Innholdsfortegnelse for November 2016 i The Field

THE benefits associated with all forms of game-shooting are undisputable but the benefits of grouse-shooting are surely clearest of all. Yet the desire to ban grouse-shooting has recently inflamed the passions of the animal-rights community. Not since the events leading to the Hunting Act have we seen one of our countryside pursuits so singularly persecuted with propaganda and activism. We at the Countryside Alliance are uniquely placed to learn the lessons of the fight for hunting and apply them to the current challenges facing grouse-shooting. We remain at the forefront of the campaign for hunting and the promotion of grouse-moor management. Together with Jim Barrington, former executive director of the League Against Cruel Sports (LACS) and current animal welfare consultant to the Countryside Alliance, we identified three key areas in…

The first woman to paramotor from Russia to Britain sets off this autumn to follow Bewick’s swans on their annual migration. Sacha Dench, 41, head of media at the Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust (WWT), is due to set off on the 4,500-mile expedition in mid September. The former British and Australian free-diving champion is doing the trip on just a parachute wing strapped to small propellor engine. Over 10 weeks she will cross 11 countries, finishing in central London where she flies up the River Thames. Along the route she faces the same challenges as the swans. The weather is extreme, there are polar bears, pylons and tall buildings to avoid, and it is a struggle to find safe places to land, rest and refuel. Practise trips in Norway, Devon…

PREMIER CARTRIDGE BAG TEALES British leather, capacity for 100 cartridges. Price includes 3-5 letter personalisation. Price £120 Tel 07867 973339 www.teales.co.uk MALLARD DUCK TOY DOGS AND CO Rip resistant and floatable with heavy stitching for durability. Go fetch! Price from £12 Tel 01352 740174 www.dogsandco.com BERWICK WATERPROOF COAT ALAN PAINE Waterproof, breathable with a draw-cord waist for serious Dianas. Price £195 Tel 01243 811844 www.alanpaine.co.uk DH-88 LIMITED EDITION BREMONT Celebrates the de Havilland DH-88. Thirties wrist elegance in stainless steel or rose gold. Price from £7,995 Tel 08450 940 690 www.bremont.com BALMORAL LEATHER BOOTS HUNTER Water-resistant with full leather lining and waterproof zip, in a wide-leg fit. Price £325 Tel 0330 333 4290 www.hunterboots.com BALLYFIN GORE-TEX JACKET DUBARRY Exclusive Dubarry acorn tweed in a functional field coat for sporting guns.…

MANY rural communities take a one-eyed view when it comes to new development. Not so in the Norfolk village of Burnham Thorpe – birthplace of Admiral Lord Nelson. Six new homes may not seem much but they are testimony to the bold vision of the Holkham estate in not only accepting the need to address the chronic shortage of housing in this country but also in making sure local people benefit from affordable prices. Two of the six properties will be rented to local people, maintaining the estate’s voluntary policy of renting its houses solely to people who live and work in the area. In addition, the estate will be making an offsite, affordable housing contribution to the King’s Lynn & West Norfolk Borough Council. Holkham is best known for…

MANCHESTER city centre is not the usual venue for the start of a hunting day but that somehow added to the pleasure as I stole away from my hotel in the still dark October morning. Two days of the Conservative Party Conference is enough for any sane countryman, so it was with some relief that I tapped a Cumbrian postcode into the satnav and headed into the hills. Less than two hours later it directed me off the old A6 along a single-track road signposted to Longsleddale. As the valley grew narrower I looked to the left and, as I had been told I would, saw a gathering of pickups and four-wheel-drive vehicles lined up in the flat riverside field below a typical stone Cumbrian farm. Here were the Ullswater…

BEFORE a glowering sky, in a three-piece suit and with piercing blue eyes beneath the peak of his tweed cap, Cillian Murphy (who plays Thomas Selby) is publicity-shot gold. The Peaky Blinders television series has garnered a cult following, succeeded in making Birmingham cool and, according to the Daily Mail, is responsible for “flat-cap frenzy! Period gangland drama sends sales of traditional tweed headgear soaring by 83%.” So caps are back in fashion but we’ve seen this all before, apart from the Thomas Shelby element, which is admittedly welcome. The tale of the cap is rather longer than that of a certain criminal gang in Birmingham, no matter how many series it runs to. As described in The Manor and Manorial Records (London 1912) via the Worshipful Company of Woolmen,…

I’M about to be foiled at yet another arms and armour auction. I’ve been trying to buy a 16th-century breastplate for about five years now and failing, probably because I’m doing everything just right except, that is, placing the winning bid. I study the wording of the catalogue carefully: plenty of traps there for the unwary unless you understand properly “auction speak”. I consult the experts, both auction house and my outside adviser, and I persist in irritating them by asking how much the item is “worth”. Auctioneers hate that question and want you to “buy what you love” and not get hung up on the price. Their idea of a good day, obviously, is when something goes well over top estimate. “It’s only money,” is one expression I’ve heard…

“YOU’RE Mike Daunt, aren’t you?” said a voice behind me. I turned round from my bar stool, somewhat annoyed at being recognised as I was in one of the seediest bars in downtown Havana – far more atmospheric and fun than sanitised “tourist” hotels. I had just finished a week’s bone-fishing with clients in Les Jardins de la Reine, off the south-east coast of Cuba, and had decided to escape our smart hotel by myself for a short time. I grudgingly admitted my identity. “I thought so,” said my antagonist, with a broad grin. “I’m Robin Hutson. I’m out here buying cigars for my hotels but I am shortly going to sell them and then I want to learn to fish and I’ve heard that you’re just the man to…

IF you’ve ever wondered why the dodo became famously extinct, look no further than Summers Place Auctions on 15 November. Being offered to bidders is what is proudly described as the “First almost complete skeleton to come up for sale in nearly 100 years and the first to ever be sold at auction”. Students of this bizarre-looking bird will know that there is only one complete skeleton – meaning all the bones come from one dodo, as against having been put together from different skeletons – in existence and that is in Mauritius, where they presumably lived in harmony with nature until their unfortunate introduction to Dutch sailors in 1598. Within 70 years it was adios (forgive the mixed metaphor) to the poor old dodo, which, despite boasting the ever-agile…

THE signs of sporting artist Ian MacGillivray’s weekly workout are plain to see on the wall of his Cheshire studio. This artist’s equivalent of a set of dumbbells is a series of small, highly atmospheric, studies of an oak tree standing in a field, seen throughout the changing seasons. He explains: “They are my equivalent of gym work. Much of what I paint as a sporting artist is subject-led and therefore dependent on the open season for whichever sport, which can be quite restrictive. So with this project I can find a way of painting outdoors all year round. It is a bit like training, and you keep your hand and eye in for the bigger paintings. Working from life, as I do, you have to pay attention to these…

MENTION “jodhpurs” and certain associations spring to mind, depending on whether you spend time around horses, hunt hard, know your history of India, take an interest in fashion or perhaps relish a Jilly Cooper novel. Indeed, it is hard to think of a garment with a history more richly woven with notions of form and function. Yet what is this history and why has the garment retained such relevance? The word itself derives from a princely state of India. When on horseback, the Maharajas of Jodhpur favoured trousers that were tight on the lower leg yet wide at the hip, affording protection against the horse’s flanks while providing room to turn and lean in the saddle when swinging a polo mallet. The properties of good ventilation and overall comfort, in…

THERE is no discernible authorship for the saying “easy as pie”. Perhaps the author would have been bolder in seeking credit had the phrase ended with “eating” or “making, on your third attempt”. As a nation of pie scoffers how many of us actually make and bake them, pastry et al? Up until recently, I didn’t. Even if I may have given the impression I did. For what feels like a lifetime of cooking shoot lunches, I have happily sweated chicken and leek and snugly sealed it within ready-made puff pastry. Without a piquant of remorse I would embellish my pie lid with a pastry peacock’s head of the family crest, hoping 800 years of family history would cement the illusion of authenticity. After all, Mary Berry endorses ready-made puff…

IN the past decade, the FTSE 100 has been more indecisive than a well-heeled lady in front of a stand of Jimmy Choos, the property market has swung to and fro as wildly as a member of the Bullingdon club hanging from a chandelier and the currency markets have played a game of tag. One thing has outperformed them all – outperforming, in fact, everything. Not gold, not bonds, not farmland but classic cars; 487% over the past decade, according to the Historic Automobile Group International (HAGI), an independent investment research company, with the Top Index listed on the FT website. This sector of investment, known as investments of passion, have massively outdone the more traditional mainstream asset classes and some buyers have seen spectacular gains – even this writer,…

WRIST ASSURED FOR QUALITY Q I have a much-loved and rather impressive watch that requires a new strap. I have managed to work my way through various straps and am struggling to find one that comes up to scratch. Is there anyone out there making decent bespoke straps? Col EH, by email A Bespoke, made-to-measure watch straps in a wide range of leather and linen colours, with many design options, can be crafted by Sabel at Bespokewatchstraps.com. Each strap is made to your requirement and is fitted perfectly to you. The strap styles include plain, raised, lined and cuff with four different stitch patterns and four hand-cut strap points. Existing buckles can be reused or one can choose from a standard stainless steel buckle or a gold-plated one. The choice…

RAY Ward has long been recognised as a retailer and maker of fine sporting guns. A hand-built rifle is always something to aspire to, suggesting that you have experienced all the major manufacturers, have taken the best ideas from each and now know exactly what you want and who you want to make it. Based on an Obandorf Magnum Mauser ’98, this take down, interchangeable barrelled, Ray Ward rifle is an elegant masterpiece of engineering. Exquisitely engraved by David Tallet and beautifully presented in its custom hand-made leather travelling case, it represents the height of luxury and practicality. It is, of course, a rifle designed principally for dangerous game, although many choose to make use of the .375 H&H for the renowned big boar of Eastern Europe. Most, however, would…

FROM his pinkfoot-grazed stubble on the East Neuk of Fife, my cousin Patrick captivates an unwitting visitor with another humorous yarn. Identifying distant burning stubble across the Firth of Forth he excitedly deciphers the plume as smoke signals… a warning from clan to clan… invasion was imminent! Of course, a fond memory from the last century as, historical accuracies notwithstanding, stubble burning has been assigned to a bygone era. Since the passing of the Crop Residues (Burning) Regulations in 1993, ploughing has played an increasingly vital role to suppress weeds and pests, and to prepare a seed bed. As enduring as the iron at the forge, our landscape and culture are moulded by the mighty plough, not least through pub names, star constellations and a legacy in horse breeding. However,…

I AM currently finishing off a monstrously expensive restoration of a small tower in the big house. I am hoping that diversifying into higher-end residential tourism will provide me with enough extra spondulics to keep The Media Queen in oysters and the young adults with the funds to perpetuate their seemingly unlimited student careers. I have been conscious for a few years that much of the income I have been obtaining though agriculture derives from subsidies and bears little resemblance to the real world. The wise thing to do when storm clouds loom is to try and mend the roof while the sun still shines. All things considered, the project has gone pretty well so long as you exclude the horrors of dealing with electricity companies. More time, money and…

HISTORIES of fine English gunmakers follow a pattern. First, there’s a Regency-era start-up – often after a period bound to one of the Mantons – then the epic journey from the muzzle-loader to the hammerless, breech-loading ejector, followed by the embracing of a propriety gun action, which secures both wealth and fame. Finally, comes the sale to a rich overseas buyer. This is the story of James Purdey & Sons, perhaps Britain’s greatest gunmaker, but now it is also the story of Boss & Co. Early in November last year, Boss & Co’s managing director, Keith Halsey, called his staff together, announced the sale and introduced the new owner, Arthur Stephen DeMoulas. The following week, Halsey toured other makers of “best” British guns accompanied by DeMoulas, who was introduced to…

THIS is an announcement from Anchorage International Airport: Alaska is obsessed with fishing and hunting. Squinting from its home at the entrance to Gate B is a monster halibut caught by Jack Tragis on 11 June 1996 – 9ft 5in from snout to fin and weighing 459lb – while a world-record setting moose, shot by Dr Michael Cusack in 1973 in Bear Creek, stands in the main hall. And if you want a souvenir for the loved one, the airport shop sells sealskin slippers and a selection of Arctic-fox furs. Even the nearby parking tells a story; instead of cars there are hundreds of private floatplanes bobbing on their moorings. Most of our fellow travellers were carrying rods as hand luggage and, like them, we’d travelled thousands of miles to…

NOWHERE does tradition die harder than in the hunting field. It is a strength that has helped to preserve Britain’s hunts since the severe restrictions of the 2004 Hunting Act. Some claim tradition is also a weakness when it comes to protecting your head while riding in the modern countryside. Farm tracks are now more likely to be concrete, while rural lanes can be “skating rinks”, where horses crash over. There is more barbed wire in hedges and artificial hunt jumps can be rigidly unforgiving. Last season, a lady follower, Scarlett Jukes, died after her horse fell on a road and her hat came off while she was hunting with the Beaufort. Gems McCormick, Joint Master of the Cottesmore, died from head injuries sustained in a fall while hunting with…

A FORTUNE if they succeeded or remission of sins and admittance to heaven if they failed: an offer that had always brought men flocking for martial adventure. Duke William of Normandy promised the riches of Anglo-Saxon England (gold and silver for the humble foot soldiers, land for the knights) and, he assured them, the pope had guaranteed salvation for those slain in the cause. England, he declared, was his by rights; the childless King Edward had promised him the crown but Harold Godwinson had seized it. He, William, would assemble a great fleet, cross what the “English” called the Sueth-Sae (South Sea) and take what was rightfully his. King Edward, “the Confessor”, so called for his piety, had died on 5 January 1066. He was the eldest son of King…

THERE is great splendour in serving, presenting and eating a whole roast gamebird, coupled with satisfaction and skill in removing all of the meat, often to the demise of tablecloths, napkins and occasionally table manners. However, as the season progresses the leg meat in particular can become tough. Confit is the perfect solution as slow cooking in fat makes the meat tender and intensifies the flavour, although it doesn’t guarantee the survival of your napkins as it’s hard to resist picking up the bones to ensure you taste every last morsel. CONFIT PARTRIDGE LEGS WITH CELERIAC PUREE, FRIED CHESTNUTS AND SAGE Serves 4 as a starter 8 partridge legs 1½ tsp fine sea salt 2 tsp dried rosemary 10 juniper berries 8 peppercorns 8 bay leaves 8 cloves garlic 2…

“The 30in barrels offer improved pointability with no great weight penalty” THE test gun this month is a 20-bore, side-by-side, side-plated, round bar Beretta: the 486 Parallelo EL. It weighs in at just over 6lb and has a pistol-grip stock with a trim beaver-tail fore-end (there is also a straight hand option with traditional splinter). Barrels are 30in (28in are also available) with 3in chambers proofed for steel shot. The rest of the specification includes a single-selective trigger, flush fitting long “Opti High Performance” multi-chokes and rather unusual ejector work that can be disabled by a switch in the fore-end (useful to reloaders or those who want to collect cartridge cases). Another interesting mechanical feature, inspired by Joe Manton in the early 19th century, is a gravitational safety. This uses…

I WAS recently asked the name of my doctor: I hadn’t a clue. On my rare visits to the local surgery I have rarely seen the same doctor twice. Ask me the name of my veterinary surgeon, however, and it’s a different matter. We are on first-name terms. That’s not because my dogs are frequent visitors but because I have a different relationship with my vet to my doctor. I’m paying him for his services whereas when I go to see my GP I feel guilty about taking up his or her valuable time. Sadly, the veterinary world is changing radically. Private practices are disappearing as big, corporate bodies buy them to add to their empires. Numerous small practices have already been swallowed up into corporate chains. It can be…

OVER the years, the Jeep Cherokee has undergone its fair share of dramatic styling changes. There was the uncompromisingly brick-like XJ at the end of the past century, the cutesy KJ that replaced it and then the Tonka-toy KK. But underneath all those shapes was a no-nonsense American chunkiness – a proper grown-up attitude to off-roading. After being out of the showroom for a couple of years, the Cherokee is back (the KL) and it would seem that the influence of Jeep’s Italian parent company is overriding any residual Rocky Mountain ruggedness. Huge effort has gone into the exterior styling but not everyone would consider it time well spent. The vehemence of the “like or loath it” debate in our household eclipsed Brexit by some margin. I thought it was…