Innholdsfortegnelse for September 2022 i The Field

LAST year Defra unveiled its England Trees Action Plan, reflecting the Government’s intention to develop the country’s woodland as part of its greener aspirations. We all know the profound effect that unmanaged deer can have on newly established forestry, yet you would be hard pressed to find much mention of them beyond a few lines tucked away in the 38-page document. Although a national deer management strategy is hinted at, clarification is still awaited at the time of writing. There is no way of knowing precisely how many deer there are in the UK, but it would be fair to say that there are probably more now than there have been for the past 1,000 years. The regularly quoted figure of two million, although little more than a rough estimate,…

Mark Hankinson, the former director of the Masters of Foxhounds Association, has had his conviction for encouraging illegal hunting overturned. Following the judgement on 20 July, the news was announced to thousands of hunt supporters who had gathered at the East of England Showground for the annual Festival of Hunting. Countryside Alliance chief executive Tim Bonner, who was in attendance at the show, reacted to the news, saying: “Mark Hankinson’s successful appeal raises big questions about the knee-jerk reaction to the original conviction. Some institutional landowners banned legal trail hunts and the police and CPS have brought a spate of prosecutions against hunts, many of which have already failed. Trail hunting is a legitimate activity carried out by hundreds of hunts across the country. As this successful appeal shows, the…

The Field’s Game Fair party was back with a bang at Ragley in Warwickshire this year. In partnership with Bonhams and by kind permission of the Marquess and Marchioness of Hertford, the Rose Terrace at Ragley Hall was the location for the most sought-after invitation of the show. As shooting stalwarts rubbed shoulders with politicians and leading lights, Field contributors caught up with Field friends and sporting sorts over glasses of Foxdenton sloe gin and champagne with gallons of elderflower to make sure it didn’t go straight to the head after a hot and hectic day at the fair. It had been too long since Field friends and family had caught up with one another – with the odd canine in tow – and there was a palpable joy in…

STAR BUY This is a 920-acre South Hams estate between Dartmouth and Salcombe. The main house is Grade II* listed, dating from 1726 and in need of renovation, and there is a range of farm buildings, which could be converted, subject to planning. There are two farms on the estate: Lower Fuge, a 253-acre let mixed-dairy farm; and Coxs Farm, 186 acres of arable and pasture. The land includes a steep wooded valley, rough grazing and wetland, and where the valley meets the sea there is a shingle barrier beach enclosing a small lagoon. There is also a 28-acre block of mature woodland, high in amenity, conservation and wildlife appeal. Also included are two further blocks of agricultural land with potential for change of use. Agent: Savills Tel: 01392 455747…

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Within a decade of the first official field trial for spaniels – held at Sutton Scarsdale in 1899 – animalier Arthur Wardle set about his masterly Field Spaniels of the 20th Century. Seven of Wardle’s eight subjects were champion sporting dogs, including the black cocker Ch Jetsam Bowdler and a dark-coated, mournful-eyed field spaniel, Ch Shillington Rona, regarded by contemporaries as “the best coloured field spaniel seen up to now”. Organised field trials were in their infancy; the Kennel Club, founded in 1873, had only recently recognised several spaniel breeds, including, in 1902, the English springer (the following year, a liver-and-white springer called Beechgrove Will, bred by Mr Winton Smith of Boreham Wood, became the breed’s first champion). Wardle took considerable pains to capture accurately the distinctive qualities of the…

When Diana, the Dowager Countess of Devon was a little girl, she loved Pony Club camp. One summer in the 1960s, Hugh Courtenay, the heir to the Earl of Devon, came to help out. He met young Diana Watherston, and the pair hit it off. Some time later, Hugh took Diana home to Powderham Castle, the Courtenays’ home since 1391. “We turned on to the drive, and there was this huge castle – my mouth fell open,” she remembers. Out of the front door “came this smartly dressed man in a tweed suit. I thought he was the butler, and I said that my suitcases were in the back, before I realised that it was Hugh’s father”. Hugh and Diana married in 1967, and after a few years took over…

The Morgan Car Company was founded by Henry Frederick Stanley Morgan (1881-1959), an engineer and vicar’s son who opened a garage in Malvern in 1905. In 1909, he built a tiller-steered, single-seater runabout in the workshops of Malvern College. This evolved into a two-seater with more conventional steering. The original car had used a Peugeot engine, but V-twins became the favourite, including JAPs, Matchless and Blackburne. HFS, as he was known, competed from the start. Many records were set at Brooklands and Montlhéry in France, notably by the intrepid female motorist Gwenda Stewart. Another famous early owner was Captain Albert Ball VC, a World War I flying ace. A four-wheeler 4/4 Morgan appeared in 1936 with a Coventry Climax engine. After World War II, Morgan offered the 4/4 with a…

THE advent of the cartridge revolver in the mid-19th century raised a key question – what would be the fastest way to unload spent cases after firing? Today we know the answer, seen in simultaneous ejection systems such as those used in Smith & Wesson’s Hand Ejector series or the Webley top-break service revolvers. However, when these systems were still in their infancy, the more creative designers had an opportunity to make their mark. One such system is used in a revolver in the collection of the Royal Armouries. Christened ‘The Expert’, this model of revolver was made around 1887 and carries a novel ejection system for spent cases. The basis is a Webley RIC New Model revolver chambering the .450 Adams cartridge, manufactured by P Webley & Son in…

AN entrance hall full of gumboots for guests to wear, an elegant drawing room, classic red-walled bar, garden terrace that overlooks Rutland Water and a refined dining room: Hambleton Hall, with its 17 guest bedrooms, is a cornucopia of traditional elegance. It is a country house hotel that feels like a home, where you will be welcomed as an old friend be it your first or 15th visit. “I encourage guests to try to make it a two-night stay,” says general manager Christopher Hurst, aware that sloughing off outside cares probably requires breakfast, lunch and dinner at Hambleton. Perfectly positioned in the heart of the country just outside Oakham in Rutland, Hambleton (once a hunting box) retains that convivial and familiar atmosphere. It now plays host to guests travelling north…

Wild and Game, the West Country-based company building the UK market for game meat, has raised £485,000 in its first equity crowdfunder, smashing its target of £200,000. As well as selling direct to consumers, Wild and Game supplies to independent food retailers and supermarkets around the UK. The funding will be used to boost the company’s marketing efforts and to support its move to a new distribution centre, enabling it to offer Saturday and next-day deliveries. Wild and Game co-founder Steven Frampton said: “We’re delighted that our first ever fundraiser has far exceeded its target. This reflects the growing public appetite for game meat, which is fast gaining ground as an attractive and sustainable alternative to the meats you usually find in a supermarket.”…

THE pandemic has affected Novak Djokovic more than any other top-tier professional sportsman. In a period where he should have hoovered up almost every Grand Slam, he’s found navigating the tennis season somewhat of a challenge. Rare defeats, a dangerous default and two visa dramas have transpired to deny him time and again. Not that Fitzdares is complaining. Five years ago, we laid three promising if optimistic bets on Djokovic’s legacy – at big prices. Bet one: that Djokovic would be the first man to reach 21 Grand Slams. At the time he was comfortably in third position behind Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. Bet two: that Djokovic would one day win a full calendar Grand Slam. And bet three: that Djokovic would eventually win the most Grand Slams of…

HAWKWELL HEAD BARN IRESHOPEBURN, BISHOP AUCKLAND, COUNTY DURHAM Hawkwell Head Barn is a traditional stone barn, with planning permission to be converted into a three-bedroom house, including the creation of an access road for the barn from the main road. The property comes with just under six acres of land, with views across the Weardale Valley. The barn is 14 miles from Wolsingham and 22 miles from Barnard Castle. Agent: H&H Land & Estates Tel: 0191 370 8530 Guide price: £295,000 THE OLD VICARAGE OVINGHAM, PRUDHOE, NORTHUMBERLAND This is a Grade II* listed vicarage in a village on the north bank of the Tyne, with terraced gardens running down to the river. The six-bedroom property has a high stone wall boundary and gated entrance, leading through to a private courtyard.…

Of all the jewelled mansions in the Scottish Borders, none stands more visible than Floors Castle, sitting above majestic Tweed and cradling the pretty market town of Kelso. It has, for more than 300 years, been the family home of the Innes-Kers, clan chiefs and Dukes of Roxburghe, and is Scotland’s largest privately inhabited castle. Sir Walter Scott, whose home was nearby at Abbotsford, declared it “a kingdom for Oberon and Titania to dwell in”. Today’s Oberon is Charles Innes-Kers, 11th Duke of Roxburghe, and Titania his wife Annabel Green, whom he married at Floors Castle in September 2021. As befits a former officer in the Blues and Royals who served in Iraq, Roxburghe, 40, commands leadership and respect and is passionate about stewarding the 52,000-acre Border estate for future…

Where were you on 22 September 2002? As you’re reading this magazine, there’s a decent chance that you were walking through central London, one of 407,791 people who marched for ‘Liberty & Livelihood’. It was, at the time, the biggest peacetime civil rights demonstration in British history. Remember? The wall of sound – the cheering, the blowing of hunting horns, the chatter, the excited greetings as countryside people spotted old friends. This dropped dramatically to only the tread of (sturdy, sensible) shoes on tarmac as everyone passed the Cenotaph in silence, heads bowed in respect for those who had fought in real wars far more significant than the phoney one in which we were forced to engage. Hunting was the cornerstone of the 2002 March. The legislation that eventually formed…

THE AMBITION of every creative agent is one day to find a genre-buster: the new novel that breaks out of the narrow confines of chick lit to be, in fact, literary fiction, or the artist whose work explores traditional subjects from an installation art perspective. Sporting art has majored on genre-busting artists from the beginning, with Stubbs challenging the 18th-century view that horses were a fit subject only for inn signs, right up to Damien Hirst, whose Mother and Child Divided appeared in his Natural History collection. So Joseph Crawhall’s late 19th-century work as part of the Glasgow Boys group is following a heritage of familiar sporting scenes painted in the most innovative way. The Glasgow Boys came together in the early 1880s as they shared their dissatisfaction with the…

THIS month’s test concerns a new pair of AyA No 2 12-bore de Luxe sidelock side-by-sides specifically built for grouse shooting, proofed and choked for steel shot. Weighing in at just over 7lb, an ideal weight for a modern 30in game gun – or, indeed, a vintage one – they were ordered from AyA by ASI of Snape, the British importer that also brings in Rizzini from Italy. I must declare an interest before continuing: I helped specify these guns for a friend, but this afforded me the opportunity not only to consider them in much detail, but to handle and shoot them more than I normally would when testing. First impressions are of an attractive, classically styled and well-stocked pair of guns. The scroll engraving (which is laser cut…

HUNTING is firmly in my blood. My grandfather Harry Fraser was one of the founding Masters of the Park Beagles, my mother Caroline grew up hunting and my father Richard got hooked as soon as he started going out with my mother. My great aunt used to point-to-point side-saddle, and my mother and two elder brothers also had success on the point-to-point field. My three brothers and I were all taught to ride by the incredible Jinks Bryer, who had also taught my mother and is now teaching my nieces. I was off the leading rein at five years old, hunting with the Cattistock, and with all of us out on a regular basis, my parents decided to make the four of us wear red hat silks from our racing…

SIX OF THE BEST CELEBRITY WINES 2020 KYLIE CÔTES DE PROVENCE ROSÉ (£14, Tesco) Well, who would have thought it? This rosé from La Minogue is beautifully made and a joy to drink. 2020 MIRAVAL CÔTES DE PROVENCE ROSÉ (£15, Morrisons) Brangelina’s impeccable rosé, still going strong despite the hideous ongoing litigation between the former couple. 2020 FESS PARKER SANTA BARBARA CHARDONNAY (£17, Wine Society) Exemplary California Chardonnay from the estate of the late Fess Parker, TV’s Davy Crockett. 2019 L10 PREMIUM MALBEC (£120 for 6, Sporting Wine Club) Footballer Lionel Messi’s striking Argentine Malbec: all plums, blackberries and violets. 2019 TWO PADDOCKS PICNIC PINOT NOIR (£21.50, Haynes, Hanson & Clark) Sam Neill has as many plaudits for his fabulous wines as he does his acting. Try this and see why. 2019…

The Moorland Association has called for a “major rethink” on how best to tackle devastating wildfires. The association said the surge in wildfires in the UK and internationally this year serves as the “starkest reminder” of the need to reduce the fuel loads that drive the fires. Vegetation is being left to grow unchecked as a climate change mitigation measure, but it appears to be having the opposite effect. Fire and rescue services have had to deal with around 450 outbreaks of wildfire in the UK in recent weeks, and fires continue to rage across Europe as well as other parts of the world, releasing significant carbon emissions into the atmosphere. “We have all seen the horrific impact of wildfire as never before and wherever a wildfire takes hold, the…

WildFish, formerly Salmon & Trout Conservation, has released the findings of its 2021 Riverfly Census, which used high-resolution monitoring of aquatic invertebrates to produce biodiversity and water-quality data from 12 English rivers. The evidence highlights agriculture – which covers 70% of England and accounts for 40% of water bodies failing to achieve good ecological status – as a key stressor in the pollution of English rivers. When compared with the original 2015-17 Riverfly Census, the data shows that 47% of sites sampled in autumn 2021 exhibited greater chemical stress. Last year had lower mean diversity of mayfly, stonefly and caddisfly species. Dr Janina Gray, deputy chief executive at WildFish, said: “The 2021 Riverfly Census data is further evidence that the Farming Rules for Water, introduced in April 2018, are critical…

♦ EMAIL MADELEINE.SILVER@FUTURENET.COM SILK SCARF HOLLAND COOPER Hand-rolled and made in England with signature artwork from the Holland Cooper archive. Wear it around your neck, tied to your bag or as a belt on your jeans for an equine fix. ♦ Price £149 ♦ Tel 01869 241264 ♦ hollandcooper.com CORD SHIRT BEAUFORT & BLAKE An extra-soft, fine needlecord design, made from 100% cotton in sage green, with tortoiseshell buttons and contrast colour button stitch at cuff. Works as sporting or social kit. ♦ Price £79 ♦ Tel 020 3793 2867 ♦ beaufortandblake.com REGIMENTAL SHOOTING SOCKS ALMOST UNWEAROUTABLE A not-so-subtle nod in the field to (past or present) military life, with regimental colours peeking above boots. Option to upgrade ply and calf size or add matching garters. ♦ Price from £65…

The largest privately owned estate in North Yorkshire lies a mile south-west of the market town of Masham in Lower Wensleydale and is surrounded by 20,000 acres of stunning countryside. Mark Cunliffe-Lister, Earl of Swinton, oversees an empire that is a shining example of enterprise, diversification and ingenuity within a modern rural estate. The ancestral seat of Swinton Hall is now a stately 42-bedroom hotel with country club and spa, offering a diverse range of rural activities to guests and members of the public. These include fishing and cookery schools run by Orvis ambassador Marina Gibson and Marc Williams, respectively, and outdoor pursuits to suit all tastes and pockets. And given Swinton’s spectacular rural setting, superb driven game days and a shooting school run by EJ Churchill. Swinton Estate is…

Earlier this summer it was announced that the Royal warship of King James II (at the time the Duke of York), HMS Gloucester, had been found off the coast of Norfolk. It sank in 1682 after striking a sandbank and went down within an hour of running aground. Initially discovered in 2007, it has taken 15 years to confirm HMS Gloucester’s identity and protect the site. As a confirmed wreck, she joins a list of thousands of others around the shores of the UK and more than three million worldwide. These wrecks stretch back through centuries of maritime history and since sinking beneath the waves, they have begun their second life thanks to the forces of nature and the sea. Upon reaching the seabed a ship becomes structure and habitat…

My first ever car was a Morgan F-type three-wheeler, which I bought in 1971 from a garage in North London. As I motored home along the A1, I found myself in a race with an empty hearse. The undertakers had taken off their silk toppers and were gesticulating enthusiastically. Despite their encouragement, the Ford 10hp-engined Morgan sadly didn’t manage to overtake, but it drew level. It was my entry into the particularly British world of sports cars and the urge to make them go faster. Once the Mog was home, to my chagrin, the rear of the car seemed to be reinforced with bits of Dexion shelving steel. Undaunted, I developed a plan to restore and improve it. This took me to Morgan main dealers FH Douglass in Ealing (a…

LAST season, a friend realised a lifetime’s ambition when he took his spaniel picking up on a Highland grouse moor. I saw him not long after the trip, and asked him whether he and his dog had had a good time. “Well,” he replied, struggling a little to explain this experience. “We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves, but we didn’t pick up many birds, which was disappointing. I hadn’t appreciated just how different working on a grouse moor would be to a lowland shoot. The beaters’ and Guns’ dogs did most of the retrieving.” Would he be going again? The answer was a positive yes, but he would be beating, not picking up. He reckoned that his springer would have a lot more fun hunting than picking up, and would get more…

I have always thought of elevenses as canapés’ slightly bigger, more boisterous cousin. They both need to look attractive, be packed full of flavour and must be easy to eat while standing up and with one hand, as the other is usually clutching a drink. Something fried and fatty, such as my crispy partridge burgers, usually hits the mark, particularly on colder days, although I also like to add a bit of spice and freshness (the kimchi) to help cut through the richness. A simple hot sausage never fails to please and can easily be jazzed up when encased in a cheesy bun and served with sweet, fruity onions. Finally, a hot soup, home-made broth or consommé should always be on offer at some point during the morning. Elevenses is…

I WASN’T sure how successful a modern Volvo’s visit to the farm would be. After all, it has been many decades since the Swedish giant (and its Saab compatriots) led a no-nonsense assault on the British countryside, ousting Rovers and Triumphs. A stream of sturdy and sensible models proved highly reliable, practical and popular. The XC60 – now Volvo’s biggest seller – is sleek and stylish, but somehow very urban. It has to be said that my booking didn’t get off to a good start. “We’ll send you one of the new all-electric ones,” said the man from Volvo. I pointed out that the electrics here were last updated in the 1960s, and I suspect the fuse boxes contain more than one 6in nail. “Ah,” he replied. “Have a mild-hybrid…