The Field

Editor Alexandra Henton Deputy editor Ed Wills Features editor Madeleine Silver Editorial assistance Carla Passino Group production editor Diane Cross Group art director Dean Usher Art editor Steve Mumby Picture editors Max Tremlett and Karen Whitehe

EVEN though our society currently enjoys the highest levels of health, income and life expectancy in human history, it feels insecure. Most of our population need to go back three generations to find a living memory of working in the countryside. In

There is much to commend working spaniels, not least their graft and intelligence, but when a picture of one gazing up at its owner was published on Instagram, Fielders were also quick to praise the dog’s good looks. As one poster put it: “Thousands

An initiative by the Missing Salmon Alliance, the Spey Fishery Board and Fisheries Management Scotland, called #ReleasetheSpey, highlights the damage water abstraction wreaks on aquatic habitats. The Spey, one of Scotland’s premier salmon rivers, is

If you are looking to push yourself to the limit this year, you can now do so for a good cause. ABF The Soldiers’ Charity is encouraging fit people to go skydiving and raise funds to support soldiers, veterans and their families. Diving in tandem wit

Elizabeth Buchanan, president of the South of England Agricultural Society “I want to celebrate the farmers in the South-East, particularly the smaller family farms and tenant farmers who are so crucial to the fabric of rural life,” says Buchan, who

The Environment, Food & Rural Affairs Committee’s inquiry into the mental health of rural communities places the issue at the centre of government. But, says BASC, the ongoing inquiry must consider the benefits provided by shooting and must take into

The Wild Trout Trust is holding its annual auction from 18 to 27 March and there is plenty to tempt bidders. Among the top lots is a day for two rods on the Haddon estate, guided by Andy Buckley and complete with one night’s dinner, B&B accommodation

After a series of setbacks, the trail-hunting community finally has cause for celebration. When Cornwall Council discussed a petition calling for a trail-hunting ban on its land, both Conservative and Independent group leaders spoke in favour of the

Semeil, John Riley’s 300-acre family farm, nestles in a glen on the edge of the Cairngorms National Park, 15 miles from Balmoral. When he purchased it in 1985, there were few trees or hedges, so he asked GWCT advisor Ian McCall for a planting plan. T

Norton’s Coin, owned by farmer Sirrell Griffiths, may have been the biggest-priced winner in Cheltenham Gold Cup history at 100/1, but what about the shortest-priced winner? Well, he was also owned by a farmer (technically), although one far better k

Three easy ways to subscribe: THEFIELDSUBS.CO.UK/A17P 0330 333 1113 QUOTE CODE: A17P Lines open Monday to Friday, 9am-5pm (UK time) COMPLETE THE FREEPOST COUPON (RIGHT) THE DIRECT DEBIT GUARANTEE This guarantee is offered by all banks and building so

JUST as you cannot call yourself a vegetarian butcher, a hobby farmer is not a farmer. Food production is anything but ‘an activity you do for pleasure when not working’. Our relationship with land is a confused one. It is a finite resource, which ma

FARWAY, COLYTON This is a three-bedroom, detached, Grade II* period former farmhouse thought to date back to the mid 16th century. Its period features include beams, plank and muntin screening, a Bath stone fireplace, window seats and a turret stairc

I have always loved the brown hare and wondered at her extraordinary turn of speed and agility since I first shot one with my father as a small boy. Since then, I have witnessed them in many guises and sporting settings, from the formalised hare shoo

Become involved in your local group. The amount that any one person can do to help the red squirrel make a comeback depends almost entirely on where they live. If you live in an area where red squirrels currently exist, or one that borders red squirr

Records of pheasants in Greece go back to antiquity, featuring in the work of Aristophanes and Aristotle. Given Macedonia was a stronghold for the black-necked, it’s easy to imagine Alexander the Great dining on them. The Roman Cookery of Apicius, wr

▶ Lower Findhorn: in March, look below the Poolie Falls. ▶ River Tay, Taymount/Stobhall: the Linn Pool is probably Scotland’s best pool in March. Big river fishing at its best. ▶ The Lower Brora: no temperature barriers to contend with, and might the

▶The king and queen of British native trees are the oak (pictured above) and beech tree. A golden rule is never to plant them together, because they prefer different soils: oak likes clay and beech prefers lime-based, lighter soil. ▶Create a ‘bucket-

▶The annual Scottish GWCT auction. “A super event,” says property auctioneer Duncan Moir. Bucketloads of sport plus, this year, the chance to ‘press the button on a 20,000 tonne blast at a quarry’. ▶The Salmon & Trout Conservation auction – with fish

Q Not really Field related but hope you can help. I am trying to find a smart, modern-looking, small, compact alarm clock to sit on a bedside table, but one that is silent. I find my current one ticks quite loudly and seems to echo through the piece

THIS beautiful Indian matchlock musket, known as a toradar, is a stunning example of art and craftmanship, probably originating from Lahore in the Punjab. Highly decorative toradar were predominantly statement pieces, important indicators of wealth a

RIGHT from the beginning, sporting art has been denigrated or, at best, dismissed as not worthy of consideration. When George Stubbs began work in the 18th century, equine and sporting subjects were considered fit only for inn signs because they were

FOR a glimpse of 1920s entertaining at the smartest level, treat yourself to an inspection of Queen Mary’s Dolls’ House. On display at Windsor Castle, this miniature delight offers a perfect time capsule of aristocratic life between the wars, includi

If one wants staff to stay, ensure perks are top drawer. In the wake of World War I, when many domestic staff were lured away to factories and offices, Queen Mary’s Dolls’ House demonstated the standards required of a 1920s employer. Each servant’s r

The sidelock action is essentially of Holland & Holland pattern with spring assisted-opening (the works of which sit beneath the barrels between loop and front lump). It has just five pins (most Hollands have seven) and is equipped with disc-set stri

ONE of the consequences of writing professionally about gundogs is that, generally speaking, I see the best-trained dogs. These include the labradors that can be stopped at 300 yards on a single peep from the whistle, the spaniels that work from side

I GREW up in the wild west of Ireland where my parents owned a popular fishing lodge at Delphi. To anglers, it was a little piece of Heaven, with spectacular scenery, great food, gin-clear waters and abundant salmon when conditions were right. To you

SO there I was at a frightfully swish reception held by one of the finest of all Grande Marque champagne houses. The great and the good of the wine trade were there plus assorted riff-raff, hangers-on, liggers and freeloaders such as me and the bubbl

This charming book taps into the zeitgeist for natural remedies as conventional medicine struggles to contain Covid. However, Chelsea Physic Garden isn’t simply jumping on the botanical bandwagon: for the past 350 years it has been at the forefront o

Seven or eight years ago, fewer than 40 brace of partridges were shot in a season at North Farm, Washington, West Sussex. Things are very different now. In the 1960s, the average bag has been up to 500 brace in a season, and when a guest has had a ch