Innholdsfortegnelse for August 2023 i The Field

IT IS A sad but inevitable fact that firearms licensing in Britain has been driven by tragedies in which lawfully held firearms were used to commit dreadful crimes. Governments are apt to make knee-jerk reactions, and the burden generally falls not on the criminal but on the broad mass of the lawful shooting public. Such was the case after the outrages at Hungerford in 1987 and Dunblane in 1996. The killing of five people in August 2021 in Plymouth by Jake Davison, a shotgun certificate holder whose licence had been removed but then returned to him by the police, along with the shootings in Skye and Wester Ross in August 2022 have again brought the lawful possession of firearms into sharp focus. It is right that such events should be…

The founder of the National Foundation for Retired Service Animals (NFRSA), a charity supporting retired dogs and horses from services such as police, fire and rescue, and border force, is to embark on the challenge of a lifetime. The Countess Bathurst [pictured, below] is planning to ride her electric bike from Land’s End to John O’Groats to raise awareness and funds for the charity she launched in 2022. The ride will be more than 1,000 miles and, in the Countess’ own words, will be “the experience of a lifetime, but one that will take me way out of my comfort zone”. The 58-year-old will be joined by many of the NFRSA’s celebrity ambassadors, who will each ride a ‘leg’, as well as members of the five services the charity supports.…

As guests to The Field’s 170th birthday party discovered, this magazine’s history is intertwined with a myriad of notable events and institutions. Few of these associations go back as far as that with the Kennel Club, which also celebrates a special anniversary this year, having been founded two decades after The Field. And so its Mayfair HQ proved the perfect place for friends of the magazine to gather to toast The Field’s long life and the adventures yet to come. Fittingly, the invitation had been extended to well-behaved canine guests. Those present had obviously read the brief and did their human plus-ones proud. However, they were not the only dogs to elicit copious appreciation, for the Kennel Club’s archivist was on hand to take anyone wishing on a tour of…

This Grade II-listed former mill house has 1¼ miles of prime chalkstream fly-fishing on the River Dever, a tributary of the Test. Boasting a substantial stock of wild brown trout, the beat also offers grayling fishing. The earliest part of the five-bedroom house dates from the 18th century before being extended in the 1900s. On the ground floor the original mill wheel remains, while the double-height drawing room retains some of the pulleys. The meadows have been managed to maximise biodiversity with native wildflowers and more than 40 species of trees. There is a small pond with four hides for flighting wild duck, predominantly mallard, gadwall and teal. A four-bedroom cottage is included in the sale. Bransbury Mill House comes with 22 acres of land in total. Agent: Knight Frank…

BENEATH a cloudless azure sky on the Lancashire moorland, not far from an abandoned stone barn, a diurnal short-eared or ‘bog’ owl is clapping its wings 50 feet above the ground. It is ‘listening’ for a vole, which is how it hunts: one ear unevenly placed above the other, circling and swooping until it is joined by a mobbing lapwing whose nest and young are hidden among the white grass and heather below. Welcome to nature’s avian daily flight for survival. This 7,000-acre managed moor provides nature, sanctuary and a food supply for owl and lapwing alike. So, too, it does for curlew and oystercatchers and, as I was to find out over the next 24 hours as a guest of the fourth Moorland Summit, a myriad of other birdlife,…

HAVE YOU looked at your boots since last Season? When did you last leave the ground? Have you spoken to the farmer whose rails got broken? Summer still has that sun-soaked feel of carefree months untroubled by early starts and endless mud, but whether you are hunt staff or an occasional follower, it is a crucial time for repairing and preparing, laying the foundation for a successful Season. “People say ‘what do you do all summer?’” exclaims Percy huntsman Robert McCarthy. “There’s plenty to do, rearing three or four litters of puppies, grass to cut, painting, taking youngsters out on couples, staff on holiday, then before you know it horses are back in.” He walks hounds out twice a day, keeping them ticking over. “We start with a quiet April,…

With pretty much all tea smuggled into Britain, the East India Company’s monopoly on imports meant it had a huge surplus to deal with. At the same time, it was hugely in debt – at one point it owed the government £1m. But the East India Company saw a way out: the colonies. In America, tea was as popular as it was in England. The government wanted its money back, so it permitted the East India Company to devise a winning formula: all tea had to be imported into America by them and from England. On top of that, the British government levied a duty of 3d per pound. What the Brits hadn’t realised was how much the Americans resented paying any duty at all to a government it felt…

THIS month’s test looks at a 28-bore Elos DII over-and-under from Fabarm imported by Anglo Italian Arms (which also brings in the Guerini brand). Built on the same action as Fabarm’s 20-bore, the DII sports 28in taper-bored barrels, a ventilated 6mm sighting rib, single selective trigger and long, ‘hyperbolic’ (HP) multichokes. It weighs in at 6lb 9oz – on the heavy side for a 28-bore but not excessively so. My preference in a 28-bore would be something just over 6lb (and around 7lb would be my ideal for a 30in 20-bore over-and-under). Many upmarket small-bores have been made too light in the past, suffering controllability issues as a result. Lightweight small-bores are typically quick to start and quick to stop. The secret to shooting them is that they require more…

CARP DOOR KNOCKER BEARDMORE Dressing doors, windows and cabinetry since 1860, Beardmore can be found at Buckingham Palace, the Houses of Parliament and on the Orient Express. The company’s range of elaborate and traditional door knockers can extend to immortalising your own catch of the day: this carp design was first produced for the successful fisherman. Price: £850 Tel: 020 7351 5444 beardmore.co.uk WILLOW BASKETS ELEANOR MORGAN As decorative as they are practical, these baskets are sturdy enough for the most bountiful harvest and a feature in any room. Neptune’s local craft collective carries two designs handmade, naturally, by Eleanor Morgan from willow. The traditional ‘stake and strand’ baskets have a solid willow handle, foraged from Newmarket and Isleworth. Price: zigzag basket 38cm x 49cm £79, round basket 29cm x…

AS A TRAVELLING private chef, I have been able to visit some of the world’s most extraordinary food stores, from the stalls that pop up in the sun-dappled squares of Provence to the shops squeezed into the wet markets of Singapore. However, one place with a most impressive natural larder is much closer to home: Scotland. The landscape supports a glorious mix of wild meat, game and livestock, and there is a dizzying array of delicious drinks as well as top-quality fruit and vegetables on offer. Further, the surrounding waters support a fine range of fish and shellfish. Making the most of these ingredients are some outstanding producers. Great Glen Charcuterie and East Coast Cured produce superb charcuterie. Errington Cheese makes a selection of award-winning cheeses, and Katy Rodger’s crème…

THE FORESTER has always been a Field favourite, so I was eager to see if the latest version – complete with hybrid ‘e-Boxer’ power plant – would still feature on our wishlist. We’ve grimaced at the continuously variable transmission (CVT) gearbox replacing the wonderful manual dual-range version. We cheered at the diesel flat-four when it arrived, and booed when it vanished. How would the petrol/electric mix get on? It didn’t get off to a great start. I was sent the ‘Sport’ version, which comes adorned with clashing bronze/red flashes and a set of drilled pedals, but no extra performance at all compared with its stablemates. There’s no WRC/XT-style performance step-up here. And you can’t get it in the handsome green that the ‘plain’ version comes in. The Forester’s body shape…

MANY a time when in my butt at the beginning of a long grouse drive I have looked down the line to see how much or how little the clothes worn by my fellow guns show up against the surrounding country, and it has proved rather an interesting study. Most people, I think, when going into their tailors to choose a shooting suit, have a vague idea that brown is the most suitable colour. This may be correct but, unfortunately, it is extremely difficult to choose the right shade of brown in the environment of a tailor’s shop. Recently, in a shop window, I saw a stuffed grouse sitting majestically on a roll of cloth, the colour of which matched the bird almost exactly. I feel certain that this clever…

RED-FACED CHEEK A £2 bottle of supermarket wine that was entered into a prestigious French wine competition by Belgian pranksters has won a gold medal. The wine had been treated to a colourful new label and renamed to Le Château Colombier. The judges at the Gilbert & Gaillard competition deemed it “exceptional and very interesting”, lauding its “suave, nervous [and] rich palate”. OH DEER Dame Judi Dench has revealed that she was visited by police after someone reported her for stealing a deer. Dame Judi explained that she had been herding the animal back into the park it had jumped out from, adding that she found the whole situation rather amusing. FIND US ON SOCIAL MEDIA INSTAGRAM @thefieldmagazine FACEBOOK The Field Magazine TWITTER The Field Mag Subscribe to our exclusive…

The GWCT London Clay Day at the Holland & Holland Shooting Grounds raised an impressive £5,740. Participants embarked on eight challenging stands that included the use of a blackpowder gun and a special Holland & Holland gun. Eley Hawk generously donated the cartridges for the day. Fundraising activities commenced after the sport, with the auction showcasing lots such as the Holland & Holland Experience; a shooting lesson with Olympian Matthew Coward-Holley, the GWCT’s charity ambassador; and a Land Rover driving experience.…

Eating out THE MEIKLEOUR ARMS Where? Meikleour, Perthshire PH2 6EB – an hour north of Edinburgh off the A93. What? A proper country pub with a touch of Gallic flair, thanks to an owner hailing from Bordeaux. The Meikleour Arms operates a field-to-table philosophy, championing foraging and zero-mile food. All the meat comes from the estate butchery and nothing is wasted: offal, for instance, becomes delicious haggis, sausages, terrines and broths. Seasonal game is hugely popular, as is the venison from the estate. You won’t find salmon on the menu but instead rod-caught trout, fabulous Shetland mussels and hand-dived scallops fresh from the west coast. Look out for? Home-smoked trout and the Meikleour black pudding Scotch egg washed down with a wide variety of locally brewed beers or something from…

STAINTON HALL FARM DANBY, WHITBY, NORTH YORKSHIRE A development opportunity with planning permission to build a new three-bedroom property as well as convert a group of stone-built farm buildings into three dwellings. The five-bedroom farmhouse, in need of renovation, sits in the heart of the North York Moors National Park. Inside, the property’s accommodation runs to nearly 3,000 sq ft and in total the site extends to just under one acre. Agent: Savills Tel: 01904 617800 Guide price: £900,000 TOR COTTAGE CHILLATON, LIFTON, DEVON Tor Cottage is a former mine captain’s house set within its own secluded valley on the western edge of Dartmoor. There are eight acres of gardens and grounds, including a brook and a swimming pool. Made up of a three-bedroom home and two converted residential outbuildings…

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MY VISIT to the northern Pennines begins with a magical mystery tour of a grouse moor in Upper Teesdale that is home to a staggering variety of birdlife. In addition to the ubiquitous red grouse and meadow pipits we see, during the course of just a few hours, dozens of curlew, golden plover, oystercatchers, a merlin and wheatears, all of which breed on the estate. Along with the nests of several rare waders, we are shown one containing four conker-brown kestrel eggs perched precariously on the edge of a sheer cliff, and on the walk home – the icing on the cake of a memorable afternoon – a pair of entwined adders copulating in a sieve bed. I am part of a small group of conservationists for whom this is…

‘THE LOWLANDS beyond the Highlands’ is an often used description of Caithness. But while the ‘Kingdom of the Cats’, which is surrounded by the mountains of Sutherland to the south and west and the sea to the north and east, is low-lying it is by no means uniform. In the north and east cattle grow fat and sleek on fine grazing alongside fields of barley. The River Thurso lures salmon fishermen, and the great alkaline lochs of Watten, St John’s and Heilan hold big silver trout in gin-clear water. In the winter wildfowl abound, and huge numbers of snipe lurk in every bog and wet corner. This fertile top corner of Scotland, which was historically part of the Viking kingdom of Orkney, is a sportsman’s paradise but it is the…

THE GARRON pony is as much a symbol of Scotland’s sporting heritage as it is a modern working animal, doughtily getting to places that the Argo can’t reach, and a companion to those who spend their time on the hill. Growing up, I had little experience of horses and ponies. All that changed when I started my college placement as a student gamekeeper at Grosvenor’s Reay Forest estate, one of the handful of sporting estates that still use the garron for deer extraction. Naively I took this for granted and did not appreciate the rarity of my experience. At 18 years old one of my main responsibilities suddenly became these amazing animals. Each one had their own unique character and personality, some easy-going and gentle, others stubborn and cantankerous. I…

SCOTLAND, 1773. In the sparsely roaded northern ‘Highlands’ the countryside is wild and romantic but devoid of many of the luxuries of life. Extensive felling of the native Scots pine forests has left most of the hills covered with heather. The population is sparse. People mostly live in scattered small farms. They resent having been disarmed, and stopped by an act of an English Parliament from wearing tartan on pain of six months’ imprisonment or banishment to the colonies. The clan system has been banned but, with the rule of law far from established, clan chieftains continue to have authority. Whisky is being distilled in countless illicit secret stills. In central Scotland some 57,000 people, rich and poor, struggle to live in the tall, disease-ridden tenements, cobbled streets and stinking,…

THE ENGLISH are not the world’s greatest tea drinkers. This came as something of a surprise to me, having grown up in a house where tea was mainlined from morning until night. And to this day, I still warn people when they visit my mother simply to accept the cup of tea they will undoubtedly be offered within 20 seconds of walking through her front door. If declined, the offer will be repeated in an infusion-based war of attrition until the brew beneficiary caves. While it’s doubtless unsettling to be cornered into a cuppa, it’s weirdly stressful for my mother as she tries to understand why someone might not, always, at any given time of the day, want tea. Per capita, the world’s greatest consumers of tea are the Turks…

THROUGHOUT The Field’s long history, the letters pages have been a fascinating barometer of the thoughts and concerns of sporting gentlemen and women. In the heady Edwardian days before World War I, the upstart labrador was quickly taking over from the flat- or smooth-coated retriever, which was until then the gundog of choice. A certain Mr EG Wheeler was a great supporter of the latter, and it was this enthusiasm for the breed that prompted him to write a lengthy letter to the Editor. In it he acknowledged the brilliance of the labrador, but insisted that the breed had inherent faults that ‘may be bred out in time’. He conceded that the labradors he had watched ‘were very obedient, with any amount of dash’ and that ‘they impress one at…

GUNMAKING is often a family enterprise and at no time was this more evident than in the early 19th century, when a swathe of renowned dynasties were being entrenched. To this day, names such as Manton and Le Page evoke images of exquisitely made, and at times technologically innovative, guns of prestige. The collection of the Royal Armouries houses one such gun, from the family of one of gunmaking’s finest. Samuel Nock was the nephew of the legendary London gunmaker Henry Nock, and learnt his trade as an apprentice under his uncle starting in 1791. It comes as no surprise, then, that Samuel himself became a gunmaker of significant renown in the first half of the 19th century. As early as 1805, the younger Nock had been appointed gunmaker-in-ordinary to…

WHILE many of us make the late summer caravanserai to Scotland, there is another destination for discerning sportsmen and naturalists which is the wide open moorland of Exmoor. Here, stags roam the open ground and villages nestle in deep combe valleys, the empty roads and lanes ribboning this majestic landscape. At Simonsbath, comfort and tranquillity may be found at the renovated Exmoor Forest Inn, immortalised in RD Blackmore’s Lorna Doone. Winston Churchill once stayed to fish for salmon on the nearby River Barle. Not a mile away is Duredon Farm, a nine-bedroom lodge of great privacy, where shooting parties can enjoy the highest level of hospitality. The renowned high-bird pheasant and partridge shoots of North Molton, Challacombe and Buttery are all nearby. Both establishments are the ambitious enterprises of Dr…

Some 37 environmental groups have signed a letter to Secretary of State Thérèse Coffey expressing concern about the water companies’ draft Water Resources Management Plans (WRMP). In these plans, the companies set out how they will meet future demands for water. However, the letter’s signatories, which include the Rivers Trust and the WWF, are concerned that the information in the latest round of plans is uncertain and misleading. The final WRMPs are due to be published at the end of the year. The letter, which was drafted by WildFish, requests radical improvements to enable everyone to understand how the water supply in England is organised and the catastrophic consequences for the environment if the plans are not changed.…

On 20 June, a 12-week consultation closed on proposals to introduce a licensing system for the release of pheasants and red-legged partridges in Wales. The proposals were issued by Natural Resources Wales (NRW) on behalf of the Welsh government. Conor O’Gorman, head of policy and campaigns at BASC, said: “To be fair, I think they expected a meek response from the shooting community. Not so, it would seem, given that NRW have reported 42,000 complete responses to the consultation. “Firstly, they were counting on our collective apathy towards responding to government consultations. Secondly, the proposals and survey questions were confusing and ambiguous – cloaking a de facto plan to ban gamebird releasing in Wales.” According to BASC, there are now strong grounds to legally challenge the licensing proposals should the…

DUNDEE CAKE Why? This zesty fruit cake topped with almonds might have lost a bid for protected status earlier this year but it is food royalty as far as The Field is concerned. Indeed, many credit its creation with its regal connections. “Legend has it that Mary, Queen of Scots did not enjoy cherries in her fruit cakes. So, in the 16th century, the Dundee cake was born and has been popular ever since,” says Mihaela Mercasi, foodhall manager at The House of Bruar. It was said to be a favourite with Her Late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and Winston Churchill. Like all greats, there are many imitations. However, a proper Dundee cake isn’t simply a regular fruit cake topped with nuts but should contain only sultanas, spice and orange…

“The Noble is a gun that supports its fully bespoke sibling, the Royal, while still flying the H&H flag” WHETHER it was the hammergun or breech-loader, the round action or sidelock, innovation has always been at the heart of the gun trade. And when London best heritage and modern technology meet, it marks an exciting moment in the gunmaking world. Holland & Holland (H&H) is no exception; throughout its 188 years of trading it has been one of London’s most inventive gunmakers, with more than 50 patents still in use. These include the first ‘belted rimless’ cartridge case, a design still used by ammunition manufacturers to this day; the iconic .375 H&H magnum rifle cartridge, cemented as the ‘industry standard’ for large game hunting; and finally the much-imitated self-opening side-by-side…

MOST SPORTING sorts know what a challenge it is to undertake a proper Macnab, by which we mean the modern classic iteration, inspired by John Buchan and tweaked for the modern sportsman in the pages of The Field. That is, to catch a salmon, shoot a stag and complete it with a brace of grouse, all taken between dawn and dusk in one day. We are delighted to launch The Field’s Macnab Challenge 2023 in association with Blaser, an apt partner that can fit you out with a rifle, shotgun and all the right kit for the hill. The Macnab is an undertaking that combines fieldsports and conservation, traditional and modern sporting techniques. It places the grouse, the red deer and the salmon on a pedestal, is concerned with their…

WHEN it comes to dressing for a special occasion, few things are more princely, impressive – or mystifying — than a sash. Whether worn at a Royal (or Disney) wedding, a Palace dinner or a Caledonian ball, they indicate another level of grandeur and membership of a rather exclusive club. But as a friend asked plaintively, after swooning over photographs from a recent State banquet, what do they really signify? Who gets to wear one and what are the rules behind them? The sashes worn by members of the Royal Family and other VIPs at State occasions aren’t technically sashes at all but are properly known as ribands. They come with Royal or State Orders bestowed by the head of state, with similar systems in place in many other countries.…

WHAT is a folly? At times it seems as though there are as many definitions as there are follies them-selves. The Oxford English Dictionary describes it as: ‘A costly ornamental building (considered as) serving no practical purpose.’ Intriguingly, the word derives from the French folie meaning ‘madness’ yet can also mean ‘delight’. Both words are key constituents to our understanding of a folly. Belvedere, eye-catcher, gazebo, grotto, obelisk, pavilion, pyramid, rotunda, ruin, sham building, temple, tower – all can be considered as follies, yet not all are. Architectural styles typically range from battlemented Gothic to the classically inspired Greek and Roman. A true folly probably defies definition as the accolade is in the eye of the beholder, the visitor. Maybe architectural historian Gwyn Headley is correct when he states: “Follies…

AN ‘L’ PLATE was stitched on to my hat silk when I rode my first Shetland. At five years old I thought this stood for ‘Lucinda’ but it wasn’t long until I was getting up to mischief with a trio of grey ponies charging about the Oxfordshire countryside. Blonde hair and red mucker boots didn’t help me be discreet but those times taught me much about how to cross country. One day I jumped a stile surrounded by trees only to land in someone’s picnic. Sandwiches went flying and the damage was done but I did apologise profusely before cantering back through it. While I was at primary school my father asked for permission for me to miss a day for a Pony Club team event as I was a…

FROM the Himalayas to the Andes to Arctic Russia, Tim Scott Bolton has journeyed through some of the world’s least travelled places. Yet from an artist’s point of view, he has a slight quibble: “The problem with true wilderness is that there is nowhere to look. It is all incredible and you might experience it in an emotional way, but it needs some focus to galvanise what you are seeing. So it is difficult to create a good picture.” He is happy to be considered a topographical artist, “like Edward Lear, where you are in a particular place at a particular time. I like to be honest in my painting, but there seem never to be enough opportunities to create a good picture and be honest. A picture is not…

WHAT is it with gardeners and coloured foliage? Why do purple, red or yellow leaves seem to appeal so strongly? Is it a positive aesthetic reaction to these colours or is it that garden centres push them so hard, as ‘exciting’ alternatives to the supposedly boring old green versions of shrubs, trees and perennials, that it is hard to escape buying them? I admit that I used to be a devotee of coloured leaves, but that was when everything was new to me and seemed hallowed by the approval of more experienced gardeners. But I have increasingly found that, when I see them in the countryside, especially where village gardens are part of a wider rural landscape, they affect me like a piece of grit in the eye. So hypersensitive…