting on participants. This will add to the evidence already available that demonstrates the economic and environmental benefits of the sport. A student with relevant exeperience is being recruited to conduct the interviews. These will…

Satellite tags are being fitted to cuckoos to find out more about what happens to them once they leave the UK. “Our cuckoos are in trouble,” said Paul Stancliffe of the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO). “Since 1967 we have lost three-quarters of our breeding cuckoos and we are not sure why. If we are to pull together a conservation strategy we need to understand its whole life-cycle.” Victor was one of six cuckoos tagged by the BTO. “Once he had found and successfully mated with at least one female cuckoo his job was done,” said Stancliffe. “Victor only stayed here for four weeks before heading back to Africa.” Only male cuckoos have been tagged previously but new, lightweight tags – weighing just 2g – mean that female cuckoos will…

The Bolfracks Estate has been in the ownership of the same family for almost a century. It is a mixed-use Highland Perthshire estate with a range of assets and income streams. Bolfracks extends to 3,790 acres and includes a nine-bedroom main house and renowned gardens as well as other residential properties, an in-hand organic livestock farm, forestry plantations, a hydro-electricity scheme, leisure and tourism opportunities and a diverse range of fieldsports. There is salmon fishing on the Upper River Tay, a high-bird driven pheasant, partridge and duck shoot, trout fishing, duck flighting, woodcock shooting and roe deer stalking. Bolfracks is known for its gardens and rare and unusual plants. An ornamental garden is open to the public between spring and autumn. Available as a whole or in 16 lots. Agents:…

It was the second day of the season but the French red-legged partridges at Challacombe, on the western edge of Exmoor National Park, flew brilliantly, overcoming both gale and rain Challacombe shoot, formerly attached to Castle Hill, is now part of a group of shoots run by the Bray Valley Sporting Club. This interesting concept – running an elite syndicate as a club – was explained by one of the founders, Charles Fussell. “We set up the partner shoots of Challacombe and Edgcott about seven or eight years ago as sporting clubs, organised as a company with an independent board. So it is a little different from the traditional syndicate shoot. Angus Barnes, who – and, indeed, many of the guns. This last achievement was probably the Spanish-bred-and-reared partridges’ finest,…

A couple I know, house proud and hospitable, with a beautiful vicarage near Marlborough that they had furnished and decorated to a high standard, described to me how their home had been desecrated and their patience put to the test when they invited a couple for the weekend who brought their dog. There are few difficulties faced by a host that are more challenging than when guests arrive with a pet. In fairness, this is not a regular occurrence but sufficiently commonplace that when it does occur it can present unimaginable problems. This is particularly so when the guest gives no indication that they are bringing a pet with them. Pets come in all shapes and sizes. Some quite harmless, as in the case of a family with young children…

Last season was my first back in the hunting saddle for several years. The most noticeable thing? The sheer number of pictures one can produce of a hunting day. I may have jumped a six-foot hedge back in 2005 (with a following wind) but the only photographic memento of my previous hunting incarnation is a brace of pictures, one taken cantering on the flat and the other of my bottom disappearing over a hedge. Neither is flattering nor wall-worthy. The modern hunting field is alive with photographers, which makes judging The Pol Roger Tumblers’ Club an easy (if wince-making) job. After a convivial discussion the panel of judges – Pol Roger UK business development director Paul Graham; three-day-event rider Harry Meade; Polly Portwin, head of the Countryside Alliance’s hunting campaign;…

In my younger days, the majority of countrymen smoked either a pipe or a cigarette. The former was a strong favourite, possibly because it was cheaper. In the 1950s, an ounce of tobacco cost about 4/6d (22½p). There were, of course, cheaper and more expensive brands. Virtually every sporting publication carried a tobacco advertisement. One that appeared regularly announced: “the hours you most enjoy deserve the company of Gold Block, the Supreme Tobacco”. There was also Escudo: “the choice of discerning smokers”. Then there were those that directly targeted fieldsports, namely Grousemoor, with a picture on the tin of a bag of grouse laid out in front of a shotgun and dogs, and Exmoor Hunt, depicting a stag’s head. I confess to having smoked a pipe since the age of…

A PICTURESQUE ILLUSTRATION OF THE SCENERY, ANIMALS AND NATIVE INHABITANTS OF THE ISLAND OF CEYLON Samuel Daniell was unable to make his living as a professional landscape painter in Britain and was obliged instead to take postings to Africa and then Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), in which place he was appointed ranger of woods and forests. No doubt he encountered many elephants in this role. Edited extract from The Paper Zoo: 500 Years of Animals in Art by Charlotte Sleigh, published by the British Library, £25 © The British Library Board…

 SADLY, summer is nearing its end. If the past few weeks have been all about ice-cold rosé, fine fizz, Pimm’s (the vodka-based Pimm’s No.6 being my favourite) and cocktails, then the next few weeks, as we head into autumn and then, sigh, winter, are all about liqueurs, digestifs and tongue-tingling treats to linger over after shirt-popping lunches or dinners. “I vow to avoid overdoing it but the minute I hear the Patrón XO siren call, I’m smitten again” In preparation for this seasonal switch in my drinking habits, I’ve been clearing out my cellar (aka the cobwebbed cupboard under the stairs). There are still a few magnums of rosé – which I’m sure will get knocked back during our Indian summer – and the dozen or so bottles of Prosecco,…