Is reintroducing beavers in to the wild a sensible decision? And for beavers that have been released illegally, should they be allowed to remain? Mark Lloyd, chief executive of the Angling Trust, thinks we may live to regret the decision.
Could the reintroduction of beaver spell distater for fishing on British rivers?
Beaver reintroduction, like many schemes to reintroduce species, is a complicated subject. Species reintroduction has a significant element of ‘letting the genie out of the bottle’. Once decisions have been taken the rammifications on the eco-system can be profound. And unexpected. Does beaver reintroduction pose a threat to our fishing? And if so will the top 10 trout rivers be under threat from this beaver reintroduction? Mark Lloyd explains.
BEAVER REINTRODUCTION
The Angling Trust is dismayed by Natural England’s recent decision to allow illegally released beavers to remain in the River Otter in Devon for another five years [once it has been confirmed that they are free of disease and of Eurasian origin]. We have been campaigning to have the beavers removed. Beaver reintroduction poses a great risk: to fisheries, of flood and to landscape. The risks of beaver reintroduction are too great to allow them to spread across the region and thence into the rest of the country.
Last year, we were successful in getting a commitment by the then Secretary of State for the Environment to capture the animals. We were representing our members who, rightly, were concerned that the dams beavers build on rivers could cause flooding and block the migration of fish up and down rivers. Natural England’s decision seems to overturn that commitment.
Devon Wildlife Trust, which has campaigned for the beavers to remain, claims the animals will be tagged and that this is a scientific experiment. Tagged or not, these animals will have untagged offspring and there seems little doubt that they will now colonise other rivers in the region. Even if they could be found at the end of the “experiment”, no politician is going to sanction culling or returning to captivity these critters and their progeny in five years’ time. This is a decision by a wildlife charity, run by unelected officials, that means we have no choice but to accept that beavers are here to stay. Beaver reintroduction by the back door.
Not all environmental charities are as enthusiastic. Arlin Rickard, chief executive of the Rivers Trust, said, “As we consider the reintroduction of the European beaver in Britain and the contribution the species might make to riverine ecosystems in the absence of key predators, it is essential to also agree in advance management and control measures. If society is not sufficiently responsible to accept that farmers and riparian owners may need to intervene should numbers spiral, then we are not yet sufficiently responsible to undertake beaver reintroduction in the first place.”
Landowners have much to be concerned about following this decision. Will they be liable for flooding caused by beaver dams? Will they be allowed to interfere with dams or face sanctions for doing so under the Wildlife and Countryside Act? Will they be allowed to shoot beavers if they are damaging trees of local conservation or landscape importance?
In our view, government agencies should not be carrying out hare-brained experiments such as introducing new species to rivers until they have tackled the massive problems with low flows, flooding, pollution, habitat loss and barriers to fish migration that are endemic in the nation’s waterways.
NO PLACE IN MODERN RIVERS FOR BEAVER REINTRODUCTION
Of course, more than 500 years ago beavers were native to some parts of the British Isles. However, our rivers have changed dramatically in the past five centuries. They now suffer from endemic pollution, over-abstraction of water and the presence of more than 20,000 weirs and dams, which act as barriers to fish migration. Nearly all fish species, not just trout, salmon and eels, need to migrate up and down rivers in order to complete their life cycle. Beaver reintroduction and the addition of beaver dams will only increase the number of obstacles that fish have to overcome. If we remove all these barriers to migration, then beavers might present less of a problem to fisheries but this will cost hundreds of millions of pounds and, at current rates of progress, decades to achieve.
In a healthy, natural ecosystem, beaver reintroduction can be beneficial because they introduce woody debris to rivers and their dams can trap silt and create new habitats. In such wild systems, this benefit is greater than the negative impact on fish migration. However, fewer than 25% of the rivers in England and Wales are in good ecological condition and the Angling Trust’s view is that it would be irresponsible to consider reintroducing this species without first restoring our rivers to good health.
Evidence from North America and Germany shows the considerable risk to infrastructure – including flood-defence assets, roads and railways – from allowing beavers to become established in high-risk and populated areas. An adult beaver can bring down a 10in wide tree in under an hour and a single beaver family will fell up to 300 trees a year. In the upper Danube region of Germany, beavers have caused £5 million of damage. How will riverside residents feel when the only tree in their garden is gnawed down overnight? Or a beaver dam floods a housing estate that has never flooded before? The problem with beavers is that they are secretive, mainly nocturnal and don’t stay put, so they will spread from rural areas to villages and the edges of towns and cities.
The beavers in Devon were almost certainly released illegally. Natural England’s decision to let them stay appears to run contrary to the commitment from the elected Secretary of State for the Environment last year to return all these animals to captivity. What’s more, it sets a dangerous precedent for any enthusiasts of “re-wilding”; all they have to do is release some imported animals into the countryside and, as long as enough people say “aah, aren’t they cute”, our government agencies will give them leave to remain. I predict that this beaver reintroduction will be a decision we will all regret in years to come.
Need something to tackle gradient, rough terrain and heavy labour? Choose one of the best farm UTVs. The quad's bigger brothers have many useful features.
Argocat Avenger 8x8 700HD
The best farm UTVs for those who want something more than a quad bike. Here is our list of 6 utility vehicles that will take on any farm or estate work with ease.
BEST FARM UTVs
1. KAWASAKI MULE 610 4×4
Kawasaki Mule 610 4×4
Another stalwart among the UTVs, the modern Mule is fully able to tackle the hardest gradients and tasks and is unwaveringly eager to please. Simple selection of high and low ranges is matched to a dual mode LSD front differential and durable, high-quality suspension.
The Viking is Yamaha’s first-ever multi-purpose, three-seater UTV. It is a well-balanced off-road warrior that combines terrain ability with usable and sensible power, as well as functionality and comfort. It has a spacious seating layout for a driver and two passengers, walk-through floor and a rugged, all-terrain chassis.
Many years of producing superb plant machinery has led to JCB’s Workmax. Durable, productive and comfortable, it is able to transport equipment and materials over fine turf or rough ground and has underbelly protection guards for transmission and suspension. It seats up to six people, has a top speed of 25mph and can travel four-times farther than the average quad bike.
The Gator has long been a regular sight on farms and estates. It delivers a top speed of 32mph and power steering is standard. It seats four, the rear bench folding down to provide a flat surface for extra passengers or cargo, and there’s an under-seat storage compartment.
The ultimate i our lisyt of UTVs? A true go-anywhere off-roader with minimal footprint, this eight-wheel-drive, amphibious vehicle offers tremendous stability over rough or uneven ground. It has electronic ignition, a solenoid shift starter and CVT transmission.
Possibly the best of the bunch, the superb Ranger Diesel has a host of features and impressive carrying and towing capacity that, coupled with extraordinary reliability, make it a coveted machine. It is also available in a
six-seater variant.
1028cc, 3-cylinder diesel engine
AWD/2wd/VersaTrac turf mode
680kg payload in pallet-size cargo bed
907kg towing capacity
305mm ground clearance
RRP from £11,699, excl VAT, or from £12,699, excl VAT, with cab
When buying your first air rifle, or looking for a replacement you need an airgun guide. Read our comprehensive guide to air rifles for tips on which gun to buy, what pellets to use, and what to aim for...
Shooting with an air rifle is bags of fun. And you can banish bunnies or get a pigeon for the pot too.
This airgun guide is a useful introduction to anyone who wants to pepper tin cans, rid the lawn of rabbits or pop the odd pigeon for the pot. Air rifles are great fun to use, and an airgun guide is the perfect start for a beginner or more experienced shot looking for assistance. We also have some tip top advice on rabbit shooting – airgunning for summer rabbits and expert Mike Yardley’s opinion on modern airguns.
In this airgun guide Matt Ellis from BASC advises on the law, the models, pellets and scopes.
AIRGUN GUIDE
In common with many, I started my shooting with airguns. The first was my dad’s BSA Airsporter, with which I fired at cans and rabbits before moving through most of BSA’s line-up and arriving at my current air rifle, the BSA R-10. I’ve followed the well-worn path from air rifle plinker to shotgun blaster and rifle stalker and I’ve always had a soft spot for the stealthy shooting required to hunt with an air rifle. I hope this airgun guide will help you.
BSA targeted the youth market in the sixties.
AIRGUN GUIDE: THE LAW
Airguns are classed as firearms so there are heavy penalties for any offence involving one. In contrast to the situation with rifles, if an air rifle has a power of below 12ft/lb you do not need a licence to own it in England and Wales. In Northern Ireland all airguns with power in excess of 0.7ft/lb need to be held on a firearm certificate and it is likely that such an airgun licence will be required in Scotland soon.
The situation regarding age is complicated. If you’re 18 or over you can buy an air rifle and ammunition and use it where you have permission to shoot. If you’re aged 14 to 17 you can’t buy an air rifle or ammunition but you can borrow them. You can then use the borrowed kit without supervision on private premises where you have permission.
However, if you’re below 14 years of age you can use an airgun only under the supervision of someone who is at least 21 years old, on private premises, with permission of the occupier. Finally, it’s worth remembering that you have an obligation to prevent anyone under the age of 18 from gaining unauthorised access to your airguns.
It is irresponsible to use an airgun without ensuing you understand all the points in this airgun guide first.
AIRGUN GUIDE: THE QUARRY
Obviously, the old favourites are paper and tin cans but if you want to shoot quarry the main species are pigeon, members of the crow family, rats, rabbits, grey squirrels, mink and stoats. Rabbits along field margins and rats in and around chicken sheds can be particularly fun, usually offering plenty of safe shooting with suitable backstops and, in the case of rabbits, providing a tasty treat for the pot. Birds, however, are more tricky.
All birds are protected. There are open seasons for gamebirds and wildfowl, of course, but his doesn’t mean they are suitable quarry for airgun shooters – they’re just too big. If you want to shoot pigeon and crows you need to do so under the terms of the general licences. These allow you to shoot birds for specific reasons, including crop, game and wildlife protection and public health and safety. Shooting these birds just for the pot is not lawful.
Now choose your quarry: pests or paper?
When shooting mammals it is generally best to aim for the head but shooting birds in the head can be hard as it’s a small target and tends to move around. If you’re not confident with a head shot try aiming just under the wing for a heart-and-lung shot but be aware that this can be tricky because the pellet has to pass through so much muscle and bone.
As with any firearm, safety is paramount. Don’t fall into the trap of thinking that it’s “only” an airgun – it can injure, damage, even kill. A safe backstop is essential, so before trying to shoot squirrels or birds out of trees make sure there is a large branch or tree trunk directly behind the target. Air-rifle pellets can travel a long way and not only is it dangerous, it is also an offence to allow your pellets to travel beyond your boundary.
If you’re looking to shoot pests in your garden then, apart from using common sense, such as not waving the gun around for all your neighbours to see, there are a few important points to remember. Firstly, shooting pigeon or corvids on a vegetable patch in your garden to protect your vegetables or fruit would technically be allowed under the terms of the general licences. However, you are required to be “satisfied the legal (including non-lethal) methods of resolving the problem are ineffective or impracticable”. This might be difficult to argue if your veg patch is small enough that it could reasonably be netted. There is no such requirement for rabbits or rats.
Secondly, it is a criminal offence to allow an airgun pellet to travel beyond the land where you have permission to shoot. When someone under 14 is shooting, both the young person and the adult can be prosecuted, so make sure you have a safe backstop for every shot.
Finally, it is an offence to discharge a firearm within 50ft of the centre of a highway if in consequence a user is injured, interrupted or en-dangered. If you have a big front garden you probably don’t need to worry about this but it’s certainly possible for the back windows of a lot of houses to be closer than 50ft from the centre of the highway, so be careful.
AIRGUN GUIDE: WHICH AIRGUN TO USE?
Spring loaded, pre-charged pneumatic, gas ram, CO2… there are plenty of mechanisms to choose from and, ultimately, it’s down to personal preference. Spring-loaded guns take longer to load as you need to cock a large spring each time you want to fire but they’re generally cheaper to buy and run than pre-charged pneumatics. They also recoil and the trick to accurate shooting is to allow this to happen rather than trying to strangle the recoil out of it; the spring is more powerful than you.
Pre-charged pneumatic airguns come with a reservoir of compressed air capable of firing multiple pellets between fillings. This means you can fire off subsequent shots really quickly, especially if you have a magazine. However, the reservoir is finite and at some point you’ll have to stop shooting and refill the gun either manually with a stirrup pump (inexpensive but hard work) or from a large diving bottle (expensive but easy). The refill could be needed anywhere from every 50 to every 250 shots. This has become less of an issue lately thanks to the fashion for guns with removable buddy bottles; when you start to run low on air you remove the empty bottle and substitute it with a spare, fully charged one. Because there is no spring, these guns have no recoil and can be almost silent.
See Matt Ellis’ list of the top 10 airguns for use in the field, and which scopes to use with them.
AIRGUN GUIDE: PELLETS
Once you’ve picked an action you’ll need to choose a calibre. The main options are .177 and .22 and main difference between the calibres (diameter of the inside of the rifle barrel) is the weight of the pellet they can fire. Generally, .177 pellets will be lighter and therefore faster. This affects their trajectory and means they shoot flatter than the .22 but they also have less energy. In practice, the difference in energy isn’t a problem and all calibres will kill when put in the right place at the correct range.
Which pellets will you choose? Matt Ellis prefers the traditional round-headed pellets.
Don’t allow yourself to be constrained by the old adage of .177 for feather and .22 for fur. Use whatever calibre you can shoot with most consistently and stay within the maximum range of your ability. BASC recommends a maximum range of 30 metres for airguns below 12ft/lb but if you struggle to hit a target of 3cm (1¼in) – the typical target area for airgun quarry – consistently at 20yd, then this is the maximum range you should shoot at. Pace it out – it’s farther than you might think.
When it comes to pellets I’m a bit of a traditionalist and prefer the round-headed (diabolo) type. However, other sorts, such as pointed and hollow-point are available. Just practise on targets, make sure you’re confident with your grouping and you’ll be successful with most forms of pellet.
Different guns, even of the same type and by the same maker, seem to prefer different pellets, so try a few to ascertain which suit you and your gun. It doesn’t matter whether they’re the least or most expensive on the market as long as you can be consistently accurate and thus kill humanely with them.
I hope I’ve told you all you need to know in this airgun guide to make a start with your air rifle. You can’t beat an evening stalking the hedgerows trying to get close enough to shoot a couple of rabbits. Although the bags are never large there’s some-thing satisfying about pitting your wits against your quarry and trying to get within that magical 30-metre line. That’s why I’ll always have space in my cabinet for an air rifle.
Banish the bunnies with one of these top 10 airguns. Pneumatic or spring loaded - take your pick from our recommendations.
Which airgun is right for you? Pneumatic or spring powered?
These top 10 airguns for the field have been compiled by Matt Ellis from BASC. There are many air rifles available that will do the job adequately. Find the top 10 airguns in the low- to mid-range price bracket below. And start bring the bunnies to bay.
TOP 10 AIRGUNS FOR THE FIELD
7 PNUEMATIC AIRGUNS THAT ARE FIT FOR PURPOSE
BSA R-10 Mk 2 £800
This is at the top end of the price list but, to my mind, it has everything you need, including fitted sling swivels, a 10-shot magazine and a semi-match trigger. It looks good, too.
Daystate Huntsman £800
As with the BSA R-10, you get a 10-shot magazine and a good-looking gun that’s
reliable and light.
Weihrauch HW100 S £800
German engineering distilled down in an airgun with a 14-shot magazine.
BSA Scorpion SE Multishot £550
A middle-of-the-range, pre-charged pneumatic with a 10-shot rotary magazine.
Brocock Contour XL £560
Low shot count but a nice, light gun so long as you don’t mind the skeleton stock.
Air Arms S200 £450
Single-shot only but a nice, light gun and cheap for what you get.
Webley Raider £400
An entry-level air rifle with none of the bells and whistles but has everything you need.
When it comes to spring-powered airguns my preference is for underlever actions because I worry about just how accurate break barrels are. At least with an underlever you know that the barrel and action shouldn’t ever move relative to each other, so if you miss it’s your fault. Here are just three that I have enjoyed using.
3 SPRING-POWERED AIRGUNS FOR BUNNY DESPATCH
Air Arms Pro Sport £500
An expensive, spring- powered air rifle but a nice smooth underlever cocking action, great accuracy and nice-looking wood make it worth the money.
Weihrauch HW97K £350.
A middle-of-the-road, underlever-action gun; you won’t mind it being knocked in the field occasionally.
BSA Lightning XL £270.
A good-quality break-barrel gun for what you pay.
When it comes to scopes for the top 10 airguns it’s worth sticking with those specifically made for airguns. They are designed to handle the recoil from spring-powered airguns. If you’re serious about hunting you need a scope with mil-dots or the equivalent. These are small dots along the axes of the reticle that, with practice and good range-judging skills, allow you accurately to vary your point of aim depending on quarry distance and even wind strength. Variable or fixed zoom is mainly a matter of what you’re comfortable with but I like to be able to crank up the zoom to 9x, especially when shooting smaller quarry such as squirrels. The scopes below are reasonably priced and of good quality, available with fixed or variable zooms. All come with mil-dot reticles and will be more than enough to get you out there shooting with one of the top 10 airguns.
Quad biking is not just for herding sheep. Add a bit of power and change the functionality and you're in for mountains of fun over all terrains.
Quad biking is not just for rounding up the sheep. When you are finally off duty and want to let off some steam, then call for your old grizzly friend, the Yamaha.
There are many different quad bikes on the market. The best farm ATVs and best farm UTVs are fit for different purposes. But which reigns supreme? We weigh up the pros and cons of the best farm vehicles, but for those who want to do something rather more exciting, watch the Top Gear boys go fo a spin in this video.
Top Gear might have disappeared from our TV screens, but we can still take instruction on how to have some quad biking fun. Here is a jolly clip of the Top Gear trio quad biking in some unusual ways. Jeremy Clarkson tells us not to buy a Ferrari, but instead, a field and a quad to have some fun. How much damage do you think Clarkson and Hammond can cause to a field in one single day? Both men tackle quad biking through water, add bigger and more furious engines to their quad bikes and finally moat the vehicle in a cushion of air. Which quad biking contestant is most likely to win?
For those interested in which quads take the top spot at Field Towers, here are our best four.
QUAD BIKING: TOP FOUR ATVS
Honda Fourtrax: One of the best farm ATVs and has an automotive grade fuel pump.
Suzuki Kingquad 500: Speed-sensitive power steering eliminates bump-steer at high speeds and makes maneuvering at low speed easy.
Yamaha Grizzly 700 EPS: Known for being tough and reliable. Its revised steering geometry ensures lighter handling and maintains turning radius.
Polaris Sportsman 570: Its reputation for being one of the best is enhanced by colossal towing capacity and excellent integrated storage.
Just when you thought you had seen all the methods of quad biking, Clarkson provides us with some more quad biking thrills, and jet sets to Lake Como, Italy, to race Hammond. Clarkson on quad vs Hammond in car. An Alfa Romeo 4C supercar leaving Clarkson with no chance? Maybe…but who will win?
Point to point fixtures for June 2015. Whether you are leaning on your colourful parasol or holding a rain splattered brolly, be sure to catch the final point to points this June.
It really is hard to beat that June sensation with the promised whisper of golden summer days to come. The lean foxgloves have blossomed in the front garden and the air is mostly warm. Content yourself with a great day out whatever the weather may be and head to the race track to catch the last of the amateur horse racing heat. With June hosting the final point to point fixtures of the year, it essential to soak up the atmosphere, as well as the fizz. Just ensure you have drinks fit for a loyal toast.
We have the rest of the Season to celebrate, from Glorious Goodwood and to Royal Ascot. The Festival of Hunting in Peterborough is an event not to be missed also, see our guide on hound judging for tips on what to look for.
WHERE TO GO POINT TO POINTING IN JUNE 2015
Saturday 6th June
Pembrokeshire point to point
Trecoed, Pembrokeshire, off A40 at Letterston, 5m S of Fishguard
Sunday 7th June
Tiverton Staghounds
Bratton Down, Devon, alongside A399. 11m N of South Molton, 3m S of Blackmoor Gate
Saturday 13th June
Torrington Farmers
Umberleigh, Deovon, off the A377 at Chapelton Barton, 5m SE Barnstaple
11 Pheasant shooting tips to learn in the off season, so the new season goes with a swing.
Pheasant shooting tips for a most enjoyable season
Pheasant shooting tips are useful at any time of year. But during the off season use them to sharpen your skills for the start of the new season. With the Editor’s top tips blast some summer clays in preparation for a heavy bag next season.
Once you have bagged your birds make sure you know just what to do with your pheasant at the end of the day with the top 10 best pheasant recipes, guaranteed to please even jaded palates. And if you are thinking about investing in a new gun…our covetable list of the 10 most expensive guns in the world makes interesting reading.
11 PHEASANT SHOOTING TIPS for the best season’s shooting, courtesy of The Field’s editor, Jonathan Young.
When you arrive at your peg, mark carefully your neighbours’ positions and select the slice of sky that will legitimately hold your birds. Stick to that zone unless it’s to dispatch wounded birds. Shooting birds that another gun has already missed with both barrels – known as “wiping his eye” – is commonplace among friends but do not overdo it with strangers.
Always use a second barrel if the bird is not killed outright with the first. Don’t select another bird until the first is dead.
Another pheasant shooting tip is don’t take a pheasant that’s too low unless it’s on a back-end, clear-up day. You will either miss, which is embarrassing, or hit, which is worse, as you may smash the bird.
Don’t try and shoot birds that are out of range for your equipment or level of skill. For most people 45 yards is the limit.
Pheasants become harder to despatch cleanly as the season progresses. Many guns switch from 30gm No 6 to 32gm No 5 after Christmas. And make sure your guns fit – the heaviest loads are ineffective if they are in the wrong place.
Unless they are very high, try and take the birds in front, somewhere between 45-70 degrees. The birds are more likely to be hit in the head and neck and there is more time for a controlled second shot.
If they are steeple-scrapers, consider turning sideways and taking them as an overhead crosser – it can be easier to gauge the necessary lead.
Count your birds down on each drive and mark them carefully, especially any runners. Make sure a gundog handler knows exactly what’s to be gathered.
Be courteous to everyone on the shoot, especially the keepers, beaters and gundog handlers. Without them, we could not have driven shooting.
Always take your brace of pheasants home. The essence of our sport is harvesting food for the table.
The final pheasant shooting tip is simple. Subscribe to The Field for the best in shooting, hunting, fishing and country life.
Would you spend the school fees on a side-by-side? It's a tempting prospect with these exquisite shotguns.
The Purdey side-by-side. The most iconic shotgun of all?
The most expensive guns in the world won’t make you a better shot. For that take note of our editor’s 11 pheasant shooting tips. But they will make the attempt a damn sight more exciting. Every shooting man or woman has a faithful, favourite gun. The one that wiped everyone’s eye on the fourth drive at the Boxing Day shoot. Or the one that claimed the first right and left, the first woodcock, or acquitted itself well on your first day grouse shooting. These everyday guns are often handed down from uncles, fathers and father-in-laws; creaking relics but well-loved and fit for purpose.
But that doesn’t mean that we don’t want to look at the shiny, splendid most expensive guns in the world. And put them at the top of our shooting wishlist. Thes 10 most expensive guns are not just sporting weapons, they are works of art, with the price tags to match.
For those interested in guns arranged by separate criteria then the world’s 20 best shotguns is the best place to start (not as price specific). Or perhaps the top 10 airguns for blatting bunnies. And of course, when you have used one of these masterful masterpieces you will need our top 10 best pheasant recipes, to cook your kill.
The 10 most expensive guns in the world showcase the best guns and gunmakers working today. British or European, established or modern. Which would top your list?
The Fabbri 20-bore over-and-under is a Continental classic
This is not only one of the most expensive guns, it is probably the most sophisticated. At the Fabbri factory (read about the editor’s visit to the Fabbri: Italian gunmakers factory) the bench artisans work in silence as if in a religious establishment. The guns, blending old and new, are technically supreme. Every detail is thought through and many are unusual. The demi-lump barrels made from stainless steel, for example, don’t have conventional joining ribs; a micron-machined H-section sits between the tubes, which are brought into perfect re-lationship for point of impact by this component. When everything is exactly right the assembly with sighting rib is fused together by laser, creating one piece of metal. It is then DLC (diamond-like carbon)-coated, this high-temperature vacuum process vastly increasing resistance to wear as well as blacking the steel. The barrels, also tested to extreme proof pressure, become virtually indestructible. About 20 Fabbris are made each year. They are imported by Tony Kennedy, who observes, “There is nothing better and never has been, so much goes into it, you have to see how it is made to understand.”
Price: from £138,000 for an all-stainless gun and £150,000 for one with a titanium action (which reduces overall weight by about a pound if required). There is a 25% supplement for a pair.
Hofer, based in Ferlach, Austria, is a great showman and maker of some of the world’s most exclusive, innovative and most expensive guns. “Every-body says you can’t create a new gun. But that is not true,” he says. “Every third gun we create is a new gun.” About six guns leave his atelier each year. All are ornate and mechanically original. He may work on a single piece for many years (on one he lavished 21,400 hours). I recently handled a double-barrelled .17 rifle weighing 2lb, engraved with beetles.
Peter Hofer is a great showman, as can be seen from this sidelock shotgun
Hofer has developed a side-by-side 12-bore sidelock that includes an almost hidden .17 tube between the two smoothbore barrels. His more conventional side-by-side, made to whatever specification is desired and taking about 1,600 man hours, has a back action and single trigger. A Boss-system over-and-under is also offered, taking 2,000 hours, as well as more German-style guns. Hofer makes large and small gauges, but seems to have a particular passion for the miniature.
Price: He does not like to discuss price but Bloomberg Businessweek reports the range as $200,000 to $500,000. What Hofer calls his “Mega guns” may cost more than £1 million.
Delivery: by negotiation, depending on specification.
Boss, established in 1812, patented its over-and-under – one of the most influential of all – in 1909. And the modern version is on of the most expensive guns in the world today. Breech-loading over-and-unders had been made in Germany from about 1870 but Boss streamlined and lowered the action, dispensing with a cross-pin beneath the barrels. Instead, rotating trunnions at the knuckle mate with teardrop wedges machined into the barrel lumps. The Boss has two locking systems. There are draws projecting one on each side of the action walls meeting corresponding female radii in the middle of bifurcated barrel lumps. To the rear of the chambers two semicircular projections protrude and engage slots on either side of the bottom of the action face. A bolt emerging from the face locks these down. Says the firm’s Jason Craddock, “The draw system reduces strain at the knuckle and keeps the barrels on the face; the rear bolt and bites fasten the gun. There is tension at the trunnions but the draws reduce this significantly.”
Both systems are much imitated and the rear bolting has inspired many makers to create simplified versions as well outright copies. Most Bosses include a turret-system, mechanical single trigger and the ejector mechanism is powered by coil springs.
Price: from £105,540, including VAT (single trigger, £114,540). Double-trigger side-by-sides start at £81,540 (single trigger, £90,540). No more than 18 guns are made annually.
The Damas steel looks like traditional Damascus but is tremendously strong
Purdey, established 1814, acquired the right to make the Woodward over-and-under (patented in 1913) from James Woodward after the Second World War, having offered a more complex, deeper, six-bite design previously. The gun is distinguished by a brilliant hinging system involving stud pins near the knuckle and bifurcated lumps (much copied by dozens of makers) and a unique tongue-and-groove lock mid action. Superlatively strong, this is rarely copied because it is difficult to make. The Woodward-type over-and-under has a low action profile and great elegance of form. The ejection mechanism, improved by Ernest Lawrence, is boxed and powered by leaf springs.
Today, this over-and-under may also be ordered in Damas steel, which looks like traditional Damascus but is a tremendously strong, super-material created by bringing together two powdered steels in a nitrogen vacuum.
I have shot both conventional and Damas guns and found the latter in 30in 12-bore form one of the best I’ve ever used on game.
Price: for Purdey over-and-unders in 12-, 16- or 20-bore start at £108,720. In 28-bore and .410 they rise to £115,320. A Damas version is one of the most expensive guns in the world, and would cost you at least £130,320.
Holland & Holland, established in 1835, first made an over-and-under in 1914. An improved version was introduced in 1950. Different again was the new Royal over-and-under brought out in 1992 (prototyped in 20-bore form two years earlier). The new gun benefited – as did the less expensive, sideplated, detachable-trigger “Sporting” over-and-under launched at about the same time – from the CNC machining revolution then happening within the London gun trade and at Holland & Holland in particular.
The Holland and Holland Royal over-and-under
The gun is a back-action sidelock with a notably shallow and elegantly bolstered slim body. Unlike in a Purdey, Woodward or Boss, there are no additional central bites. It locks by means of square bolts locating just above the centre of the lower barrel. The gun is offered with double triggers or a non-selective, inertia-operated single trigger. I have shot the gun in most forms but the 30in 20-bore is one of the sweetest (natural pointing, low recoil, effortless) I have had the pleasure to use. It takes more than 900 hours to build.
Price: with a single trigger of £98,400, including VAT, in 12-, 16- and 20-bore; 28-bore and .410 cost £104,400. The firm produces 75 to 80 guns a year.
“What we do is capitalise on everything Greener did in their heyday,” notes David Dryhurst of WW Greener (who works with fellow directors Graham Greener and master gunmaker Richard Tandy). Each is a specific project and comes with an extra pair of Damascus barrels. Two models are offered. The Facile Princeps with classic Greener top extension is an exhibition grade boxlock, pos-sibly the finest of all fixed-lock boxlocks and allowing for a rounded bar to the front because of the central cocking system (10 have been built). Recent production also includes sidelocks, some with side lever. These are built without the top extension, save in 10-bore, with a five-pin, three-teardrop bridle lock as conceived by Harry Greener in 1914 – “different but highly efficient”.Greener uses a Boss ejector system (other than in a few Facile Princeps made with ‘“Unique” jointed tumbler ejectors) and Boss-style locks. Other features include arcaded Greener fences, a Greener fore-end with im-proved Deeley latch and a horn fore-end tip and heel plate. Invariably the guns have a Greener rounded half-pistol, knobbed grip and fleur-de-lis chequering on fore-end and stock. The recent Viking gun is one of a number of special commissions lately built.
Price: A modern Greener sidelock would not cost less than £120,000, including VAT.
The Purdey-Beesley side-by-side hammerless self-opener is perhaps the most iconic shotgun of all. Based on a design conceived by the gunmaker Frederick Beesley and patented in 1880, it revolutionised the British sporting gun (as did the simpler but no less influential Anson & Deeley hammerless boxlock brought out by Westley Richards in the 1870s). It was set apart by the beautiful form of its sidelocks and the ingenuity of their mechanism. They used one leg of a V-spring to power the internal hammers and the other to power the self-opening feature, which was useful to speed up shooting on the large-bag days then becoming fashionable. Ejectors were added in the 1880s and, apart from developments in this area, the gun made today is virtually unchanged from that conceived by Beesley (who licensed the manufacturing right to Purdey initially and later sold it the design).
The Purdey side-by-side. The most iconic shotgun of all?
The traditional steel gun with classic Purdey rose and scroll come in 12-, 16- or 20-bore, 28-bores and .410s. Purdey also offers a hammer ejector in 12-, 16- or 20-bore. The 12-bore I shot performed fantastically well (perhaps the best side-by-side I have shot, equalling the superb hammerless Holland Royal).
Price: for a traditional steel gun with classic Purdey rose and scroll in 12-, 16- or 20-bore are £94,080, inclusive of VAT; 28-bores and .410s cost £99,120. The 12 bore hammer ejector costs £99,120 and may be ordered with Damas steel barrels for an extra £14,400, making a total of £113,520 (thus qualifying as Britain’s most expensive house-engraved side-by-side).
William & Son was founded in 1999 by William Asprey after he had managed the Gun Room at Asprey’s in Bond Street. William & Son’s gunmaking team is led by Paul West, an ex-Holland & Holland man. The guns have a distinctive style, typically svelte with deep-scroll house engraving (although available with whatever the customer wants). They represent excellent value, too, when one considers their quality. Side-by-sides are built on a slimmed Holland-style action in all bore sizes. The over-and-unders are built on a modification of the Boss system but with Woodward-style hinging studs and bifurcated lumps. Ejection uses conventional cams and V-springs rather than the coil springs of the Boss. However, the gun locks up in a similar fashion to the Boss (or guns that imitate it) with draws mid action and projections either side of the bottom chamber that slot into recesses in the action face. The over-and-under is available in 12- and 20-bore only. The firm makes only a dozen guns a year.
Price: Side-by-sides cost from a little more than £60,000, including VAT, the over-and-under, when equipped with a single-trigger, costs from around £75,000.
Delivery: about 12 months (less time than most premier-league makers).
Holland’s Royal model was first mentioned in 1883 and illustrated in this magazine in 1895. With its leg-of-mutton locks it looked significantly different to the modern gun. A second series, incorporating Holland-Robertson patents, was developed in the 1890s. This had what we would now regard as conventional lock plates and an improved ejector mechanism based on what would now be called the Southgate system. An assisted opening mechanism was added in 1922 in-volving a tube and spring beneath the barrels. The gun is one of the favourites of the gun trade because of it brilliant design and the ease with which it can be maintained. I think it shoots especially well, too.
The only changes in the past few decades have been to the wood (now Turkish) and to the wall thickness of the barrels (slightly increased). It takes about 800 hours to complete a modern Royal side-by-side.
Prices: from £85,800, including VAT, for a 12-, 16- or 20-bore with double trigger; in 28-bore and .410 it costs £90,000, including VAT.
Delivery: approximately two years (some shelf guns available).
The Westley Richards side-by-side; in 4 bore it costs from £71,400
Westley Richards not only perfected the basic boxlock but in 1897 introduced a version with detachable locks known as the “droplock” because the locks may be removed from under the action via a hinged bottom plate. This is one of the most intriguing of all British designs (the Dickson Round Action might run it a close second). Each lock contains only seven components. Workmanship is outstanding, with jewelled surfaces and impeccable presentation. The gun is available in .410 to 4-bore. The 12-bore versions I shot impressed, but so does the behemoth 4-bore, partly because of its sheer scale.
All guns have the Westley top lever and “Model C” doll’s-head extension. The firm is well known for its single selective trigger (double triggers are an option), which operates on an inertio-mechanical principle and has 26 individually made parts.
Prices: from £46,200, including VAT, with full scroll; the single trigger will add £4,620. A 4-bore, however, would cost £71,400, including VAT. Extra locks for all gauges cost £3,900. Exhibit-ion wood would add £2,400 per gun and tip and toe plates £2,050 each.
Delivery: about 30 months.
MOST EXPENSIVE GUNS: LIST CRITERIA
Mike Yardley explains the criteria behind the creation of this list of the 10 most expensive guns in the world.
Creating a list of truly great guns – guns made by methods old and new and without any compromise – is not without complications. Much thought and research went into this one. Initially, the idea had been to consider the 10 best guns in the world, but the criteria for selection would have been subjective. So, it was decided to use price as the main criterion but even this is not as simple as it might seem. Extra finish, special engraving or embellishment with precious metals, enamel or gemstones can vastly in-crease the cost of a gun and may set a false benchmark with regard to fundamental quality. Any sporting gun may be “blinged up”.
A further problem is that some of the makers represented here are so exclusive that they have no standard price. So, one creates the list by considering guns representative of their oeuvre. Whatever way you cut it, a little subjectivity creeps in.
I have had the good fortune to shoot eight of the guns listed. I cannot vouchsafe the shooting qualities of all of them or indeed confirm their long-term reliability save where I have used them on several occasions or they are owned by friends. All impress or even astound in their craftsmanship and finish.
Some names not featured here are omitted because production is much diminished and their elderly makers are not taking new orders. I have also left out two great Continental names because I have insufficient experience of their guns. One modern English company, Ray Ward, might well have featured were this list compiled a year hence. Also, I have recently been impressed by the father-and-son team Max Ern in Germany. Its gunmaking is exquisite but its guns do not come into the “rich list” category though far from lacking in fundamental quality.
What a shotgun choke is, what the choke does, how it affects your shooting and how to both choose and measure your shotgun choke.
Make sure you have the best barrels and the correct shotgun choke
Shotgun choke can become something of an obsession. But it can make all the difference to your shooting. So if you want to know which choke to use for which gun, which choke to use for high birds, and when to stop tinkering, read our guide…continued below.
An expert guide to pigeon shooting is particularly useful when it comes from a team that down the grey grouse …Continue reading »
WHAT IS SHOTGUN CHOKE?
Shotgun choke is the constriction at the muzzle end of the gun that tightens the pattern of pellets. In an average cartridge there are approximately 300 pellets, so how wide the shot pattern or how restricted is a matter than will make all the difference to your shooting.
There is no need to become neurotic about shotgun choke, even though some people do. What is most important is that regular misses in the field are rarely down to choke. The cause is far more likely to be the direction the barrels are pointing.
Choke is one of those things, like gunfit, that should be visited occasionally and put out of mind once an informed decision has been reached concerning what best suits your needs.
With that on record, let us move forward.
DOES YOUR SHOTGUN CHOKE WORK FOR YOU?
You should take your gun to a pattern plate (or improvise one with paper or card sheets and a suitable frame and safe back-drop) and shoot it at different ranges – 20yd, 30yd and 40yd – using the cartridge you prefer. You hope to see an even pattern without too many clusters, gaps or excessive central concentration.
If there are holes a bird could fly through – a 5in circle test is sometimes applied – or if the pattern is obviously too tight, your shotgun and its chokes may be working against you.
Once you have tested with your usual ammunition, experiment with different cartridges. You might, for example, try to observe the terminal effects of switching between fibre and plastic wads (the former often throw more open patterns) or increasing pellet payload (which may be an alternative to increasing choke). If your gun has multi-chokes, try different tubes.
The tools of the trade for measuring shotgun choke
REVERSE CHOKE
Sportsmen develop strange prejudices concerning shotgun choke. My approach, and I happily admit to passing through the stage of confusion, is practical. I have discovered what works for me in different situations and now stick with it. For general game-shooting, I like a bit of choke in the first barrel but not too much – it is the first few thou that makes the most obvious difference. A slightly choked barrel is much more efficient than a true cylinder and inspires confidence, too.
Many 12- and 20-bore game guns are over-choked for their task. Tight patterns may be a means to cleaner kills at longer range but they are an impediment at shorter distances because they demand more accuracy.
There seems to be something in many sportsman’s psychology that erroneously suggests more choke good, less choke bad. If you are going out on the average driven day or walking-up, you do not need much choke in a 12-bore. The first few thou does make a real difference; thereafter the law of diminishing returns takes effect. Those who can see shot will confirm this. You can often observe what looks like a tennis ball-sized cluster of shot moving past the bird at short range. I have seen this many times and thought: “It’s much tighter than I expected, one might as well be using a rifle.”
Some years ago, I put together what came to be called my “duffer’s gun” based on an old, plain-Jane Beretta Essential over-and-under. The initial idea was to create a workhorse without regard to aesthetics that would be as forgiving to shoot as possible on normal days. It was based on an over-and-under because, though I love side-by sides, over-and-unders are usually easier to control and easier to point. The Beretta action is supremely reliable, moreover, and the Essential, though a budget gun, had livelier barrels than the average because it dispensed with side ribs.
The gun was a multi-choked model and this allowed for much experiment with shotgun chokes at the pattern plates and, later, in hides and on the shooting field. After some months of experiment, I determined that I had the most consistent first-shot success with something called a Seminole spreader choke. This device is made in the USA. It might be described as a reverse choke: it has a section that extends from the muzzles and trumpets out to a greater size than the bore.
The form of this section is conical. The concept of reverse constriction is not new. In the muzzle-loading era, before the general adoption of choke boring, many guns were “relieved” at the muzzles because it was found that they shot better than a true cylinder. My experience would seem to confirm this; the Seminole choke still works on clay birds 50yd out, yet it is very forgiving close in.
The second shotgun choke that worked really well in the field – in that it was effective and forgiving in use – was a standard Beretta Improved Cylinder Mobilchoke tube. This is a conventional shotgun choke with about five thou of constriction. With the duffer’s gun, I once accounted for 18 average pheasants for 17 shots. They were not testing, but it really was quite difficult to miss with it. I have since lent it to friends in distress and they have always shot it better than other, more traditional weapons. I have had similar unnatural success with another open-choked Beretta over-and-under using mid-velocity, heavy payload cartridges (11⁄4oz, No 6).
The gun and the cartridges were lent to me in Italy. It was extremely effective on easy birds but the experience was notable because the 36g cartridges had a lot of shot in them but did not recoil excessively (the lower velocity, heavy-payload cartridge was explored by the wildfowler Dr Charles Heath years ago).
OPEN CHOKES?
Does this mean that everyone should open up their chokes? No, not unless one is shooting at close- to mid-range birds routinely. Shotgun choke can certainly be useful when shooting at longer range its effects break down at extreme range and if birds are especially tough – such as wild guineafowl in Africa. A bit more choke than is really required may also in-crease confidence – no small factor in shooting – and give one the sense if not the actual ability to pick one’s birds better. If your confidence slips because of concerns about choke, or anything else, your focus may come off the bird and your movements may be hesitant (resulting in misses behind).
WHAT CHOKE FOR HIGH BIRDS?
Nigel Teague, a man who has experimented more with shotgun choke than perhaps anyone else in Britain today, advocates 7⁄8ths of choke – about 35 thou – in both barrels for the really tall stuff. This concurs with my high-bird experience where I have found three-quarters and three-quarters works well in a 12, better than full and full. With many modern cartridges optimum pattern performance requires less than full constriction; excessive choke can blow a pattern.
Many foreign guns, especially small bores, may be ridiculously over-choked. This stated, I think 20s and, especially, 28s perform a bit better with a little more shotgun choke than I would advocate for a 12. My 30in Beretta EELL 28-bore, for example, shoots particularly well with two three-quarter chokes fitted (about 20 thou constriction in a 28).
Although, one can try to state general principles concerning choke, I find that some guns just seem to shoot well with a particular constriction and there is no real science – none that is available at least – to support why this should be.
Shotgun ballistics are much more complex than one might think because there are so many variables: atmospheric conditions; shot size; shot density; shot coating; wad, primer, powder and case type; barrel diameter (a nominal 12 might be anything from .710 to .740 in internal diameter) and internal geometric form; barrel steel and wall thickness; and, not least, the length and form of the choke constrictions themselves. Some chokes are short, others long. Some are simple conic constrictions, others have a cone that leads into a parallel section, yet others have complex forms, including features such as radiused walls, relieved sections or expansion chambers.
While we are getting technical, let me note that tight shotgun choke increase pressures, and hence velocity. A point of choke is worth about 1ft per second on velocity.
As barrel length has a small effect on velocity too – about 5fps per inch in a 12-bore – this may become more significant when extremes of choke and barrel length are combined. For example, it is interesting to note that a 32in full-choke gun might have a velocity as much as 100fps faster than a 25in open-bored one, all other things being equal.
Most intriguingly, constriction of the muzzles also has the effect of reducing the stringing of shot once it is significantly forward of the muzzles (just forward of the muzzles there may some elongation of the shot column, but the terminal effect of choke is to reduce the length of the shot string and thus improve its efficiency). This may seem counter intuitive but it was neatly demonstrated by Mr Griffiths of the Schultz Powder Company more than a hundred years ago by means of shooting choked and unchoked guns at a spinning disc. The results were published in The Field, like much else concerning choke and shotgun ballistics in the Golden Age.
CHOOSE YOUR SHOTGUN CHOKE AND FORGET IT
Cutting to the chase and avoiding the danger of getting too complicated, my all-round choice in a 12-bore game-gun would usually be improved and half or improved and three-quarters (a useful choking if combined with the instant selection of a double trigger). I would not argue with those, such as my friend and former Olympian Kevin Gill, who advocate quarter and half for all-round shooting. (Kevin shifts to half and three-quarters for higher birds.) My rationale is that I like to engage average birds instinctively but it is also good to have the option of a more precise approach at range.
CHOKE FOR HIGH BIRDS
Two tight but not extreme shotgun chokes are in order (teamed with a high-performance cartridge; the choke may never be separated from the cartridge used with it).
CHOKE FOR PIGEON
Quarter and quarter or half and half usually works well. For smaller bores my preference is a bit more choke than commonly advised. I have to say, though, that I have not a clue what is in my 32in Guerini 20s, the guns I use most for game. I put the chokes in some while back after playing at the plates and have not looked at them since. They work.
MEASURING SHOTGUN CHOKE
A shotgun multichoke
Commonly, one refers to the choke in a barrel as being true cylinder, improved, quarter, half, three-quarter or full. Gunmakers talk about “points” of choke. They measure shotgun choke relative to the bore diameter (which may vary considerably within any designated bore size rather than at the muzzle alone).
One point equates to a constriction of one thousandth of an inch. Below is what one would expect in a 12-bore gun.
True Cylinder 0-1 points
Improved cylinder 3-6
Quarter (American Improved) 8-12
Half (American Modified) 17-23
Three-quarters (Improved Modified) 25-30
Full 35-40
Super full 40+
These descriptions should not be appraised in isolation of their observed effects, though. Properly considered, choke concerns the number of pellets any given barrel/constriction throws into a 30in circle at40yd. The quality of shot, the type of wad and other factors such as precise bore diameter and the form of choke – short or long, simple conic or conic cone plus parallel section (the favourite of British gunmakers) may all be significant.
Percentage of pellets inside
30in circle at 40yd
True Cylinder 30-40
Improved 50
Quarter 55
Half 60
Three-quarters 65
Full 70-75
Super full 76+
Shotgun choke can be definitively determined only at the pattern plates and in relation to a specific cartridge. Measurement of constriction alone can be misleading. In days past, a gunmaker would always ask his client what cartridges he intended to use and then regulate the chokes according to the desired percentage. If the client opted for the gunsmith’s own brand, he would have to continue to use the gunmaker’s cartridges to ensure consistency of performance.
The fieldsports vote has never been more crucial. Jonathan Young discusses who to vote in the General Election.
Where will you put your cross on 7 May? Who will do most to protect the rural way of life?
Where do we put our cross if we are voting for fieldsports? Editor, Jonathan Young, gives his verdict on who will heed the rural fieldsports vote, and save British wildlife too.
It must be soothing to be a MAMIL, that happy breed of middle-aged men in Lycra. You climb on to a bike and pedal through the lanes without a thought of your so-called democratic government threatening to ban your sport.
I mentioned this to a Conservative city councillor who, catching my drift, explained to me, with studied patience, that there were no votes in hunting and what’s more he couldn’t understand the need to cull badgers. When I tried to explain the liberty and conservation issues involved, he cut me short: “It’s the urban vote we’ve got to worry about, not the fieldsports one.”
Given we were dining in a rural constituency, his remarks were typical of the arrogance and stupidity that have made so many politicians rival journalists for the title of most hated profession. And yet, come 7 May, we have to put our cross somewhere, so where?
VOTING FOR FIELDSPORTS
Fieldsports should not be the natural preserve of Tory supporters any more than cycling should be a true-blue pastime. Believing in some or all of the tenets of socialism should not disbar any of us from following a hound, working a gundog, playing a trout or decoying a pigeon. And yet Labour’s Angela Smith, the shadow Minister for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, can say, “I need to make it clear that we have no intention of including anything in our manifesto that would suggest that we would ban shooting as a sport. We recognise it is a legitimate recreational activity.” This has been seized upon as support for our sport but it’s quite an odd statement. Go back to our MAMIL, pedalling quietly down the lanes. How would he view a party whose best shot at gaining his support is,“we’re not going to ban what you do”?
Labour has form when it comes to fieldsports. Having introduced the Hunting Act 10 years ago, its 2015 manifesto pledges to protect it against a possible Tory repeal, “because we believe that causing defenceless animals to suffer in the name of sport has no place in a civilised society”. And while Mrs Smith might do her best to allay concerns about shooting, her immediate boss, Maria Eagle, promises, “Labour will tackle wildlife crime and reduce animal cruelty on shooting estates. More needs to be done to protect animal welfare on shooting estates. The next Labour government will undertake an independent review into the most effective way to end the illegal persecution of birds of prey, such as the hen harrier; prevent non-target animals getting trapped in snares; and ensure the humane treatment of gamebirds.” Which makes one wonder what, exactly, is the non-humane treatment of gamebirds that needs attention.
So, for the sake of fieldsports, do we need to vote Conservative? At one stage it seemed UKIP might be equally supportive, giving voters a third option when both the major parties’ candidates are anti-fieldsports (28 Tory MPs condemn hunting according to the group Conser-vatives Against Fox Hunting).
Nigel Farage visited the Game Fair in 2014 and said last Boxing Day, “The decision on the matter should be made at a local level, by the British public.” Stuart Agnew, MEP and UKIP’s spokesman for agriculture, reinforces this view but warns Field readers (Mat issue) that “many urban UKIP candidates, if they became MPs, would be against hunting foxes for sport, just like urban MPs of other parties”.
Of the other parties wooing our votes, anyone with progeny over 18 and somewhat starry eyed should warn them off voting for the Greens, whose stated policy is to “extend the 1911 Protection of Animals Act to protect both captive and non-captive animals from unnecessary suffering. This will be used to prohibit hunting with hounds, shooting, snaring, coursing and various other abuses of our animal population.” And, in case we were in any doubt, it promises to “amend the Firearms Act to prohibit the use and private ownership of firearms”.
The Liberal Democrats are less rabid, of course, but they blocked the attempt by the Prime Minister in 2014 to relax the hunting law to allow a pack of hounds in England and Wales to flush a fox.
So, are the Conservatives the party that truly supports fieldsports? David Cameron wrote this month: “There is definitely a rural way of life which a born-and- bred Londoner might struggle to understand. I have always been a strong supporter of country sports. It is my firm belief that people should have the freedom to hunt, so I share the frustration that many people feel about the Hunting Act and the way it was brought in by the last government. The Hunting Act has done nothing for animal welfare. A Conservative Government will give Parliament the opportunity to repeal the Hunting Act on a free vote, with a government Bill in government time.”
He made the same promise at the last election, a promise that didn’t materialise. But the mathematics did not work then. They might this time round. It could be argued that national life is too important to be decided by the single issue of fieldsports but we’re not in the happy position of our Lycra-clad cyclists; politicians have chosen to play with our way of life in order to throw electoral sweeties to an urban public. The parties, between them, have left us with only one voting choice and it’s blue.
The Field's guide to everything happening in May. Head to Badminton, Chelsea and the Hay Festival this month.
Badminton is one of May's must see events. See our full listings below.
Things start to happen in May, the summer season is starting to sway. For the first weekend after the bank holiday head to Badminton, Gloucestershire for the pinnacle of three day eventing (just don’t forget to cast your vote first if you go on the Thursday) . Fingers crossed that cross country day on Saturday is not a wash out. Sate your green fingered designs with a day at the Chelsea Flower Show and follow it up with an ennervating literary fix at the Hay Festival.
DATES FOR THE DIARY
1 May
World Pheasant Association Charity Clay Shoot Acorn Shooting Grounds, Compton Manor estate, Kings Somborne, Hampshire. The cost is £600 for a team of four. To book, email khowman@ashgame.com.
The Petworth Park Antiques & Fine Art Fair New fair in the grounds of Petworth House, West Sussex. For details, go to www.petworthparkfair.com.
9-10 May
The Whitfield Annual Clay Shoot In aid of the CA, GWCT and local charities. Whitfield, Northumberland; entry £340 for a team of four. Call Stuart Maugham on 07501 460017 or visit www.whitfieldclays.co.uk.
12-29 May
Rodger McPhail Exhibition Rountree Tryon Gallery, 7 Bury Street, London SW1, tel 020 7839 8083; www.rountreetryon.com.
13-17 May
Royal Windsor Horse Show, Berkshire Free admission on first day and for children on 14th and 15th. Call 0844 581 4960 or visit www.rwhs.co.uk.
15-17 May
Chatsworth International Horse Trials Bakewell, Derbys; www.chatsworth.org.
Suffolk Show, Trinity Park, Ipswich, Suffolk, tel 01473 707110; www.suffolkshow.co.uk.
27-30 May
Royal Bath & West Show, Shepton Mallet, Somerset, visit www.bathandwest.com.
31 May
Best of British Polo in aid of Help for Heroes and Hampshire and Isle of Wight Air Ambulance, Tidworth Polo Club, Wilts. For tickets, go to www.bestofbritishpolo.co.uk.
Sealyham terriers are excellent for ferreting, rabbit catching and will even climb vines to chase recalcitrant rodents in hiding. We salute this dogged breed.
Mark Warnett (standing), Nigel Mex, Harry Parsons and the sealyhams look for rats on Pegglesworth’s pond
Of all the terrier breeds, it is perhaps the small, white, sealyham terrier, named after the estate in Pembrokeshire where it was first bred in the mid 1800s by Captain John Tucker-Edwardes, that has suffered the greatest mixture of fortunes. In the Twenties, The Kennel Club registered more than 2,000 sealyham terrier puppies annually but in recent years that number has dwindled; there were 68 registrations in 2013. This figure has put the sealyham terrier on The Kennel Club’s Vulnerable Native Breeds list, although, in 2009, a sealyham called Charmin won Crufts. Today, the world of the sealyham terrier is divided into those dogs bred as pets and for show – there is little doubt that they make excellent pets, loyalty, character and cheerfulness being typical traits – and as working dogs. As pets, they have been owned by Princess Margaret, Alfred Hitchcock, Cecil Aldin and Elizabeth Taylor, among others. In 1959, the Ephraim Hardcastle column in the Sunday Express reported: “A notice has been posted in Clarence House and Windsor Castle giving explicit instructions that when Princess Margaret has breakfast in bed, her two sealyham terriers [Johnnie and Pippin] must be brought to the room along with her breakfast tray.”
Harry Parsons issues instructions
It is hard to imagine that the sealyham terrier was once bred for its tenacity against badger and fox. Since the establishment of the Working Sealyham Terrier Club in 2008 by Harry Parsons, their main foes have been mink and rats. Of the 200 to 300 sealyham terriers in Britain today, perhaps just 20 are working dogs. Much credit for the working and breeding of the sealyham must go to Parsons and his partner, Gail Wescott. From their home in Devon they tour country shows, extolling the virtues of the breed, talking to other owners and vetting prospective owners. Occasionally, they are invited to bring their pack of sealyham terriers to address a specific rat problem, which, as I was to witness, they do with élan. It was not, however, at some rat-infested chicken shed that 40 of us assembled one August day but on the thousand-acre Gloucestershire estate of renowned polo player Alexander Ebeid and his wife, Jacquie, near Andoversford.
Jacquie Ebeid, Gail Wescott and Dave Simms with the puppies
Here, the landscape and rural inhabitants occupy a position just as important as in the days of Laurie Lee, the centenary of whose birth was celebrated in 2014. The honey-stoned cottages of steep villages tumble next to each other like Christmas coins and there is a soporific stillness to the air. It would be hard to imagine rats dwelling on Pegglesworth Home Farm, a Jacobean manor house with immaculately tended polo paddocks and stabling for 52 horses. But the menagerie includes turkeys, peacocks, ducks and chickens in the garden and a successful three-day-a-week high-bird pheasant-shoot, all of them a magnet to brown rats. “I welcome you with open arms,” Alexander Ebeid said to me as we met the day before ratting. This was not because his estate has a significant rat problem but, as a family, the Ebeids are tremendous aficionados of the working sealyham terrier and wish to see the breed flourish and prosper.
Four years ago, Jacquie Ebeid’s nephew, Giles Clark, who lives nearby, met Harry Parsons at a country fair at Althorp and asked about getting a sealyham terrier for his children. Archie, now four, duly arrived. “I cried when Daddy picked me up and said look in the back of the car,” Allegra Clark recalls. “Archie has been everything we hoped for and more.” “Archie is not the top of the class as a ratter, rather more like I was in Latin lessons,” Clark told me as we assembled with Parsons’ sealyham pack to draw the sheds, ponds and menagerie of Pegglesworth in sunshine. “I just thought it would be nice to keep the breed going.” Parsons is ably assisted by two whippers-in, Nigel Mex, who is terrierman to the Axe Vale Harriers, and Mark Warnett, whose mother, Alison Hawkes, is a Devon vet; she looks after the well-being of the terriers. All are proper “hound men” and alert to proceedings at all times. Tizzie Craggs, who had travelled from Suffolk with her two three-year-old sealyhams, Tanner and Arfur Crown, has been a lifelong fan of the breed. Last year, she did a sponsored parachute jump to raise money for the Working Sealyham Terrier Club from an aerodrome near Beccles, raising £3,000. “I don’t even like heights,” she told me.
As with otter-hunting of old, amazing conversations can happen while wandering along and ratting with sealyhams. Enjoying the proceedings from her motorised wheelchair was Alice Beale, a former breeder of field-trial champion springer spaniels and pugs. When she felt pugs were getting too inbred she took to breeding schipperkes. “They are much in demand as Belgian barge dogs as they are excellent rat killers,” she told me.
Harry Parsons digging in
Then I met Jann Parry, who was staying with the Ebeids. Former dance critic of the Observer and biographer of choreographer Sir Kenneth MacMillan, who was brought up in the former Rhodesia. She can remember
her grandparents being summoned to Government House in Salisbury in full morning dress on the death of King George VI in 1952. They took with them their two sealyham terriers, Roddy and Mascot. “It is lovely to see a sealyham terrier again,” said Parry. “It reminds me of my childhood.” Parry was just back from her first return trip to Zimbabwe, where she was playing Rosaline in Love’s Labour’s Lost, and confided that she also has a voluntary role looking after abandoned cats at Battersea Dogs & Cats Home. When the terriers found a rat on a pond she gestured, as if lifting a placard, and whispered to me, “Save the rat.” In fact, the rat went up a drainpipe, thwarting these most enthusiastic terriers, who then attempted to pursue a moorhen; they are ardent swimmers and persevere in their work. “Steady to feather,” commanded Dave Simms from Warwickshire, owner of three-year-old Winnie, and they desisted.
The Sealyham looking for rats on Pegglesworth’s pond
This is the fourth visit Harry Parsons has made to Pegglesworth with his sealyhams. It being August, there were no rats at home in the first barn that, later on, will be full of pheasant food. “We killed 30 here last November,” Parsons told me. Headkeeper Stephen Malley was delighted. “The rats can live out on the chalk banks quite happily in the summer,” explained Charlie Llewellen Palmer, who farms nearby and whose great-uncle kept a pack of sealyhams in Wiltshire during the Twenties. “There is plenty of water for them underground.” One of the coverts on the historic Pegglesworth map is called Ratshill Banks. Having spotted only two rats in the morning, it was time to repair to the Pegglesworth threshing barn for lunch. This enormous building, which would not be out of place in Thomas Hardy’s The Woodlanders, was a ruin when Alexander Ebeid, then playing polo at Cirencester Park, was first told that the estate was for sale 40 years ago. While ratting repasts during my childhood involved a crust of bread and a rind of cheese, here we were met with a souk of culinary splendour. The enormous doors of the threshing barn were thrown wide, candles were lit and open fires burned in the enormous grates.
Hard at work
“That’s the wonderful thing – we are all hunting people here,” Parsons marvelled. “We love entertaining,” Jacquie Ebeid told me and, with much appreciation, we took her at her word. Traditional hunting terminology is used when working the sealyhams. So the afternoon “draw”, with a reduced “pack”, was put into the menagerie near the manor where a rat was soon located under a small chicken house. Mex was charged with firing up the smoke machine to try and bolt our quarry. After an hour of manful digging a single rat did escape. It was, for me, a moment to talk to Dave Simms about how he got into sealyhams. “I had owned Jack Russells and a Plummer for 15 years but when I saw Harry parade his sealyhams at Ragley I had to go and talk to him,” he recalls. “I stalked him for three years before he agreed to let me have one. “When I was younger, I was looking for the quick kill,” continued Simms. “But with my sealyham terrier I can fully appreciate her hunting skills.” Winnie the sealyham terrier, he says, is excellent for ferreting, for rat or rabbit, will retrieve and even put a bird up walking before him and is steady to deer. “It is their sheer versatility out hunting and temperament; they will switch off in the evening and become a family pet again.” Drawing into the rhododendrons near the house, Mex spotted a disused rodent box and, crawling underneath, he tapped it and out shot a rat (they will make nests in these boxes if they are not regularly topped up with poison). Parsons brought on the pack of perhaps eight dogs and the rat, cunning as ever, shot up into a small hedge of cotoneaster.
Harry Parsons issues instructions
With the sealyham terriers “winding” the rat, it fell to an outstretched Parsons to topple it on to the ground whereupon a proper rat hunt ensued, the spoils going to Tizzie Craggs’ Arfur Crown. All this took place under the watchful eye of an appreciative Alexander Ebeid and, after all the hard work, a few “woohoops” were not out of place. Five minutes later, the terriers scented a second rat under some vines, which then climbed the branches (making it necessary for a member of the Pegglesworth staff to rush into the house to close a bathroom window as a precaution). This rat then made a bolt for a small culvert of water and was “given best” at 4.40pm. “There is nowhere in the world I would rather be than here today,” Parsons said over tea in the Ebeid’s glorious rose garden. “It’s been quite a journey from my childhood in the East End of London, when we would take our little black-and-white terrier, Judy, rabbiting on the Hackney Marshes.”
A rat crosses the lawn and climbs a vine; Arfur Crown claims the spoils
No one who was present on this day and witnessed his passion for his beloved working sealyhams and the devotion he and the Working Sealyham Terrier Club have for the practical working of the breed would regard it as anything but a journey worthwhile. We champion the Sealyham Terrier.
Gurkhas have fought for the British army for two hundred years. With such a determined and ferocious enemy, it was essential to have them on our side.
Gurkha soldiers patrolling
in Kandahar, Afghanistan.
in Kandahar, Afghanistan; Colonel James Robinson, whose family has served in the Brigade of Gurkhas for generations; kukri and sheath.
Gurkhas have fought for Britain in many significant campaigns for the last two hundred years. With such a determined and ferocious enemy, it had seemed only natural to recruit them on condition that Britain would have the authority to appoint soldiers in Nepal. The Gurkhas have been with us since…..continued below
The Field has always been an ardent supporter of Her Majesty’s armed forces:
The cavalry in the First World War did not play a large part in the fighting on the Western Front. …Continue reading »
THE GURKHAS CELEBRATE 200 YEAR ANNIVERSARY
Exactly 200 years ago The East India Company and the Kingdom of Nepal were slugging it out in a bloody and bruising war. The British, on the basis of, “If you are not beating them, get some of them to join you”, decided to raise a regiment of Gurkhas. They, equally impressed by the Brits’ martial qualities, signed up and, war over, many more regiments followed. And so it was that our long and deep relationship with these doughty mountain warriors was born.
I first came across the Gurkhas as an officer cadet at Sandhurst. Like so many before and since (there was always a Gurkha “demon-stration” battalion based nearby), we marched off for Fieldcraft, Lesson One. Gazing out over acres of yellowing September heather, the directing staff (DS) asked whether we could see anyone. “No, Sir,” we replied. And, hard as we looked, we could not. A nod from the DS, a command in Gurkhali from a sergeant and an entire section of heavily armed Gurkhas got up from right in front of us. It was deeply impressive and also scary: their skill, our blindness. Like many of my generation, I had heard stories of them sneaking into enemy encampments at dead of night during the Second World War, checking the sleeping men were Japanese by feeling their boots (“they” crossed their laces, “we” tied ours parallel); then slitting their throats before disappearing back into the jungle.
GURKHAS RETRACE THEIR HISTORY
That day at Sandhurst I not only believed those stories but that display of superb fieldcraft instilled in me a deep
sense of wanting these men on my side, never as my enemy. Back at Sandhurst 40 years later, I asked Colonel James Robinson, Colonel Brigade of Gurkhas, to distil the essence of a Gurkha soldier and that 200-year relationship. He pointed to a large, bronze plaque leaning against the wall of his office. It commemorates “Three Gallant Soldiers” killed in action at Dargai in 1897, including Captain John Graham Robinson, his great-great-great uncle. There has been a Robinson in the regiment ever since. The colonel still carries his forebear’s sword, a weapon he shows me with pride.
Kukri and sheath.
Similarly, some Gurkhas can trace their families serving for five generations. While tradition is one strand of the story, it is more complex than that. Gurkhas desperately want to join the Brigade, not least because it is, for them and their families, like pulling the ace of spades in the playing pack of Nepali life. Acceptance means wealth nearly beyond compare in that poor mountain kingdom. The soldiers understand the opportunity they are given. They are happy to repay that obligation, and with interest. Conversely, their British officers are somewhat “different”. They must be determined to lead Gurkhas. For starters, and until the recent spread of the internet and very much higher standards of education in Nepal, soldiers did not speak English. To lead their men in battle officers had to speak basic – “fighting”, at least – Gurkhali. And that takes commitment. Because, as Robinson explains, language is the route in to understanding their culture. And, for mutual respect, soldiers and officers must first understand each other.
Captain Sam Meadows, Adjutant of the 2nd Battalion, The Royal Gurkha Rifles, joins us and explains that the Gurkha is essentially deeply competitive. Furthermore, he learns well and rigorously applies what he is taught. It is this – and exceptional courage and fitness – that is at the heart of what makes Gurkhas such exceptional soldiers. For example Gurkhas, he tells me, are not “natural” shots. But, in 2014, they won The Queen’s Medal for the best individual shot in the Army and won the team events for brigade, division and the Army itself. And these guys are not natural shots? “They listen. They learn. They apply those lessons. Then add their determination to win and that is the result,” Meadows explains. Similarly, with a recent Brigade “patrols” competition: nine teams of Gurkhas entered the competition. They finished one to eight, a “British” team, ninth and the bottom Gurkha team, 10th. “How did they take that?” I asked, mischievously. “To say that 10th team was disappointed is to put it mildly,” was a far as Meadows would go.
The Brigade takes 230 new soldiers a year in one annual selection held in Nepal. Thous-ands of fit and determined Nepalis apply. Only 500 make it to the final selection. One requirement is that a recruit must be able to do 12 pull-ups, a test of upper body and arm strength. When I joined up many managed only five or so and achieved 10 by the end of training. And, if anyone (except Gurkhas or Special Forces, of course) is sneering as they read this, then I suggest they see how many times they can haul their heavy, Western bodies up to that bar. So, 12 heaves sounds good. But, and what few know, is that a standard “Nepali” pull-up is to nipple level. We only just pulled our quivering chins to the bar. Par for day one of selection is about 18. Some pull 44.
After training? Meadows recounts a muscular Fijian taking on his sergeant – in full body armour. The Fijian heaved an impressive 16. The Gurkha added a General Purpose Machine Gun over his armour to keep things interesting and pulled an easy 17. Then did “one more for luck” with the bar behind his head. And endurance? They are mostly mountain men and, from childhood, they run and carry to a level few Europeans can comprehend, let alone emulate.
How can a British officer physically outperform them? The answer is, few do. But the soldiers do not look to him for this. An officer leads by looking after his men, by being skilled at his craft, by respecting them. Then they will follow him anywhere and do anything asked of them – and more.
And that legendary ferocity that has seen them awarded endless gallantry medals in umpteen conflicts? Colonel Robinson explains that you could not hope to meet a more cheerful, hospitable and friendly soldier than a Gurkha. But, when “the red mist comes down” he becomes something altogether different. And nothing is more inexorably linked with that killer fury than the kukri: the lethal, curved, Gurkha fighting knife.
Was it true, I asked one former colonel, that, pulled from its sheath, the knife had to “taste” blood? “They’d bleed themselves out in a fortnight,” was his amused dismissal of that myth, explaining that they used it as an all-purpose tool: peeling spuds, cutting wood or removing bottle tops. But, when that red mist does
come down, it is for his kukri the Gurkha instinctively reaches. Anyone who has read George MacDonald Fraser’s Quartered Safe Out Here will recall his description of Gurkhas as-saulting a wooded Japanese strongpoint. They attacked across open ground, firing as they ran until, just before they hit the wood line, they dropped their rifles and went in with blades only. They returned – unlike the Japanese.
Meadows tells how, in Afghanistan in 2013, insurgents attacked LCpl Tuljung Gurung in his sangar. First he was shot. A lucky deflection off his helmet left him stunned. Next, a hand grenade landed beside him. He lobbed it back. Finally, up went an Afghan, out came his kukri and down went the insurgent. He was awarded a Military Cross.
Left: Gurkha rifleman firing in Burma. Right: A Nepali boy about to leave his home life as a Gurkha.
Which brought us neatly to the Gurkha on the modern battlefield. Meadows explains how impressive they were in Afghanistan, whose terrain is similar to that of Nepal. Gurkhali has the same linguistic roots as Pashto, Dari and Urdu. For example, the word for enemy – dushman – is the same in all four languages. Gurkha soldiers got to know the local Afghans and in the summer of 2012 in Helmand he and his men felt so unthreatened around their base that they would happily have patrolled without helmets or body arm-our. The locals told them where the IEDs were as they did not want to see their friends hurt.
British generals now see a well-educated generation of soldiers who no longer work just as infantry but in Gurkha Signals, Engineers and Logistics regiments. Gurkhas can transfer out of the Brigade after five years and they are to be found in Special Forces and even the Royal Navy. Colonel Robinson makes the telling point that, were Britain to be in sudden need of fully fit recruits, there is no shortage of such men ready and willing in Nepal.
All of which is cause for optimism in their 200th anniversary year. Fund-raising is at the heart of this summer’s celebrations. Gurkhas living in Nepal, who retired before 1975, receive no pension and that leaves many re-liant on the Gurkha Welfare Trust (GWT), set up in 1968, to help them cope in old age. The GWT wants to raise much-needed funds.
Recruits adjust their spacing on camp parade.
The highlight of this anniversary year will be the Gurkha 200 Pageant on 9 June at The Royal Hospital Chelsea, where the Gurkha story will be told by their ultimate pin-up girl, Joanna Lumley, together with Dan Snow.
There are also various “anniversary challenges”. Extraordinarily, no serving Gurkha has stood atop Mount Everest, a glaring omission an expedition intends to rectify this May. Simultaneously, two Gurkhas will circumnavigate Ellesmere Island in the Arctic Circle: a 1,500-mile odyssey involving kayaking and dragging said kayaks over some of the most inhospitable terrain on earth.
Meadows, concerned I had not yet understood the essence of a Gurkha soldier, des-cribed a journey to visit a legendary warrior high on his mountain. It transpired that Sabitman Tamang had not seen a British officer since the Second World War. Aged 92, he rushed inside, donned hat and medals and, standing rigidly to attention, threw a smart salute. He then showed Meadows his farm, which he still ploughed using buffalo: horned, aggressive and dangerous. One beast, perhaps unsettled by the westerner, took a determined swing at Tamang, who clouted him hard in the face with a perfect backhander. The huge buffalo recoiled in shock. “That’s a Gurkha.”
The Field's guide to everything happening in May. Head to Badminton, Chelsea and the Hay Festival this month.
Badminton is one of May's must see events. See our full listings below.
Things start to happen in May, the summer season is starting to sway. For the first weekend after the bank holiday head to Badminton, Gloucestershire for the pinnacle of three day eventing (just don’t forget to cast your vote first if you go on the Thursday) . Fingers crossed that cross country day on Saturday is not a wash out. Sate your green fingered designs with a day at the Chelsea Flower Show and follow it up with an ennervating literary fix at the Hay Festival.
DATES FOR THE DIARY
1 May
World Pheasant Association Charity Clay Shoot Acorn Shooting Grounds, Compton Manor estate, Kings Somborne, Hampshire. The cost is £600 for a team of four. To book, email khowman@ashgame.com.
The Petworth Park Antiques & Fine Art Fair New fair in the grounds of Petworth House, West Sussex. For details, go to www.petworthparkfair.com.
9-10 May
The Whitfield Annual Clay Shoot In aid of the CA, GWCT and local charities. Whitfield, Northumberland; entry £340 for a team of four. Call Stuart Maugham on 07501 460017 or visit www.whitfieldclays.co.uk.
12-29 May
Rodger McPhail Exhibition Rountree Tryon Gallery, 7 Bury Street, London SW1, tel 020 7839 8083; www.rountreetryon.com.
13-17 May
Royal Windsor Horse Show, Berkshire Free admission on first day and for children on 14th and 15th. Call 0844 581 4960 or visit www.rwhs.co.uk.
15-17 May
Chatsworth International Horse Trials Bakewell, Derbys; www.chatsworth.org.
Suffolk Show, Trinity Park, Ipswich, Suffolk, tel 01473 707110; www.suffolkshow.co.uk.
27-30 May
Royal Bath & West Show, Shepton Mallet, Somerset, visit www.bathandwest.com.
31 May
Best of British Polo in aid of Help for Heroes and Hampshire and Isle of Wight Air Ambulance, Tidworth Polo Club, Wilts. For tickets, go to www.bestofbritishpolo.co.uk.
Sealyham terriers are excellent for ferreting, rabbit catching and will even climb vines to chase recalcitrant rodents in hiding. We salute this dogged breed.
Mark Warnett (standing), Nigel Mex, Harry Parsons and the sealyhams look for rats on Pegglesworth’s pond
Of all the terrier breeds, it is perhaps the small, white, sealyham terrier, named after the estate in Pembrokeshire where it was first bred in the mid 1800s by Captain John Tucker-Edwardes, that has suffered the greatest mixture of fortunes. In the Twenties, The Kennel Club registered more than 2,000 sealyham terrier puppies annually but in recent years that number has dwindled; there were 68 registrations in 2013. This figure has put the sealyham terrier on The Kennel Club’s Vulnerable Native Breeds list, although, in 2009, a sealyham called Charmin won Crufts. Today, the world of the sealyham terrier is divided into those dogs bred as pets and for show – there is little doubt that they make excellent pets, loyalty, character and cheerfulness being typical traits – and as working dogs. As pets, they have been owned by Princess Margaret, Alfred Hitchcock, Cecil Aldin and Elizabeth Taylor, among others. In 1959, the Ephraim Hardcastle column in the Sunday Express reported: “A notice has been posted in Clarence House and Windsor Castle giving explicit instructions that when Princess Margaret has breakfast in bed, her two sealyham terriers [Johnnie and Pippin] must be brought to the room along with her breakfast tray.”
Harry Parsons issues instructions
It is hard to imagine that the sealyham terrier was once bred for its tenacity against badger and fox. Since the establishment of the Working Sealyham Terrier Club in 2008 by Harry Parsons, their main foes have been mink and rats. Of the 200 to 300 sealyham terriers in Britain today, perhaps just 20 are working dogs. Much credit for the working and breeding of the sealyham must go to Parsons and his partner, Gail Wescott. From their home in Devon they tour country shows, extolling the virtues of the breed, talking to other owners and vetting prospective owners. Occasionally, they are invited to bring their pack of sealyham terriers to address a specific rat problem, which, as I was to witness, they do with élan. It was not, however, at some rat-infested chicken shed that 40 of us assembled one August day but on the thousand-acre Gloucestershire estate of renowned polo player Alexander Ebeid and his wife, Jacquie, near Andoversford.
Jacquie Ebeid, Gail Wescott and Dave Simms with the puppies
Here, the landscape and rural inhabitants occupy a position just as important as in the days of Laurie Lee, the centenary of whose birth was celebrated in 2014. The honey-stoned cottages of steep villages tumble next to each other like Christmas coins and there is a soporific stillness to the air. It would be hard to imagine rats dwelling on Pegglesworth Home Farm, a Jacobean manor house with immaculately tended polo paddocks and stabling for 52 horses. But the menagerie includes turkeys, peacocks, ducks and chickens in the garden and a successful three-day-a-week high-bird pheasant-shoot, all of them a magnet to brown rats. “I welcome you with open arms,” Alexander Ebeid said to me as we met the day before ratting. This was not because his estate has a significant rat problem but, as a family, the Ebeids are tremendous aficionados of the working sealyham terrier and wish to see the breed flourish and prosper.
Four years ago, Jacquie Ebeid’s nephew, Giles Clark, who lives nearby, met Harry Parsons at a country fair at Althorp and asked about getting a sealyham terrier for his children. Archie, now four, duly arrived. “I cried when Daddy picked me up and said look in the back of the car,” Allegra Clark recalls. “Archie has been everything we hoped for and more.” “Archie is not the top of the class as a ratter, rather more like I was in Latin lessons,” Clark told me as we assembled with Parsons’ sealyham pack to draw the sheds, ponds and menagerie of Pegglesworth in sunshine. “I just thought it would be nice to keep the breed going.” Parsons is ably assisted by two whippers-in, Nigel Mex, who is terrierman to the Axe Vale Harriers, and Mark Warnett, whose mother, Alison Hawkes, is a Devon vet; she looks after the well-being of the terriers. All are proper “hound men” and alert to proceedings at all times. Tizzie Craggs, who had travelled from Suffolk with her two three-year-old sealyhams, Tanner and Arfur Crown, has been a lifelong fan of the breed. Last year, she did a sponsored parachute jump to raise money for the Working Sealyham Terrier Club from an aerodrome near Beccles, raising £3,000. “I don’t even like heights,” she told me.
As with otter-hunting of old, amazing conversations can happen while wandering along and ratting with sealyhams. Enjoying the proceedings from her motorised wheelchair was Alice Beale, a former breeder of field-trial champion springer spaniels and pugs. When she felt pugs were getting too inbred she took to breeding schipperkes. “They are much in demand as Belgian barge dogs as they are excellent rat killers,” she told me.
Harry Parsons digging in
Then I met Jann Parry, who was staying with the Ebeids. Former dance critic of the Observer and biographer of choreographer Sir Kenneth MacMillan, who was brought up in the former Rhodesia. She can remember
her grandparents being summoned to Government House in Salisbury in full morning dress on the death of King George VI in 1952. They took with them their two sealyham terriers, Roddy and Mascot. “It is lovely to see a sealyham terrier again,” said Parry. “It reminds me of my childhood.” Parry was just back from her first return trip to Zimbabwe, where she was playing Rosaline in Love’s Labour’s Lost, and confided that she also has a voluntary role looking after abandoned cats at Battersea Dogs & Cats Home. When the terriers found a rat on a pond she gestured, as if lifting a placard, and whispered to me, “Save the rat.” In fact, the rat went up a drainpipe, thwarting these most enthusiastic terriers, who then attempted to pursue a moorhen; they are ardent swimmers and persevere in their work. “Steady to feather,” commanded Dave Simms from Warwickshire, owner of three-year-old Winnie, and they desisted.
The Sealyham looking for rats on Pegglesworth’s pond
This is the fourth visit Harry Parsons has made to Pegglesworth with his sealyhams. It being August, there were no rats at home in the first barn that, later on, will be full of pheasant food. “We killed 30 here last November,” Parsons told me. Headkeeper Stephen Malley was delighted. “The rats can live out on the chalk banks quite happily in the summer,” explained Charlie Llewellen Palmer, who farms nearby and whose great-uncle kept a pack of sealyhams in Wiltshire during the Twenties. “There is plenty of water for them underground.” One of the coverts on the historic Pegglesworth map is called Ratshill Banks. Having spotted only two rats in the morning, it was time to repair to the Pegglesworth threshing barn for lunch. This enormous building, which would not be out of place in Thomas Hardy’s The Woodlanders, was a ruin when Alexander Ebeid, then playing polo at Cirencester Park, was first told that the estate was for sale 40 years ago. While ratting repasts during my childhood involved a crust of bread and a rind of cheese, here we were met with a souk of culinary splendour. The enormous doors of the threshing barn were thrown wide, candles were lit and open fires burned in the enormous grates.
Hard at work
“That’s the wonderful thing – we are all hunting people here,” Parsons marvelled. “We love entertaining,” Jacquie Ebeid told me and, with much appreciation, we took her at her word. Traditional hunting terminology is used when working the sealyhams. So the afternoon “draw”, with a reduced “pack”, was put into the menagerie near the manor where a rat was soon located under a small chicken house. Mex was charged with firing up the smoke machine to try and bolt our quarry. After an hour of manful digging a single rat did escape. It was, for me, a moment to talk to Dave Simms about how he got into sealyhams. “I had owned Jack Russells and a Plummer for 15 years but when I saw Harry parade his sealyhams at Ragley I had to go and talk to him,” he recalls. “I stalked him for three years before he agreed to let me have one. “When I was younger, I was looking for the quick kill,” continued Simms. “But with my sealyham terrier I can fully appreciate her hunting skills.” Winnie the sealyham terrier, he says, is excellent for ferreting, for rat or rabbit, will retrieve and even put a bird up walking before him and is steady to deer. “It is their sheer versatility out hunting and temperament; they will switch off in the evening and become a family pet again.” Drawing into the rhododendrons near the house, Mex spotted a disused rodent box and, crawling underneath, he tapped it and out shot a rat (they will make nests in these boxes if they are not regularly topped up with poison). Parsons brought on the pack of perhaps eight dogs and the rat, cunning as ever, shot up into a small hedge of cotoneaster.
Harry Parsons issues instructions
With the sealyham terriers “winding” the rat, it fell to an outstretched Parsons to topple it on to the ground whereupon a proper rat hunt ensued, the spoils going to Tizzie Craggs’ Arfur Crown. All this took place under the watchful eye of an appreciative Alexander Ebeid and, after all the hard work, a few “woohoops” were not out of place. Five minutes later, the terriers scented a second rat under some vines, which then climbed the branches (making it necessary for a member of the Pegglesworth staff to rush into the house to close a bathroom window as a precaution). This rat then made a bolt for a small culvert of water and was “given best” at 4.40pm. “There is nowhere in the world I would rather be than here today,” Parsons said over tea in the Ebeid’s glorious rose garden. “It’s been quite a journey from my childhood in the East End of London, when we would take our little black-and-white terrier, Judy, rabbiting on the Hackney Marshes.”
A rat crosses the lawn and climbs a vine; Arfur Crown claims the spoils
No one who was present on this day and witnessed his passion for his beloved working sealyhams and the devotion he and the Working Sealyham Terrier Club have for the practical working of the breed would regard it as anything but a journey worthwhile. We champion the Sealyham Terrier.
Gurkhas have fought for the British army for two hundred years. With such a determined and ferocious enemy, it was essential to have them on our side.
Gurkha soldiers patrolling
in Kandahar, Afghanistan.
in Kandahar, Afghanistan; Colonel James Robinson, whose family has served in the Brigade of Gurkhas for generations; kukri and sheath.
Gurkhas have fought for Britain in many significant campaigns for the last two hundred years. With such a determined and ferocious enemy, it had seemed only natural to recruit them on condition that Britain would have the authority to appoint soldiers in Nepal. The Gurkhas have been with us since…..continued below
The Field has always been an ardent supporter of Her Majesty’s armed forces:
The cavalry in the First World War did not play a large part in the fighting on the Western Front. …Continue reading »
THE GURKHAS CELEBRATE 200 YEAR ANNIVERSARY
Exactly 200 years ago The East India Company and the Kingdom of Nepal were slugging it out in a bloody and bruising war. The British, on the basis of, “If you are not beating them, get some of them to join you”, decided to raise a regiment of Gurkhas. They, equally impressed by the Brits’ martial qualities, signed up and, war over, many more regiments followed. And so it was that our long and deep relationship with these doughty mountain warriors was born.
I first came across the Gurkhas as an officer cadet at Sandhurst. Like so many before and since (there was always a Gurkha “demon-stration” battalion based nearby), we marched off for Fieldcraft, Lesson One. Gazing out over acres of yellowing September heather, the directing staff (DS) asked whether we could see anyone. “No, Sir,” we replied. And, hard as we looked, we could not. A nod from the DS, a command in Gurkhali from a sergeant and an entire section of heavily armed Gurkhas got up from right in front of us. It was deeply impressive and also scary: their skill, our blindness. Like many of my generation, I had heard stories of them sneaking into enemy encampments at dead of night during the Second World War, checking the sleeping men were Japanese by feeling their boots (“they” crossed their laces, “we” tied ours parallel); then slitting their throats before disappearing back into the jungle.
GURKHAS RETRACE THEIR HISTORY
That day at Sandhurst I not only believed those stories but that display of superb fieldcraft instilled in me a deep
sense of wanting these men on my side, never as my enemy. Back at Sandhurst 40 years later, I asked Colonel James Robinson, Colonel Brigade of Gurkhas, to distil the essence of a Gurkha soldier and that 200-year relationship. He pointed to a large, bronze plaque leaning against the wall of his office. It commemorates “Three Gallant Soldiers” killed in action at Dargai in 1897, including Captain John Graham Robinson, his great-great-great uncle. There has been a Robinson in the regiment ever since. The colonel still carries his forebear’s sword, a weapon he shows me with pride.
Kukri and sheath.
Similarly, some Gurkhas can trace their families serving for five generations. While tradition is one strand of the story, it is more complex than that. Gurkhas desperately want to join the Brigade, not least because it is, for them and their families, like pulling the ace of spades in the playing pack of Nepali life. Acceptance means wealth nearly beyond compare in that poor mountain kingdom. The soldiers understand the opportunity they are given. They are happy to repay that obligation, and with interest. Conversely, their British officers are somewhat “different”. They must be determined to lead Gurkhas. For starters, and until the recent spread of the internet and very much higher standards of education in Nepal, soldiers did not speak English. To lead their men in battle officers had to speak basic – “fighting”, at least – Gurkhali. And that takes commitment. Because, as Robinson explains, language is the route in to understanding their culture. And, for mutual respect, soldiers and officers must first understand each other.
Captain Sam Meadows, Adjutant of the 2nd Battalion, The Royal Gurkha Rifles, joins us and explains that the Gurkha is essentially deeply competitive. Furthermore, he learns well and rigorously applies what he is taught. It is this – and exceptional courage and fitness – that is at the heart of what makes Gurkhas such exceptional soldiers. For example Gurkhas, he tells me, are not “natural” shots. But, in 2014, they won The Queen’s Medal for the best individual shot in the Army and won the team events for brigade, division and the Army itself. And these guys are not natural shots? “They listen. They learn. They apply those lessons. Then add their determination to win and that is the result,” Meadows explains. Similarly, with a recent Brigade “patrols” competition: nine teams of Gurkhas entered the competition. They finished one to eight, a “British” team, ninth and the bottom Gurkha team, 10th. “How did they take that?” I asked, mischievously. “To say that 10th team was disappointed is to put it mildly,” was a far as Meadows would go.
The Brigade takes 230 new soldiers a year in one annual selection held in Nepal. Thous-ands of fit and determined Nepalis apply. Only 500 make it to the final selection. One requirement is that a recruit must be able to do 12 pull-ups, a test of upper body and arm strength. When I joined up many managed only five or so and achieved 10 by the end of training. And, if anyone (except Gurkhas or Special Forces, of course) is sneering as they read this, then I suggest they see how many times they can haul their heavy, Western bodies up to that bar. So, 12 heaves sounds good. But, and what few know, is that a standard “Nepali” pull-up is to nipple level. We only just pulled our quivering chins to the bar. Par for day one of selection is about 18. Some pull 44.
After training? Meadows recounts a muscular Fijian taking on his sergeant – in full body armour. The Fijian heaved an impressive 16. The Gurkha added a General Purpose Machine Gun over his armour to keep things interesting and pulled an easy 17. Then did “one more for luck” with the bar behind his head. And endurance? They are mostly mountain men and, from childhood, they run and carry to a level few Europeans can comprehend, let alone emulate.
How can a British officer physically outperform them? The answer is, few do. But the soldiers do not look to him for this. An officer leads by looking after his men, by being skilled at his craft, by respecting them. Then they will follow him anywhere and do anything asked of them – and more.
And that legendary ferocity that has seen them awarded endless gallantry medals in umpteen conflicts? Colonel Robinson explains that you could not hope to meet a more cheerful, hospitable and friendly soldier than a Gurkha. But, when “the red mist comes down” he becomes something altogether different. And nothing is more inexorably linked with that killer fury than the kukri: the lethal, curved, Gurkha fighting knife.
Was it true, I asked one former colonel, that, pulled from its sheath, the knife had to “taste” blood? “They’d bleed themselves out in a fortnight,” was his amused dismissal of that myth, explaining that they used it as an all-purpose tool: peeling spuds, cutting wood or removing bottle tops. But, when that red mist does
come down, it is for his kukri the Gurkha instinctively reaches. Anyone who has read George MacDonald Fraser’s Quartered Safe Out Here will recall his description of Gurkhas as-saulting a wooded Japanese strongpoint. They attacked across open ground, firing as they ran until, just before they hit the wood line, they dropped their rifles and went in with blades only. They returned – unlike the Japanese.
Meadows tells how, in Afghanistan in 2013, insurgents attacked LCpl Tuljung Gurung in his sangar. First he was shot. A lucky deflection off his helmet left him stunned. Next, a hand grenade landed beside him. He lobbed it back. Finally, up went an Afghan, out came his kukri and down went the insurgent. He was awarded a Military Cross.
Left: Gurkha rifleman firing in Burma. Right: A Nepali boy about to leave his home life as a Gurkha.
Which brought us neatly to the Gurkha on the modern battlefield. Meadows explains how impressive they were in Afghanistan, whose terrain is similar to that of Nepal. Gurkhali has the same linguistic roots as Pashto, Dari and Urdu. For example, the word for enemy – dushman – is the same in all four languages. Gurkha soldiers got to know the local Afghans and in the summer of 2012 in Helmand he and his men felt so unthreatened around their base that they would happily have patrolled without helmets or body arm-our. The locals told them where the IEDs were as they did not want to see their friends hurt.
British generals now see a well-educated generation of soldiers who no longer work just as infantry but in Gurkha Signals, Engineers and Logistics regiments. Gurkhas can transfer out of the Brigade after five years and they are to be found in Special Forces and even the Royal Navy. Colonel Robinson makes the telling point that, were Britain to be in sudden need of fully fit recruits, there is no shortage of such men ready and willing in Nepal.
All of which is cause for optimism in their 200th anniversary year. Fund-raising is at the heart of this summer’s celebrations. Gurkhas living in Nepal, who retired before 1975, receive no pension and that leaves many re-liant on the Gurkha Welfare Trust (GWT), set up in 1968, to help them cope in old age. The GWT wants to raise much-needed funds.
Recruits adjust their spacing on camp parade.
The highlight of this anniversary year will be the Gurkha 200 Pageant on 9 June at The Royal Hospital Chelsea, where the Gurkha story will be told by their ultimate pin-up girl, Joanna Lumley, together with Dan Snow.
There are also various “anniversary challenges”. Extraordinarily, no serving Gurkha has stood atop Mount Everest, a glaring omission an expedition intends to rectify this May. Simultaneously, two Gurkhas will circumnavigate Ellesmere Island in the Arctic Circle: a 1,500-mile odyssey involving kayaking and dragging said kayaks over some of the most inhospitable terrain on earth.
Meadows, concerned I had not yet understood the essence of a Gurkha soldier, des-cribed a journey to visit a legendary warrior high on his mountain. It transpired that Sabitman Tamang had not seen a British officer since the Second World War. Aged 92, he rushed inside, donned hat and medals and, standing rigidly to attention, threw a smart salute. He then showed Meadows his farm, which he still ploughed using buffalo: horned, aggressive and dangerous. One beast, perhaps unsettled by the westerner, took a determined swing at Tamang, who clouted him hard in the face with a perfect backhander. The huge buffalo recoiled in shock. “That’s a Gurkha.”
It is a shame not to press into service every bit of the spring lamb. This recipe uses an under-appreciated part, sweetbreads, the king of offal. Chilled asparagus velouté is even tastier with some added shavings of asparagus and crispy sweetbreads.
Recipe: Sweetbreads and asparagus.
Chilled asparagus velouté with crispy sweetbreads is a delicious summer infusion. It seems a shame not to press into service every bit of a spring lamb, so this recipe uses an under-appreciated cut: sweetbreads, the king of offal. And the best of British asparagus.
It’s a myth that they are calves’ brains: they are actually glands, although this may not be much help to the squeamish. More importantly, they are utterly delicious paired with a chilled asparagus velouté, garnished with shaved raw asparagus. Raw asparagus is sweet and nutty and works perfectly in this chilled asparagus velouté. It works as a salad in its own right, too, with toasted pine nuts and pecorino. Serve it with any cured meat.
CHILLED ASPARAGUS VELOUTÉ WITH SHAVED ASPARAGUS AND CRISPY SWEETBREADS
Sweat half the chopped onion in olive oil, add the chicken stock and 200ml (7fl oz) water and bring to a gentle boil. Cut the tough bottom ends off eight asparagus spears and set the top halves aside. Roughly chop the rest of the spears and add to the pot along with the bottom ends. Simmer for two to four minutes, until the asparagus is tender. Purée until very smooth, then push through a sieve. Stir in double cream and season to taste, then refrigerate.
Working from root to just below the tip, shave thin strips from the reserved asparagus spears with a vegetable peeler. Save the tips for an extra garnish. Dress the asparagus with lemon juice, olive oil and parsley and season. Set aside.
Soak sweetbreads in milk for 15 to 30 minutes. Simmer the rest of the chopped onion and carrot in a large pan of water for a few minutes, reduce heat to very low; add the sweetbreads. Poach for five minutes, drain and pat dry.
While hot, gently pull fat and membranes away and separate the meat into nuggets. Heat the vegetable oil to 170°C/338°F, or until a breadcrumb sizzles when dropped in. While it heats up, dip each piece of sweetbread in seasoned flour, then egg, then breadcrumbs. Repeat the egg and breadcrumb stage a second time for an extra-crispy coating. Deep-fry the nuggets in the hot oil until golden-brown. Drain and season the nuggets.
To serve, place a mound of shaved asparagus in the middle of four shallow bowls. Pour a pool of chilled velouté around it, and top with some nuggets of sweetbread and asparagus tips. Drizzle with olive oil to finish. There you have not only a delicious, but a perfect chilled asparagus velouté.
Try this endorphin-inducing dish that will trample your taste buds and leave you feeling zinged up. Peppered salmon with saffron potatoes and spiced broth is a perfect start to Spring.
Peppered salmon with saffron potatoes and spiced broth.
Peppered salmon with saffron potatoes makes a wonderful afternoon Spring lunch. Salmon is one of those wonderful oily fish that tastes delicious however you decide to cook it. Sustainably-sourced salmon is becoming rarer and a tad more pricey too, so if you don’t have the time to catch your own then you want to make sure that you source a good quality fillet.
When cooked in the smoker, all the natural flavors of the meat are heightened to create wonderful flaky flavours. If you’re able to get a hold of a whole salmon, or even better, catch your own and make the most of the great salmon fishing in the UK you can smoke it and serve it whole for a dinner party. You will need to prepare this in advance to allow time for the fish to cure and then dry properly. It is best to obtain a fresh fish on Saturday, cure it overnight, and then smoke it Sunday morning for an afternoon lawn lunch.
If you don’t have the time to fiddle around with smokers, poaching the fish is equally delicious. Poached salmon holds real purity and allows you to focus more on the sauce. Cooked in some white wine and lemon juice and poached for no longer than 4-5 minutes is the best way to enjoy it.
PEPPERED SALMON WITH SAFFRON POTATOES AND SPICED BROTH
Serves 4
■ 4 x 1in slices of salmon
■ 1 tbsp mixed crushed black and green peppercorns
■ Salt and pepper
■ 500ml (17fl oz) fish stock
■ 1 pinch saffron
■ 12 small maris piper potatoes
■ 1 bulb of fennel, very finely sliced
■ 20g (3⁄4oz) finely sliced ginger
■ 1 hot chilli
■ 100g (31⁄2oz) sugarsnap peas
■ Juice of 1 lime
Start by sprinkling the salmon with peppercorns and some salt and put to one side. In a saucepan, heat the stock and add the saffron. Cook the potatoes until they are just done and then remove them. Place the fennel, ginger and chilli in to the saucepan and cook for five minutes, then add the sugarsnaps and cook for two more. Grill the salmon for a few minutes. Add the potatoes back in, squeeze in the lime and season to taste. Ladle the broth and potatoes into four bowls, pop a piece of salmon on each and perhaps give the fish a final squeeze of lime juice.
Try adding some seasonal spring veg to our roast butterflied haunch of venison. Muntjac may be the smallest breed of deer, but still packs a flavourful punch.
Roast Butterflied Haunch of Muntjac Venison.
Roast butterflied haunch of muntjac is a classic dish perfect to cook for a late spring dinner party. If the widely known Samuel Pepys speaks highly of venison dishes then it must be the thing to eat.
Try introducing this lean meat into other British traditions. What better way to enjoy a picnic by trying one of our venison sausage rolls recipes. If you want something a bit more hearty then try making the perfect venison burger for a more casual supper, taken outside.
ROAST BUTTERFLIED HAUNCH OF MUNTJAC
Serves 2 to 4
■ 1 big bunch oregano (chopped)
■ 150ml (5fl oz) olive oil
■ 6 cloves garlic (peeled)
■ Zest and juice of 1 lemon
■ 1 chilli (chopped)
■ 1 tsp cracked black pepper
■ 1 tsp sea-salt
■ 1 haunch muntjac (about 1.2kg)
■ 1 small bunch parsley
Whizz the oregano, oil, garlic, lemon zest and juice, chilli and seasoning in a food processor until you have a coarse paste. Pour it into a bowl and reserve. Remove the shank from the haunch of muntjac. This is easy if you have a sharp, thin-bladed knife.
Lay the haunch on its outside and feel the joint where the shank joins the leg. You will feel some bumps – the edges of the joint. Cut between these, then rotate the knife and cut through the obvious tendon. With a bit of pressure, the knife will go straight through and remove the shank, which we will cook later.
Carefully cut out the thigh bone and start butterflying the haunch of muntjac. Make a series of 1in-deep cuts, going outwards from where you have removed the thigh bone. Unroll the meat from centre to side, using the knife to open it up. You should be left with a sheet of meat about 11⁄2in thick and 1ft long. Next, pour half the marinade over the meat and leave it for an hour. Cook it on a medium barbecue, turning every three minutes for 20 minutes, or sear it in a big pan to brown and then roast it in a 220°C (425°F/Gas Mark 7) oven for 15 minutes. Rest it for 10 minutes before carving. Meanwhile, add some chopped parsley to the marinade and spoon it over the carved haunch of muntjac.
What about that shank? Ask your butcher to remove the tendon and saw the bone. Freeze it until you have at least eight and then braise them.
For this recipe you could either use muntjac or a young roe deer; the cooking times will be roughly the same. The meat is very different, however, so it is up to personal choice or availability. Personally, I would go for the muntjac, which has amazingly dense and delicious meat, over the roe, which is a bit stronger in flavour and softer in texture. But the muntjac is a terrible bugger to skin.
Young sculptor Elliot Channer is helping the observer to see birds and animals from a fresh perspective.
Scots Grey Hen in bronze resin by Elliot Channer.
Elliot Channer started his route to artistic success via the internet. Not something Sir Alfred Munnings had recourse to. But his sculptures are decidedly tangible. Janet Menzies meets Elliot Channer.
ELLIOT CHANNER, SPORTING ARTIST
It is probably time we revised our notions of the artistic life. We may cherish the picture of the artist or sculptor high in his garret but today’s creative spirits are more likely to be found in an internet café. Certainly trawling the web brought animal sculptor Elliot Channer the two big breaks that kick-started his career.
“I knew I wanted to be an artist but I don’t come from an artistic background,” he explains. “But my grandfather had been a stonemason and that looked interesting, so I went online and started looking for courses in stone masonry and came across this one at the City and Guilds of London Art School in architectural stone carving. I was lucky to find it because it is the only course of its type in the country and they only take a few students. But with the help of some bursaries, I managed to get on to it.”
The carving element of the course captured Elliot Channer’s imagination. “I realised I wanted to sculpt bronzes and so I set up my workshop straightaway. I contacted other sculptors to ask for advice and found a wonderful bronze foundry in Leicestershire, Le Blanc Fine Art, run by Lloyd Le Blanc, a sculptor himself. He’s been a bit of a mentor for me, helping me to understand what is achievable when casting bronze. I try to get a lot of movement in my pieces and so often an animal will only have one or two legs touching the ground, which means you have to be careful to get the balance right so the final sculpture doesn’t keep toppling over.”
Elliot Channer’s wonderfully expressive polo pony executing a turn, his leaping wild boar or running goose all bear witness to his having listened carefully to Le Blanc’s advice. “You have to take advice and criticism on board,” says Channer, “and you learn from it. Having got my first major exhibition already, at the International Art Fair, everybody says it has come quickly.”
Modestly, he doesn’t put this down to outstanding talent. “I think there is a lot of luck involved and definitely persistence. I found my agent through another big internet trawl and she has been a big help to me, especially finding me the opening at Carina Haslam’s gallery, which led to the latest exhibition.”
When pressed, Channer admits, “I think I probably do have some talent. I don’t want to do predictable things with my sculpture. When you look at a lot of wildlife and sporting sculpture, the pieces aren’t really making you think about the animal or seeing it from a new perspective. That’s why I chose to sculpt a puffin. Everybody does birds but I hadn’t seen a puffin before. You don’t get many in Staffordshire”.
“I want to stick with British animals and to concentrate on ones that don’t get much attention. I also want to do more horses. They are a traditional subject but there is still a lot of room for being original.”
One of his first works, a bronze-resin pheasant, stands out from the run-of-the-foundry “table decoration” pheasant. There is something earthy about the bird. The heavy chasing of the feathers, especially the separation of the tail feathers, looks convincing. This is a pheasant that a gun would recognise walking out of the cover in the pouring rain one January morning. And the idiosyncratic, almost ugly, little puffin exudes quirky character.
Of all the arts, sculpture has particularly high overheads. “Other sculptors have warned me that it takes a few years of struggling but I’m lucky that my parents are giving me a lot of support,” Elliot Channer says. “I’ll see where I am in the next couple of years but I do feel confident of making a career.”
The next project is an ambitious plan to reverse the traditional Grand Tour by taking the work of young, British sculptors to Florence. “A foundry in Florence asked me if I would like to exhibit,” explains Elliot Channer, “so now I am looking for someone else like me at the beginning of their career to share the exhibition.” How about trying the internet?
Elliot Channer’s work will be exhibited by Carina Haslem Art from 14 to 17 May at the 20/21 International Art Fair, Royal College of Art, Kensington Gore, London SW7.
