Table of contents for June 2024 in The Field

The UK’s rare native pig and poultry breeds are experiencing ‘worrying declines’ and need urgent support, according to the Rare Breeds Survival Trust (RBST). The Trust’s 2024 Watchlist moved all native chicken, duck, goose and turkey breeds into the ‘Priority’ rare-breed category (breeds that are both rare and have increased inbreeding) due to the impact of avian flu combined with significant increases in animal husbandry costs. Seven of the UK’s 11 native pig breeds, including the Tamworth, are in the Priority category and this is also thought to be because of increased husbandry costs. RBST chief executive Christopher Price said: “Each of our rare native livestock and equine breeds is unique. Some have provided communities with food, fibre and power for centuries. As well as their great value to our…

Email charlotte.mackaness@futurenet.com BESPOKE HAT Jessica Mary Design One-off silks and organzas, antique brooches and feathers galore ensure these handmade hats are truly unique. Tremendous toppings for the social season. Price from £250 Tel 07950 026305 jessicamarydesign.co.uk THE FULL DRESSER Hilditch Wood Design Bespoke oak handcrafted to individual requirements in North Yorkshire, making the perfect station for cleaning guns and storing shooting paraphernalia or using as a fly-tying dresser. Looks well in any boot room. Price from £5,350 Tel ​07814 558400 hilditchwooddesign.co.uk NORFOLK JACKET Massy-Birch Stylish and flattering ladies’ shooting jacket packed with technical features, a tailored waist and subtly flared hemline. Can be made to measure in any tweed. Price from £650 Tel 01297 442180 massy-birch.co.uk LUX NEHRU GILET Campbell’s of Beauly Luxurious field waistcoat with nehru collar (shown in…

ONE DAY your grandchildren may be lucky enough to inherit a Longthorne gun – as long as you have the foresight to go out and buy one now. Longthorne is a completely British gunmaker founded by James Longthorne Stewart and his wife Elaine in 2010, just over a century after John Robertson bought London firm Boss & Co and started a revolution in gunmaking. At Boss, Robertson introduced innovation after innovation from the 1890s up to the First World War, taking out patents on the ejector mechanism, the single trigger and the over-and-under barrel arrangement. The Field gave his gun the seal of approval, and today’s descendants of Edwardian early-adopters are delighted their great-great-grandfathers ordered a Boss. Now, at Longthorne’s Northampton factory, Elaine Stewart is pleased to report: “We have…

HOW TO DEFINE an Old English hound? I put the question to Martin Scott, who is acknowledged as the leading hound breeding authority of our time. The former Master and current breeder of the Vale of the White Horse (VWH) pack in Gloucestershire is something of a walking encyclopaedia when it comes to The Foxhound Kennel Stud Book, in which successive generations of foxhounds have been recorded ever since its inception in the mid-18th century. The casual observer might suggest Old English hounds are best identified by their uniform Belvoir tan but, as Scott points out, it’s really all about bloodlines. “A true Old English hound is one without a drop of outside blood,” he says. “That’s no American, fell, Welsh or heritage of any other kind in a foxhound…

AS SOCIETY evolves, so too does sport. The past century has seen technological change seep through so many of our greatest pastimes. Football boots and balls are light years ahead of what they were back in 1966. The movements of every professional rugby player are tracked and analysed for maximum performance. Racing bikes are lighter; shotguns and rifles are more accurate. Gone are the cat-gut strings and wooden frames of the tennis racket, replaced by complex composite materials that provide the apex of power and precision. Tradition can only cling on for so long when faced with the pressures of ever-increasing performance. When it comes to the summer sport of cricket, however, the more things change, the more they stay the same. Timeless test matches have been reduced to five…

THE REVERED establishments where we love to gather and celebrate long days in the field appear to be joining red-list species with an uncertain future. But the great British pub faces a different kind of threat to curlews and lapwings: rocketing energy and food prices, spiralling living costs, staff shortages, the after-effects of COVID-19 and a shift in the nation’s drinking habits are all cited as reasons for the loss of 383 pubs during the first six months of last year. If that sounds like a lot of boozers down the swanny, 13,000 pub closures since the millennium year – representing a quarter of all British pubs – makes for sober reading indeed, and bad news for those four out of five people who have lost a pub within five…

Sporting artist Under the hammer Royal Armouries Sporting dog The boot room Gun review Country queries Gardening Farmshop Cookery Wine Travel Books Field testers From the archives HUGE ATTENTION to detail bordering on perfectionism is a great quality for a Lynx helicopter pilot serving in the Army Air Corps but not so much when it comes to glorious, free-flowing creative work, believes Sandhurst-graduate-turned-artist Hannah Shergold. She admits: “I am a complete perfectionist and began by having a rather photorealist style.” Shergold thinks it was her love of detail that led her that way, even though she says: “The painters I admire, such as Munnings, have a much freer style. I like a looser movement, with the painting being free and allowing the viewer’s own mind to fill it in. Yet…

IT’S A CURIOUS fact that, while the labrador was developed and established as a breed in Britain, it is not generally regarded as a British breed. Perhaps it’s the name that causes the confusion, for it suggests that the founders of the breed came from Labrador, whereas most historians point to Newfoundland as the country of origin. It is known that the first dogs imported to Britain were brought here by Portuguese fishermen, and the Portuguese word for worker is trabalhador, which might well have been corrupted into ‘labrador’. Today the labrador is the most popular breed of gundog on the planet, appearing in most countries’ top 10 breeds and usually heading the list in several, including the UK and the USA. Frustratingly, we can’t claim this as a British…

MY EARLIEST memory out in the field is of standing with my father on a chill December morning in a Wiltshire valley. There was a frost on the ground – the winter sun had not yet reached the valley floor – and my feet were numb with cold. There was excitement in the air, with jovial conversation but no expectation. Shots were sporadic and others watched on, waiting for their turn. “Over!” came the cry and the silhouettes of three cock pheasants rose high across the valley. One curled towards us and my father raised his gun; shots were fired but the bird flew on. A horn was blown, and a small collection of individuals came down the slope and joined us. They were dressed in ripped wax jackets tied…

The Field guide to British birds The Countryside Alliance’s annual Countryside Clean-up took place between 16 March and 1 April. Representatives from the rural community – including hunt officials and staff, farmers and landowners – braved the relentlessly wet conditions that have plagued much of the UK so far this year to clear discarded rubbish from hedgerows, roadside verges, footpaths, riverbanks and fields. Polly Portwin, director of the Campaign for Hunting at the Countryside Alliance, commented: “Yet again we are grateful to the many hunt supporters who engaged with this annual event, ensuring that their local area is free of litter while helping to protect livestock, domestic pets and wildlife by removing potentially harmful items out of their way. Discarded rubbish is a terrible blight on the countryside and those…

In April the National Gamekeepers’ Organisation hosted the second Conservation Champions Awards to celebrate conservation and biodiversity in the game industry. The awards recognise the efforts of shoots, estates, gamekeepers and land managers in a bid to highlight the positive impact of their work. Separated into five categories – Innovation, Husbandry & Welfare, Habitat, Responsible Land Management and the Marsdens Special Award – the awards were judged by a panel including gamekeepers and veterinarians. Geoff Eyre of WM Eyre & Sons won the Marsdens Special Award for his work on moorland restoration, while the Innovation prize went to Anthony Barber Lomax and Ruth Battye for their revolutionary wildfire risk assessment. Nominated by vets, the Husbandry & Welfare award is for best practices that have been shown to benefit the welfare…

Tartan waterproof picnic blanket Fortnum & Mason Colourful tartan complete with smart leather carry straps. Price £140 fortnumandmason.com Sorbet check merino blanket Country Mouse Designed and milled in the Scottish Highlands. Measures 165cm x 150cm. Price £118 countrymouse.co.uk Juniper and Moss picnic blanket The British Blanket Company Pure new wool with a waterproof canvas back. Price £126.99 thebritishblanketcompany.com Waterproof-backed picnic rug The House of Bruar Amply proportioned and machine-washable pure new wool rug with waterproof backing. Price £79.95 houseofbruar.com Traceable wool travel rug Glencroft Sturdy, thick plaid tartan made from Yorkshire Dalesbred wool. Price £169.95 glencroftcountrywear.co.uk…

THE FARM on this 173-acre, East Devon estate sits on the western edge of Stockland Hill surrounded by the Blackdown Hills National Landscape. Built of stone under a thatched roof, the Grade II-listed, 18th-century farmhouse has six bedrooms and has been extended over the years. It has retained many original features, including inglenook fireplaces and chamfered beams. Outside the property is a cobbled courtyard of traditional stone out buildings. The land includes areas of newly planted mixed native woodland as well as pastureland and is well fenced for livestock or horses. There are also wildlife ponds, watercourses and frontage to the Umborne Brook. The estate includes a range of modern farm buildings and a stable block. Pitfield Farm has formed the basis of a local syndicate shoot for several years.…

Longthorne has reinvented nearly every aspect of the shotgun, most importantly the barrel, while keeping everything fully British-made in its Northampton factory. This includes every part of the shotgun, down to the rubber recoil pads. ▶ BARRELS: Revolutionary barrels (patented in the UK in 2015 with a second UK patent in 2021) are machined from a single block of high grade steel or titanium (introduced in 2021), with advantages including accuracy and consistency of pattern, reduced felt recoil and great durability. The titanium barrels are 45% lighter than the steel ones yet the weight remains balanced between the hands, allowing even 32-inch barrels to retain their pointability and manoeuvrability. Titanium is also resistant to corrosion. Barrels were originally parallel bores but now the bores do converge within the mono-barrel “just…

IN DECEMBER last year the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) revised its red list of endangered species and reclassified Atlantic salmon to a status of ‘near threatened’. British salmon were rated more seriously as ‘endangered’. There should have been one more reclassification, however. Had British chalkstream salmon been singled out, they would surely have been labelled ‘critically endangered’. Chalkstream salmon are England’s white rhino: approaching extinction after two million years of residence. Last year only 287 adult salmon ascended the River Itchen to spawn, and in 2022 only 133 – far fewer than the lowest number deemed necessary for the survival of the species in that stream. In 2018 Dr Jamie Stevens and a team of scientists from Exeter University proved that chalkstream salmon are genetically unique. Like…

WE ARE NOW four years on from the first COVID-19 lockdown, and for many towns and cities life will never be quite the same again. The work-from home revolution – even if that involves working from the kitchen table only on Fridays – is here to stay. Some city centres, their offices and cafes, are unlikely to recover; some commuter towns have boomed thanks to people taking a break from their Zoom calls to pop out to their local shops. One subtle but crucial change, however, is less well documented: footwear. Even those people who have returned to the office full-time have adopted a more casual attitude to what they wear. Specifically, the men of Britain have embraced something the Americans call – and I feel queasy writing this phrase…

IT WAS NOT quite a Dad’s Army ‘stupid boy’ moment but I detected a certain weariness in Expert Nick’s voice as he explained why my latest cunning auction wheeze was ‘doomed’. What happened was this. Much as I can hate technology, I love the sleepless search engine at the-saleroom.com that alerts me to auction goodies from all over the UK and Europe; things I would never otherwise know were for sale. Simply select keywords for the engine to search for and then, when said words appear in an auction catalogue, ping! An email with an auction link appears. Genius. That said, I need to be clever lest I end up swamped in a tsunami of unwanted emails. For example, regular readers will know that I am a sucker for an…

British beds Harrison Spinks Not only manufactured in England but homegrown on Harrison Spinks’ own farm. British wool, natural hemp and flax linen are transformed into award-winning beds with springs from British Steel. Mattresses, divans and headboards for sustainable sleep. Price: mattresses from £649, bases from £400, headboards from £299 Tel: 0113 205 5200 harrisonspinks.com Kantha squab cushions Chloe Jonason Interiors Bring the colours of India into your home in the cosiest fashion with these vintage Indian Kantha quilts that are repurposed by hand in Lincolnshire. Each unique cushion is embellished with handmade tassels and suggestive of comfortable lounging – indoors and out. Transform reading nooks and garden parties or picnics instantly; just add gin and tonic all round. Dimensions: 90cm x 45cm Price: £98 studio@chloejonasoninteriors.com chloejonasoninteriors.com Two-tier flower holder…

IN YEARS when I fancy exhibiting flowers in a local show, I grow sweet peas on the so-called ‘cordon system’. This involves training single plants up 2.4m bamboo canes, tying the stems in frequently, and punctiliously trimming off tendrils and side-shoots, thus thwarting the natural scrambling habit of Lathyrus odoratus. All the plant’s energy goes into flowering, so this is the surest way to achieve really long, straight stems and four, well-presented flowers on each stem. If done on summer evenings, it is wonderfully relaxing work. But it is also time-consuming, having been developed at a time when gardening labour was cheap and plentiful. These days, in public and private gardens alike, plastic or high-tensile steel netting, or tripods, have replaced canes as the usual means of supporting sweet-pea plants.…

TO SAY THAT you are a shooting man or woman is, alas, the only way of saying that you are interested in gamebirds in other manner than the manner of the gourmet. It is an unattractive style in which to refer to yourself since, in the ears of many, it means that you enjoy killing things wholesale. But, as yet, no one has invented a more euphemistic title. ‘Fowler’, less indiscriminate somehow, is old-fashioned. And an ‘archer’, while picturesque, is obsolete. Therefore, while I regret the adjective ‘shooting’ (especially do I regret it in these bluebell days), yet I know no other. I will accordingly begin again and say that if you, a shooting man, lord of the manor or holder of a half-share in a syndicate gun, ask yourself…

Heavy-handed deer management orders risk alienating Scottish landowners Scottish Land & Estates (SLE) has exhorted the Scottish government to work with it – rather than against it – over the future of deer management following the government’s Managing Deer for Climate and Nature consultation. The consultation, which closed in March, sought views on a range of proposals – the most contentious being plans for Deer Management Nature Restoration Orders (DMNROs). These would give NatureScot legally enforceable powers to demand reductions in deer numbers, place fencing or instruct habitat assessments, more detailed cull plans and cull reporting on a landholding. Failure to comply by a landowner could result in a £40,000 fine, three months’ imprisonment or both. SLE said this heavy-handed approach risked alienating the substantial existing effort of private landowners,…

Earlier this year, the Women Who Work in Fieldsports (WWWF) podcast launched its first episode, ‘Meet the Founders’, featuring Louisa Clutterbuck, Vanessa Steel and Iona Campbell. Since then the podcast has gained traction, featuring influential women within the fieldsports industry, including Paula Lester and Annika Purdey. With each episode reaching more than 100 downloads within the first 24 hours of release, we hope the podcast is fast becoming a must-listen in the world of fieldsports. The WWWF podcast sets out to shine a spotlight on the often overlooked contributions of women in fieldsports. By showcasing the stories and expertise of accomplished women in the industry, the podcast aims to demonstrate that women are not only present but are also thriving in this traditionally male-dominated arena. One of the standout features…

MOTIVES for buying property are infinitely varied but tasting the fruits of your purchase and future endeavours would sit at the top of many wishlists. There’s money to be made – and lost – too but whatever the gods (mainly the weather deities) have in store, there is the consolation of a drink with your name on it. Welcome to viticulture. I wrote to Bacchus and asked for a Grade II-listed Sussex farmhouse with an award-winning vineyard and he replied with Dillions near Haywards Heath. On the market with Strutt & Parker (S&P), it is close enough to home to take a taxi, run through the wine list and insist on several viewings while working out where to find £3.75m. Viticulture is the latest ‘field’ sport for successful entrepreneurs chasing…

MY PARENTS didn’t find a key to unlock a door in a wall but they did find a ladder in a shed and climbed over a wall. Like Frances Hodgson Burnett’s heroine Mary Lennox, they discovered a secret garden. The garden, filled with roses planted in the 19th century, sold the house to my parents on that June day in 1956. I grew up there. Sometimes I dream I am a child again, climbing out of my bedroom window on summer nights to wander in the moon light. My friends the roses are waiting for me, decked in their finery for the grandest ball of the season. Let me introduce you to them. Here is ‘Belle de Crécy’ in a crinoline of parma violet conversing with pink-gowned ‘Empress Joséphine’. ‘Madame…

WHEN A READER thinks of bespoke sporting arms, they will naturally imagine those regular weapons that were built by the best British makers. However, there was also a need for bespoke sporting arms for those less fortunate than the majority. Whatever the specific requirements, gunmakers could accommodate; they were adept at the art of the possible. Most rifles, shotguns and pistols are built for right-handed sportsmen and women – ones with two hands and a right master eye – but of course not all shooters are thus equipped. There is therefore a need for weapons to be built for those who are left-handed, those with a left master eye or those who are unfortunate enough to have one arm. These types of weapons often test the skills of gunmakers but…

THIS MONTH’S test looks at a new Browning 525 Composite distinguished by a polymer stock with adjustable comb and sparse, modernistic engraving. There is an adjustable trigger too, as well as an 8mm sighting rib with fine cross-hatched surface, and vented side ribs. The matt blacked monobloc barrels are steel shot proofed and equipped with long, flush-fit Invector Plus multichokes. At just under 7½lb, the gun is mid-weight for a 30in 12-bore over-and-under: light enough to walk with but heavy enough to handle bigger payloads if required. First impressions of the Composite are dominated by its black synthetic stock. This did not appeal initially. Most like the beauty of natural wood and a bit of engraving (if well done). However, times are a-changin’. The three-pointed star etching grew on me.…

IF THERE’S one word that instantly evokes an up market farm shop, flushed full of beautifully presented produce and teeming with well-heeled shoppers, it is Daylesford. Founder Lady Bamford’s interest in organic farming and holistic living started many years before this Cotswolds farm shop opened in 2002 but, once in business, it set the bar. “Over 40 years ago, I had a simple idea to farm and produce nourishing organic food while simultaneously giving back to our land. Everything I’ve sought to do since then has been rooted in the same philosophy: to protect and work with nature rather than against it,” she says. Daylesford has the feel of a miniature market town with a series of small shops and open counters where well-versed staff advise shoppers. You’ll find a…

The Fife Arms, Aberdeenshire There’s a sense of theatre to this imposing Victorian pile at the end of the Dee Valley. Perhaps it’s the heady mix of tartan and taxidermy paired with a Picasso and Richard Jackson’s neon antler chandelier. Or the mahogany four-poster beds, standalone copper bathtubs and the moody, low-lit whisky bar. Then there’s The Clunie Dining Room with its flamboyant openfire cooking (don’t leave without trying the Invercauld estate venison) and the stately drawing room. Built as a coaching inn by the Duke of Fife in the 19th century, it opened its doors in 1856 after Queen Victoria had bought nearby Balmoral a few years earlier and the tourists had followed to this corner of the Highlands. Most recently, Swiss art dealers Iwan and Manuela Wirth –…

Across 7 Small dog with fox-like face, originally bred for herding (5) 8 One of Scotland’s most productive salmon rivers (9) 10 Hotshot (3) 11 Horse-trial competition? (5) 12 Peak month for capercaillies’ lek display (5) 13 Italian maker of e.g. ‘Zenith’ over-and-under shotguns (5) 15 Calm as a mill pond, nevertheless (5) 16 Scrap bridle part (3) 17 Ruminant, Britain’s largest native land mammal (3,4) 19 A welly (7) 22 It might turn white in winter (3) 23 One name for UK’s only venomous snake (5) 25 Catkin-bearing tree and artificial fishing fly (5) 26 Kicks like a horse and certain male deer? (5) 28 Prepared to shoot media, perhaps! (5) 29 Derbyshire trout water loved by Izaak Walton (3) 30 Famous Hampshire chalkstream (5,4) 31 Controls a horse as King Charles does, it’s said (5) Down 1 Scottish term for a hillside (4)…