The Field

Since the start of the avian influenza outbreak there has been a total of 269 confirmed cases across the UK – the majority of which have been in England. Glynn Evans, head of game and wildlife management at BASC, spoke to The Field about the situatio

The Cheshire Forest, East Essex and Crawley and Horsham gave a deft demonstration of their hounds’ skills in hunting a laid trail at the British Hound Sports Association’s (BHSA) inaugural Trail-Hunting Hound Trials in October. The aim was to make th

UK consumers were invited to celebrate eating game via events, dinners and special offers from 7 to 13 November 2022. British Game Assurance (BGA) organised game dinners in Aberdeenshire and London. Meanwhile, across social media a huge new audience

Research has revealed that more than a third of dog owners (37%) say they have appointed ‘dogparents’ in case something should happen to them. Of those, 35% have even gone to the effort of specifying details in their will or having a contract drawn u

The Kennel Club has launched its new DNA Testing Services, developed to improve and protect dog health and promote responsible dog breeding. The service provides owners with access to the most impactful genetic health tests without the need to carry

♦ EMAIL MADELEINE.SILVER@FUTURENET.COM Cashmere tweed, woven in Scotland with a durable Sympatex liner for protection against wind and rain; reinforced bellows cartridge pockets, with retainer straps for easy access; and two inside pockets. Savvy in

RACING up the foothills of the Carneddau mountains, trying to beat the next rain pulse, my opening question for Gareth Wyn Jones is blown away by a breath – no, a howling gale – of fresh air. That’s what it is like meeting Gareth and two of his dogs,

Write to: The Editor, The Field, Future Publishing PLC, 121-141 Westbourne Terrace, London, W2 6JR Email: field.secretary@futurenet.com LETTERS MAY BE EDITED FOR CLARITY OR SPACE The Field’s cartoonists and illustrators are in a league of their own.

NEDGING T YE, IPSWICH, SUFFOLK This two-bedroom period cottage dates from the 16th century and is built of traditional oak-frame lath and plaster. It has a catslide thatched roof at the back, two inglenook fireplaces, oak flooring and many original o

I THOUGHT a ‘net zero’ strategy referred to Wolverhampton Wanderers and my football team’s inability to find the back of the net. Everybody, from Government to property developers, through any industry seeking brownie, or greenie, points, seems to ha

NDC As this shooting season draws slowly towards its close, I find myself looking back over the sheer variety of sport we’ve been fortunate enough to experience since that blisteringly hot day on 12 August when the new season stretched endlessly ahea

Dear Freddie, THANK you for your letter. I am delighted to hear that your father gave you a 20-bore side-by-side suitable for steel shot for Christmas and that you have a Fathers, Sons and Daughters driven day on 4 January. This is a big step forward

THE switch to steel is now well under way, so Upperwood Shoot on Saddleworth Moor took the opportunity to conduct an objective experiment into whether a new generation of steel loads is genuinely capable of consistently and effectively killing the hi

THERE is always room for a workhorse in the gun safe, and a stringent budget makes the addition easy. After some consideration, ours was drawn at £2,500. Some of the guns mentioned are base models where their more decorated, but mechanically similar,

Great gift idea Scan the QR code below with your phone to subscribe ONLINE: THEFIELDSUBS.CO.UK/X859  TELEPHONE: 0330 333 1113 QUOTE CODE: X859 Lines open Monday to Friday, 8.30am-7pm, and Saturday, 10am-3pm (UK time) Offer closes 31 January 2023. Off

HAUNTING the boot rooms of many a house across the country is the hunting whip; above doors, in stick racks and haphazardly strewn across benches, ready for next weekend. Some are first-generation, others antique, but all in regular use since it woul

KEEPING a gamebook was obligatory when you started out shooting in my day,” says Sir Johnny Scott, who made his first entry at the age of nine. “Much of my early record-keeping was just rabbits but by the time I’d reached 16, it had really started t

IT WAS my fishing mate Stephen who first mis-quoted the American ‘gonzo’ journalist Hunter S Thompson when he said: “When the going gets tough, the weird turn pro.” That said, being the half-owner of a short Highlands spate river – where the water is

NOTHING gets a New Year’s Eve party or hunt ball going with a zing more than that moment when the band strikes up the thumping, rau-cous first bars of a Scottish reel. What could be more fun than the dancers performing the endless patterns, whirling,

WHAT creative endeavour could be more tantalising than designing a new house in the country? More delicious yet: a house purpose-built on the edge of a quiet village as the setting for a country house murder mystery? Ah yes. We know the architectural

MANKIND’s fascination with owls is age-old. Wall paintings in a cave in south-west France depict a pair of snowy owls and their chicks that last preyed on small mammals and regurgitated pellets some 15,000 years ago. The Stone Age artist who sketched

Barn owls occur throughout England, Wales and Northern Ireland but are not recorded in central, north-east and the far north of Scotland and the Outer Hebrides, Orkney and Shetland. In the past, they nested inside tree cavities and farm buildings – h

AFTER his five-year round-the-world voyage on board HMS Beagle, the naturalist Charles Darwin suffered from illness for the rest of his life. By 1858, his 20 years of study on the subject of the evolution of species, together with pressure from his s

MATTHEW PARIS, c1255 Matthew Paris, a Benedictine monk at the wealthy St Albans Abbey north of London (an abbey probably founded in 793), produced four versions of a map of Britain in the 1250s. The map appears to have followed the approach of beginn

Q I am looking for a hat stretcher similar to one I’ve seen at a tailors in Scotland (above). Are you or your readers able to help me find one? I have a rather extensive collection of tweed caps, and some of my favourites are in need of a tweak. I am

THIS month’s test gun is a new sideplated over-and-under from William Powell, the Banbury gunmaker and sporting agency. Made in Italy in association with B Rizzini, it is called the Princeps. Classicists may recall princeps means ‘leader’ or ‘first o

ONE of the great attractions of fieldsports is that, generally speaking, they are not affected too much by the weather. Bad light never stops play, and rarely does bad weather. We all remember those special days when a gale blew, the heavens opened o

I can’t remember a time when I didn’t fish. It’s in my blood; it’s what I know. My entire life revolves around it, from weekends spent on the water to my job in the fishing industry and even the decor throughout my house. It was my dad who introduced

WITHIN the collections of the Royal Armouries, there is a marvellous and unusual example of the gunmaker’s art. Made in 1865, in the immediate aftermath of the American Civil War, it demonstrates the brief interest shown in long-distance shooting by

MY latest BFF (best friend in modern jargon) Guillaume Cerutti, the chief executive officer of Christie’s, contacts me by email – he must be my friend, otherwise why is he emailing me? – to tell me what a wonderful time Christie’s is having, even dur

HOW do you paint the invisible? How do you capture the feel and the smell and the sound of being at the races on a raw, damp day in mid-winter? The wind drives a smattering of rain into the stands, and the turf smells of mud and bruised grass as the

Flying ducks really are grand, and these especially as they can be ‘well within range’ on your own walls. A selection of colourways will surround you with an effect ranging from an inky blue moonlight flight to a verdant and summery herd of quackers.

IT can be trying to find the right place to stay in London; too corporate, too poky, too faceless. But there is one place that seems to encourage a head nod of universal approval: The Goring. A quick straw poll elicited enthusiasm from everyone to wh

MY first column of the year is dedicated to one-dish wonders. While saving on the washing up is always welcome, cooking an entire meal in one pot or tray also means the ingredients have plenty of time to mingle, creating a really flavourful dish. For

THE email from the Mazda press office was only slightly apologetic: “We had originally allocated you the CX-5 2.2 diesel 184ps GT Sport AWD. However, on inspection, it was flagged there was significant damage which couldn’t be repaired in time.” What

Cock pheasants first by Coombe Richards, 6 January 1955 WHILE there is, of course, nothing new in confining covert shooting to cocks only on the first time through, it is a practice that has largely fallen into disuse and is now seldom resorted to or