Innholdsfortegnelse for December 2022 i The Field

The Gamekeepers’ Welfare Trust (GWT) was founded in February 1992 to provide financial support to gamekeepers, stalkers, gillies and their dependants throughout the UK, in disability, illness, hardship, poverty and old age, with a remit to assist young people wishing to make gamekeeping a career. The GWT is marking its 30th anniversary in conjunction with the Year of the Gamekeeper 2022, a celebration of the role of the gamekeeper, stalker and gillie and recognition of what they do as custodians of the countryside in all its forms, from the hills and moorland to river, marsh and woodland. Britain has a landscape unique in diversity, from heather moorland to coastal marshes, home to a vast array of wildlife. Contrary to the ignorant claims of animal rights activists, we have generations of…

Animal rights organisation PETA has criticised the NHS for its decision to serve hospital patients and staff venison from deer culled in England’s forests. Recently, it has been recognised that our nation’s deer population is at its highest for 1,000 years. In an effort to bring the population down to a more manageable level, a rise in the number of animals being culled has also been reported. East Lancashire Hospital Trust began serving wild venison to patients and staff a year ago. Locally sourced and sustainable, venison provides many health benefits over other meats. However, PETA has opposed the NHS’s decision to serve venison, arguing that “heart attacks, strokes, cancer and diabetes are all linked to diets heavy in saturated fat”. The organisation also compared putting venison on a hospital…

EAST COOMBE HEAD YEOFORD, CREDITON, DEVON This is a small estate, with the farmhouse converted from a thatched former threshing barn. The house has been modernised while retaining the original character of the building. The property has four bedrooms and the grounds include a summerhouse and a building with an indoor pool and kitchen. There are 84 acres in total, with shooting rights over the land. Agent: Greenslade Taylor Hunt Tel: 01884 243000 Guide price: £1.87 million BALDASH COTTAGE BRANSCOMBE, SEATON, DEVON This is a period thatched farmhouse, with Arts and Crafts influences, which was enlarged in the 1930s and again in the early 2000s. The front of this four-bedroom house is clad in wisteria and the property has a modern oak and glass wing. Other features include an inglenook…

The woodcock is an enigmatic species revered by Shots and birders alike, and one that I have spent the majority of my career studying. There have been nights enduring pouring rain and howling wind ringing woodcock in winter, and hours spent in clouds of persistent midges while recording roding woodcock in spring. But there are exceptional moments, too, watching a woodcock evade a sparrowhawk in the early evening twilight and observing a female carrying a chick. Seeing wood-cock display in the mist above scrub-clad hillsides in the Azores was both eerie and timeless. At present the woodcock season opens, as with other gamebirds, on 1 October and closes on 31 January. Most Shots will be aware that while the global woodcock population is stable, our resident, breeding population is in…

In defence of the goose ELEANOR DOUGHTY Ding ding ding! The Christmas birds are in the ring, and I know whose corner I’m in: the goose. Or, as we call it in my family, the long-necked chicken. This, of course, began as a classic parental ruse, and it’s stuck. It’s not that I don’t like turkey – no, in our house, we always have a variety of meats on the menu, despite usually being only three or four for Christmas each year. One year, there were more meats than people. But despite the luscious cuts of beef, ham and venison, and the mega turkeys that our kitchen has seen, it’s always going to be goose for me. I like to think she’s a bit cooler, somehow more refined – the…

1 THE HOLLY AND THE IVY / SANS DAY CAROL (ST DAY CAROL) The iconic celebration of a winter feast with its references to the running of the deer. Villagers in Cornwall’s St Day are protective of its sister carol, which they believe goes back centuries, although only collected in the 20th century. 2 GOOD KING WENCESLAS Taking place on Boxing Day, this carol from 1853 has come to sum up the way a whole community joins together to support as well as celebrate at Christmas time. 3 THE BOAR’S HEAD CAROL Christmas and boar-hunting have always gone together. In the late 14th century, the winter tale of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight revolves around a deer and boar hunt. Also dating from the Middle Ages, The Boar’s Head…

He taught me to use my eyes,” remarked the photographer Lord Snowdon about his uncle, Oliver Messel. Master of an unusual array of disciplines, Messel defied easy categorisation, reinventing himself throughout his life. “To a generation born before World War II, he will be remembered as the foremost stage designer of his day,” says another nephew, the furniture designer Thomas Messel. “But to the generation born after the war, and a younger generation of designers and architects, he is known for his glorious houses in the Caribbean.” Messel’s Caribbean houses included his own residence on Barbados, plus the ones he created on the island of Mustique. The most famous of these was Les Jolies Eaux, built 50 years ago for Princess Margaret, who was then married to his nephew Lord…

ON a dreich evening, what better than the lights of a decent pub, and even more so when that pub offers everything required of a proper pit stop. Charming and unfussy, The Duncombe Arms is the type of establishment all those ‘olde English inns’ yearn to imitate with little success. It is authentic and without pretension. The building is a comfortable honeycomb of rooms, nooks and crannies softly lit by lamps on tables and decent fires. Wooden beams, patinated leather, heaps of rustic charm and locals at the bar; arriving for the evening feels like a return. The pub was bought by Johnny and Laura Greenall 10 years ago, and they have restored the once dilapidated and sad place, growing it into a thriving business, popular locally and, since rooms…

SHOOTING or hunting? Almost every Boxing Day since I was 17 has been spent enjoying one or the other, usually with canine company. However, my first Boxing Day shoot was memorable for the lack of a dog. I shot my first pheasant, and then spent 20 minutes fighting my way through a bramble thicket trying to retrieve it. I succeeded in the end, but my lesson had been well and truly learned – don’t shoot without a dog. As the years rolled by, the dog eventually became rather more important than the shooting. The watershed moment was the Boxing Day shoot when my octogenarian mother-in-law decided to join us for the day. This was such a shock that though I remembered to pack my dogs, my coat and my boots,…

The Cheshire Hunt has kicked off its trail hunting season, having raised more than £2,250 for various charitable causes this year. Hunt supporters have been fundraising for a number of charities. Sales of a popular cookbook collating recipes from hunts all over the world, compiled by subscriber Rachel Cooke, raised £500 for Riding for the Disabled, while a hike by subscribers Anne Stones and Di Woolley added £500 to the coffers of Macmillan Cancer Support. Like many hunts up and down the country that have been working hard to support local and national charities at their time of greatest need, the Cheshire also collected clothing, food and essential supplies to send to Ukrainian refugees.…

WHAT is it about a comeback story in sport? Perhaps there’s something relatable about a fallen star rising from the canvas to return to the top of their game. And punters love nothing more than a good comeback. We learned that the hard way on Boxing Day in 2011. Paul Nicholls has made the King George his own in recent years. It’s his five-time hero, however, who is so woven into the fabric of Kempton’s two-day Christmas meeting that the Novices’ Chase, run just an hour before the King George, is named after the king of Kempton himself, Kauto Star. To do the great horse justice, it’s worth going back to the start. Nicholls stepped his stable star up in trip in 2006 to win the Betfair Chase at Haydock.…

Since 2014, the GWCT, with the generous backing of various shoot owners and the enthusiastic support of their headkeepers, has held the enormously successful ‘Big Four’ raffles, where the winning ticket holder and their team of Guns have the opportunity to experience a day’s shooting on four different estates. In June last year, GWCT Scotland launched the Perthshire Big Four, sponsored by Weatherbys bank, offering a pheasant and partridge day on Wednesday, 8 December, in the stunning countryside of Strathtay, across four outstanding estates: Remony, Kinnaird, Findynate and Edradynate, with an expected bag of 150 to 200 birds. Tickets, at £100, were limited to 400, to be drawn on 31 August, and the prize included overnight accommodation, dinner, drinks and breakfast on 7 and 8 December for the lucky winner’s…

For an Irish girl, a lawn meet can mean anything from gathering on the well-manicured grass of a large crumbling pile to assembling on the artificial turf adjacent to a bungalow. But Aske Hall firmly falls into the former category, albeit fortunately with no crumbling thanks to its owners, the Dundas family, Marquesses of Zetland since 1763. The origins of the present-day Zetland Hunt owe their dues, in fact, to the Earl of Darlington (later Duke of Cleveland), who lived at the magnificent Raby Castle and who founded the Raby Hunt in 1787. The Raby’s turf stretched across much of Yorkshire and Durham, evolving into present-day hunt countries including the Braes of Derwent, Bedale, Badsworth and Bramham Moor, York and Ainsty South, West of Yore and the Zetland. The Raby…

Even Agatha Christie’s most diehard fans would not claim that the title tale of the short story collection she published in 1960 is her finest mystery. The Adventure of the Christmas Pudding does, however, contain her most delightful description of a dessert. Sitting down to Christmas dinner at a country house called Kings Lacey, Hercule Poirot is confronted with “a large football of a pudding, a piece of holly stuck in it like a triumphant flag and glorious flames of blue and red rising around it”. It isn’t just the note he’s found in his bedroom warning him off the dish that bemuses the Belgian detective – it’s the quintessential, very nearly untranslatable Englishness of the whole scene, complete with the flames blazing in the colours of the Union Flag.…

FINDING CLOSURE Q I have a Barbour liner that needs press studs replacing – can you help with a name and address? MJB, West Yorkshire A DM Buttons offers a postal service for replacement press studs. It supplies and machine-applies the studs. The garment needs to be marked with chalk or pencil, indicating where the stud should be placed, unless the broken stud is still in situ. It has a selection of studs from which one can choose. For pricing, call 020 7437 8897 between Tuesday and Friday, from 8am to 3pm. For further information, visit: dmbutton.com STURDIER SOCKS Q I cannot be the only person with drawers full of shooting socks with toe and heel holes after only a few days’ use. The tops are bulging with so much…

FROM the 1850s to the present day, four generations of the Earl family, over more than 150 years, have been painting what it is that makes us tick. Now the Kennel Club has put together the first exhibition to span the whole family, not just in art-work but including letters, photographs and memorabilia of a family tree that grew its history across the continents. So what does define our passions at home and overseas? Those in tears at the late Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral procession know very well that dogs and horses are integral to our lives. And then there is our love of exploration and adventure, and the way we share this with all those we meet. The two brothers who founded the Earl painting dynasty, Thomas William Earl…

If anyone can make the four-door pickup concept a success (I decided as the Hilux arrived in the farmyard), it’ll be Toyota. Surely it would be able to come up with a machine without all the familiar failings that plague so many others in this increasingly popular genre – failings that make its popularity a complete mystery to me. A quick glance revealed all the usual ingredients: a stylish four-door cabin mounted on an agricultural ladder-frame chassis, with a chunky load area sitting behind it. Have a snoop into the rear wheel arches, and there are the usual leaf springs. So far, exactly as expected. Climb in, and the interior is anything but agricultural. It’s plush, comfortable and well put together. The dashboard is a model of clarity, although some…

The schoolboy is now enjoying his Christmas holiday, and if he happens to live in the country, and has the chance of participating in one or more fieldsports, he is most certainly in luck’s way. With many boys, a love of sport is inherited, and field-sports are generally preferred to pastimes. The boy who has to spend his Christmas holidays in London or any other big town must in most winters have a poor time of it. Should he be of a studious turn of mind, the town will suit him perhaps better than the country for a winter vacation, but as a matter of fact, about nine out of 10 public schoolboys would rather be out of doors, even in mid-winter, than in the house, and those who live…

The RSPB has claimed that the release of gamebirds is unsustainable and must be more heavily regulated. The charity made the announcement at its annual general meeting on 15 October. Shooting organisations were notified in advance of the RSPB’s intentions in a letter from chief executive Becky Speight, in which she wrote: “Our concern is about large-scale shoots and not small-scale farm shoots, where there is often a net benefit for native wildlife.” BASC, the GWCT and the National Gamekeepers’ Organisation (NGO) all responded to reject the claim. Speaking to The Field, Tim Weston, development officer at the NGO, said that the RSPB’s position “only serves to show that the organisation is more interested in pursuing its campaign against game shooting than in conserving and improving the prospects for the…

Avian influenza is continuing to spread rapidly across the country. The first outbreak among pheasants of the 2022 season was recorded in Norfolk in early October, with subsequent cases reported in Lincolnshire and Yorkshire. There have also been confirmed reports of the disease in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, prompting Defra to declare an Avian Influenza Prevention Zone across Britain on 18 October. This requires all bird keepers to watch their birds for signs of disease and maintain good biosecurity. On 23 October, avian influenza was confirmed in commercial poultry in four premises in Norfolk and one in Wiltshire. A 3km protection zone and 10km surveillance zone were declared around each of the Norfolk premises, with the Wiltshire premises subject to a 3km Captive Bird (Monitoring) Controlled Zone. On 24…

Sadberge Hall is a six-bedroom, seven-bathroom Grade II-listed Victorian mansion with just over 40 acres in total, including landscaped gardens and grounds, with a kitchen garden, an orchard, outdoor seating areas, kennels and an all-weather tennis court. The property comes with equestrian facilities, including an indoor riding arena, a horse walker, an American barn with stabling, a stable block, an all-weather canter track and paddocks. There is also a three-bedroom gate lodge in the sale with 10 acres of land. The hall dates from 1896 and features include an open-plan kitchen and living room, drawing and dining rooms, an orangery, a snooker room and a games room. There is also a leisure complex with a swimming pool, spa and sauna. Agent: Finest Properties Tel: 01434 622234 Guide price: £4 million…

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FOR hunting aficionados, Christmas may be an inconvenience dividing two days of festive sport, but there are fundamental differences between hunting on Christmas Eve and Boxing Day. Whereas every pack in the land turns out the day after Christmas, many only hunt on Christmas Eve if it happens to fall on a regular hunting day. The three-line whip for a full Boxing Day turnout is not just about demonstrating the strength of support that still exists for hunting, it is also a time to reward the men and women who work so hard to provide sport and entertainment throughout a long season by donating generously to the cap that is taken for their benefit. If forced to choose, I suspect most lovers of venery would plump for Christmas Eve; the…

ON one cerebral festive occasion in an Irish castle I was invited, with sinking heart and horror, to join in an incomprehensible word-play game with two Oxford undergraduates, then in full command of their intellectual plumage and prowess. They must have thought me a dunce and a dullard for, in that drowning hour, I did not get a single answer right. It was some comfort later to hear that one of them flunked university and the other only got a third-class degree. But aside from being intellectually overshadowed, there has been the odd moment of joy when it comes to Christmas games. The highly competitive Waugh family, grandchildren of Evelyn Waugh, are virtuosos at charades. My family has often been invited to the Waughs’ Devon home near Tiverton at Christmas…

Where would Christmas be without hunting? Bing Crosby dreamt of a white Christmas with every Christmas card he wrote. When that card shows the traditional scene of the hunt on the village green or in the market square on Boxing Day, then so much the more Christmassy. And along with the cards come the carols, with all their ancient hunting associations. We sing of the boar’s head or the running of the deer and know that Advent is in full swing. Whether it’s a fell pack with a tradition of singing at hunt get-togethers, or a grand shire gathering at the Master’s stately home, hunts enjoy their carolling as much as the other seasonal rituals – fancy dress hunting on Christmas Eve and thanking the hunt staff on Boxing Day.…

There cannot be many serious fly anglers who haven’t either tried flats fishing or dreamt about trying it. The combination of warm water, hot sun, hard-fighting fish and stunning scenery is hard to beat, and as someone who has been lucky enough to experience it a few times, I can attest that it becomes quite addictive. If I could only fish for one more day, I would be hard pushed to choose between a day spent walking a bonefish flat, barefoot and with just a fly-rod and a few spare flies, or a day on a good trout river with an upwing hatch on the go. For those keen to try flats fly-fishing, species such as bonefish, permit and tarpon are at closest an eight-hour flight away and the lodges…

THIS IS the Christmas issue – huzzah! The Emperor standard courtier cheer of approval that fans of The Great, Channel 4’s rumbustious romp through the reign of Catherine the Great, will instantly reognise. But I’m writing this through the after haze of a tedious dose of Covid. Boo! But my body will be bouncing with antibodies and I’ll be able to mix freely at call those Christmas parties. Huzzah! But the newspapers are now saying that the latest vicious variants are reinfecting us after a month. Boo! All of which means I know as little about Covid as those speculating feverishly about the future state of the economy. My conclusion, to quote Private Frazer of Dad’s Army fame: “We’re doomed!” “And what,” you ask, “has all this economic turmoil got…

THIS month, with hind seasons opening and stags still about, we are looking at a new version of a popular Browning rifle – the X-Bolt SF Pro Carbon Hunter in .308 form. This well-specified gun has a carbon-fibre stock with a glass-bedded action and a 22in free-floated, hand-lapped, fluted barrel tapped for a sound moderator. Other features include a rotary four-shot magazine, a polymer recoil pad and a fluted bolt handle. The gun comes complete with four screws per base, 30mm scope mounts and boasts a grey Cerakote anti-corrosion ceramic finish. First impressions are of a handy and attractive rifle. Its bare weight is 6lb 9oz, and with a 3-12x56 Nikko Diamond scope it still only hits the scales at 7¾lb – significantly lighter than the modern average. This is…

DO you remember those Christmases as a child when you got to stay in your room and do nothing? Me neither. Memories are made by being part of the celebrations no matter how old you are. Growing up with a family who loved throwing parties, especially in the festive season, meant there was lots of work to be done. Whether it was peeling potatoes, whipping cream (my favourite job) or laying the table, there was always something us children could lend a hand with. This month’s trio of seasonal recipes are all designed to be simple enough to cook with children. Measuring, rolling, chopping, whisking and decorating are all tasks they can get stuck into, but the most important thing to remember is it should be fun. Wishing you all…