The Field Apr-2018

“Learning outdoor skills equips children with vital character traits, such as endurance” EDUCATING children about countryside management is not compulsory for schools but I believe it should be. Since becoming the head teacher of West Rise Junior School in Eastbourne 14 years ago, my team and I have embraced the great outdoors. We have a small farm, which is home to chickens, goats, sheep, alpacas and a herd of six water buffalo. The school is located on a council estate, where most of our children come from, and is adjacent to a 120-acre piece of marshland, which we lease from the local authority. On this land, our children are taught to light and cook over an open fire, identify the local fauna and flora and forage for food. Using knives,…

“I like the spontaneity of working in metal. It is very quick. You can sketch with it, in a way” EVER Since Hamlet instructed his players to “hold, as ’twere, the mirror up to nature”, artists in all fields have tried to achieve this ideal. Cumbrian wildlife sculptor Andrew Kay goes a step further, making nature itself the mirror for his work. His canvas is the sky, a hillside or even a full moon, against which he sketches with strip steel. Though his sculptures are permanent and three-dimensional, their impact is of something fleeting or glimpsed, often ephemeral, as with his two hares boxing in front of the full moon. Kay explains: “I had finished the hares and just had them stored by the barn and I noticed the moon,…

Pies and pasties filled with pheasant New company Wild and Game is putting pheasant into premium pasties, pies, pâté, sausage rolls and burgers to broaden the market for game, especially outside the shooting season. Set up by keen shot Michael Cannon, who admits he’s “on a crusade to boost the consumption of game”, the not-for-profit company sourced 10,000 pheasants last season to create the new range. The meat in the pies, sausage rolls and pasties is made up of 75% pheasant and 25% chicken or beef. There are three choices of pie or pasty: chicken, mushroom and game; steak, ale and game; and spicy chicken and game, plus a 5in steak and game sausage roll. “We are a not-for-profit business and just want to create a market for the sale…

CLASSIC CARS TAKE TO THE ROADS Classic car owners are encouraged to take their cars out on 22 April for Drive It Day, organised by the Federation of British Historic Vehicle Clubs. The Bicester-based charity StarterMotor is organising a route for students on the historical vehicle restoration course at two local colleges. The charity was set up to give apprentices access to classic vehicles. “We’re trying to stimulate the younger generation,” said David Cox, the charity’s manager. YOUNG GARDENERS COMPETITION This year’s Young Gardeners of the Year competition is being held at the first Ascot Spring Garden Show on 13-15 April. Students from six horticultural colleges will be creating show gardens on the garden terrace of Ascot’s grandstand. www.ascot.co.uk/spring-garden-show DINOSAUR GUN The Beesley Dinosaur gun, a presentation sidelock self-opener featuring…

30 March-2 April Easter Egg Hunt Waddesdon Manor, Aylesbury, Bucks. Tel01296 820414;www.waddesdon.org.uk For details of all NT egg hunts, go to: www.cadbury.co.uk/easter – 1-2 Kelmarsh Country Show Kelmarsh Hall, Kelmarsh, Northamptonshire. www.kelmarshcountryshow.co.uk – 2 North Shropshire Hunt Point-to-Point Eyton-on-Severn, Shropshire. First race 2pm. Tel07890 450313;www.eyton-races.com – 8 Rare Plant Fair The Old Rectory, Quenington, Gloucestershire. Tel0845 4681368;www.rareplantfair.co.uk – 14 Bedale Point-to-Point Hornby Castle, North Yorkshire. bedalepointtopoint.co.uk – 14 The Grand National Aintree Racecourse, Liverpool. Tel0344 579 3001; www.randoxhealthgrandnational.co.uk – 14-15 The Great Shires Game Fair Three Counties Showground, Malvern, Worcs. Tel01392 421 500; greatshiresgamefair.co.uk – 17-22 Spring Decorative Antiques & Textiles Fair Battersea Park, London. More than 150 exhibitors showing ancient to contemporary works. Tel020 7616 9327;www.decorativefair.com – 18- 22 July Cedric Morris Exhibition Garden Museum, Lambeth Palace Road, London.…

MOST VIEWED A year of Sporting Dianas One year ago, we launched our Sporting Dianas column with Field top shot Serena Williams. We have since featured inspiring women who are competing on the world stage, pursuing sporting careers, launching events, agencies, clubs and clothing lines. They safeguard their sports by championing other women and encouraging them to train gundogs, hunt sidesaddle or simply pick up a rod, rifle or gun. Here’s to many more (see page 117). #THEFIELDMAGAZINE From field to freezer to fork Readers are getting frozen birds to the table, taking inspiration from the February issue. The Deputy Editor’s husband made an impressive game terrine, one family cooked five-spice venison with “all ingredients sourced from local farmers” and another shared this picture of our “delicious” pheasant samosas. We…