The Field November 2019

THERE is currently a strong push against the poor old pheasant on the basis that he’s a foreigner and shouldn’t be on this sceptred isle. Its latest manifestation is in the form of a threatened legal action by Wild Justice against Defra, for allowing the release of ‘non-native’ gamebirds on or near to protected sites without first carrying out an ecological assessment under the Habitats Regulations. Defra intends to fight off this mischievous challenge but, alarmingly, has already fallen into the trap of accepting Wild Justice’s categorisation of pheasants as being ‘non-native’. Are they? Some say that the Romans first brought pheasants to Britain, citing their appearance on mosaics in England as evidence. Others believe such artwork was just to remind chilly villa owners of warmer climes elsewhere. Whether or…

IS all art meant to be good for you? Or is some art more like television, just for relaxation and enjoyment? The Victorians, without the benefit of television, had no more guilt heading off to visit the latest exhibition of genre paintings than we do today settling down in front of a box set of Peaky Blinders. But in the 21st century there’s a feeling that fine art should somehow be more ‘improving’ and so the gap is widening between what we want to look at and what we feel we should look at. Today’s attitudes to the work of John Frederick Herring Snr typify the paradox. His oil, The Frugal Meal, captures horses eating from a manger while a pigeon pecks alongside them, and was one of the most…

New venues for point-to-points New point-to-point courses have been built in Devon, Dorset and Warwickshire for the 2019/20 season and there are 10 more Saturday meetings than last year. New venue Dunsmore, near Silverton, Devon, will hold its first meeting on Sunday 17 November, sharing the curtain-raiser spot with Cambridge University United Hunts Club’s Cottenham meeting. The other new venues are Shelfield Park in Warwickshire – which will host the Croome & West Warwickshire meeting on 21 March – and Chilfrome, near Dorchester in Dorset, where the Cattistock will hold its meeting on 2 May. There has been a swing away from Saturday racing since the introduction of Sunday betting in 1995. However, this season Saturday meetings have increased from a scheduled 54 last season to 64, although none are…

BONHAMS’ NEW GUN SUPREMO William Threlfall is Bonham’s new specialist in charge of the modern sporting guns department. The auctioneer’s next sporting gun sale will take place on 28 November in the Knightsbridge saleroom. CALEDONIAN PINE REVIVED A project is underway at the National Trust for Scotland’s Mar Lodge Estate to revive the Caledonian pine. The charity’s Woodlands for Wildlife Project received £125,000 from the People’s Postcode Lottery to carry out woodland conservation. Work will also be undertaken to protect montane willow, twinflower and green shield-moss – all important for the health of the reserve’s woodland. The year-long project will be completed in autumn 2020. FUNDRAISER FOR TEAM GB RIDERS A morning with Carl Hester, a tour of the Royal Mews and dinner cooked by William and Alice Fox Pitt…

CORNWALL & THE ISLES OF SCILLY 2020 BRAVE AND BEAUTIFUL CALENDAR Sheila Tidball, wife of the gamekeeper at Caerhays Castle Estate, is one of the stars of this calendar, produced to raise funds for The Mermaid Centre, a breast clinic and diagnostic facility at the Royal Cornwall Hospital. Buy a calendar, priced £13.50, via Paypal. Look for: bravorally2020@gmail.com. The Field has contributed to the cause.…

Until 10: Morris & Co, Inspired by Nature Standen House, East Grinstead, West Sussex. Tel01342 323029; nationaltrust.org.uk/standen 3 Glad Rags and Cartridge Bags 5th Birthday Celebration Ladies’ Clay Shoot Raemoir House, Banchory, Scotland. Cost £76. Tel07841393155; gladragsandcartridgebags.com 4-10 Spirit of Christmas Fair Olympia, London W14. Tel0844 412 4629;www.spiritofchristmasfair.co.uk 5-10 The Winter Art & Antiques Fair Olympia, London W14. Tel020 7384 7960;www.olympia-antiques.com 6-30 Illuminations: new works by equestrian painter Katie O’Sullivan Osborne Studio Gallery, Motcomb Street, London SW1. Tel020 7235 9667;www.osg.uk.com 8 Open English Springer Spaniel Stake Witham on the Hill, Lincolnshire. Tel01296 318540;www.thekennelclub.org.uk 12-15 Mary Howard’s Christmas Fair Cotswold Airport, near Cirencester, Gloucs. Tel01285 655595;www.maryhowardfairs.com 16 BASC ‘Game’ Night at the Museum Museum and Art Gallery, The Strand, Derby. Four-course game dinner cooked by Ralph Skripek. Tel01283 810910; emailcentral@basc.org.uk 20…