The Field November 2024

Rosie Macdonald Brought up in rural Oxfordshire and raised on a monthly dose of The Field, Rosie Macdonald was delighted when she was given the opportunity to run the Country Queries column in 2005 while juggling her four young children. More than 1,300 queries later and having learnt a lot, she is as excited about the column today as she was then. When not hunting for an answer to a query, Rosie works for Tattersalls bloodstock auctioneers. She has a deep love of the outdoors and is ready with her Land Rover Defender for any adventures. What does November hold? “This month will find me surfing in Cornwall, perfecting new cocktails, planning skiing and sorting my first-ever foray into fishing.” Graham Downing Graham Downing has been a regular contributor to…

IT’S NO exaggeration to say that game shooting has been through turbulent times in recent years and has faced all manner of challenges, from the COVID-19 pandemic and rising costs to avian influenza with its impact on gamebird release and licensing. This season most pheasant and partridge shoots are back to ‘normal’, although grouse shooting has remained dismal. Many shoot managers are now considering how the new Government will view shooting and what the long-term prospects are for the sector. Game managers are mindful that there is now a grouse moor licensing scheme in Scotland. The Welsh government is committed to bringing in a similar system next year for all released gamebird shoots, and in England we already have regulations for gamebird releasing on or near European designated sites (Special…

Wallace warns of two-tier policing for hunting community Former defence secretary and British Hound Sports Association (BHSA) board member Ben Wallace has claimed that hunt followers and saboteurs are not treated equally by the police. Wallace has called for England’s most senior police officer on foxhunting crime to be “removed” if he cannot police in an equal and fair way after the police officer claimed trail hunting is a “smokescreen for illegal hunting”. Temporary Assistant Chief Constable Matthew Longman, the National Police Chiefs’ Council lead on hunting with hounds crime, is said to have declined an invitation to attend the BHSA’s National Trail Hunting Day in September, held at 30 locations across England and Wales to demonstrate that it is a legal and law-abiding sport. He had previously stated the…

Drones help curlew chicks Researchers from the GWCT have developed a new drone technique to locate nests of this elusive wader and work with farmers to protect chicks from being killed by machinery or predators. Going for gold at Ragley Lord Hertford has been awarded the Royal Agricultural Society of England Bledisloe gold medal for outstanding achievements in the land management and development of Ragley estate in Warwickshire. An enigmatic orchid Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland member Richard Bate has rediscovered the ghost orchid in the wild for the first time since 2009, and only the second time since the 1980s. Atlantic Salmon Trust auction Bid on more than 90 lots – from sporting expeditions across the UK and abroad to artwork and food and drink – until 24…

23 October-3 November Petworth Literary Festival Petworth, West Sussex Tel: 01798 343055 petworthfestival.org.uk Until 3 November George Stubbs and Contemporary Artists Wentworth Woodhouse, South Yorkshire Tel: 01226 351161 wentworthwoodhouse.org.uk 3-9 Bridport Literary Festival Bridport, Dorset Tel: 01308 424901 bridlit.com 4-10 Great British Game Week Nationwide Tel: 0203 727 5204 eatwild.co 9 The Lord Mayor’s Show Mansion House, London lordmayorsshow.london 9-10 The Newark Vintage Tractor and Heritage Show Newark Showground, Nottinghamshire Tel: 01636 705796 newarkvintagetractorshow.com 11-14 The Christmas Cotswold Fair Todenham Manor Farm, Gloucestershire Tel: 0333 242 7912 cotswoldfair.com 13 The South of England Agricultural Society’s Farming Conference South of England Showground, West Sussex Tel: 01444 892700 seas.org.uk 15-17 November Meeting Cheltenham Racecourse, Gloucestershire Tel: 01242 513014 thejockeyclub.co.uk/cheltenham 16-8 December Richard Whittlestone Winter Exhibition Broomes Barns, Chatsworth, Derbyshire Tel: 01246 582720…

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