The Field Mar-2018

THE wheel of the seasons changes in March, leaving a melancholy vacuum in the lives of sportsmen; hunting finishes, shooting is over, the grey geese have gone, fishing has barely started and winter is reluctant to loose its grip, reducing point-to-point secretaries to sobs. And yet, regardless of how precocious the weather may be, March is the harbinger of warmth, fertility, regrowth and plenty. As daylight lengthens towards the Vernal Equinox and flows into our woodlands and hedgerows, a green haze appears as bare branches begin to bud and leaves unfurl. Wild daffodils, daisies, wood anemones, coltsfoot, dandelion, celandine, primroses and marsh marigolds bloom. Gorse bushes become a riot of gold on hillsides, hedgerows are festooned with drifts of tiny white blackthorn flowers and on a warm day after a…

WHEN your grandfather was a founder member of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood and created such famous works as Christ in the House of His Parents and Ophelia, surely it’s hard to make your mark as an artist? The Millais family seems to have had no problem with this, with each succeeding generation adding to the Millais mythology. Raoul Millais, grandson of Sir John Everett Millais, was born near Horsham, West Sussex, in 1901. Millais painted hunters and hunting, racehorses, matadors and their bulls, big-game hunting and all the glamorous and beautiful people engaged in sport. To capture that life, Millais required to live it. He was a contemporary of Ernest Hemingway and spent time with the writer in Spain, where he sketched the corrida, a shared love. His father, John Guille…

Vigorous protests at bass restrictions Anglers hope new figures due out this month will convince EU ministers to overturn the year-round catch-and-release only policy imposed on UK bass fishermen last December. “It’s terribly unfair that the commercial hook and liners can catch up to five tonnes of bass a year but the angler can’t catch one for his dinner,” said David Mitchell, head of marine at the Angling Trust. Figures from the International Council for the Exploration of the Seas (ICES) give a forecast for northern European bass stock of 6,414 tonnes in 2018, down two-thirds since 2010 when it was nearly 19,000 tonnes. In response, EU ministers agreed in December to cut the amount of bass caught by both commercial vessels and fixed nets by 50% in 2018. They…

NEW SHOOTING SHOW A new shooting show is being held on 23-24 March at the Business Design Centre, Islington, London N1. The London Wing Shooting Fair has 60 exhibitors, seminars and simulated shooting. Tickets are £15 in advance and include entry to the London Fly Fishing Fair, which is taking place at the same time. Go to: www.thelondonwingshootingfair.co.uk WILD TROUT TRUST AUCTION Lots in this year’s Wild Trout Trust auction include: salmon fishing on the Tyne (below); fishing for char in the Lake District; fishing holidays in Iceland, France, Norway and the Bahamas; plus art, books, shooting, flies and tackle. Starting bids for the 280 lots – auctioned on eBay and by post from 9-18 March – range from £20 to £7,000, the money raised to be spent on practical…

Until 25 March: Exhibition of works by William Blake, Petworth, West Sussex. Tickets £12 NT members, £16 non-members. Call0344 249 1895; www.nationaltrust.org.uk/petworth 3 Duke of Beaufort’s Point-to-Point Didmarton, near Tetbury, Gloucestershire. www.pointingwm.co.uk 8-11 Crufts, NEC Birmingham (gundog classes on 11th), NEC, Birmingham. www.crufts.org.uk 10 East Devon Hunt Point-to-Point Bishops Court, Ottery St Mary. pointingdc.co.uk 11 Hampshire Hunt Point-to-Point, Hackwood Park, near Basingstoke, Hampshire. Call07977 920705. 13-16 Cheltenham Festival, Prestbury, Gloucestershire. www.thefestival.co.uk 14-20 BADA 2018 Arts and antiques from 100 dealers. Duke of York Square, London SW3. Call020 7589 6108;www.badafair.com 17 Belvoir Point-to-Point Garthorpe, near Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire. Call01476 570564;www.midlandspointing.com 17 Tennants Spring Fine Art Sale The Auction Centre, Leyburn, North Yorkshire. Call01969 623780;www.tennants.co.uk 17-18 West of England Game Fair Royal Bath & West Showground, Shepton Mallet, Somerset. Call01392 421500; www.westofenglandgamefair.co.uk…

MOST VIEWED A naming system In the December issue, we considered how to name a gundog, agreeing that popular choices (human names, gamebirds and gunmakers) have their pitfalls. “Choose a name you don’t feel foolish yelling across a field,” advised one Fielder. “A good short name is handy to bellow.” We advocated the naming system used by foxhound packs and Fielders also like a theme. “I went for literary classics. This is Milo, named after Milo Minderbinder from Catch 22.” #THEFIELDMAGAZINE Young entry “The most important thing we can do, as fieldsports and country enthusiasts, is pass our enthusiasms on and encourage the next generation to get their hands dirty, not languish in thrall to the digital cabal,” says our Deputy Editor. So this season she took her niece on…