Brogues are a wardrobe staple but which ones do you choose. Dare you don the co-respondent, or maybe add a hint of tweed?
The brogue is a shoe synonymous with the English gentleman. Watch Downton Abbey and spot the shoes. Lord Grantham wouldn’t walk the halls of his Stately Pile without a pair. Today the brogue is found everywhere from Hampshire to Hoxton. Its popularity means that myriad styles, colours and more modern looks are available for the brogue wearer to choose from.
BROGUE ORIGINS
Northamptonshire is the spiritual home of the brogue. No English gentleman’s wardrobe should be without a pair of Northamptonshire shoes, but he brogue did not originate in the Midlands. Originally they were worn in the wilder reaches of the Highlands and Ireland, the punched holes designed to allow water to drain from the shoe after braving boggy stretches. The Edwardians popularised the modern brogue with a winged toecap and the shoe became a faourite of the Royal family at Balmoral.
By the Thirties it was essential kit for the modern gentleman, with brown a popular colour. The best-dressed man in Europe, the Duke of Windsor, boosted its popularity as an elegant shoe, shocking society by wearing full brogues to play golf and on other social occasions. The co-respondent, a two-tone full brogue, was worn as a sporting casual shoe with whites or flannels.
BY ROYAL APPOINTMENT
Tricker’s, supplier of shoes to the Prince of Wales, is Northampton’s oldest shoemaker, established in 1829. Now in its fifth generation and still family controlled, it produces the finest of welted footwear; the classic Country Brogue with double leather sole (£340) is the most popular. David Fryman, manager of the firm’s Jermyn Street shop, claims, “The brogue has never been out of fashion. Men have been coming in with their sons for generations. The style doesn’t date. We have a gentleman who went on honeymoon in his Tricker’s brogues in 1962 and the shoes are still going strong.” Fryman understands the brogue’s lasting popularity. “You can wear a brogue with a dress suit or casually with jeans,” he explains. More than 200 processes and eight weeks of production ensure the highest quality in Tricker’s bench-made shoes. Pricing reflects admirable value for an everlasting pair.
Fryman reveals that this traditional company is still rethinking its brogues. “We were making so many special orders that I decided we should have available in stock the multi-coloured brogue, and what could be more patriotic than red, white and blue?” The commando-soled Bowood costs £340, with special orders from a selection of leathers and styles starting at £525.
Crockett & Jones is the second largest of the five Northampton shoemakers, still family owned and going strong. Managing director Jonathan Jones reveals: “We have just opened a second flagship store at 92 Jermyn Street where 100 different styles are on display. Crockett & Jones have a strong emphasis on quality and design. Most of our shoes are sold under our own name but we also make collections for well-known international brands.” This bastion of tradition produces classic brogues. The Pembroke (£330) is a five-eyelet, wingtip brogue Derby in tan scotchgrain with a rubber sole and storm welt. “It is rugged and smart and even the rubber sole is made in England,” says Jones.
THROW IN A LOBB
Cornish cobbler John Lobb opened his workshop in London in 1866, then Paris in 1902. John Lobb was acquired by the Hermés Group in 1976, although the London bespoke workshop, John Lobb Ltd, remained in family hands and continues to operate independently from 9 St James’s Street. John Lobb launched its first ready-to-wear collection in 1981. Its creative director Andres Hernandez, who wears nothing but Balmoral-cut Oxford brogues for their aero-dynamic elegance, says, “The Darby II (£670) is one of our iconic brogues. The 190-step manufacturing process in-cludes each hole being indi-vidually cut to a precise position. There are over 500 holes in a size 7 pair and we say, ‘There are 500 opportunities to get it right or wrong.’”
The English brand Church’s is also part of a fashion stable, having been bought by Prada in 2000.
In 2009 Jonathan and William Church repurchased Cheaney’s, the Northampton shoemaker taken over by Church’s in the Sixties, from Prada and now operate the company from its original 125-year-old factory in Desborough. This English heritage combined with the Church family history and a shoe made entirely on site is appreciated by aficionados.
Caroline Wightwick set up Thomas Dainty Brogue Trader, a visiting footwear tailor, 12 years ago, selling only Cheaney’s shoes. “For me they are the all-round English shoe,” she says. “Some other brogues can be a little orange but Cheaney’s burnished leather combined with the way the collections are freshened every year and different-shaped lasts make for a perfect shoe.” The Grosvenor, in hand-burnished calf with welted sole costs £245. “The no brown in town rule is certainly changing,” says Wightwick. “The City is international and no longer the preserve of a plain black Oxford.” Different last shapes give a more contemporary brogue. The Sandringham (£325) is a full brogue with a chiselled toe in bronzed espresso calf, and can be worn elegantly with a navy suit. With hedge funds encouraging more casual dress in the City, the brown brogue is fast making itself at home, where once it would have turned heads.
TWEED BROGUES
Devon-based Herring Shoes has its own brand of made-in-England footwear manufactured at the Cheaney factory. “I design the shoes myself, decide on the last to use and then they are made to my specification,” says Adrian Herring. He is passionate about English shoes; his number plate reads BRO6UES. “That’s got to say it all,” he laughs. “We sell more brogues than any other shoe. They are so versatile, can be dressed up or down, and the same style takes on a different appearance with a different finish.” Herring admits that, like many men, he enjoys wearing his favourite (and best-selling) Herring Gladstone (£225) every day. He is a keen advocate of the co-respondent brogue. “Our Henley (£225) is my number one two-tone shoe,” he says. “A full wingtip brogue in hand-burnished calf leather and contrasting beige canvas. The perfect match for a linen suit.” Like other traditional English com-panies, Herring exports most of its shoes. “The export market is better prepared for brighter and more fun-loving brogues,” Adrian Herring admits.
This could all change. A chance meeting with Deborah Meaden from Dragons’ Den, who owns Fox Brothers woollen mill in Somerset has resulted in a new tweed-and-leather brogue, the Dartmoor shoe (£275) and the Exmoor boot (£285). With funky innovation coupled to authentic British craftsmanship and passion they are bound to be a hit. “What can’t you wear them with?” Herring asks.
A modern brand, with its eye on tradition, Lodger was founded in 2008. “Our brogues are gentle and quirky,” says the firm’s Clement Cortale. “It is a casual shoe for everybody, and they look great with jeans, smart jacket and no tie.” Cortale’s favourite is inspired by the co-respondent brogue. The canvas is placed only on the back of the shoe,” he reveals. Why? “Because the canvas at the front would get dirty and look strange next to the shiny and smooth toe. It will age organically.” This shoe is inspiration for Lodger’s bespoke edition service, from £475. “Our clients can pick the last and leather and match it with the canvas or fabric of their choice.” Other Lodger designs include a sporty lightweight brogue, suitable for wearing with a suit and an innovative waxed, mossy-leather brogue, with a blond sole, both £375.
Oliver Sweeney, set up in 1989, manufactures in Italy and elsewhere. Its Anatomical Last, closely mimics the human foot. “We have a freedom that comes with a modern brand and alongside our 20th-anniversary Walsh tan, triple-welted brogue (£255), we are able to create some fashion-forward looks, too,” says Charley Sowden, head of marketing.
Older brands do track contemporary style. Edward Green of Northampton is one of the most traditional. “From the start in 1890, Mr Green made the very best,” says the firm’s Euan Denholm. “Craftsmanship and uncompromising quality are still important to us today,” he continues. A slim, elegant version is what the firm is famous for, and its classic brogue is refined. “Our biggest seller is the Malvern, a full wingtip – particularly good in chestnut. We use a greater degree of handwork than many other factories,” Denholm says. “The quality of a shoe starts with the quality of the leather; ours is exceptional.”
Loake was one of the first English shoe manufacturers to venture online and launch a retail website. It recommends its Chester heavy brogue in tan calf leather (£185) for the country and the smarter-toed Savoy calf brogue for the city.
They are good value, Goodyear welted and made in Northamptonshire. “The English brogue has earned its place in every wardrobe as one of the most versatile styles available,” says managing director Andrew Loake.
Brogues are a symbol of traditional British craftsmanship and heritage. Treat them well and they will last for years, and even improve with age.
BROGUE FACTS
The word brogue originates from bróg the Irish and Gaelic word for shoe.
Brogues may be universal but they are never worn with a dinner jacket.
Co-respondent (two-tone) brogues were deemed rakish on first appearance, and named after the sort of chap who would be the co-respondent in a divorce suit.
HRH The Prince of Wales has a pair of brogues made by George Cleverley using leather tanned in Russia, shipwrecked off the English coast in 1786 and discovered by divers in the Eighties.
The term wingtip comes from the “W” shape (like the wings of a bird) of the toecap of a full brogue.
Goodyear welting is a manufacturing process used by the best-quality shoemakers and refers to the way the sole is attached to the shoe. It makes shoes easier to resole and is a sign of quality.
The art of weather lore is fascinating. Use the natural signs of the countryside to predict whether it will be rain, sleet or snow.
Use weather lore to predict the weather
Weather lore involves anticipating the weather. Using weather lore to predict the weather has been a principal concern of man since he crawled out of the swamp and will, no doubt, continue to be an obsession until his time on this planet ends. The very existence of Stone Age hunter-gatherers and Iron Age men depended on their ability to interpret changes in the rhythm of seasons accurately by observing the patterns of nature: the colour of the sky at dusk or dawn; the shape of clouds or the direction of the wind; the behaviour of animals and the migration of birds; the activity of insects and mammals; or a dearth or abundance of plant growth. Communities that got it right were the ones that survived, passing this vital knowledge on from generation to generation. We are all bedevilled by our ongoing concern about the weather, why do the weathermen always get it wrong? Using weather lore you could get it right yourself.
PRIMITIVE START
Our Neolithic ancestors, the first agriculturalists, increased their understanding of the weather by a detailed study of the cycle of the sun and moon and erecting stone circles, henges and monoliths (the ultimate symbols of prehistoric achievement) which were aligned to the winter and summer solstices, the equinoxes and lunar phenomena. Gradually, as a primitive calendar evolved, it became apparent that the weather conditions on certain days influenced the elements during the following few weeks. These observations were added to the existing Celtic seasonal festivals of Beltane (1May), Samhain (1 November), Imbolc (1February), and Lugnasadh (1 August) as occasions for worship of the sun gods or relevant sky deity for that particular day.
USE SAINTS’ DAYS TO PREDICT THE WEATHER
When Christian missionaries reached these islands in the first few centuries AD, they were faced with the task of transforming deep-rooted heathen practices into Christian dedications. Appreciating the significance of weather worship for the pagan population, the church began to attach saints’ names to the days of Celtic weather prophecy in order to align the two belief systems. The saints’ days of prediction became a calendar around which agriculture was planned and, as the river of history flowed through the centuries, generations of observant country people, sailors and fishermen added a mass of weather beliefs, sayings and adages. To help remember them, the majority took the form of rhyming coup-lets, which produced some of the most evocative prose and poetry in the English language. They became part of culture and education, and together they constitute a priceless treasury of folklore and weather lore that is a unique part of our national heritage.
In the Fifties, my father still used heavy shire horses on the farm. His horseman, Jim Akehurst, was typical of the older generation of countryman who could recite the saints’ days of weather prophecy and monthly prediction by heart. In the front parlour of his cottage were three framed samplers, painstakingly stitched by his grandmother. Two catalogued all the days of prediction and how the saint had been martyred, the third listed the quarter and cross-quarter days, and their relevant weather prophecies. Since the Middle Ages, the quarter days were the four dates each year when servants were hired and rents and rates became due. They were also the dates when magistrates visited remote areas to adjudicate outstanding cases and suits. Quarter days fell on four religious festivals, three months apart, close to the two solstices and two equinoxes which marked the start of the seasons: Lady Day, 25 March – the Feast of the Annunciation; Midsummer’s Day, 24 June – the Feast of St John the Baptist; Michaelmas Day, 29 September – the Feast of St Michael; and Christmas Day, 25 December. The cross-quarter days were holidays in between quarter days: Candlemas, 2 February – the Purification of the Virgin; May Day, 1 May; Lammas, 1 August – the Feast of the First Fruits; All Hallows Day, 1 November – All Saints’ Day. Each of these dates has its origins in pagan festivals of weather worship, subsequently appropriated by the Christian church.
THE AGRICULTURAL YEAR
The pattern of Jim’s life was planned around the quarter days, cross-quarter days and saints’ days of weather prediction and this was how he kept in mind key events. If a mare foaled on 11 June, for example, he would remember the foal as having been born on St Barnabas’ Day, which, according to weather lore, is always fine and, traditionally, marks the start of haymaking. Similarly, if a notable incident occurred on 3 August, it would be lodged in his memory as having happened two days after Lammas, one of the quarter days, when corn is supposed to ripen as much by day as by night.
The agricultural year started on 1 October. The harvest was over, the quarterly rent paid, Harvest thanksgiving celebrated and now farmers looked onward to winter’s challenge and the following year’s harvest. November, full of portent, was known as the black month, but like poor, mad John Clare, the “peasant poet”, I love its stark beauty:
Sybil of months and worshipper of winds,
I love thee, rude and boisterous as thou art:
And scraps of joy my wandering ever finds
’Mid thy uproarious madness.
November marked the beginning of the dark half of the year for the Celts, who celebrated the start of the month with the three-day festival of Samhain. Livestock were slaughtered; some as sacrifices but most to keep communities alive through the winter. Because of this, the Celts called November the “blood month”, a name which lasted until the late 19th century. Samhain, like other Celtic festivals, became incorporated into the Christian calendar and was reinvented as All Saints’ Day, 1 November. According to Jim’s sampler;
On first November if weather is clear
’Tis the end of the sowing you’ll do for the year.
It meant that a clear day presaged frost and this, coupled with the shortening hours of daylight, put an end to the autumn sowing. Ten days later, at Martinmas, there were further pre-dictions, which often prove accurate today.
If ducks do slide at Martinmas
At Christmas they will swim;
If ducks do swim at Martinmas
At Christmas they will slide.
This indicated that a cold snap before Christmas is often followed by a mild winter and vice versa. Similarly:
If leaves fall not by Martinmas Day, a cruel winter’s on its way.
The weather on 23 November, St Clement’s Day, set the scene for the forthcoming winter. (He was martyred by being thrown into the Black Sea attached to an anchor.)
St Clement gives the winter.
This was reinforced two days later on St Catherine’s Day. (She was so pious she bled milk when beheaded in AD 279.)
As St Catherine, foul or fair,
So ’t’will be next Febryair.
The Church was so busy cramming December with religious services in an effort to quash any residue of the Roman festival of Saturnalia and the Norse festival of Yule, that there seems to have been little room for saints’ days of weather prediction. An exception is 21 December, St Thomas Didymus’ Day. (Thomas the Apostle was said to have carried Christianity to India in about AD45 and been speared to death.)
If it freeze on St Thomas’ Day, the price of corn will fall;
If it be mild, the price will rise.
This reflects the belief that a good summer follows a bad winter, leading to a glut of grain, and that a bad summer follows a mild winter, leading to a scarcity.
Always of immense significance, wind direction on New Year’s Eve was believed to set the weather pattern for the year.
If New Year’s Eve the wind blows South
It betokeneth warmth and growth.
If West, much milk and fish in the sea.
If North, cold and storms there will be.
If East, the trees will bear much fruit.
If North East, then flee it, man and brute.
January is a disturbing month; the hours of daylight are imperceptibly getting longer, but the landscape remains bare and sterile, and winter still stretches away into the distance. There is hope and expectation if the weather is clear on the 22nd, St Vincent’s Day. (He was a martyr flayed and cooked on a gridiron by the Emperor Diocletian in AD304.)
If on St Vincent Day the sky is clear,
More wine than water will crown the year.
The weather predictions three days later, on the day Ananias, the Bishop of Damascus was tortured and stoned to death in AD 40, serves to illustrate how terrifying the winters were to superstitious rural communities.
If St Ananias’ Day be fair and clear,
It betokeneth a happy year.
But if it chance to snow or rain
Dear will be all sorts of grain.
If clouds or mist do dark the sky
Great store of birds and beasts will die.
And if the winds do fly aloft
Then wars shall vex the kingdom oft.
MODERN METEOROLOGY v WEATHER LORE
Has modern meteorology destroyed the credibility of centuries of perceived weather wisdom? In the short term, traditional weather lore remains a reliable guide to daily changes in the climate. Probably the most well-known phrase, Red sky at night, a shepherd’s delight. Red sky in the morning, a shepherd’s warning, continues to be as consistently accurate as it was when Jesus is reported to have observed: “When it is evening, ye say, it will be fair weather for the sky is red. And in the morning, it will be foul weather today for the sky is red and lowering.” (Matthew XVI, 2–3) In the longer term, some of the monthly and saints’ days prophecies lack credibility. This is largely because we are undergoing a period of cyclical climate change and, as the Met Office admits, our weather is so chaotic at the best of times that forecasting beyond about a week is highly speculative. Nevertheless, the saints’ days and prophecies have their place, if only because they are part of our literary history and, not so long ago, formed the calendar of rural life. Apart from anything else, it is fun following them through the year and seeing which prove correct.
The Field's top 10 best pheasant recipes are essential reading now the season has started
The Top 10 best pheasant recipes need the right game to start with...
The Field’s best pheasant recipes are the only ones you will need this season. With the pheasant shooting season about to start we can at last think joyfully ahead to seeing the bird not just in the bag, but succulently placed on the plate.
The best pheasant recipes cover a multitude of possibilities. They can be kept in reserve for a romantic dinner for two. The Parmesan pheasant breasts with crispy ham fits the bill admirably, and is one of the easiest of the best pheasant recipes to cook, so ideal for the game virgin.
For those who like something a little more doughty pheasant guidwife is hard to best. It is easy to assemble and is pretty much done with the addition of three ingredients. The most unusual (and the secret to the whole dish) is the mango chutney.
Our best pheasant recipes will encourage even old hands to try something new. And if you haven’t had the inclination to make pheasant stock then do try this season. It is a little time consuming but fields ahead of anything one might buy in cubed form. Making stock also encourages the use of leftovers, and is the right way to use every part of a bird. If one has taken the time to shoot it then it is a serious misjudgment to fail to utilise it.
Choosing which best pheasant recipe to use will depend on the bird you bag. You will also be able to tell by looking if your bird is young or old, a cock or a hen. If you are more familiar with a pheasant from your game dealer, ask him.
And if it comes from the supermarket you will have to take your chances. A good game dealer or butcher should be able to tell you everything you need to know about the bird.
So take your pick of these best pheasant recipes and put your bag to use.
We are looking for the best hip flask recipe for the 2014 Hip Flask Championships, in association with Chase Distillery
Distillery orchard
THE BEST HIP FLASK RECIPE
It is that time of year again, when The Field, in association with Chase Distillery, search for the best hip flask recipes in the country. Whether your hip flask recipe if traditional or off-piste if it’s good enough to raise smiles in the field then we want to taste it in the office.
The quest to find the best hip flask recipe is open until 1 December 2014. Your winter-warming concoctions are probably brewing already but will they meet our hip flask challenge? We had a blast trying last year’s bevvies and look forward to tasting whatever you come up with this time.
To enter, send a small bottle of your brew (non-leaking), stating the main ingredients, its age, your name and address and the recipe for making it, to Alexandra Henton at The Field, Blue Fin Building, 110 Southwark Street, London SE1 0SU. Entries will be judged by James Chase from Chase Distillery and a panel of expert tasters, with helpful asides from The Field staff.
Closing date for entries is 1 December 2014 and the winners, together with the 10 best recipes submitted, will be featured in the March 2015 issue. Alas, we cannot return any of the entries. They will have been sacrificed during the judging.
CATEGORIES FOR HIP FLASK DRINKS
TRADITIONAL category is open to all classic, spirit-based concoctions that use hedgerow and garden harvest, such as sloes or rhubarb
OFF-PISTE category is for modern recipes, such as toffee vodka and last year’s inventive winner beetroot and horseradish vodka.
PRIZES
Your winter-warming concoctions are probably brewing already but will they meet our hip-flask challenge? We had a blast trying last year’s bevvies and look forward to tasting whatever you come up with this time
The best shotguns in the world on one definitive list. Does your favourite make the grade? English or Continental? Side-by-side or over-and -under?
What makes the best shotguns in the world? Personal taste, artisan craftsmanship, expense? A favoured and ancient AYA might shoot like a dream and knock the highest of birds of out of the sky, but it won’t make the top spot according to the next man, who wouldn’t swap a Beretta 692 for its weight in gold.
Anyone who has an interest in the sport will hold their own opinion as to what makes the best gun. The shooting world is packed to the gunnels with people who all share the thrill of the sport but have very different criteria for the shotguns they use.
However, when it comes to the best shotguns in the world there are some sure fire shotguns that even the most cantankerous would agree on. The Field has sifted through the myriad option to reveal the definitive list of the world’s 20 best shotguns. These best shotguns are at the apex of the gun world.
It is an onerous task to choose the world’s best 20 shotguns. There is the inevitable difficulty of judging old against new, form against beauty, value for money over performance.
First one must ask by what criteria are they to be judged?
Design excellence, aesthetic quality, overall form, reliability, decorative detail, integrity of materials, value for money and shooting performance might all be considered. Practically speaking, any gun listed must remain in production, too.
There are certain other questions: what has been especially significant or innovative? What cannot be left out? What really ‘sings’ when you shoot it?
The experience of using the guns detailed (with a couple of exceptions), and the overall impression that they have left with regard to shooting characteristics and manufacturing quality have been of paramount importance in compiling the list.
THE BEST SHOTGUNS IN THE WORLD
Purdey side-by-side self-opening sidelock
The Purdey sidelock is made at the firm’s Hammersmith factory by a combination of craft skills and high technology (both being used wherever an advantage in the quality of the finished product can be achieved). Traditional action decoration includes classic hand-cut Purdey rose-and-scroll engraving, but other options are possible at greater cost.
From the technical perspective, the Purdey gun is possibly the greatest side-by-side ever made. It cocks on closing (unlike the Holland & Holland Royal, which became its great rival), so the springs are at rest when the gun is disassembled. Another clever feature of the design, created by Frederick Beesley and sold to Purdey for £55 in the late-Victorian era, is that one limb of the V-type mainspring is used to power the tumbler (hammer) in each lock and the other the self-opening feature.
The refined ‘WEM’ ejector mechanism is a modification of the Southgate over-centre type (long the favourite of the gun trade) but requires finer adjustment than others of similar principle. The Purdey’s work is also singular and rarely copied because of its complexity (it should be noted, however, that the gun was first offered as a non-ejector in the 1880s). Finally, the Purdey is as famous for balance as its impeccable design, fit and build quality. It has always tended to be a little heavier than some of its competitors and many experienced shots would say it shoots the better for it. Prices start at about £57,000 including VAT.
My choice would be either a 29in barrelled 16- or 20-bore game-gun with standard rose-and-scroll or a similarly decorated heavy, side-clipped action 30in or 31in barrelled pigeon-gun – which might be just as well set up for high birds and sporting clay-pigeons. I am especially fond of the generously proportioned, bowed stock on Purdey pigeon-guns.
Holland & Holland Royal side-by-side
Renowned for its reliability and more copied than any other sidelock action, the Holland & Holland Royal is the other great sidelock side-by-side design. It is a rebounding lock-bar action sidelock (although some early Royals had non-rebounding locks). As with the Purdey, the Holland incorporates intercepting safety sears, which prevent the tumblers from hitting the striker unless the trigger has been pulled. It also incorporates a Southgate-type ejector system.The Royal has been in constant production since the 1890s in more or less its modern form. I am especially fond of its handling qualities.
The Holland ‘diamond’ straight grip is both elegant and efficient. The aesthetics are generally good and Holland’s distinctive, deep scroll is both beautiful and practical (although, as with most other bespoke makers, other engraving options may be specified). In its latest 12-bore guise the Royal is my favourite shooting side-by-side game-gun. It costs £49,530 excluding VAT in 12-, 16- and 20-bore. The .410 and 28-bore versions start at £52,500 excluding VAT. I would order the standard gun with 28in or 29in barrels with a coin-finished action. It is an outstanding classic gun that will not disappoint ? a very safe bet if you are investing in a new best gun.
Boss sidelock side-by-side
Like the modern Holland, the Boss is a non-rebounding bar-lock gun that is cocked by the fall of its barrels. Like the Purdey and the Holland, it features intercepting safety sears to block the fall of the tumbler if it should fall without the trigger being pulled. Where the Boss differs from both the Purdey and the Holland is in its coil-spring ejector system. These are housed in the fore-end and operate slides, which press on rods acting on the ejector legs on the conventional split extractors.
One advantage of the coil spring over the more common V-spring is the fact that even when broken the spring will usually activate the ejector until a replacement can be procured. The Boss has a number of other useful features. The extractor legs raise the unfired shells to the same degree as that of an ejected shell, just more slowly and in a smoothly graduated manner rather than with the sharp kick applied to the fired shell. The extractors rise at the speed at which the gun is opened and, because the shells are held well proud of the breech, insertion and extraction of unfired shells is easy with cold or gloved fingers. It costs £55,000 plus VAT for an exhibition-grade 12-, 16- or 20-bore gun (the firm?s only grade). It’s more for 28-bores: £60,000 plus VAT; and .410s cost £65,000.
My ideal Boss would have a round bar and the firm’s famous single trigger. I would also specify that the wrist be made a little larger than normal to ensure good purchase. As far as bore is concerned, I would opt for a 29in 12-bore or a 30in 16-bore. Weight should be something around 6lb 6oz for the 16-bore and 6lb 8oz or 6lb 10oz (just a little heavier than the old London norm) for the 12-bore.
Round action side-by-side as made by David McKay Brown and Dickson & MacNaughton
Although it is understated in external form, this is an especially elegant gun. Dickson & Murray patented the round action in 1882. It is the strongest of all side-by-side designs because less metal is cut out of the action bar. The lock work is mounted on a trigger plate and can be removed in one piece from the underside of the action. The round action side-by-side is cocked by the fall of the barrels and its great merit is that while the action bar is strong it doesn’t weaken the hand of the stock. Consequently, the Dickson-style gun can be very light yet robust, with weight centred in the forward part of the action around the hinge-pin. This creates liveliness and makes it very pleasant to shoot.
The mechanical efficiency is great in respect of cocking of the locks as well. The round action is, in effect, an easy opener without the need for extra spring assistance. A properly weighted 12-bore (about 6lb 8oz) will, when broken in, usually cock itself with the fall of the barrels. The gun is also easy to close because of its good design. I have found the 12-bore McKay Brown version performs well with excellent practical shooting qualities. Cost is £26,000 excluding VAT and engraving (classic Scottish scroll adding about £2,050 to the price).
Remanufactured Stephen Grant side lever 12-bore
I have always thought the Grant side lever one of the most beautiful guns ever made. My uncle had a pair in his gunroom and they left an impression on me at an early age. Now, thanks to the new remanufacturing service offered by Atkin, Grant & Lang, one may acquire what is effectively a new Grant.
Atkin, Grant & Lang, under the direction of Ken Duglan, has developed a service where it takes a vintage gun in suitable condition (with a structurally sound, crisply engraved action), and uses it as the base for the creation of a new gun. This is not a restoration service as such, although the action will be vacuum annealed by a hi-tech process and re-hardened. New barrels and woodwork will be made to customers’ requirements. All springs and swivels will be replaced (and disc set strikers if fitted). The gun will be presented in a new, fitted case with accessories. The cost is £15,000, which is excellent value considering that one ends up with what is in effect a new London gun.
I have not shot a remanufactured Grant yet but I have shot a remanufactured Lang extensively and it was first class in all departments – not only as good as new with regard to looks but especially good to shoot, with new barrels by Bill Blacker, a beautifully shaped and finished stock by Stephane Dupille and action work by Gary Hibbert – all modern masters.
Boss over-and-under (patented 1909)
With the low-profile bifurcated lump, Boss established the over-and-under configuration in England (though the stack-barrelled concept is very old and predates the side-by-side). In-stead of the barrels turning on a hinge-pin, they locate into tapering slots in bushes near the knuckle of the action. These turn in the action body as the gun is opened or closed (a feature not much copied because of its complexity though Bertuzzi, the Italian best gunmaker, has made Boss-style guns and Beretta made one in the early Thirties).
The Boss dispenses with the traditional side-by-side arrangement of placing lumps on the underside of the barrels. On an over-and-under such protrusions, still seen in some designs, necessitate a deeper action. Robertson, the design genius of Boss, took the lumps and placed one on either side of the lower barrel, solving the problem of action height. Under-barrel bolting/locking was replaced by small, square section pegs coming out of the breech face, which engaged with bites on each side of the bottom chamber mouth.
The action of the Boss also has draws and wedges, whereby a concave face on the rear bifurcated lump engages a corresponding convex face on the inner-action walls. The ejectors on the Boss over-and-under are of the coil-spring type used on Boss side-by-side guns. The success of the gun lies with its combination of ease of use and light weight (until recently, about 6½lb in 12-bore was the norm). It was also one of the first English guns avail-able with a truly reliable single trigger. The 12- 16- and 20-bore cost £75,000 plus VAT while 28-bore and .410 cost £85,000 plus VAT. I’d be tempted by a 12-bore, but I would not have it made too light – no less than 6lb 12oz.
Purdey Woodward over-and-under
In 1913, Woodward patented a similar low-profile over-and-under action to Boss. However, it incorporated a tongue-and-groove system, which locked the barrels to the side of the action walls and used a different hinging arrangement whereby the full-width hinge of the traditional side-by-side and earlier over-and-unders was replaced with stud-pins at the knuckle instead of rotating bushes, as in the Boss. The Woodward arrangement has since been adopted by Beretta, Perazzi and others.
Purdey acquired Woodward and its famous over-and-under design in 1948 when Charles Woodward retired. Woodward?s take on the over-and-under mirrored the Boss one in the utilisation of bifurcated lumps on either side of the under barrel rather than the traditional Purdey under-bolts employed on side-by-sides. This strategy enables the gun to be made with a reduced depth of action and gives it a more streamlined appearance.
The ejectors adopted by Woodward are of the over-centre type, but they are of a complex design. To be successful, the many interlocking faces require the best workmanship. The Woodward is also notable for its good gape, which makes loading easier than in some over-and-under designs. Prices start at £67,500 including VAT. My recommendation would be a double-trigger 20-bore with 30in barrels, colour case-hardened action and house scroll.
Browning Superposed over-and-under
The Browning Superposed, also known as the B25, was invented by John Moses Browning in around 1920 and was first marketed in 1930. Unlike the more complex Boss and Woodward over-and-under designs, the Browning – conceived with mass production in mind – reverts to the conventional side-by-side system of lumps positioned beneath the barrel and hence makes use of a full-width hinge-pin (necessitating a deeper-action profile but offering good bearing surfaces).
With regard to locking, the Superposed has a wide, flat bolt which engages slot bites beneath the bottom chamber mouth (copied in the Winchester 101 and other simplified versions). The ejector system involves spring-powered hammers in the knuckle end of the fore-end iron. This is a simple and most efficient system. The butt and grip shape on the B25 are typically good too, provided that the flutes at the nose of the comb are not too exaggerated. The Browning stock has served as a pattern for other manufacturers.
The Superposed is a design icon and has proved itself for more than 75 years in the field. It is still made by traditional methods in Belgium with prices starting at about £8,500 depending on embellishment. Cheaper but no less rugged models are also being produced in Japan by Miroku with prices from around £1,200. The Japanese-made gun is slightly simplified and involves less handwork but offers excellent value (and the similar Miroku model 60s and 70s are some of the best buys on the market). I would go for a non-side plated Belgium-made gun with simple scroll and 30in barrels.
Beretta 68 series over-and-under
Beretta makes some of the most popular game- and competition guns in the world (with its production of over-and-unders exceeding 50,000 per annum). The 68 series guns are famously reliable and made, even in cheaper grades, from first-class materials; Beretta is one of the few manufacturers to maintain a sophisticated metallurgical laboratory on site and pays a great deal of attention to production consistency.
All 68 series guns have bifurcated lumps, stud-pins at the knuckle and are locked by conical bolts that emerge from the breech face as the gun is closed and set in small round sockets either side of the top chamber mouth. This system is an especially clever feature of the design and, like the hinge-pins, may be replaced by over-size parts to allow for wear. The guns also have shoulder pieces on the barrels (replaceable in some competition models) which set in corresponding recesses in the top rear of the action wall.
Beretta 68 series guns in 12- and 20-bore are among the most popular game-guns in Britain, with good reason. Recent models are available with improved stock shapes and a chemically achieved decorative effect mimicking traditional colour case-hardening. My favourite game model, however, is the side-plated EELL in 20- or 28-bore. It’s a gun that will not disgrace itself in any company and costs under £4,115, a great deal of gun for the money. However, the plainer Silver Pigeons in 12- or 20-bore at around £1,500 are probably the best buys of all.
Perazzi over-and-under
The Boss and Woodward influenced low-profile action, seen in both drop- and fixed lock form, is admired within the gun trade and has been much copied by Kemen and Perugini & Visini among many others. The generic style also forms the basis of the new Purdey Sporter. The Perazzi action, like the Woodward and Beretta, dispenses with a full-width hinge-pin and replaces it with stud-pins at the knuckle. The action and barrel monobloc incorporate Boss-style draws and wedges and the bolting system is Boss-inspired as well.
Perazzis are renowned for their excellent trigger pulls and their barrel quality, and the company for its innovative approach to manufacturing. I have always found Perazzi barrels to be well regulated with regard to choke and point of impact. Indeed, I find them to be more consistent in this respect than those of any other firm (with the possible exception of Fabbri).
Perazzis appear to be especially good value at the moment, with prices beginning at about £4,500 regardless of bore. The price is the same for 12- or 20-bore models with fixed or detachable triggers and there is no extra charge for bespoke gunmaking. For game-shooting, my choice would be a longer barrelled 20-bore, though a 29½in 12-bore fixed lock MX12 would also tempt for field use.
Kemen
The Kemen is very similar to the Perazzi droplock gun. The action is of low profile like the Perazzi, with similar hinging and bolting, and also shares an ancestral debt to Boss and Woodward, who developed the bifurcated-lump system at the beginning of the last century. Kemens achieved great success when they were first launched not so much because of their build quality (the Perazzi was in some ways a better-engineered gun), but because of their outstanding handling relating to barrel weight and good stock shapes. They are light-for-length and most popular in 32in form.
Recently, the guns have not only improved with regard to manufacturing consistency but have been redesigned to reduce the width of the action at rear and thus allow for a stronger stock. This is a very significant development and makes the Kemen not only one of the world’s best-handling long guns but also more reliable with less risk of stocks cracking.
Briley chokes are an option on Kemens, but most UK buyers opt for a muzzle-light, quick-reacting, fixed-choke gun (although a significant number approach Nigel Teague for retro-fitting of his thin wall precision chokes that allow choke constriction choice without any weight penalty). A 32in Kemen with barrels weighing around 1,550g is one of the finest high-bird guns in existence and also an awesome tool for sporting clays. I use one myself much of the time (as well as several other Continental guns).
David McKay Brown round action over-and-under
This is an over-and-under gun of imaginative and patented design similar to the classic Scottish round action side-by-side mechanism but applied to a stack-barrelled configuration. It incorporates a bow-springed trigger-plate lock, as proven in the round action side-by-side. It has bifurcated barrel lumps and Boss-style draws and wedges within the barrel seat. Ejectors are not unlike those on a Perazzi, although David has made significant modifications. I have shot several 20-bore and 12-bore versions of this gun and they all performed well.
The basic gun costs £34,000 plus VAT and engraving (a cut-away floral scroll with a game scene costs £2,850). David’s latest projects include dedicated high-bird guns with long barrels and choke borings regulated for extreme range. He is also working on a 16-bore version. My choice, however, would be a 29in 12-bore with Celtic engraving and a coin-finished action.
Fabbri over-and-under
The firm of Fabbri, developed by design genius Ivo Fabbri (who also had a hand in the development of the Perazzi gun), and now run by his son Tulio, has the distinction of producing one of the world?s most expensive and admired guns (prices begin at around £80,000 without engraving). Fabbri is a great innovator when it comes to hi-tech manufacture and makes no secret of the fact that its very pricey wares are predominantly machine-made. But it has turned the use of machinery into an art in itself (as Purdey is now doing). Fabbri is especially popular in the US, where the firm has become famous not only for game- but for its pigeon-shooting guns as well.
Fabbri produces some shotguns entirely fabricated of stainless steel; titanium also features in a few of its fabulous creations. The firm has made a few side-by-sides but it is best known for exquisitely machined over-and-unders. These incorporate many innovations, such as diamond-coated sears in the locks and barrels that are superbly true and brought together with minimum stress by non-traditional methods. In mechanical function principle, though, they resemble London over-and-under guns (as do those of most other premier league Italian makers such as Piotti, Desenzani, Bosis and Bertuzzi). The second-hand value of Fabbris remains high and the firm’s order books are full. Unlike some very expensive guns, Fabbris have a reputation for reliability, with many guns made 30 or more years ago still in regular hard use.
I have no great experience of these guns so I will not suggest a potential specification, but many of the people whose opinion I value tell me that Fabbris are truly extraordinary, a gunmaking triumph. My decorative preference, I suspect, would probably be for the very tightest scroll that is on offer at the Creative Arts studio, the engraving firm in Gardone that most top Italian makers use (under the direction of Cesare Giovannelli, it has also been responsible for developing the machine- and laser-engraving processes adopted by middle-market manufacturers).
Holland & Holland Royal over-and-under
The first Royal model over-and-unders were seen before the Second World War but were of a very different design to modern guns and somewhat clumsy by comparison. In the early Nineties Holland completely redesigned the Royal over-and-under. The modern gun has bifurcated lumps and back-action locks. The ejectors are powered by leaf springs in the fore-end and the gun is available with either a traditional double trigger or an inertia-operated single trigger.
The Royal over-and-under is available in just about any conceivable specification: 12, 16- and 20-bore with barrels, rib and stock dimensions and configuration to customer requirements. Prices begin at £60,375 plus VAT; 28-bore and .410 guns cost £63,525. My favourite over-and-under game-gun bar none (and the one I would buy with the Royal side-by-side and a Purdey pigeon-gun if my Lottery numbers came up) is the 29in 20-bore weighing in at around 6lb 4oz. It is a superb tool, not flashy, with the traditional Holland & Holland scroll, but beautiful and a wonderful gun to use. One can find more obsessively finished guns but none that shoot better.
Bosis side-by-side
Bosis side-by-side guns are imported into the UK by both Paul Roberts (020 7622 1131) and Victor Chapman (01206 213068). The guns offer excellent design, flexibility of specification and good value. The side-by-side is currently known as the Queen model (and there is a Woodward-style over-and-under called the Michael Angelo). The side-by-sides are of a non self-opening Holland & Holland Royal pattern like so many others, with intercepting safety sears in conventional bar-action locks.
Bosis guns exhibit excellent design and good workmanship in all departments. The lock work, in particular, impresses when disassembled. Pricing, typically, is about half of a best London gun at about £23,000 including VAT. It is also interesting to note that recently Bosis has been undertaking action and lock work for the English trade. If I ordered one, it would be a 29in barrelled side-by-side with a flat, pigeon-style rib weighing about 6lb 10oz – a gun that I would use with 1oz payload cartridges as an all-round game-gun. The Bosis side-by-side offers especially good value at the moment.
AyA No 1 Deluxe – English finish
For the first half of the 20th century, Spain’s reputation as a gunmaking country was somewhat sullied by the production of thousands of cheap guns. In the Sixties, though, enterprising firms such as ASI (the importers of AyA) discovered that Spanish craftsmen were still making better quality sporting guns by traditional methods for home consumption. These were often modelled (sometimes with peculiarities) on those of the famous British makers such as Holland & Holland and Purdey.
ASI guided AyA into making both sidelocks and boxlocks to precisely British specifications and achieved great success. The recent AyA No 2 Model round bodied gun is attractive, but hardly bears comparison to the superb No 1 Deluxe, now available with English engraving and finish. The Holland & Holland-style engraving is usually executed by Geoff Moore and prices begin at £13,750 including VAT (with reasonable supplements applying to extras such as single triggers, self-opening and unusual stock specifications).
I have shot the gun in both 12- and 20-bore versions. Both look very good but the latter is especially sweet to shoot and represents excellent value by modern standards. Only an expert eye would distinguish it from a best English gun on cursory inspection. The AyA No 2 sidelock, though it may not bear aesthetic comparison to the extra finish gun, might be noted as an extraordinarily reliable shooting tool (like most AyA guns).
William & Son side-by-side sidelock
William & Son makes a variety of side-by-side and over-and-under sporting guns (about 12 annually). My favourite is the 12-bore Holland & Holland-style self-opening double-trigger sidelock ejector gun. This, like the Holland & Holland Royal that was the inspiration for it, is not especially innovative but is beautifully made and finished, maintaining the highest standards of the London gun trade.
The gun, which is usually built a little narrower than the Holland Royal and has similar Southgate ejectors, is entirely bespoke and would be presented with exhibition-grade walnut and deep-scroll engraving (or anything else at the client’s request). A typical 28in 20-bore would weigh in at 6lb 4oz and cost from £36,500 plus VAT; 28-bore and .410 models are available at the same price. For the quality offered, the guns represent good value.
Caesar Guerini side-plated over-and-under
Caesar Guerini guns are made with advanced technology in Italy. They offer sound design, style and great value. The side-plated models, which typically cost between £1,595 and £4,250 are, in my opinion, one of the best over-and-under buys on the market. Guerinis are available in various models with and without side-plates, but the latter are especially attractive and have proved a great hit with both gun dealers and buyers.
The guns, produced in a recently purpose-built factory, are innovative with regard to their method of manufacture but not especially radical in their design. The specification includes bifurcated lumps, a Browning-style bolting system and monobloc barrels. The hammers are powered by coil springs. With regard to shooting qualities, the 20-bore with 30in barrels and semi-pistol grip would be my recommendation. If you cannot quite afford a Beretta EELL this excellent modern gun is a good second choice.
Blaser F3 over-and-under
The Blaser is a radical new design with an exceptionally low-profile, fast-lock time and back bored barrels equipped with first-class Briley extended chokes (cylinder, skeet, modified, improved modified and full). The inline hammers and firing pins make the most efficient use of kinetic energy and offer some theoretical advantages. The twin safety mechanisms include the usual trigger block and clever intercepting safety sears.
The Blaser F3 shotgun combines computer controlled manufacturing techniques with traditional handfitting where required. In its plainer grades, the F3 is also surprisingly inexpensive for a quality German product. Prices start at around £2,700, inclusive of VAT, for the basic game-gun and can rise to somewhere over £10,000 for the side-plated Royal model.
The external form of the new F3 gun is incredibly elegant. The action has clean lines and, in its basic form, an attractive and practical stone-grey finish. My favourite model is the 30in, narrow-ribbed game-gun. This specification is, in my opinion, the best handling in the range. It has proved to be effective in the field and also ideal for the occasional foray on to the clay-pigeon layout.
The Cynergy is a radical new design made in Japan for Browning by Miroku. The gun is built around a new low-profile ‘Monolock’ over-and-under action. Instead of having barrels that pivot on a full-width hinge-pin like most Brownings or stud-pins like a Beretta or Perazzi, the Cynergy has massive bearing surfaces machined into its monobloc. These engage matching surfaces inside the walls of the action body. The Monolock is clever and innovative and results in a very low action profile – one of the lowest I’ve seen in a 12-bore.
It has several other interesting features included in its basic specification: back-bored barrels, interchangeable chokes, chrome-lined chambers for better rust resistance and a mechanical single trigger (preferable in a game-gun where a variety of cartridge payloads may be employed).
The butt is a modern, ergonomically efficient hog’s back design and the fore-end is angular but efficient. The Cynergy came out initially with an effective but sticky ‘Inflex’ recoil pad. Now it is available in more conventional form. In 20-bore with 28in or 30in barrels it handles especially well – light and lively but with great pointability and low perceived recoil. This is a gun for the modernist and costs around £2,000 in 12- or 20-bore. My favourite in the field is the 30in 20-bore.
The list above is not perfect, nor could it be. I suspect that the top Italian guns might have had more mention although, frankly, my experience of some of them is that they look great and are impeccably engineered but that they do not always shoot quite as well as their thoroughbred looks might suggest. The stock shapes and configuration sometimes let the beautifully finished metalwork down.
My observations are made through British eyes, of course. They are the eyes of a gunfitter, game- and pigeon-shooter and competitive clay-shot. To me, function always comes first.
What is the best shotgun in the world?
I shall fudge the answer by putting it in the context of price. If I had up to £1,500 to spend my choice would be a plain grade Beretta Silver Pigeon 12- or 20-bore. If I had between £3,000 and £4,000 to spend, I’d buy a Beretta EELL or side-plated Caesar Guerini. With £5,000 or so in the bank, I would opt for a Perazzi or Kemen (the latter being an exceptional high-bird gun as noted). Remanufactured vintage guns from Atkin, Grant & Lang represent excellent value and allow for the confident everyday use of a hundred-year-old gun built to your exact requirements. Bosis side-by-sides also represent excellent value when one begins to consider capital expenditure.
With unlimited funds, I would go for a new Holland Royal side-by-side or over-and-under in 12- and 20-bore respectively, or a Purdey pigeon-gun. If I were Italian, though, it might well have been a Fabbri. One gun on a desert island for the next 20 years? To use the vernacular, that’s a no-brainer: the plain Jane
Beretta Silver Pigeon
simply could not be bettered. It offers the most reliable bang for the least buck. I would have a 28in-barrelled 20-bore if cartridges were available (because the handling qualities mimic those of a much more expensive gun), or a 12-bore if they were not.
A pot roast pheasant recipe can be delicious. Fennel is not to everyone's taste, but it melts into a buttery stickiness when cooked in this way. Try it.
A retrieve soon to be in the pot roast pheasant recipe
Pot roast pheasant can seem like a case of ‘same old, same old’. But not with this delicious variant, which earns its place among the top 10 best pheasant recipes. The aniseed flavour of fennel is not to everyone’s taste, but its zingy freshness melds pleasingly into sticky mass that pairs well with the birds, young or old. If you have old birds just cook them in the pot for half an our longer.
This pot roast pheasant recipe came about because I had an excess of fennel in my fridge. A happy accident and one that I would recommend you try. And it is ideal for using up that lurking bottle of Pernod – every drinks cupboard tends to have one and it is pretty difficult to finish a bottle. If you don’t have Pernod, use martini, vermouth or a dry sherry.
Pheasant is often associated with mounds of mash and sometimes heavy sauces, but unlike pheasant Guidwife this pot roast pheasant recipe can be served with a light salad which makes a refreshing change.
It is also a simple dish that can be managed by the novice, with a minimal amount of fuss. The one pot philosophy works well with pheasant and is easy to prepare ahead to just remove form the oven when guests arrive.
Serves 4
■ Salt and pepper
■ 2 pheasants
■ 70g (21⁄2oz) butter
■ 1 onion, peeled and diced
■ 4 fennel bulbs, trimmed and quartered
■ 150ml (5fl oz) Pernod
Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/Gas Mark 4. Salt and pepper the pheasants. Brown them in butter in a flameproof, cast-iron casserole. Set aside, then brown the onion lightly.
Add the pheasants, breast up, and pack the fennel pieces tightly around them. Season well, then pour in the alcohol. Put on the lid and place in the oven for 11⁄2 hours if the pheasants are young and two if old.
This goes well with a tomato, feta and olive salad and new potatoes with butter and chopped dill.
This devilled pheasant recipe opts for ginger, curry powder and mustard powder. Devilling means covering the meat with spices and flavours before cooking. It may be old fashioned but there should be more devilling. It can jazz up lots of meat, particularly kidneys.
Use this in our devilled pheasant recipe
Devilling has somehow gone out of fashion and I can’t think why because everyone seems to like curries and hot, spicy food nowadays. But perhaps people just don’t know what it means any more. It involves covering the meat with ginger, curry powder and Colman’s mustard.
This devilled pheasant recipe is one of my favourite top 10 best pheasant recipes. It comes from a sporting estate in Stirlingshire, which I know well since I have cousins who live next door. The owners have a constant stream of shooting guests at the estate. This is a brilliant take on what was known in the old days as “a devilled bone”. You can use the same devilled pheasant recipe for other meat; sausages, chops or even kidneys.
Serves 4
■ 2 tsp soft brown sugar
■ 1 tsp ground black pepper
■ 1 tsp ground ginger
■ 1⁄2 tsp mild curry powder
■ 1⁄2 tsp English mustard powder
■ 2 pheasants, trimmed and jointed into 8 pieces (with backbones removed )
■ 50g (13⁄4 oz) melted butter
■ 3 tbsp tomato chutney
■ 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
■ 1 tbsp soy sauce
■ 2 dashes tabasco
■ 1 tbsp HP sauce
■ A little stock (hot water and a chicken stock cube works fine)
Mix the brown sugar, black pepper, ground ginger, curry powder and mustard powder in a large bowl. Rub well into the pheasant pieces and leave them for an hour or two to sink in, or even overnight.
Brush everything with some of the butter and grill on a rack under a medium heat for about 10 minutes on each side or until the pheasant pieces are browned and crispy. Meanwhile, mix together the chutney, Worcestershire sauce, soy sauce, tabasco and HP sauce with the remaining butter and heat.
Tip the pheasant pieces into the bottom of the grill pan and pour over the sauce. Continue grilling for another 10-15 minutes, basting frequently, then place them in a warmed dish with as much sauce as you can.
Deglaze the pan with a little bit of stock, scraping off all the lovely, crunchy, brown bits and stir into the pheasant dish.
Serve this with basmati rice that has crispy, fried onion bits stirred through and steamed broccoli or mangetout peas.
How to pickle walnuts, and when to pickle walnuts. If you have a walnut tree then preserving them is a treat. They will last for years.
How to pickle wlanuts
How to pickle walnuts is a skill that is worth preserving. Walnuts are delicious and abundant, and a handful of shelled walnuts are a nutritious snack at any time of day. The shelled walnuts are the older nuts. The young green nuts are the ones that need to be picked for preserving.
When to pick walnuts
The immature green fruit required for pickling needs to be harvested in the summer before the shell has formed. Check for the readiness with a pin: stick it in the end where the flower was and if the shell has started to form it will be about a quarter of an inch in.
How to pickle walnuts
Ingredients for 2kg pickled walnuts
225g salt
1 litre malt vinegar
500g brown sugar
1 tsp allspice
1 tsp cloves
½ tsp cinnamon
½ tsp black peppercorns
1 tbsp fresh grated ginger
Prick the walnuts with a fork and cover with water and the salt.
Leave for a week, then drain and renew with a fresh brine solution for another week.
Drain the walnuts and lay out on trays in a dry, airy place. After a few days they will have turned black.
Combine the remaining ingredients in a saucepan. Bring them to the boil, add the walnuts and simmer for 15 minutes. Cool and spoon the nuts into large jars and cover with the liquid. They should last for years.
Harvest the matured nuts when the protective green hull containing the brown nut splits. These will be perfect in a bowl at Christmas time with a nutcracker to hand. Alternatively they meld exquisitely well with pheasant. Try these pheasant and walnut pasties and take them as a piece when you are out on the hill.
Pickled walnuts work well with ploughmans. Or serve some with your cheese board at the end of supper.
The best cocktail making kit should be sleek, sophisticated and sublime. There is nothing better than a man who can handle his jigger.
Pullman Gallery Shakers from Tiffany, including an Asprey Thirst Extinguisher
In order to mix a good whisky cocktail you need the best cocktail making kit. And a man who can handle his jigger and mix a knee-trembler is useful to have around. Too often the homemade British cocktail is marred by poor preparation, not enough ice and inferior equipment. Even if it’s just an annual champagne cocktail before the hunt ball, an aperitif before lunch or digestif after dinner, the cocktail is an occasion. You might sip at a G&T slumped on the sofa in a dog-haired fleece, but not a Manhattan.
“Cocktails and the enjoyment of them are an essential part of a civilised life,” says William Yeoward, whose eponymous shop on the King’s Road is brimming with exquisite handmade crystal and a new range of barware inspired by the Jazz Age. “The making and presentation of the cocktail is to me almost more important than the consuming. I wanted for my bar ravishing glasses that were simple and functional and would evoke the era of the cocktail craze in America in the Thirties.”
As prohibition took hold in the US, a plethora of American bars opened in the grand hotels of Europe, bringing the cocktail with them. The seductive scent of Hollywood lingers. Yeoward’s American Bar range has an elegant insouciance. The Corinne champagne flute (£25), cocktail glass (£25) and martini glass (£26) are the perfect foundations for the home bar. The Lillian cocktail jug (£85) is striking. “The cocktail jug is a great vessel from which to mix and serve. It is elegant, generous and also beautiful at parties,” says Yeoward. It would make a fantastic present with a pair of Lillian cocktail glasses (£26 each). The Jerry shaker (£650) from the William Yeoward Crystal range echoes the Jazz Age and holds enough for several generous cocktails.
The best cocktail making kit involves appropriate bar accessories. A long spoon for stirring is invaluable, and one need go no farther than Patrick Mavros’s brilliantly rendered, animal-topped cocktail spoons (£120 each). The guineafowl and cheetah are particular favourites, as is the grouse-topped swizzle stick (£180). OKA’s reeded buffalo bone ice bucket (£120), bottle opener (£18) and corkscrew (£15) are elegant and understated and would complement any existing kit. “They are made in the remote villages of North India, the craftsmanship being taught from generation to generation,” says Sue Jones, co-founder of OKA.
But it is the cocktail shaker that takes centre stage. William and Son’s sterling silver cocktail shaker with integrated recipes (£4,495) includes the classic dry martini and a Singapore Sling. The bubble cocktail shaker (£4,995) and ice bucket with tongs (£11,850), all in sterling silver with gilded interiors, look stylish and modern.
VINTAGE COCKTAIL SHAKERS
The Pullman Gallery is a cocktail aficionado’s paradise. Owner Simon Khachadourian discovered an Asprey “Tells-U-How” cocktail shaker in Bermondsey market in the Seventies. He fell in love with it, and his collection grew from there. “Some people love quirky, some people like modernist, and some people like traditional shakers,” says Khachadourian. “For collecting, people favour Art Deco. The Twenties to Thirties were the archetypal cocktail years, and branded is better: Asprey, Tiffany and so on,” he says. “Cocktail shakers are collectable as they were costly, luxury items when new, and affordable only by the more affluent. One of Asprey’s most iconic cocktail shakers, ‘The Thirst Extinguisher’, was priced at 25 guineas when launched in 1932, the equivalent of six months’ wages for a working man, consequently relatively few were sold.” The original 1932 version, priced today at around £8,000, exudes period charm and, like the reproduction from Asprey’s (£5,950) in sterling silver, is inscribed with Between the Sheets, Old Fashioned and Whisky Sour cocktail recipes.
“The most iconic shakers in the collection are the Thirties sterling silver shakers by Tiffany, from around £3,000. They are classic and elegant with pierced foliate strainers and sterling silver overlaid glass shakers,” he says. “Novelty shakers such as the ‘Boston Lighthouse’ shakers by the International Silver Company of Meriden, Connecticut (£28,000), the Asprey ‘Tells-U-How’ recipe shaker and the Emil Schuelke ‘Penguin’ shaker from 1936, both around £4,000, are highly collectable.” And the best thing to mix in one? “Definitely a vodka Negroni,” he says.
HAVE COCKTAIL BAR, WILL TRAVEL
The vintage glamour of the cocktail bar is brought bang up to date in Linley’s extraordinary Tectonic Bar in British ebonised walnut with white gold leaf and nickel accents (£85,000) . “The bar echoes the tectonic plates that form the surface of the earth,” says Linley. “Cocktail cabinets are becoming increasingly popular with people wanting somewhere to neatly store drinks and barware but which also add to the art of entertaining rather than a cupboard under the stairs hiding dusty bottles.” The Tectonic Bar has everything needed to make the perfect cocktail, including a cleverly concealed fridge.
The tradition of the travelling cocktail is British. A bullish stiffener acts as a buffer from the cold, a party reviver and courage maker in one. Vintage kits are highly collectable but new company Tipplesworth provides an excellent modern version.
“Cocktails, the best cocktail making kit and the art of cocktail making are having a well-deserved resurgence at the moment,” says Frankie Snobel of Tipplesworth. “You become an instant dinner-party hit when you can mix up an impressive drink for your guests,” she confirms. “It’s all about using quality ingredients, proper barware and presenting it with a bit of panache.” Tipplesworth has three variations on the travelling cocktail case theme. One, the bramble case in purple tweed (£185), provides everything necessary for this delicious gin-based cocktail, including a bottle of Sipsmith gin. “The Bramble is a lovely drink for this time of year. It combines gin, lemon, sugar and blackberry – a flavourful balance of tart and fruity,” she says. And Tipplesworth’s website has some instructional and fun videos.
If you couldn’t distinguish an Officer’s Nightcap from Hanky Panky then start practising. The chap who can thrust a well-made Rusty Nail into a flagging pre-supper paw will always be in demand. And a proper cocktail needs the proper kit. Just don’t forget the ice.
WHAT TO WEAR WHEN SIPPING A COCKTAIL
The best cocktail hat is glamorous without being overwhelming. Think Jazz Age with a hint of devil-may-care. Fulham miliner Jane Taylor has dressed many Royal crowns, including those of the Duchess of Cambridge and Zara Philips. Her bespoke Hexie cocktail hat (£690) is the cat’s pyjamas. Hexagonal, in glitter fabric and knotted on top, it would make cocktail hour go with a swing, particularly if you’ve a sidecar in hand and a dashing chap in tow.
And a man could do worse than follow our advice on the best evening wear to don. A smoking jacket is the perfect foil to a glamorous companion.
Is your freezer now laden with grouse? Traditional roast grouse is still the best way to eat mid season birds. Just follow our secret cooking technique for the perfect results every time
Traditional roast grouse recipe
A TRADITIONAL ROAST GROUSE RECIPE
Have you been grouse shooting? Now that the season is in full swing fresh birds are in great supply and the best way to cook the bird is by using our traditional roast grouse recipe. There is also a chance that the freezer will have started to look rather grouse laden.
THE SECRET TRICK TO THE PERFECT ROAST GROUSE
If that is the case, do not worry. A frozen grouse is just as good used in the traditional roast grouse recipe as a fresh bird. They key is in the cooking, and a neat trick to ensure a succulent bird, even if they have been stored, or are a little older.
Mike Robinson’s secret trick is not a recipe but a technique. I have used this on grouse from the freezer. It works a treat.
There is nothing worse than a dry old grouse, or any gamebird for that matter. Start by bringing the stock to the boil, then turn it down low. Remove the legs from the birds (we generally save them up and cook them as an appetiser) and plunge the crowns in the simmering stock. This captures the moisture in the meat and ensures a perfect result.
Remove them after 10 minutes and allow them to cool a little. Next, brush them with melted butter, season well with salt and pepper, and shove a bundle of thyme up each bird’s bum. Then brown them well in a pan and roast them in a 180°C/350°F/
Gas Mark 4 oven for six minutes.
COOKING A YOUNG BIRD THE TRADITIONAL WAY
There is no need to mess about with a young grouse. A traditional roast grouse recipe consists of roast grouse, bread sauce and game chips. This triumverate of traditional ingredients is the highest pinnacle of sporting scoff.
This traditional roast grouse recipe respects the main ingredient, grouse – which doesn’t need to be dallied with - and lets the natural flavours come through.
Despite the robust smell of the bird, the meat is not as strong as you would think. It is totally individual and delicious, and very healthy (apart from the wine you have to drink with it, of course). There is no need to hang grouse before cooking a traditional roast grouse recipe.
WHAT TYPE OF GROUSE?
If you are have been grouse shooting then you will know if you bird is old or young. It is considered best to roast young grouse. If you have an old grouse see below for Mike Robinson’s chef’s trick for roasting old grouse successfully.
A TRADITIONAL ROAST GROUSE RECIPE
(best for young birds)
Serves 4
Ingredients
■ 4 young grouse
■ Salt and pepper
■ 8 crushed juniper berries
■ 8 sprigs thyme
■ 8 rashers streaky bacon
■ A little fat for roasting
■ A couple of handfuls root vegetables
For the bread sauce
■ 400ml (131⁄2fl oz) milk
■ 1 white onion studded with 5 whole cloves
■ 4 slices white bread, crushed
■ A good pinch mixed ground spice
■ Salt and pepper
For the game chips
■ 1 large frying potato, such as Maris Piper
■ Oil for deep frying
■ Salt
For the gravy
■ 200ml (7fl oz) veal/game stock
■ A good splash sloe gin
■ 100ml (31⁄2fl oz) light red wine
To garnish
■ Local watercress
■ Home-made or high-quality redcurrant jelly
How to cook the traditioanl roast grouse recipe
To make the bread sauce
Bring the milk to the boil with the onion in it. Let this infuse for about 20 minutes, then remove the onion and add the breadcrumbs, spice and seasoning.
The sauce needs to be of a loose, dropping consistency. Set aside and keep warm.
To cook the game chips
Peel the potato and slice it very thinly (NB: this should be done before the grouse is roasted). Rinse it thoroughly in cold water two or three times to remove as much starch as possible (this makes the potato crisps crispier). Pat dry, and deep-fry for two to three minutes, until golden brown. Season with a little table salt and set aside.
To cook the grouse
Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F/Gas Mark 6. Season inside and out, put the juniper berries inside the cavities of the birds, tuck a sprig of thyme under each leg and lay two rashers of streaky bacon over the breast of each grouse.
Colour in a roasting tray with a little clarified butter or duck fat. When sealed on all sides, roast for between 16 and 20 minutes, depending on size. Remove from tray and keep warm. Add the root vegetables to the roasting tray. Tip any juices from the birds into the tray as well as any offal – this will add to the flavour – and scrape up any sediment
that’s in the tray. Add the stock, sloe gin and red wine. Simmer gently for five to six minutes, pass through a fine sieve into a saucepan, and check the seasoning.
HOW TO PRESENT A TRADITIONAL ROAST GROUSE
Carve the breasts and legs. Arrange the streaky bacon next to each bird on a warm dinner plate. Put a pile of game chips next to the bird with a sprig or two of watercress. Pour any excess juices into the sauce, then pour the sauce over the birds and serve with warmed bread sauce and a pot of redcurrant jelly.
NB: keep all the carcasses for making good game stock; you can always stockpile bones in the freezer and make a decent batch when you have a good quantity.
AN OLD GROUSE CAN BE ROASTED TOO
Mike Robinson has an interesting technique for an old bird. The traditional roast grouse recipe is not the only way to cook the bird. You can roast grouse in a different way.
An old grouse roasted well
Serves 4
■ 1 litre (13⁄4 pints) chicken stock
■ 4 grouse
■ 100g (31⁄2oz) butter
■ Sea salt and black pepper
■ 4 large bunches thyme
This is not so much a recipe as a technique. There is nothing worse than a dry old grouse, or any gamebird for that matter. Start by bringing the stock to the boil, then turn it down low. Remove the legs from the birds (we generally save them up and cook them as an appetiser) and plunge the crowns in the simmering stock. This captures the moisture in the meat and ensures a perfect result.
Remove them after 10 minutes and allow them to cool a little. Next, brush them with melted butter, season well with salt and pepper, and shove a bundle of thyme up each bird’s bum. Then brown them well in a pan and roast them in a 180°C/350°F/
Gas Mark 4 oven for six minutes.
Take them out and rest for five minutes before carving. Serve with fried garlic potatoes, bread sauce, beans and some very expensive red wine, perhaps a burgundy.
Private Jet and helicopter travel means field, stream or moor can be within easy reach for those on tight schedules. Consider joining the jet set.
Heli-fishing with Edmiston Aviation
Private jets and helicopters are one of the best ways to fit sport into tight schedules and take guns, ammunition and gundogs without the complications of standard airport check-in. The Victorians and Edwardians facilitated their sojourns grouse shooting and to sporting paradise by travelling on steam trains and exhibiting a healthy disregard for the working week. Their time-poor sporting descendants are choosing to charter aircraft and fly.
PRIVATE JETS RAF STYLE
Andy Offer and Chris Norton founded 2Excel Aviation in 2005 after careers in the RAF as Harrier pilots. One facet of the company is BroadSword, which takes clients where they want to go. “We can take our clients wherever humanly possible while offering excellent value for money,” says customer service manager SJ McCartney.
A Broadsword King Air private jet
BroadSword operates three Beechcraft Super King Airs, seating up to nine passengers. “Shooting trips to Ireland, Wales, Scotland, France and Spain are very popular with clients. We also take clients fishing in Scotland, Norway and Iceland,” she says.
From its base at Sywell in Northamptonshire and Cambridge, BroadSword can pick you up from almost any airport. “We can take your shotguns on board as a carry-on item, with a copy of your Firearm Certificate, and a limited amount of ammunition. Gundogs are welcome in the cabin and we supply a special doggy mat for dirty paws.”
One-off trips cost around £1,800 an hour all inclusive, although returning clients receive customised rates.VistaJet operates the world’s largest private jet fleet outside the Americas, with more than 35 wide-cabin, long-range aircraft. “Our clients are flying in brand-new Bombardier aircraft, including the Global 6000, Challenger 850, Challenger 605 and Learjet 60 XR,” says brand director Nina Flohr.
GETTING TO REMOTE SPORTS ON TIME
With the aircrafts’ silver-and-red-striped livery, VistaJet attracts discerning international high-net-worth individuals (HNWIs), who might need to fly to the Highlands for stalking, the Czech Republic for shooting, Dubai for racing or Moscow or Shanghai for business.
“Our customers partner with us because they can go where they want, when they want and in confidence,” says Flohr.
VistaJet operates the largest jet fleet outside the Americas.
A one-way trip from London to Scotland for up to six passengers starts from €7,500.
“When it comes to fieldsports we can get our clients to remote places not served by airlines, carry their equipment and operate a more flexible schedule to maximise their time away,” says Paddy Magan of Edmiston Aircraft Charter.
“Within the UK we usually use a King Air 200 Turbo Prop Plane or AS350 Twin Squirrel Helicopters,” he says. “The King Air is a favourite with customers. It seats up to nine passengers, has a generous baggage hold and can utilise short runways. Passengers can end up closer to their destination at a cost much less than that of a jet. Its shortfall is that it has no external storage so taking ammunition can be a problem.”
Heli-fishing with Edmiston Aviation
Chartering a private jet for outside the UK is ideal if you are travelling with guns and ammunition. “We usually fly to rather remote airfields such as Alta in Norway. Sometimes dispensation has to be authorised as the airfields require additional briefing and safety checks, but what could take around 18 hours to travel to can be completed in three hours by private jet,” says Magan.
The helicopter and King Air cost around £2,000 to £8,000 in the UK and trips outside the UK within Europe cost £3,000 to £15,000 on a mid-size jet.
PRIVATE JETS ARE AFORDABLE
“The image of private aviation is changing,” says Algy Trotter of PrivateFly. “It is no longer seen as an unnecessary luxury but a tool to save and maximise time.”
Cocktail time on board a PrivateFly jet
Most private jets are owned by HNWIs or corporations and managed by companies on their behalf, making it difficult to track down the right plane going to the right destination at the right price. PrivateFly, set up in 2008 by former RAF pilot Adam Twidell, offers an online marketing network with access to more than 3,000 jets so you can broker your own flights. “The most popular planes for the sporting crowd are the Cessna Citation XL, which takes eight, or the Cessna Legacy, which accommodates 12,” says Trotter.
Fly in luxury with PrivateFly
Personal requirements can be catered for, such as the latest copy of The Field, a pink gin, afternoon tea or a bed for the gundog. A London to Inverness day return through PrivateFly costs £8,380 in a medium jet (up to eight passengers) or a team of guns could get to Madrid for Spanish partridges for £12,900 overnight return, or shoot wild partridge in Portugal. A four-day London to Nairobi return would be £92,000 for a long-range jet carrying eight to 14 passengers.
Phoenix Aviation flies shooting and fishing clients around Africa
For sport in Africa, nothing matches the helicopter for ease of access. Chris Stewart, a pilot for Phoenix Aviation in East Africa, flies a single-engine Eurocopter AS350 B3.
“Helicopters allow a perspective you just can’t get from a plane or vehicle,” he says. “We often fly shooting and fishing clients. There are some world-class bird-shooting destinations in Kenya and Mount Kenya and the nearby Aberdare Mountains are a popular destination for fly-fishing.”
OR WHY NOT A HELICOPTER?
“The helicopter wins hands down at getting you from door to door,” says Nigel Burton of highly recommended East Midlands Helicopters, a company he founded 25 years ago. “We fly single- and twin-engine helicopters and are happy to land at any site, within safety limitations and with landowner permission.” He regularly flies clients to race meetings as well as with guns, ammunition and gundogs during the season. Prices start from £700 to £1,700 per hour. A minimum of two hours’ flying time is charged.
If the convenience of flying by helicopter takes hold then Sloane Helicopters provides everything from learning at its acclaimed flying school, to buying and maintaining a helicopter. You can even design your own livery. The company has been owned by David George since 1969, and it is the UK and Ireland distributor for Robinson and AgustaWestland helicopters.
“The AgustaWestland GrandNew (€5.7 million), one of the AW109 series, is at the high end of the corporate and utility market,” says managing director Jeremy Awenat. “This twin-engined aircraft can fly at speeds up to 167 knots and seat seven passengers plus the pilot, depending on configuration. If you’d prefer a drinks cabinet, then one of the passenger seats (or two) would have to go.”
The Robinson (starting price £200,000) is what people traditionally learn to fly on. “The R22 takes two people with a weekend-away bag, the R44 (four passengers) or the new R66, which takes five passengers plus baggage,” he says. Sloane can also arrange jets and helicopters for charter.
It might seem romantic but the sleeper to Inverness can’t compete with a flight from London in an hour and 45 minutes for the busy sportsman (the bunks are notoriously functional). But, be warned: once you have flown to order, you will be smitten.
Roman roads pass through some of our best countryside. Do you have one near you? Then follow it and discover something new.
Wade's Causeway the remains of a 5th century Roman road high on Wheedale Moor
We follow Roman roads everyday. When we travel to a meet or set off with the dog for a shooting morning we are following in the footsteps of the Romans. Sudden stretches of arrow-straight Roman road carving through our most delightful countryside denote the remnants of the ancient road system they introduced to Britain.
Travelling from London to Yorkshire for partridges? Then Ermine Street will guide you. Heading to Quorn country or Warwickshire for some hedge-hopping? The Fosse Way will get you there. This route is something of a hunting superhighway, ploughing as it does through some of the best hunting in the country. For 2000 years these roads have shaped our countryside and mapped our heritage. Their continued use is testament to their extraordinary utility.
A ROMAN INVASION
The Roman presence in Britain can be dated from Julius Caesar’s first abortive forays in 55BC and 54BC to the AD410 sack of Rome by the Visigoths and withdrawal of Roman government from the country. The defeat of the last Western Roman Emperor, Romulus Augustus, came in AD476. For four centuries Britannia was part of its mega-Empire.
Caesar’s first attempt to conquer the Britons led to an ignominious retreat, but the second, in 54BC, resulted in Britons paying tribute to Rome and laid the foundations for the full-scale invasion under Emperor Claudius in AD43. In a show of strength, 40,000 Imperial troops landed in Kent and made their way to Colchester. Faced with an organised, armoured, adept military force, the Britons’ resistance crumbled. When Claudius arrived, with elephants, and drove them triumphantly through Colchester, Roman victory was secured in the south-east.
But the Romans knew that an invasion without organised structure would lead swiftly to defeat. They had to subdue the population permanently, link together their Empire and brand Britannia with the Imperial seal. They did this through their roads.
Tracks and roadways were not unknown to the prehistoric Iron Age population. It is now thought that the Fosse Way had long been in use before it was Romanised. The Iron Age people in their Iron Age hillforts are believed to have been much more advanced than early archaeologists suspected, with a population perhaps as large as that recorded in the 14th century. Native Britons lived in a semi-structured society that was not wholly conquered by the Roman way of life, but was adapted and improved. Roman roads were the tool that enacted the change from Iron Age Britain to Roman Britannia.
HOW WERE ROMAN ROADS BUILT?
Vitruvius, the Roman architect, gave us the only extant record of the rules of classical architecture in his treatise De Architectura (Ten Books on Architecture). He also described how the ideal Roman road should be constructed. Built in layers up to a metre thick, the road was constructed by laying down a foundation of lime mortar or sand to form a hard, flat base (pavimentum), this was followed by large stones (statumen), a layer of smaller stones (rudus), gravel (nucleus) and finally topped with large paving stones (summum dorsum). On each side of the road a ditch was dug (fossa) and the cambered surface allowed rainwater to drain into it. The width of the road usually stood at four metres but could be as wide as nine metres depending on the importance of the route. The more important allowed two Roman chariots to pass each other.
Archaeology has proved that the Vitruvian ideal was not universally adopted. Perhaps in the centre of Rome it was a logical choice, but few roads in Britannia boasted paving stones. Most had a metalled surface of compacted gravel. This made it easier for horse-drawn chariots and unshod horses, as well as being less labour intensive. As long as the road had solid foundations, a decent surface and was well-drained it sufficed. Roman roads were often built on an embankment (agger). This allowed troops to travel along the road without fear of ambush. It also gave the structure an air of majesty. At Ackling Dyke near Blandford Forum in Dorset the remains of an agger 12 metres wide and 1.5 metres tall still exists, a definite show of Roman authority.
RECOGNISE A ROMAN ROAD
Roman roads. The Fosse Way near Northleach, Gloucestershire
But the most recognisable feature of Roman roads is their unerring direction. They did not meander along animal tracks or watercourses, they went straight to where they intended to go. Roman surveyors used a combination of tools to achieve this. Beacons were lit along an intended route, at the start and finish and at strategic points in between. Standing at a beacon the surveyor could then sight the next beacon and maintain a straight line. To do this he used a groma, believed to be Egyptian in origin, that consisted of a horizontal, cross-shaped wooden frame on a staff with plumb-lines hanging vertically from each arm. Sighting across the plumb-lines allowed objects to be lined up accurately.
The Romans’ knowledge of geometry and the stars makes it likely they plotted the outline of the route this way and then used the groma to ensure the final result was straight. They also had a chorobates (a spirit level), a dioptre for more complex gradient measuring and a hodometer with which they could measure distance. This was particularly useful as the Romans liked to construct milestones along their main roads to let travellers and soldiers know how far they were from the next city. When large obstacles barred their way, they would divert their course by laying out another straight line. From above, a map of Britain’s Roman roads shows just how accurate and direct they were.
The Claudian invasion started at Rich-borough, where a white marble triumphal arch led on to the first Roman street. From here, a network of roads pushed into
Britannia. On their own turf, the Britons had the upper hand but by building roads the Romans turned the landscape to their advantage. They built forts and joined them with arterial highways. It helped the Empire divide the land into easily calculable areas for tax purposes and assisted the movement of soldiers. It also aided communication between Rome, Britannia and elsewhere.
The Imperial Post (cursus publicus) was a vital element of the Empire. Riders would hurry messages along the roads by relay, stopping at staging posts to hand the communication on. A distance of around 50 miles a day could be achieved by the service. The roads facilitated trade throughout the Empire, from British tin to Samian pottery. It was possible to operate a sophisticated economy as fashion and trends were dispersed and the idea of Rome prospered. More than 2,000 miles of Roman roads were constructed in Britain and in excess of 50,000 miles throughout the Empire.
THE BEST KNOWN ROMAN ROADS
Roman roads. Map of the Fosse Way
In Britain, the three best known are: the Fosse Way (231 miles) from Exeter to Lincoln; Ermine Street (190 miles) from London, through Lincoln to York; and Watling Street (276 miles) from Dover to Wroxeter, largely traced by the modern A5. Akeman Street
(79 miles) joined the Fosse Way and Watling Street from St Albans to Cirencester, and
Dere Street (180 miles) went north from York through Hadrian’s Wall to the Firth of Forth. However, Wade’s Causeway, which runs from Dunsley Bay via Cawthorn to Malton in North Yorkshire, is widely regarded as the best-preserved Roman road in Britain.
The easiest way to understand the roads of Roman Britain is to view them on a map; the Ordnance Survey Map of Roman Britain is particularly good and the Tabula Peutingeriana is a medieval copy of an original Roman road map. Stretched and elongated east to west, it resembles a modern Tube map, listing stops along the roads and places to stay.
The lines of Empire still stretch through the British countryside, particularly visible to those who live and work there. Cutting between hunting countries on the perfect hunter or heading north for grouse shooting, these ancient lines remain the aqua vitae of a countryman’s travels.
Fancy look risqué on a Land Rover? Or perching on a bale with a bare bottom? It must be naked charity calendar time.
The Equine Uncovered Naked Charity Calendar
Naked charity calendars attract a horsey crowd. Whether it’s revered members of the local pack galloping hedges bareback, or reclining on a well-placed bale, horseflesh seems to breed a penchant for unrobing with panache.
The Equine Uncovered Naked Charity Calendar 2015 is the brainchild of equestrian photographer Laura Ness, after seeing event rider Laura Collet recovering from a nasty fall at Oaksey Hosue in Lambourn.
Oaksey House is a rehabilitation centre for injured jockeys.
“Although I had heard of the charity, I never realised the sheer extent of the good work that they do to restore these peoples lives until now. This is the driving force behind me producing this calendar to raise money for this charity” says Laura.
The Field is known for finding the very best in naked charity calendars. Enthusiastic Young Farmer’s Club members are always keen to strip down and sit on a bale. The Naked Strewth has a cult following among those in the know. The shooting fraternity need to get their socks off…and sharpish.
The WFC naked Charity Calendar is available to buy from www.wiltshireyfc.co.uk
NAKED CHARITY CALENDARS
We are now searching for 2015 naked charity calendars. The critieria are simple. It must be for a good cause, so any deserving charity would fit the bill. The photographs must be of good quality. And the photograher must be happy for us to use the naked charity calendar images in the magazine.
RAISING MONEY FOR CHARITY
The 2014 Naked Strewth has seen a flurry of top notch naked charity calendars feature in The Field. These naked charity calendars have included the inimitable Garrison Girls raising money for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. The Hotties Helping Heroes raised £9000 for Help for Heroes. The Foxy Hunters are always popular and have raised a great amount for the Air Ambulance. An invaluable service for any sportsman.
The Field gives a donation to each charitable cause for the naked charity calendars used.
THE 2015 CROP
Do you know of any naked charity calendars that make the grade? If you do please email field.secretary@timeinc.com with the details. We are searching for the very best naked charity calendars for 2015 now.
This recipe for pheasant guidwife combines the strong taste of the game bird with peach or mango chutney and is cooked slowly for a couple of hours
B8X5JC Ringneck pheasant in flight.. Image shot 2009. Exact date unknown.
Pheasant Guidwife is hands down one of the very best of our top 10 best pheasant recipes. Sling onion, red wine and sweet chutney into the pot, share the rest of the bottle among friends and relax fireside while even the toughest old bird transforms into something extraordinarily delicious. For something a little more refined and less robust try our pheasant Normandy recipe.
Cook a vat of rice (there is a secret way of doing this in the Aga that is hard to master – ed.) and feast contentedly.
This pheasant Guidwife recipe originally came from a cousin who had links with South Africa and brought back bottles of Mrs Ball’s Original Peach Chutney in her luggage when she travelled there; mango also works well.
It’s perfect for the “old stager” pheasant with spurs a mile long, and it freezes brilliantly.
Serves 4
■ Salt and ground black pepper
■ 2 pheasants (old is best)
■ Sunflower or other oil for frying
■ 3 large onions, peeled and sliced into rings
■ 6-8 tbsp peach or mango chutney or other fruit chutney
■ 11⁄2-2 large glasses red wine
■ 1-2 tsp cornflour if needed
Preheat the oven to 150°C/300°F/Gas Mark 3. Salt and pepper the pheasants and then in a large, flameproof, cast-iron casserole (a Le Creuset one with a lid is perfect), brown the birds all over in the oil and set aside.
Then fry the onion rings gently in the same pot until slightly coloured and soft, stirring to make sure they don’t burn. Sit the browned pheasants, breast up, on top of the onions and spread a thick layer of chutney over them. Pour over the red wine, then pop on the lid and cook for 1½-2 hours. It will work perfectly in a clay pot if you have one. If you want a slightly less runny sauce, you can thicken it with a teaspoon or so of cornflour.
Serve it with rice or mash to soak up the juices, and plenty of vegetables.
The hip flask is a boon companion on the peg or moor, fighting the chills and celebrating the best shots of the day.
The best hip flasks. From left to right: Holland and Holland, Aspinal, Ettinger
Some of the country’s best hip flask hooches were revealed in The Field’s Hip Flask Championship 2013. We are now looking for the best of the home brews for this year’s competition. Do you make a cracking caramel vodka or scorching sloe gin? The best hip flask recipe, is it yours? Join the challenge and send us your top tipple.
It is only fitting that such toothsome lights be contained within receptacles of equal merit.
HIP FLASKS IN THE FIELD
Hip flasks have been reviving those in the field for centuries. Nothing seals the sporting bond better than the hand proffering a full flask, preferably with something homemade inside.
Flasks fell into the shape we recognise in the 18th century, when they started to be made from silver (it was believed the precious metal did not taint the contents). “The V&A has a spirit flask dating back to 1690,” says Nigel Williams of Nigel Williams Silver. “They were particularly popular in the Victorian and Edwardian eras, when they were often engraved with initials, family crests and mottos.” Williams has an ever-changing collection of antique flasks in “many varied designs and materials, including glass bodies with silver mounts, glass with silver mounts and snakeskin shoulders, and all silver. Many have detachable cups.” There is something eminently covetable about well-made antique flasks, although some modern brands can compete.
THE TRADITIONAL HIP FLASK, WITH A TWIST
For the traditionalist, Ettinger has an elegant 6oz stainless steel captive-top hip-flask covered in burnished calf leather in Acorn or Oxblood (£140). The twist comes from the adornment by leading British tattoo artist Saira Hunjan. “It is one of the most popular collection items in our collaboration with Saira,” says CEO Robert Ettinger. “The fox head and pheasant designs are exquisite and the clarity of the design detail on the leather is regularly commented on as absolutely stunning.”
Holland & Holland also adds a pleasing twist on the standard, in its 8oz stainless steel Toffee Tweed hip-flask with bridle leather (£195). “The defining feature is our signature tweed,” says the creative director, Niels van Rooyen. “The tweed design was created using archive imagery of the company’s founder, Henry Holland.”
If choosing between favourite tipples is too tiresome, there’s Aspinal’s Triple Decanter in Amazon Brown Mock Croc and Stone Suede (£195). With three 7.5oz glass decanters in a carrier – each with a differently coloured leather band for identification – it may not fit snugly in the pocket, but it will keep the party’s spirits up. The carrier zips at the top and has a useful strap to carry it by. It is also available in black and cognac leather, and makes the perfect shooting present.
HIGH TECH HIP FLASKS
For a blend of high technology and tradition, look no further than the sparingly named Flask (£600). A novel collaboration between The Macallan and Oakley Inc, it “has allowed us to defy convention and take a truly design-driven approach in crafting this beautiful, yet high-octane flask”, says Ken Grier, director of malts at the Edrington Group. A great malt should be drunk out of only the finest drinking vessels, to preserve the character of the whisky. The Flask – made from food-grade steel, welded by laser, wrapped in carbon fibre and clad in black, anodised, aerospace-grade aluminium, with a rubberised bottom – preserves this level of distinction on the move.
SOMETHING DIFFERENT
Tom Cecil designs and makes a delightful alternative to the standard flask. The tactile, brass-plated #084 (£350) is made from flat sheets of stainless steel. Each one is stamped with the design and serial number and holds about 50ml.
The best hip flasks. From left to right: Tom Cecil, William and Son, The Macallan
“I was experimenting with creating forms by cutting shapes out of sheet metal and welding the edges together, but in such a way that the form has both curved and flat surfaces. The larger surfaces of the hip-flask are subtly curved in both directions because of the way the edges are pulled together,” says Cecil. “The hip-flask was one of the first forms I made, and it felt so lovely to hold I didn’t want to put it down.”
The flasks are made in his London workshop and delivered in a handmade walnut box filled with hand-planed wood shavings. (The £300 stainless steel flask comes in an oak box). “I put my favourite Johnnie Walker Green Label, in mine. It’s got a clean, subtly complex flavour and hasn’t yet given me a hangover,” he says.
WORTH THEIR WEIGHT IN SILVER
William & Son has a range of luxury silver hip-flasks, from the traditional version to a rather splendid half-bottle size shaped like a cartridge (£2,100). The most unusual is an ergonomic 6oz one, made to be clasped in the hand (£1,155), which would do justice to the best of your home brew.
Sharing a dram with chosen companions is one of the sporting day’s great pleasures. So here’s to a tricky bird downed, a mammoth hedge cleared and the one that got away, toasted in style.
The best shotguns in the world on one definitive list. Does your favourite make the grade? English or Continental? Side-by-side or over-and -under?
What makes the best shotguns in the world? Personal taste, artisan craftsmanship, expense? A favoured and ancient AYA might shoot like a dream and knock the highest of birds of out of the sky, but it won’t make the top spot according to the next man, who wouldn’t swap a Beretta 692 for its weight in gold.
Anyone who has an interest in the sport will hold their own opinion as to what makes the best gun. The shooting world is packed to the gunnels with people who all share the thrill of the sport but have very different criteria for the shotguns they use.
However, when it comes to the best shotguns in the world there are some sure fire shotguns that even the most cantankerous would agree on. The Field has sifted through the myriad option to reveal the definitive list of the world’s 20 best shotguns. These best shotguns are at the apex of the gun world.
It is an onerous task to choose the world’s best 20 shotguns. There is the inevitable difficulty of judging old against new, form against beauty, value for money over performance.
First one must ask by what criteria are they to be judged?
Design excellence, aesthetic quality, overall form, reliability, decorative detail, integrity of materials, value for money and shooting performance might all be considered. Practically speaking, any gun listed must remain in production, too.
There are certain other questions: what has been especially significant or innovative? What cannot be left out? What really ‘sings’ when you shoot it?
The experience of using the guns detailed (with a couple of exceptions), and the overall impression that they have left with regard to shooting characteristics and manufacturing quality have been of paramount importance in compiling the list.
THE BEST SHOTGUNS IN THE WORLD
Purdey side-by-side self-opening sidelock
The Purdey sidelock is made at the firm’s Hammersmith factory by a combination of craft skills and high technology (both being used wherever an advantage in the quality of the finished product can be achieved). Traditional action decoration includes classic hand-cut Purdey rose-and-scroll engraving, but other options are possible at greater cost.
From the technical perspective, the Purdey gun is possibly the greatest side-by-side ever made. It cocks on closing (unlike the Holland & Holland Royal, which became its great rival), so the springs are at rest when the gun is disassembled. Another clever feature of the design, created by Frederick Beesley and sold to Purdey for £55 in the late-Victorian era, is that one limb of the V-type mainspring is used to power the tumbler (hammer) in each lock and the other the self-opening feature.
The refined ‘WEM’ ejector mechanism is a modification of the Southgate over-centre type (long the favourite of the gun trade) but requires finer adjustment than others of similar principle. The Purdey’s work is also singular and rarely copied because of its complexity (it should be noted, however, that the gun was first offered as a non-ejector in the 1880s). Finally, the Purdey is as famous for balance as its impeccable design, fit and build quality. It has always tended to be a little heavier than some of its competitors and many experienced shots would say it shoots the better for it. Prices start at about £57,000 including VAT.
My choice would be either a 29in barrelled 16- or 20-bore game-gun with standard rose-and-scroll or a similarly decorated heavy, side-clipped action 30in or 31in barrelled pigeon-gun – which might be just as well set up for high birds and sporting clay-pigeons. I am especially fond of the generously proportioned, bowed stock on Purdey pigeon-guns.
Holland & Holland Royal side-by-side
Renowned for its reliability and more copied than any other sidelock action, the Holland & Holland Royal is the other great sidelock side-by-side design. It is a rebounding lock-bar action sidelock (although some early Royals had non-rebounding locks). As with the Purdey, the Holland incorporates intercepting safety sears, which prevent the tumblers from hitting the striker unless the trigger has been pulled. It also incorporates a Southgate-type ejector system.The Royal has been in constant production since the 1890s in more or less its modern form. I am especially fond of its handling qualities.
The Holland ‘diamond’ straight grip is both elegant and efficient. The aesthetics are generally good and Holland’s distinctive, deep scroll is both beautiful and practical (although, as with most other bespoke makers, other engraving options may be specified). In its latest 12-bore guise the Royal is my favourite shooting side-by-side game-gun. It costs £49,530 excluding VAT in 12-, 16- and 20-bore. The .410 and 28-bore versions start at £52,500 excluding VAT. I would order the standard gun with 28in or 29in barrels with a coin-finished action. It is an outstanding classic gun that will not disappoint ? a very safe bet if you are investing in a new best gun.
Boss sidelock side-by-side
Like the modern Holland, the Boss is a non-rebounding bar-lock gun that is cocked by the fall of its barrels. Like the Purdey and the Holland, it features intercepting safety sears to block the fall of the tumbler if it should fall without the trigger being pulled. Where the Boss differs from both the Purdey and the Holland is in its coil-spring ejector system. These are housed in the fore-end and operate slides, which press on rods acting on the ejector legs on the conventional split extractors.
One advantage of the coil spring over the more common V-spring is the fact that even when broken the spring will usually activate the ejector until a replacement can be procured. The Boss has a number of other useful features. The extractor legs raise the unfired shells to the same degree as that of an ejected shell, just more slowly and in a smoothly graduated manner rather than with the sharp kick applied to the fired shell. The extractors rise at the speed at which the gun is opened and, because the shells are held well proud of the breech, insertion and extraction of unfired shells is easy with cold or gloved fingers. It costs £55,000 plus VAT for an exhibition-grade 12-, 16- or 20-bore gun (the firm?s only grade). It’s more for 28-bores: £60,000 plus VAT; and .410s cost £65,000.
My ideal Boss would have a round bar and the firm’s famous single trigger. I would also specify that the wrist be made a little larger than normal to ensure good purchase. As far as bore is concerned, I would opt for a 29in 12-bore or a 30in 16-bore. Weight should be something around 6lb 6oz for the 16-bore and 6lb 8oz or 6lb 10oz (just a little heavier than the old London norm) for the 12-bore.
Round action side-by-side as made by David McKay Brown and Dickson & MacNaughton
Although it is understated in external form, this is an especially elegant gun. Dickson & Murray patented the round action in 1882. It is the strongest of all side-by-side designs because less metal is cut out of the action bar. The lock work is mounted on a trigger plate and can be removed in one piece from the underside of the action. The round action side-by-side is cocked by the fall of the barrels and its great merit is that while the action bar is strong it doesn’t weaken the hand of the stock. Consequently, the Dickson-style gun can be very light yet robust, with weight centred in the forward part of the action around the hinge-pin. This creates liveliness and makes it very pleasant to shoot.
The mechanical efficiency is great in respect of cocking of the locks as well. The round action is, in effect, an easy opener without the need for extra spring assistance. A properly weighted 12-bore (about 6lb 8oz) will, when broken in, usually cock itself with the fall of the barrels. The gun is also easy to close because of its good design. I have found the 12-bore McKay Brown version performs well with excellent practical shooting qualities. Cost is £26,000 excluding VAT and engraving (classic Scottish scroll adding about £2,050 to the price).
Remanufactured Stephen Grant side lever 12-bore
I have always thought the Grant side lever one of the most beautiful guns ever made. My uncle had a pair in his gunroom and they left an impression on me at an early age. Now, thanks to the new remanufacturing service offered by Atkin, Grant & Lang, one may acquire what is effectively a new Grant.
Atkin, Grant & Lang, under the direction of Ken Duglan, has developed a service where it takes a vintage gun in suitable condition (with a structurally sound, crisply engraved action), and uses it as the base for the creation of a new gun. This is not a restoration service as such, although the action will be vacuum annealed by a hi-tech process and re-hardened. New barrels and woodwork will be made to customers’ requirements. All springs and swivels will be replaced (and disc set strikers if fitted). The gun will be presented in a new, fitted case with accessories. The cost is £15,000, which is excellent value considering that one ends up with what is in effect a new London gun.
I have not shot a remanufactured Grant yet but I have shot a remanufactured Lang extensively and it was first class in all departments – not only as good as new with regard to looks but especially good to shoot, with new barrels by Bill Blacker, a beautifully shaped and finished stock by Stephane Dupille and action work by Gary Hibbert – all modern masters.
Boss over-and-under (patented 1909)
With the low-profile bifurcated lump, Boss established the over-and-under configuration in England (though the stack-barrelled concept is very old and predates the side-by-side). In-stead of the barrels turning on a hinge-pin, they locate into tapering slots in bushes near the knuckle of the action. These turn in the action body as the gun is opened or closed (a feature not much copied because of its complexity though Bertuzzi, the Italian best gunmaker, has made Boss-style guns and Beretta made one in the early Thirties).
The Boss dispenses with the traditional side-by-side arrangement of placing lumps on the underside of the barrels. On an over-and-under such protrusions, still seen in some designs, necessitate a deeper action. Robertson, the design genius of Boss, took the lumps and placed one on either side of the lower barrel, solving the problem of action height. Under-barrel bolting/locking was replaced by small, square section pegs coming out of the breech face, which engaged with bites on each side of the bottom chamber mouth.
The action of the Boss also has draws and wedges, whereby a concave face on the rear bifurcated lump engages a corresponding convex face on the inner-action walls. The ejectors on the Boss over-and-under are of the coil-spring type used on Boss side-by-side guns. The success of the gun lies with its combination of ease of use and light weight (until recently, about 6½lb in 12-bore was the norm). It was also one of the first English guns avail-able with a truly reliable single trigger. The 12- 16- and 20-bore cost £75,000 plus VAT while 28-bore and .410 cost £85,000 plus VAT. I’d be tempted by a 12-bore, but I would not have it made too light – no less than 6lb 12oz.
Purdey Woodward over-and-under
In 1913, Woodward patented a similar low-profile over-and-under action to Boss. However, it incorporated a tongue-and-groove system, which locked the barrels to the side of the action walls and used a different hinging arrangement whereby the full-width hinge of the traditional side-by-side and earlier over-and-unders was replaced with stud-pins at the knuckle instead of rotating bushes, as in the Boss. The Woodward arrangement has since been adopted by Beretta, Perazzi and others.
Purdey acquired Woodward and its famous over-and-under design in 1948 when Charles Woodward retired. Woodward?s take on the over-and-under mirrored the Boss one in the utilisation of bifurcated lumps on either side of the under barrel rather than the traditional Purdey under-bolts employed on side-by-sides. This strategy enables the gun to be made with a reduced depth of action and gives it a more streamlined appearance.
The ejectors adopted by Woodward are of the over-centre type, but they are of a complex design. To be successful, the many interlocking faces require the best workmanship. The Woodward is also notable for its good gape, which makes loading easier than in some over-and-under designs. Prices start at £67,500 including VAT. My recommendation would be a double-trigger 20-bore with 30in barrels, colour case-hardened action and house scroll.
Browning Superposed over-and-under
The Browning Superposed, also known as the B25, was invented by John Moses Browning in around 1920 and was first marketed in 1930. Unlike the more complex Boss and Woodward over-and-under designs, the Browning – conceived with mass production in mind – reverts to the conventional side-by-side system of lumps positioned beneath the barrel and hence makes use of a full-width hinge-pin (necessitating a deeper-action profile but offering good bearing surfaces).
With regard to locking, the Superposed has a wide, flat bolt which engages slot bites beneath the bottom chamber mouth (copied in the Winchester 101 and other simplified versions). The ejector system involves spring-powered hammers in the knuckle end of the fore-end iron. This is a simple and most efficient system. The butt and grip shape on the B25 are typically good too, provided that the flutes at the nose of the comb are not too exaggerated. The Browning stock has served as a pattern for other manufacturers.
The Superposed is a design icon and has proved itself for more than 75 years in the field. It is still made by traditional methods in Belgium with prices starting at about £8,500 depending on embellishment. Cheaper but no less rugged models are also being produced in Japan by Miroku with prices from around £1,200. The Japanese-made gun is slightly simplified and involves less handwork but offers excellent value (and the similar Miroku model 60s and 70s are some of the best buys on the market). I would go for a non-side plated Belgium-made gun with simple scroll and 30in barrels.
Beretta 68 series over-and-under
Beretta makes some of the most popular game- and competition guns in the world (with its production of over-and-unders exceeding 50,000 per annum). The 68 series guns are famously reliable and made, even in cheaper grades, from first-class materials; Beretta is one of the few manufacturers to maintain a sophisticated metallurgical laboratory on site and pays a great deal of attention to production consistency.
All 68 series guns have bifurcated lumps, stud-pins at the knuckle and are locked by conical bolts that emerge from the breech face as the gun is closed and set in small round sockets either side of the top chamber mouth. This system is an especially clever feature of the design and, like the hinge-pins, may be replaced by over-size parts to allow for wear. The guns also have shoulder pieces on the barrels (replaceable in some competition models) which set in corresponding recesses in the top rear of the action wall.
Beretta 68 series guns in 12- and 20-bore are among the most popular game-guns in Britain, with good reason. Recent models are available with improved stock shapes and a chemically achieved decorative effect mimicking traditional colour case-hardening. My favourite game model, however, is the side-plated EELL in 20- or 28-bore. It’s a gun that will not disgrace itself in any company and costs under £4,115, a great deal of gun for the money. However, the plainer Silver Pigeons in 12- or 20-bore at around £1,500 are probably the best buys of all.
Perazzi over-and-under
The Boss and Woodward influenced low-profile action, seen in both drop- and fixed lock form, is admired within the gun trade and has been much copied by Kemen and Perugini & Visini among many others. The generic style also forms the basis of the new Purdey Sporter. The Perazzi action, like the Woodward and Beretta, dispenses with a full-width hinge-pin and replaces it with stud-pins at the knuckle. The action and barrel monobloc incorporate Boss-style draws and wedges and the bolting system is Boss-inspired as well.
Perazzis are renowned for their excellent trigger pulls and their barrel quality, and the company for its innovative approach to manufacturing. I have always found Perazzi barrels to be well regulated with regard to choke and point of impact. Indeed, I find them to be more consistent in this respect than those of any other firm (with the possible exception of Fabbri).
Perazzis appear to be especially good value at the moment, with prices beginning at about £4,500 regardless of bore. The price is the same for 12- or 20-bore models with fixed or detachable triggers and there is no extra charge for bespoke gunmaking. For game-shooting, my choice would be a longer barrelled 20-bore, though a 29½in 12-bore fixed lock MX12 would also tempt for field use.
Kemen
The Kemen is very similar to the Perazzi droplock gun. The action is of low profile like the Perazzi, with similar hinging and bolting, and also shares an ancestral debt to Boss and Woodward, who developed the bifurcated-lump system at the beginning of the last century. Kemens achieved great success when they were first launched not so much because of their build quality (the Perazzi was in some ways a better-engineered gun), but because of their outstanding handling relating to barrel weight and good stock shapes. They are light-for-length and most popular in 32in form.
Recently, the guns have not only improved with regard to manufacturing consistency but have been redesigned to reduce the width of the action at rear and thus allow for a stronger stock. This is a very significant development and makes the Kemen not only one of the world’s best-handling long guns but also more reliable with less risk of stocks cracking.
Briley chokes are an option on Kemens, but most UK buyers opt for a muzzle-light, quick-reacting, fixed-choke gun (although a significant number approach Nigel Teague for retro-fitting of his thin wall precision chokes that allow choke constriction choice without any weight penalty). A 32in Kemen with barrels weighing around 1,550g is one of the finest high-bird guns in existence and also an awesome tool for sporting clays. I use one myself much of the time (as well as several other Continental guns).
David McKay Brown round action over-and-under
This is an over-and-under gun of imaginative and patented design similar to the classic Scottish round action side-by-side mechanism but applied to a stack-barrelled configuration. It incorporates a bow-springed trigger-plate lock, as proven in the round action side-by-side. It has bifurcated barrel lumps and Boss-style draws and wedges within the barrel seat. Ejectors are not unlike those on a Perazzi, although David has made significant modifications. I have shot several 20-bore and 12-bore versions of this gun and they all performed well.
The basic gun costs £34,000 plus VAT and engraving (a cut-away floral scroll with a game scene costs £2,850). David’s latest projects include dedicated high-bird guns with long barrels and choke borings regulated for extreme range. He is also working on a 16-bore version. My choice, however, would be a 29in 12-bore with Celtic engraving and a coin-finished action.
Fabbri over-and-under
The firm of Fabbri, developed by design genius Ivo Fabbri (who also had a hand in the development of the Perazzi gun), and now run by his son Tulio, has the distinction of producing one of the world?s most expensive and admired guns (prices begin at around £80,000 without engraving). Fabbri is a great innovator when it comes to hi-tech manufacture and makes no secret of the fact that its very pricey wares are predominantly machine-made. But it has turned the use of machinery into an art in itself (as Purdey is now doing). Fabbri is especially popular in the US, where the firm has become famous not only for game- but for its pigeon-shooting guns as well.
Fabbri produces some shotguns entirely fabricated of stainless steel; titanium also features in a few of its fabulous creations. The firm has made a few side-by-sides but it is best known for exquisitely machined over-and-unders. These incorporate many innovations, such as diamond-coated sears in the locks and barrels that are superbly true and brought together with minimum stress by non-traditional methods. In mechanical function principle, though, they resemble London over-and-under guns (as do those of most other premier league Italian makers such as Piotti, Desenzani, Bosis and Bertuzzi). The second-hand value of Fabbris remains high and the firm’s order books are full. Unlike some very expensive guns, Fabbris have a reputation for reliability, with many guns made 30 or more years ago still in regular hard use.
I have no great experience of these guns so I will not suggest a potential specification, but many of the people whose opinion I value tell me that Fabbris are truly extraordinary, a gunmaking triumph. My decorative preference, I suspect, would probably be for the very tightest scroll that is on offer at the Creative Arts studio, the engraving firm in Gardone that most top Italian makers use (under the direction of Cesare Giovannelli, it has also been responsible for developing the machine- and laser-engraving processes adopted by middle-market manufacturers).
Holland & Holland Royal over-and-under
The first Royal model over-and-unders were seen before the Second World War but were of a very different design to modern guns and somewhat clumsy by comparison. In the early Nineties Holland completely redesigned the Royal over-and-under. The modern gun has bifurcated lumps and back-action locks. The ejectors are powered by leaf springs in the fore-end and the gun is available with either a traditional double trigger or an inertia-operated single trigger.
The Royal over-and-under is available in just about any conceivable specification: 12, 16- and 20-bore with barrels, rib and stock dimensions and configuration to customer requirements. Prices begin at £60,375 plus VAT; 28-bore and .410 guns cost £63,525. My favourite over-and-under game-gun bar none (and the one I would buy with the Royal side-by-side and a Purdey pigeon-gun if my Lottery numbers came up) is the 29in 20-bore weighing in at around 6lb 4oz. It is a superb tool, not flashy, with the traditional Holland & Holland scroll, but beautiful and a wonderful gun to use. One can find more obsessively finished guns but none that shoot better.
Bosis side-by-side
Bosis side-by-side guns are imported into the UK by both Paul Roberts (020 7622 1131) and Victor Chapman (01206 213068). The guns offer excellent design, flexibility of specification and good value. The side-by-side is currently known as the Queen model (and there is a Woodward-style over-and-under called the Michael Angelo). The side-by-sides are of a non self-opening Holland & Holland Royal pattern like so many others, with intercepting safety sears in conventional bar-action locks.
Bosis guns exhibit excellent design and good workmanship in all departments. The lock work, in particular, impresses when disassembled. Pricing, typically, is about half of a best London gun at about £23,000 including VAT. It is also interesting to note that recently Bosis has been undertaking action and lock work for the English trade. If I ordered one, it would be a 29in barrelled side-by-side with a flat, pigeon-style rib weighing about 6lb 10oz – a gun that I would use with 1oz payload cartridges as an all-round game-gun. The Bosis side-by-side offers especially good value at the moment.
AyA No 1 Deluxe – English finish
For the first half of the 20th century, Spain’s reputation as a gunmaking country was somewhat sullied by the production of thousands of cheap guns. In the Sixties, though, enterprising firms such as ASI (the importers of AyA) discovered that Spanish craftsmen were still making better quality sporting guns by traditional methods for home consumption. These were often modelled (sometimes with peculiarities) on those of the famous British makers such as Holland & Holland and Purdey.
ASI guided AyA into making both sidelocks and boxlocks to precisely British specifications and achieved great success. The recent AyA No 2 Model round bodied gun is attractive, but hardly bears comparison to the superb No 1 Deluxe, now available with English engraving and finish. The Holland & Holland-style engraving is usually executed by Geoff Moore and prices begin at £13,750 including VAT (with reasonable supplements applying to extras such as single triggers, self-opening and unusual stock specifications).
I have shot the gun in both 12- and 20-bore versions. Both look very good but the latter is especially sweet to shoot and represents excellent value by modern standards. Only an expert eye would distinguish it from a best English gun on cursory inspection. The AyA No 2 sidelock, though it may not bear aesthetic comparison to the extra finish gun, might be noted as an extraordinarily reliable shooting tool (like most AyA guns).
William & Son side-by-side sidelock
William & Son makes a variety of side-by-side and over-and-under sporting guns (about 12 annually). My favourite is the 12-bore Holland & Holland-style self-opening double-trigger sidelock ejector gun. This, like the Holland & Holland Royal that was the inspiration for it, is not especially innovative but is beautifully made and finished, maintaining the highest standards of the London gun trade.
The gun, which is usually built a little narrower than the Holland Royal and has similar Southgate ejectors, is entirely bespoke and would be presented with exhibition-grade walnut and deep-scroll engraving (or anything else at the client’s request). A typical 28in 20-bore would weigh in at 6lb 4oz and cost from £36,500 plus VAT; 28-bore and .410 models are available at the same price. For the quality offered, the guns represent good value.
Caesar Guerini side-plated over-and-under
Caesar Guerini guns are made with advanced technology in Italy. They offer sound design, style and great value. The side-plated models, which typically cost between £1,595 and £4,250 are, in my opinion, one of the best over-and-under buys on the market. Guerinis are available in various models with and without side-plates, but the latter are especially attractive and have proved a great hit with both gun dealers and buyers.
The guns, produced in a recently purpose-built factory, are innovative with regard to their method of manufacture but not especially radical in their design. The specification includes bifurcated lumps, a Browning-style bolting system and monobloc barrels. The hammers are powered by coil springs. With regard to shooting qualities, the 20-bore with 30in barrels and semi-pistol grip would be my recommendation. If you cannot quite afford a Beretta EELL this excellent modern gun is a good second choice.
Blaser F3 over-and-under
The Blaser is a radical new design with an exceptionally low-profile, fast-lock time and back bored barrels equipped with first-class Briley extended chokes (cylinder, skeet, modified, improved modified and full). The inline hammers and firing pins make the most efficient use of kinetic energy and offer some theoretical advantages. The twin safety mechanisms include the usual trigger block and clever intercepting safety sears.
The Blaser F3 shotgun combines computer controlled manufacturing techniques with traditional handfitting where required. In its plainer grades, the F3 is also surprisingly inexpensive for a quality German product. Prices start at around £2,700, inclusive of VAT, for the basic game-gun and can rise to somewhere over £10,000 for the side-plated Royal model.
The external form of the new F3 gun is incredibly elegant. The action has clean lines and, in its basic form, an attractive and practical stone-grey finish. My favourite model is the 30in, narrow-ribbed game-gun. This specification is, in my opinion, the best handling in the range. It has proved to be effective in the field and also ideal for the occasional foray on to the clay-pigeon layout.
The Cynergy is a radical new design made in Japan for Browning by Miroku. The gun is built around a new low-profile ‘Monolock’ over-and-under action. Instead of having barrels that pivot on a full-width hinge-pin like most Brownings or stud-pins like a Beretta or Perazzi, the Cynergy has massive bearing surfaces machined into its monobloc. These engage matching surfaces inside the walls of the action body. The Monolock is clever and innovative and results in a very low action profile – one of the lowest I’ve seen in a 12-bore.
It has several other interesting features included in its basic specification: back-bored barrels, interchangeable chokes, chrome-lined chambers for better rust resistance and a mechanical single trigger (preferable in a game-gun where a variety of cartridge payloads may be employed).
The butt is a modern, ergonomically efficient hog’s back design and the fore-end is angular but efficient. The Cynergy came out initially with an effective but sticky ‘Inflex’ recoil pad. Now it is available in more conventional form. In 20-bore with 28in or 30in barrels it handles especially well – light and lively but with great pointability and low perceived recoil. This is a gun for the modernist and costs around £2,000 in 12- or 20-bore. My favourite in the field is the 30in 20-bore.
The list above is not perfect, nor could it be. I suspect that the top Italian guns might have had more mention although, frankly, my experience of some of them is that they look great and are impeccably engineered but that they do not always shoot quite as well as their thoroughbred looks might suggest. The stock shapes and configuration sometimes let the beautifully finished metalwork down.
My observations are made through British eyes, of course. They are the eyes of a gunfitter, game- and pigeon-shooter and competitive clay-shot. To me, function always comes first.
What is the best shotgun in the world?
I shall fudge the answer by putting it in the context of price. If I had up to £1,500 to spend my choice would be a plain grade Beretta Silver Pigeon 12- or 20-bore. If I had between £3,000 and £4,000 to spend, I’d buy a Beretta EELL or side-plated Caesar Guerini. With £5,000 or so in the bank, I would opt for a Perazzi or Kemen (the latter being an exceptional high-bird gun as noted). Remanufactured vintage guns from Atkin, Grant & Lang represent excellent value and allow for the confident everyday use of a hundred-year-old gun built to your exact requirements. Bosis side-by-sides also represent excellent value when one begins to consider capital expenditure.
With unlimited funds, I would go for a new Holland Royal side-by-side or over-and-under in 12- and 20-bore respectively, or a Purdey pigeon-gun. If I were Italian, though, it might well have been a Fabbri. One gun on a desert island for the next 20 years? To use the vernacular, that’s a no-brainer: the plain Jane
Beretta Silver Pigeon
simply could not be bettered. It offers the most reliable bang for the least buck. I would have a 28in-barrelled 20-bore if cartridges were available (because the handling qualities mimic those of a much more expensive gun), or a 12-bore if they were not.
What a shotgun choke is, what the choke does, its effect on 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 is an issue everyone who shoots should be aware of. It can be mystifying for those new to the sporting field, and as such this guide to shotgun choke is essential. Getting your shotgun choke right is also an issue for experienced shots, where it can lead to too much tinkering and near obsession among sufferers.
So what is the correct shotgun choke for grouse shooting? And if you find the gun of your dreams in our gun reviews section, what choke would suit best?
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 chok. 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.
Now you have your gun ready to go, make sure your shots are up to it with our essential 11 pheasant shooting tips.
The Field's top 10 best pheasant recipes are essential reading now the season has started
The Top 10 best pheasant recipes need the right game to start with...
The Field’s best pheasant recipes are the only ones you will need this season. With the pheasant shooting season about to start we can at last think joyfully ahead to seeing the bird not just in the bag, but succulently placed on the plate. For the best in game recipes and everything interesting in the sporting world subscribe to The Field before Christmas and receive a fantastic 38% saving, a year’s subscription for only £17.99.
The best pheasant recipes cover a multitude of possibilities. They can be kept in reserve for a romantic dinner for two. The Parmesan pheasant breasts with crispy ham fits the bill admirably, and is one of the easiest of the best pheasant recipes to cook, so ideal for the game virgin.
For those who like something a little more doughty pheasant guidwife is hard to best. It is easy to assemble and is pretty much done with the addition of three ingredients. The most unusual (and the secret to the whole dish) is the mango chutney.
Our best pheasant recipes will encourage even old hands to try something new. And if you haven’t had the inclination to make pheasant stock then do try this season. It is a little time consuming but fields ahead of anything one might buy in cubed form. Making stock also encourages the use of leftovers, and is the right way to use every part of a bird. If one has taken the time to shoot it then it is a serious misjudgment to fail to utilise it.
Choosing which best pheasant recipe to use will depend on the bird you bag. You will also be able to tell by looking if your bird is young or old, a cock or a hen. If you are more familiar with a pheasant from your game dealer, ask him.
And if it comes from the supermarket you will have to take your chances. A good game dealer or butcher should be able to tell you everything you need to know about the bird.
So take your pick of these best pheasant recipes and put your bag to use.
The WFYFC naked charity calendar confirms that it is hard to keep clothes on Young Farmers, but they do enjoy disrobing for a good cause
The WFYFC naked Charity Calendar is available to buy from www.wiltshireyfc.co.uk
THE WFYFC NAKED CHARITY CALENDAR
Young Farmers and Naked Charity calendars go together like the inevitable horse and carriage. And this WFYFC naked charity calendar is no exception.
Entitled ‘The Cream of the Crop’ this 2015 WFYFC naked charity calendar has been put together by the Wiltshire Federation of Young Farmers to celebrate their 80th anniversary. Out of the 682 Young Farmers Clubs with over 20 000 members aged between 10 and 26 years old, eight of them are in Wiltshire: Calne, Chippenham, Devizes, Malmesbury, Melksham, Purton & Cricklade, Trowbridge and Salisbury.
“We have all of the clubs in the County participating with current members (well, the over 18′s of course!)” says Ann Maidment, Wiltshire County Chairman. “We wanted to show the variety Young Farmers offers, but in a way that would make an impact for the 80th Year”.
The Wiltshire Federation of Young Farmers have certainly hit the mark. Members from all of the county clubs have participated in the calendar, in various agricultural poses. We particularly like the brave souls who bared bottoms to perch on a bale. Bravo!
The calendar is in aid of Wiltshire Air Ambulance, who attend between two and three life saving missions every day. The air ambulance service is essential to any sporting person and should be supported wherever possible. They have saved many lives on the hunting field, and where sport takes one to inaccessible and remote locations. Buying the WFYFC’s naked charity calendar is an excellent and photogenic way of doing it.
If you know of any suitably rustic naked charity calendars that deserve a place in The Field then do please contact us. We are always delighted to help a charitable cause. Each month we feature a naked charity calendar in the news pages of the magazine. Subscribe to The Field before Christmas and receive a fantastic 38% saving, a year’s subscription for only £17.99.
This perfect roast pheasant recipe was developed after adding wine to the pan to keep the bird moist and experimenting with different ingredients
Retrieve your bird and then use it to make the perfect roast pheasant recipe
The perfect roast pheasant recipe was an accident, but it has earned its place on The Field’s top 10 best pheasant recipes, and looks set to stay there.
Using rosé wine or leftover sparkling pink prosecco adds a surprising lightness to the dish, unlike the more robust pheasant guidwife recipe which plumps for red.
The perfect roast pheasant recipe came about after a top tip from the wife of a manic shooting friend who had to contend with the pheasant ‘loot’ brought home every single weekend of the season.
To roast any gamebird, put half an inch of wine in the pan to help keep the bird moist and tender. This particular recipe is a take on that tip, which started out as a “what if I did it like this” question and ended up as a firm family favourite, and the perfect roast pheasant recipe.
Serves 4
■ Sea salt and black pepper
■ 2 pheasants (young hens are best)
■ Olive oil
■ 1 pack (100g or 31⁄2oz) pancetta lardons
■ 1 red onion, peeled and cut into thin rings
■ 1 clove garlic, peeled and chopped into slithers
■ 2 juniper berries crushed with a few black peppercorns
■ 700g (241⁄2oz) charlotte potatoes, cut on the diagonal into 3 pieces
■ 6 rashers pancetta or streaky bacon
■ 2 large glasses rosé wine (or leftover sparkling pink prosecco)
Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F/Gas Mark 6. Salt and pepper the pheasants. In the bottom of a large, cast-iron casserole, heat a glug of olive oil and brown the pheasants all over. Set aside. Tip in the lardons and fry until nearly crisp on a high heat. Add the onion, turn the heat down and cook for a few minutes, stirring continuously until soft. Add the garlic, a small scatter of sea salt, crushed juniper berries and peppercorns and cook for a further minute. Add the potatoes and stir it all together.
Sit the pheasants on top and cover the breasts with the pancetta rashers or bacon. Heat the wine and pour it over. Put the lid on and place in the oven for 45 mins to an hour.
