So what do you do with the rest of the pheasant carcass or the leftover bones? I am a great advocate of making stock. So this is a two-part recipe – first stock and then soup. My granddaughter swears that the latter is a sovereign remedy for curing colds; and it is true that it is a sort of version of Momma’s Jewish Chicken Soup. Whatever medicinal properties the best pheasant stock and soup recipe may have, it is certainly perfect for a cold winter’s day and everyone always asks for seconds.
THE BEST PHEASANT STOCK AND SOUP RECIPE
PHEASANT STOCK
500ml serves 3 to 4 people
■ Raw pheasant carcasses or leftover bones from a roast
■ Per carcass: an onion (skin on, cut in half and pierced with 2 cloves), 1 stick celery, 1 unpeeled carrot, 2 peppercorns and 1 bay-leaf
■ Some water
Carcasses should be roasted in a hot oven for about 20 minutes with the onion, celery, carrot, peppercorns and bay-leaf. You will not need to do this with bones from a roast.
Put the carcass, bones, juices, any crunchy bits from the roast and the vegetables into a large pan. Cover with cold water and bring to the boil. Turn down the heat and simmer over a very low heat for several hours with the lid on, tasting and checking water levels periodically.
When the stock tastes full and pheasanty and looks properly brown, and the bones have all fallen apart, strain into a large bowl, cover with cling film and leave to cool. Refrigerate.
THE BEST PHEASANT SOUP
Ingredients are per 500ml of stock
■ Salt and black pepper
■ 50ml-75ml (13⁄4fl oz-21⁄2fl oz) vermouth or sherry
■ 30g (1oz) butter
■ 1 diced shallot or red onion
■ 1 handful basmati rice
■ 1 large diced carrot
■ 1 small potato peeled and diced
■ 2 sticks chopped celery (or 1⁄2 bulb fennel)
■ Handful finely chopped parsley
Skim any fat off the cold stock, then heat it. Taste and add salt as needed and the vermouth. Bring to the boil for 3-5 minutes; when the alcohol has evaporated, keep it simmering. In a separate pan, melt the butter, add the onion and rice and then season. Sweat over a low heat with the lid on until the onion is soft, then add the rest of the veg. Now pour in a little stock and bubble furiously for a minute; then add the remaining stock and boil until the rice is cooked but still a bit nutty. Taste and season again and stir in all the chopped parsley.
Serve with crusty hot bread and butter. The best pheasant stock and soup recipe is perfect for wide-necked thermoses and an ideal warming treat on the hill, accompanied by woodpigeon sausage rolls.
Pheasant Kiev is an economical and tasty dish that suits family suppers during the winter months
Our pheasant Kiev recipe is easy to cook, and a great way to encourage children to eat game
Pheasant Kiev always comes to the fore when game is in abundance. There is no need to even look at a sadly reared supermarket chicken, and don’t even think of buying them ready made. They will be full of nasties and taste miserable.
This pheasant kiev recipe is homely, simple fare that satisfies the soul, but that is quick(ish) to make, and, above all, reasonable in cost. It is probably one of the most child friendly of our top 10 best pheasant recipes. It solves all the problems of dryness which almost guarantees the kids will eat it, too. If not try them with the parmesan pheasant beast with crispy ham or make the very best pheasant stock and soup recipe and use it as a base for a wholesome supper.
PHEASANT KIEV
Serves 4
4 pheasant breasts, preferably ones that have not faced a storm of ack-ack
6 cloves garlic
Large bunch flat leaved parsley
Zest of 1 lemon
200g (7oz) butter, softened
4 tbsp flour
2 eggs
200ml (7fl oz) milk
200g (7oz) dried, even breadcrumbs
2 litres (31⁄2 pints) vegetable oil
Pheasant kiev is the most yummy way I know to serve pheasant. The awesome, garlic-laden butter inside oozes out and the armour of breadcrumbs keeps the meat deliciously juicy.
Start by removing the little fillet from the breast, otherwise this will detach itself during cooking and break the armour of breadcrumbs, causing disaster. Next, make a pocket in the thick part of the breast with a small sharp knife.
Chop the garlic and parsley roughly then pop them in a food processor and whizz until they are really finely chopped. Add the lemon zest, then the softened butter. Whizz again. Lay a sheet of cling film on a work surface and spoon the mess on to it. Squidge it out, then roll the thing up into a tight sausage and tie the ends. Pop in the fridge until it sets. When set, cut slices off the sausage, and insert one into each pocket. Roll the breast in the flour, then in the egg/milk mixture (see recipe above), then finally in the crumbs. Be warned, this is the messiest process known to man.
Repeat the egg and crumb process, then heat the oil in a deep pan. When a breadcrumb fizzes upon entry, the oil is ready. Fry the kievs for seven minutes until golden. If they go brown the oil is too hot.
Drain them and let them rest for three minutes. Serve with green salad, game chips and mustard mayo.
This Italian pheasant recipe is named after Gennaro Contaldo and shows the rustic side of Italian food
The Top 10 best pheasant recipes need the right game to start with...
An Italian pheasant recipe should be included on the list of the top 10 best pheasant recipes. It melds the flavours of the Mediterranean, lemon, garlic and olive oil, to create an Italian pheasant recipe classic. We are used to using Italian flavours in our everyday cooking, but game is often overlooked. It could not be more delicious, and is particularly good when made with young birds.
This Italian pheasant recipe comes from Mike Robinson’s book, Wild Flavours and is named after Gennaro Contaldo who appears regularly on Jamie Oliver’s TV programmes. It is, I have to say, quite divine and shows the rustic side of Italian food.
ITALIAN PHEASANT RECIPE
Serves 4
■ 2 pheasants (young if possible)
■ 50ml (13⁄4fl oz) good olive oil
■ Sea salt and freshly ground pepper
■ 2 lemons, quartered
■ 4 whole bulbs garlic
■ 10 large rosemary sprigs
■ 2 glasses white wine
Remove the pheasants’ backbones (easily done with a heavy, sharp knife and scissors), halve the meat and trim off any nasty bits. Put in a bowl with the olive oil, seasoning and quartered lemons and mix. Squash the garlic bulbs (don’t peel), strip a third of the rosemary leaves off the stalks and add both.
Preheat the oven to 230°C/450F°/Gas Mark 8 and sear the pheasants in a hot, ovenproof pan. Add the rest of the rosemary and pour the white wine over.
Cover the pan with foil and place in the oven for 20 minutes. Remove and allow the meat to rest for 15 mins.
Now serve with foccacia bread or new potatoes and a salad. A delicious and unusual way to eat pheasant, and a great way to avoid the mid season pheasant blues.
Wildlife artists are in abundance at the annual SWLA exhibition. And Field readers can go for free
Carry Akroyd's Granite, Gannet, Annet £885 will be exhibited at the SWLA exhibition this year
The wildlife artists who will be present at this year’s Society of Wildlife Artists Exhibition produce work that it is well worth making the trip to see. The exhibition will be held at the Mall Galleries, London, and runs from 30 October - 9 November. The Field is always keen to see the works of sporting artist and we feature a regular column in the magazine.
WILDLIFE ARTISTS – FREE FOR FIELD READERS
If you do visit the SWLA exhibition, Field readers can enter the exhibition for free. Just mention The Field at the gallery desk, and then spend a pleasant afternoon deciding which artists would look best on which wall.
The 51st annual exhibition promises to showcase an eye catching array of work that has been inspired by the natural world. Wildlife artists can depict hare, gannet or guinea fowl in oil, watercolour or steel. But what ties the exhibition together is the enormous empathy each one of the wildlife artists feel for their subject matter.
Society of Wildlife Artists Annual Exhibition 2014. Max Angus’ Alexanders and Racing Hares £325
Max Angus’ beautifully rustic Alexanders and Racing Hares – North Norfolk Linocut (£325, unframed £260) comes in an edition of 45, with 5 available. Angus captures the north Norfolk ambience adeptly, the blues and greys of the vast Norfolk skies echoed in the lines of the plough.
Harriet Mead’s Tack Hammer Deer £795 is made from steel
Harriet Mead’s Tack Hammer Deer (£795) is made from steel, but the sinewy beauty of the cervine shape disguises the industrial heritage of the material. It would look wonderful nestled in the landscape somewhere, and equally at home in a minimalist loft or a traditional country estate.
How the wildlife artists who exhibit create their work is a pleasure to unfold, and the exhibition promises to have plenty of buying opportunities.
This year the SWLA has collaborated with the British Trust for Ornithology on a bird migration project. Two wildlife artists spent two weeks in Senegal with BTO scientists, other wildlife artists visited breeding grounds in the UK. And the resulting work was a study in bird migration.
Finding something fun to do with your trout can be taxing. The Field have picked the top ten trout recipes to help you tackle your trout
Top ten trout recipes
Trout recipes are often overlooked. Salmon seems more succulent, seafood more glamorous. The poor old trout is often left behind. It shouldn’t be. The best trout recipes cater for every taste and every budget, and what is more you can (if you fish on stocked ponds over winter) fish for trout all year round. To find the best rivers to fish in season for your trout try Fishpal, a site that makes it easy and simple to book days on the riverbank.
Cooking trout and therefore sourcing the best trout recipes has always been high on the agenda for me ever since my husband arranged a fishing trip to Ireland for our honeymoon in the post-war Fifties, casting a hopeful line over every inch of even the most unpromising lough or stretch of river.
My daughter’s husband followed suit, taking her camping high in the Himalayas in pursuit of the brown trout introduced by homesick British officers during the time of the Raj. Both of us are quite used to packing matches and searching out dry tinder in case of a happy catch; there isn’t much that’s better tasting than a fat, freshly caught trout cooked on the river-bank, sizzling in bacon grease or butter.
Wild Scottish trout come top of the culinary list for their sweet, bright-pink flesh, but even their plumper southern cousins caught in the Itchen or Test are delicious if treated right and used in the right trout recipes.
TROUT RECIPES – WHAT TO COOK WITH TROUT
Often, the ingredients that complement them best are to be found growing nearby: wild fennel, sorrel and ramsons (wild garlic) all go well with fish, and there’s a great deal of satisfaction to be found in foraging for your own herbs.
While you can buy smoked trout, there’s yet further satisfaction to be found in smoking your own, with an Abu Smoker or in a wok, and it’s cheap and quick to do.
Not everyone fishes, but that’s no reason not to eat trout. Farmed fish are available from fishmongers (if you can find one) and supermarkets, but make sure they are fresh. The skin should be shiny, the spots still visible, and eyes unsunken.
Trout is easy to cook, the main rule being don’t overdo it. The following recipes are all tried, tested and almost impossible to muck up for anyone with a grain of cooking common sense.
Pig's cheeks are the tastiest mouthful. Buy British pork and try them confit and in breadcrumbs.
Pig's cheeks are delicious morsels and melt in the mouth
Pig’s cheeks are a delicious part of the pig. They have been growing in popularity over the last few years, and now pig’s cheeks are not just found in restaurants, but on the dinner table too.
The most important thing to remember before you start cooking your pig’s cheeks is to get your pork from a reputable source. Buy British, without question. Our pigs have a better standard of living than their Continental cousins. If you can choose organic, or even better buy from a local farmer you know. When it comes to pork the more you know and the better. Tracey Worcester is passionate about pigs, and we would encourage you to sign her Pig Pledge to encourage farms not factories. For her manifesto read her Tracey Worcester: If I ruled the world column.
Pig’s cheeks are meaty lumps that need some cooking. On the principle that the muscle that does the most work tastes the best, the cheeks on any animal should be supreme, and indeed they are. They just take some cooking.
PIG’S CHEEKS RECIPE
Serves 6
12 pig’s cheeks, trimmed and neat
100g (31⁄2oz) sea-salt
Sprig rosemary, stripped
2 litres (31⁄2 pints) goose or duck fat (you can reuse this numerous times)
2 eggs
100ml (31⁄2fl oz) milk
2 tbsp flour
200g (7oz) dried breadcrumbs (evenly sized)
3 litres (5 pints) vegetable oil
These sound exotic but are really easy to do. You will have to ask your butcher for them but if you order enough ( at least 5 kilos) he will get them. Freeze what you can’t use for next time. They are really cheap and taste divine. We are going to cook them confit-style – slowly braised at a low temperature in goose or duck fat.
Sprinkle the cheeks with sea-salt and the rosemary leaves. Leave for an hour to draw some moisture out. It really seems to improve the texture of confit meat – we do it with duck also.
Next brush off the salt and immerse the cheeks in the fat. Heat the fat to about 120°C/250°F. Put the pan in the oven at 120°C/250°F/Gas Mark ½ and leave it for four hours. Contrary to what you may think, the cheeks won’t have soaked up the fat, but it will have kept them super juicy.
Remove the cheeks and drain them on a rack, allowing them to cool. Whisk the egg and milk together and pour into a shallow dish, then lay out the flour and breadcrumbs in similar containers. Flour the cheeks , roll them in the egg mixture, then crumbs, then redo the process, minus the flour.
Fry the cheeks in quite hot vegetable oil, which is deep enough to cover them, for five minutes until the crumbs are golden.
I like to serve them as snacks with homemade ketchup and lots of beer.
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?
The best shotguns in the world – what makes them? 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.
CRITERIA
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.
The best sporting estates in the country. The Field's list includes high birds in Yorkshire, West Country hunting, shooting on the Scottish moors and salmon on the fly. Be prepared for a serious case of acres envy.
50 best sporting estates. The shoot bus at Houghton Hall
What makes a great sporting estate? With the assistance of Britain’s top agents The Field has found the most desirable sporting estates across England, Scotland and Wales. The Field knows where the very best sporting estates are, and why they make the grade. Our readers shoot, hunt and fish over these extraordinary locations and you can find it all within our pages. You can subscribe to The Field until Christmas 2014 for a tempting 38% discount, so a year’s subscription is only £17.99.
So does your sporting estate comprise Leicestershire acres for hunting? Lancashire fields for pheasant and partridge shooting? Or grouse shooting on Gunnerside? These are the estates where invitations are craved after, and sport is taken in style.
BEST SPORTING ESTATES
Ardverikie, Inverness-shire
A shimmering Highland estate and a lead role in the BBC’s Monarch of the Glen might attract uninvited visitors but they can’t reach you on the other side of Loch Laggan and the midges are mighty effective bouncers. Fishing on the loch and stalking across 45,000 acres of deer forests. The Baronial-style house sits on a promontory overlooking King Fergus’s Island. Queen Victoria liked it.
Ashcombe, Wiltshire
Ashcombe’s 1,100 unspoilt acres across chalk valleys with steep contours present high, testing partridges and pheasants as part of an outstanding, well-managed shoot. There is a lovely Georgian house and an orangery for lunches. Guy Ritchie, Madonna’s ex-husband, has plans which include bringing back the vegetable gardens, lock, stock and two smoking beetroots. A beautiful divorce settlement.
Balmoral, Aberdeenshire
The Scottish home of the Royal Family beneath Lochnagar in Royal Deeside, with the granite castle and its sporting lands not expected on the market any time soon. Heather-clad hills, ancient Caledonian woodland and the River Dee weave over 50,000 acres. There is grouse-shooting at Corgarff and stalking in the forests. Balmoral chatters with the noise of silence, with the water running from the burns.
Barningham and Holgate, North Yorkshire
Like a bit of everything? This estate, on the edge of the Dales, has trout fishing, wildfowling, a pheasant-shoot and a productive two-day grouse moor. Throw in English partridges, duck- and goose-flighting, roe-stalking and a Grade 11* listed house. Listen to the singing; proof that moorland well managed for red grouse can produce an infinite variety of birds.
Bereleigh, Hampshire
Owned by the Tyrwhitt-Drake family, this 2,500 acre estate with its largely Georgian house provides one of the county’s best shoots, with great woods. The terrain is more down-land Sussex than Hampshire, creating challenging high birds. You also get to shoot lobsters to upset the Crustacean Alliance. (Its lobster shoot – clays the quarry and lobster the fare – raises lots of money for the Countryside Alliance.)
Bleasdale, Lancashire
Bleasdale Tower sits in the head of a lovely bowl, with a stunning view south. The house, not too big, is ideal for a shoot party. “The shoot has some spectacular drives off the moor edge and can show pheasants and partridges that are ridiculously high,” says Frank Speir of Prime Purchase. There is a grouse moor of 6,000-plus acres, too, with a lot of work done on upland management to regenerate the moorland.
Bolton Abbey, North Yorkshire
A 30,000-acre sporting playground on the banks of the Wharfe, with 13,500 acres of moorland. High pheasants and quick grouse sate the shooting appetite and for anglers there are brown trout and grayling to be had on the fly. Take food and shelter in the estate’s splendid Devonshire Arms, with a wine list Bacchus compiled. Play cricket, too. But beware the ghost of Fred Trueman telling you to “Pitch it up lad.”
Brimpsfield Park, Gloucestershire
High pheasants and partridges fly over the roof of the Cotswolds. Steep valleys and woods are the ingredients for a shoot transformed by the Larthe family over the past 25 years. The mellow stone house has had a refurbishment, too. The property gets a mention in the Domesday Book but with no explanation as to how one of its drives came to be called The Fat Controller, although the sausage rolls are legendary.
A high bird makes the day at one of the 50 best sporting estates
Broadlands, Hampshire
History in every Hampshire pore. Once the seat of Earl Mountbatten of Burma, now home to Lord Brabourne. Fly fishermen ask to be baptised in the Test, such is its nobility among chalkstreams, with brown and sea-trout and salmon, while a wild shoot promises snipe and duck. Royalty and statesmen decorate the honours board. A Game Fair host, its centrepiece is a lovely house in Capability Brown parkland.
Castle Hill, Devon
Some think it is the greatest pheasant-shooting in the world. “Many drives provide birds that are genuinely unkillable,” says William Duckworth-Chad of Savills. The highest of pheasants in the deepest of Devon valleys over thousands of acres make it difficult to beat, with brown trout, sea-trout and salmon on the Bray. The house is special, too.
Caerhays, Cornwall
On the south Cornwall coast, Caerhays has a variety of shooting in spectacular surroundings. The Rookery is the pick of the drives, where the guns get the view down Porthluney Valley, with pheasants flying out of the canvas of the Nash-designed Grade I listed castle, which in the mid 19th century was so derelict geese drank in the drawing-room. The Vean lodge is very plush.
Chatsworth, Derbyshire
If you like estates big, as in 35,000 acres, then Chatsworth is your quarry. You have the pheasant-shoot, a trout stream on the Wye, parkland and stable blocks. It is the heart of the Peak District National Park and most of its lung, too. There is moorland and woodland, with a rare collection of ancient oaks. Chatsworth House, across the Derwent, puts the stately into home and has a few spare rooms for sporting guests.
Compton Manor, Hampshire
“Brought up fishing the River Itchen, I had to choose perhaps the greatest estate on the Test or the Itchen – Compton Manor. A fine house, thousands of acres of good partridge- and pheasant-shooting, but, most importantly, one of the premier beats on unquestionably the premier chalkstream in the world,” says Mark McAndrew of Strutt & Parker.
Catching a salmon on the fly is on the list at some of the 50 best sporting estates
Conholt, Hampshire
The lovely house sits in a park and the estate runs one of the finest shoots in the south of England. Wildlife and conser-vation is at its core, with a third of the estate woodland. There are valleys at Conholt where no machine has been allowed to venture. The guns move around on foot and the game cart is pulled by a horse, with damson gin in the saddlebag. An estate with magic in the mahonias.
Corrour, Inverness-shire
“Can somewhere so remote still exist in this day and age? It is so quiet you can hear yourself think,” says Anna Thomas of Savills. The lodge is a thoroughly modern castle with views over the loch. More than 50,000 acres to play in. Go stalking on the hill and get distracted by golden eagles, or try some trout fishing. This is sporting estate meets natural wilderness. It also produces its own venison.
Delfur, Speyside
A fly-fisherman’s dream and one for the purist – and that’s before you take the whisky trail and pay homage to the glens of Fiddich and Livet. The lodge sits on the banks of the Spey and you get to catch an Atlantic salmon on the finest fly water. An unbeatable and challenging beat on a top performing Scottish river. There is also high- and lowground shooting.
Drumlanrig, Dumfriesshire
A Buccleuch estate with pheasants and partridges, salmon on the Nith, trout in the lochs, driven grouse, roe- and wild-goat stalking and a castle. “I grew up at Drumlanrig, shooting pigeon, ferreting, sea-trout fishing at night, beating on the smart days. Then I had my first chance at driven grouse and pheasants. Part of my shooting soul will always be there,” says Jonathan Kennedy of CKD Kennedy Macpherson.
Elveden, Norfolk
Ownership passed from the Singhs – 846 partridges shot before lunch on a September day in 1895 – to a brewing dynasty. Curry and Guinness – sounds like a night out after the rugby. The idea for a Guinness Book of Records came from a shooting party in Ireland in 1951 when guns argued about the relative speeds of golden plover and grouse. Fine shooting and lavish parties. Is there a toucan in the gamebook?
Encombe, Dorset
Desirable? You want to take it to bed. A Georgian house of great beauty, 2,000 acres on the Isle of Purbeck and an outstanding pheasant shoot – this is high-bird heaven on sea. The golden bowl of 1,000 acres at the heart of the estate is a stunning landscape and the first glimpse of the house as you turn into the drive jaw-dropping. Fish from the rocks, be you keen fisherman or inquisitive child.
Faccombe, Hampshire
Does not usually get this good so close to the capital. This is renowned and testing pheasant- and partridge-shooing on a very well run estate. The rolling valleys provide for roe- and fallow-stalking. A beautiful house is concealed behind a high wall. “If you want to be close to London but feel hidden away in unspoilt countryside, this is the place,” says Toby Milbank of Knight Frank.
Firle, Sussex
“Whether you are following hounds over the Downs or swinging through a fast covey of partridges, the Firle estate has it all,” says David Steel of Smiths Gore: 3,500 acres of stunning South Downs countryside and a house of Tudor origins with Georgian tweaks. Try the local beer, Harveys, dating back to 1790. I start drinking it around 1800.
Fonthill, Wiltshire
A 10,000-acre estate with a large lake in a lovely landscape. “Fonthill has special valleys, fabulous for deerstalking, pheasants and partridges,” said Ed Sugden of Property Vision. Plenty of woodland, as well as farmland and gardens. The main house, built in the Sixties, is a far subtler creation than the old abbey, a neo-Gothic shocker, which eventually collapsed – hoist with its own façade.
Garrowby, North Yorkshire
Partridge- and pheasant-shooting in the Yorkshire premier league – deep, wide valleys and hanging woods are the top-ography of top sport on this 13,500-acre estate. Even the hall started life as a shooting box. Garrowby Hill is the highest point on the Yorkshire Wolds. If you swing an invitation here make sure you know your nags, for this is racing country. Actually, if you swing an invitation, you’re incredibly lucky.
Glenfeshie, Inverness-shire
Glenfeshie is 45,000 acres of the Cairngorms, a landscape of vast natural wares, including ancient Caledonian pine forest. Grouse, salmon and red deer are all here, under an hour from Inverness. If you want remote grandeur and your own private kingdom, trek here. This is wild beauty married to great sport. Take your painting oils as well as gun oil. Glenfeshie was the backdrop to Landseer’s Monarch of the Glen.
Gunnerside, North Yorkshire
If grouse-shooting were an Olympic sport this would be the venue for 2012. Half-marathons have been run in the time some drives last on this trophy estate of more than 30,000 acres. It has been described as a Highland estate in England. The shooting is exhilarating across a breadth of moors and the lowground shooting is worth texting home about – if you can get reception. A mighty fine lodge, too.
Hawnby, North Yorkshire
Another prized Yorkshire pheasant-shooting invitation, the deep, sheer valleys challenge the finest shots. Besides the pheasant-shoot there is a grouse moor, which can produce at least a day’s driving and an island moor giving an excellent “walked-up” day. Arden Hall dates back to the 17th century and has lovely gardens. This estate has demonstrated award-winning excellence in woodland management.
A wild-bird shoot and the pride of Norfolk across 25,000 acres. Wildfowling to die for and excellent driven game-shooting, with the keepers resplendent in bowler hats. A Palladian hall and a range of brick-and-flint cottages and Georgian farmhouses make up a considerable portfolio. The estate’s beach is a National Nature Reserve, and Lord Nelson had both eyes open when he explored this stretch of coast.
An historic Palladian mansion, grand parkland and a restored five-acre walled garden, Houghton also has its own private army. Well, a remarkable toy soldier collection any-way. Plenty of wild grey partridges on its rolling acres – challenging birds and a noble tradition. There is stalking, too. Houghton Hall was built in the 1720s by Sir Robert Walpole, Britain’s first prime minister and the 4,000-acre estate is the seat of the Marquess of Cholmondeley.
Shooting at Houghton Hall is a coveted invitation to one of the 50 best sporting estates
Islay, Western Isles
Sport as varied as the landscapes and as numerous as the distilleries. Brown and sea-trout fishing in the lochs, as well as salmon and sea-fishing and stalking. “Islay stags average over 18 stone and have heads like Christmas trees. There is the occasional grouse to give pointers a purpose and the chance of a Macnab. But the wildfowl and woodcock is the real secret of Islay,” says Robert McCulloch of Strutt & Parker.
Llanarmon, Denbighshire
This is a topside of rare Welsh sporting beef in the Ceiriog valley. Neck braces are worn here not after a tough afternoon in a rugby scrum, but after straining to see the highest pheasants. Go on, pronounce and spell the drives. Head for the West Arms, shooting hospitality at is finest, and you can taste that topside of beef. Llanarmon is run by Bobby McAlpine, an excellent shot, who knows his wine. Tidy. Lush.
Loch Choire, Sutherland
A mere 35,000 acres of breathtaking Highlands wilderness, largely made up of two deer forests either side of a three-mile loch. The lodge sits at the head of Loch Choire. The Mallet flows into the loch. Salmon and trout and fine red deer-stalking, with some grouse and ptarmigan on the top. “The scale is staggering. And the fact that all the sport is wild, makes it a very special place,” says Jon Lambert of John Clegg & Co.
Melbury, Dorset
Park, woodland, farm and a stunning Grade I listed late-17th century house. I know a chap who owns The Swan, but chatelaine Charlotte Townshend is allowed to own swans which puts her on a list of, er, two, alongside HM The Queen. Lady Charlotte is married to James Townshend, chief executive of Velcourt, the farming company. The couple are de-voted to fieldsports. Both hunting and shooting thrive here.
Mertoun, Roxburghshire
Languid stretches of Tweed to fish, with high cliffs and deep pools. The house, overlooking the river, has been lovingly restored; I am told by an insider that the entrance hall is 16ft high, so no need to take down your 15ft salmon rod. The river acts as a sublime backdrop to the pheasant- and partridge-shooting. There is excellent roe-stalking, too.
Millden, Angus
“As a grouse moor Millden stands supreme… Better-broken dogs were never seen on a moor,” wrote top Edwardian shot AE Gathorne-Hardy. It continues to inspire awe. In the heart of Glen Esk, it has eight days’ grouse-driving, 10 miles of double-bank salmon fishing on the North Esk and a great pheasant- and partridge-shoot. The sport is based round a refurbished lodge, overlooking the river.
Muggleswick, Co Durham
Sportsmen who meet a genie ask for three things: a great grouse moor to call their own, to be hailed as a great shot and to be a wizard fly fisherman. The fourth would be personal wealth. Meet Jeremy Herrmann, master of Muggleswick and, indeed, East Allenheads, who rubbed the right bottle. Herrmann even called a hedge fund after a predatory trout. Envious? Good lord, no. I think he just turned 40.
Newton Ferrers, Devon
One for the romantics , tucked away in the hidden valleys of south-west Devon. This was a labour of love, started in 1994 by Andrew and Darcie Baylis. They restored the 17th- century manor house, revived a shoot dormant since the 1880s and cleared choked river-banks. “Shooting high birds amid ancient hardwoods and salmon fishing on the Lynher is any man’s dream of a perfect world,” according to Crispin Holborow of Savills.
If you leave Burgundy, as the family did in the 12th century, it has to be for somewhere special. Powderham Castle remains the seat of the Earl of Devon and what a 3,500-acre armchair it is. The pheasants and partridges are high and fast, the gin sloe, as was Timothy the tortoise which lived to 160. The architecture of the 14th-century castle is as rich as its tales.
The Earl and Countess of Devon at Powderham Castle, one of the 50 best sporting estates
Presaddfed, Anglesey
A cracking mixed shoot over a 10,000-acre estate. With several excellent lakes and marshes, there is fine duck-shooting: morning and evening flights to top and tail any day. To wildfowlers’ heaven add snipe and driven, migratory woodcock. Presaddfed Hall is a 17th-century manor house, set in woodland. There is fly-fishing on the lake for brown trout.
Raby, Co Durham
A Durham all-rounder to rival Sir Ian Botham, who has surely fired a few shots in these parts, from bat and gun. Driven grouse, pheasants, grey partridges, woodcock and snipe – take your pick, for this is mixed sport in stirring landscapes. There is also roe-stalking – just don’t cull them from the turrets of the magnificent 14th-century castle. The Raby estates straddle Teesdale, Co Durham and Northumberland.
This all rounder estate in Durham has exceptional mixed sport
Roxburghe, Roxburghshire
More than 54,000 acres, including pheasant-shooting amid mixed woodland and two grouse moors. The pheasant guns have lunch in the state dining-room; the grouse guns in a hut on the moor. There is salmon and sea-trout fishing on Tweed and, if you have any energy left, a stud farm. Floors Castle, complete with fairy-tale turrets, sits on a natural terrace surveying Tweed. Difficult to find flaws on this estate.
Sandringham, Norfolk
Wild pheasants, stunning grey partridges and wildfowling, all with a Royal pedigree – formal days in the company of kings, queens and smartly dressed keepers. “Rabbiting with an army of keepers strengthened one’s resolve to shoot straighter, as the insults flew. Ferreting the hedgerows, tickling the trout and being one of the guns for the annual field trial defines the breadth of the sport available,” said Charles Loyd of Strutt & Parker.
Stowell Park, Gloucestershire
A 5,500-acre estate in the Cotswolds, known for both pheasants and partridges, with the acres a mix of woodland, grassland and arable on the banks of the Coln. Stone walls and deep valleys stud the estate. Stowell Park has been owned by the Vestey family since 1921 and in the Second World War was an American hospital, where pioneering surgery took place to remove shrapnel and bullets.
Sydling, Dorset
A beautiful, 2,500-acre shooting estate set in a bowl of chalk downland straight out of Hardy. The shoot has been deliberately toned down commercially and is all the better for it. Change is organically driven: the farm animals are rare and well bred and a shop sells meat, eggs and honey. Owner Alastair Cooper is a rare breed, too – a former investment banker to be applauded.
Temple, Wiltshire
A 2,000-acre estate deep in the Marlborough Downs. “I live near Marlborough and love its countryside and landscape. Temple is a fantastic sporting estate because it provides ex-ceptional mixed partridge- and pheasant-shooting in a beautiful setting,” says Mark Lawson of The Buying Solution. Rolling hill and valley, strategically placed woodland and cover crops add to the sporting table. The house is relatively new and there is a collection of estate properties, too.
Trewithen, Cornwall
It is a love at first sight house for architectural aesthetes and has barely changed its outward appearance since its 18th-century beginnings. Then there are the gorgeous gardens, with Trewithen, which means house of trees, internationally renowned for its magnolias and camellias. For sport, there is the pheasant-shoot and all sorts of wildfowl, as well as snipe, woodcock and partridges, to keep Cornish shots keen.
Weardale, Co Durham
Under Michael Stone, Weardale has developed into one of the top moors in the country, with grouse and pheasants in good numbers. And to think a few years ago you could not find a North Pennines bird to illustrate a whisky bottle. The house is beautifully positioned in a bowl at the top of Weardale and well equipped for a shooting team. Only the hardiest of sheep apply for upland grazing rights.
Wemmergill, Co Durham
“You have to be totally mad to own a grouse moor. It makes no sense at all. But I would not swap it for anything,” says Michael Cannon of his Wemmergill estate. This is 17,000 acres of possibly the world’s finest grouse moor, with Cannon spending millions, made mainly from beer, restoring the moorland so successfully. Guns dream of standing in the Shipka Pass, waiting for the feathered red Indians.
Grouse come thick and fast at Wemmergill
West Woodhay, Berkshire
On the Berkshire/Hampshire borders in lovely downland with hidden valleys and high, very high, pheasants, thanks to the ideal topography. There is partridge country, too. Only 75 minutes from central London – when agents had fast cars – but those who love this estate, Russians and Arabs mainly, prefer to land a chopper on the front lawn (the house is Georgian and gorgeous.). Clay days take over in summer.
West Wycombe Park, Buckinghamshire
Plenty of bang for your Bucks estate here. A lovely stately home and grounds and some very good pheasant-shooting. This is 5,000 acres in the Chiltern Hills, with the house a cracking example of early 18th-century Palladian architecture. Shoot in the morning then scramble over the valley to watch Wasps play rugby. If you can wipe the owner’s eye you are doing well – he’s Sir Edward Dashwood.
Willey Park, Shropshire
The estate’s shooting records date back to 1825. “Lord Forester values quality over quantity and enjoys the company of those who, when presented with two birds will go for the more challenging,” says Lydia Forester of Carter Jonas. She should know; she married him. Lord Forester is supposedly one of the few men allowed to wear a hat in the presence of the monarch. Hats off to the Salopian splendours of Willey Park.
11 Pheasant shooting tips for the start of the new season. Make sure your eye is in from the beginning and follow the Editor's best advice for a cracking day on the peg
Pheasant shooting tips for a most enjoyable season
Pheasant shooting tips for the best season’s shooting, courtesy of The Field’s editor, Jonathan Young.
When you arrive at your peg, mark carefully your neighbours’ positions and select the slice of sky that will legitimately hold your birds. Stick to that zone unless it’s to dispatch wounded birds. Shooting birds that another gun has already missed with both barrels – known as “wiping his eye” – is commonplace among friends but do not overdo it with strangers.
Always use a second barrel if the bird is not killed outright with the first. Don’t select another bird until the first is dead.
Another pheasant shooting tip is don’t take a pheasant that’s too low unless it’s on a back-end, clear-up day. You will either miss, which is embarrassing, or hit, which is worse, as you may smash the bird.
Don’t try and shoot birds that are out of range for your equipment or level of skill. For most people 45 yards is the limit.
Pheasants become harder to despatch cleanly as the season progresses. Many guns switch from 30gm No 6 to 32gm No 5 after Christmas. And make sure your guns fit – the heaviest loads are ineffective if they are in the wrong place.
Unless they are very high, try and take the birds in front, somewhere between 45-70 degrees. The birds are more likely to be hit in the head and neck and there is more time for a controlled second shot.
If they are steeple-scrapers, consider turning sideways and taking them as an overhead crosser – it can be easier to gauge the necessary lead.
Count your birds down on each drive and mark them carefully, especially any runners. Make sure a gundog handler knows exactly what’s to be gathered.
Be courteous to everyone on the shoot, especially the keepers, beaters and gundog handlers. Without them, we could not have driven shooting.
Always take your brace of pheasants home. The essence of our sport is harvesting food for the table.
The final pheasant shooting tip is simple. Subscribe to The Field for the best in shooting tips and techniques, and receive a special 38% discount.
But don’t forget the partridge too. Make sure you’re best on both by following Mike Yardley’s partridge shooting tips for frenchmen or home grown greys. And for those fortunate enough to be grouse shooting on the moors, stay safe and impress your fellow gun’s with the Editor’s 12 top tips for grouse shooting.
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This trout in a bag is sublimely easy to cook. This might seem like a strange mixture of flavours but, somehow, they work beautifully together.
Top ten trout recipes
Trout in a bag may not sound glamorous (say trout a la vapeur if you prefer) but it is one of the most simple of our best trout recipes. It can be tackled by a novice, but yet impressive enough to stand up to the job of a proper dinner table too. The best trout recipes encompass all levels of skill – in the kitchen and on the riverbank.
TROUT IN A BAG RECIPE, with Coriander, Pink Peppercorns and Wild Mushrooms
Serves 4
My daughter brought this recipe back with her after living in France and it is definitely impressive dinner-party food. The best thing, as far as I’m concerned, is that it can be prepared in advance (up to the cooking point) and then just shoved in the oven as you serve the starter.
■ 2 tsp pink peppercorns
■ 2 tsp coriander seeds
■ 2 tbsp hazelnut oil
■ 100g (31⁄2oz) dried porcini mushrooms
■ 50g (2oz) unsalted butter
■ Half a shallot, very finely chopped
■ 8 raw trout fillets
■ Salt and pepper
■ 4 greaseproof paper squares big enough to make into parcels
The day before, crush the peppercorns and coriander seeds in a mortar and pestle, remove to a small bowl and pour the hazelnut oil over them. Cover and leave to infuse for 24 hours.
Break or chop the dried porcini up into small pieces, place in a bowl and just cover with boiling water. Leave to get soft.
Drain, keeping the water, chop even more finely and set aside. Boil the reserved water fast until it is reduced to a tablespoon or two.
Melt the butter and, when foaming, tip in the shallot and cook until translucent and soft. Add the porcini and simmer for a few minutes, then add the reduced juice.
Spread out one raw trout fillet on each square of greaseproof, and season with salt and pepper.
Then divide the mushroom mix between each fillet.
Put the second fillet on top, making a trout “sandwich”, then drizzle the prepared coriander and pink peppercorns and oil over the top fillet.
Fold over the two ends of the greaseproof paper to seal, then bring the two sides towards the middle, folding down until you have a parcel.
Put the parcels on a baking tray and steam in a hot oven (200°C/400°F/Gas Mark 6) for 10 minutes.
You can serve each parcel on a plate for guests to open themselves, with green beans and new potatoes with chopped fresh coriander leaves.
And if you are keen to know where to go and catch your trout first, then why not look at the top 10 trout rivers for inspiration. Or contact the Salmon and Trout Association for help.
Trout and fried almond pâté takes all the elements of classic cuisine and transforms them into a creamy, delicate pâté that will tempt even the most jaded palate.
Fresh trout. Delicious, nutritious and ready to cook
Trout and fried almond pâté is a great palate reviver. We have all eaten standard supermarket offerings and they tend to taste a little…eugh. But this pate really does earn its place in our best trout recipes by having some serious class. You can use fresh trout or smoked trout (if you are keen on smoking your own food check out how to smoke venison too)
Trout and fried almond pâté
Serves 4-6 as a starter
Truite aux amandes is a dish served in many restaurants in Paris. This recipe takes all the elements of that classic cuisine and transforms them into a creamy, delicate pâté that will tempt even the most jaded palate. It can be made with either fresh trout or smoked, but I prefer the fresh version.
■ 50g (2oz) flaked almonds
■ 75g (3oz) unsalted butter plus 50g (2oz) melted butter
■ 225g (8oz) cooked trout fillet
■ 1 tbsp lemon juice (or a bit more)
■ 1 pinch smoked cayenne pepper
■ Salt and freshly ground black pepper
■ 3 tbsp Greek yoghurt
■ 1 bunch fresh dill (remove the stalks and reserve two sprigs)
Fry the almonds in 25g (1oz) of the butter until golden.
Whizz the trout with the remaining 50g (2oz) butter, lemon juice, cayenne pepper, seasoning and yoghurt, then add the fresh dill and all but six of the almonds, including the butter you fried them in, and process for a few seconds more.
Transfer to a dish, smooth out the top and decorate with the almonds and remaining dill sprigs. Pour over the 50g (2oz) melted butter and leave to cool in the fridge.
Serve at room temperature with hot toast and wedges of lemon.
Trout chowder is a super way to eat trout in the autumn. Or if you have any leftover trout this is a good way to use it up.
Fresh trout. Delicious, nutritious and ready to cook
Trout chowder is a deeply comforting dish, and one of our best trout recipes that works extremely well in the autumn months, or a chilly British summer. Paired with tomato and basil it works equally well with smoked or fresh tour, as does the trout and fried almond pate recipe.
Trout Chowder with Fresh Tomatoes and Basil
Serves 4-6
Trout chowder is a perfect supper dish, served in bowls with a loaf of hot, crusty French baguette. It’s more commonly made with smoked fish, and you can certainly substitute smoked trout for the fresh if you like.
■ 50g (2oz) butter
■ 2 medium onions, peeled and finely chopped
■ 8-10 large waxy salad potatoes (Charlotte are good), peeled and chopped into chunks
■ 570ml (1 pint) fish stock (you can buy it in the supermarket)
■ Salt and freshly ground black pepper
■ 1 tsp sugar
■ 2 tbsp single cream
■ 1 tsp fresh chopped dill
■ 1 tsp fresh chopped chives
■ 225g (8oz) cooked, flaked trout
■ 4 fresh tomatoes, peeled, deseeded and chopped
■ Torn basil to garnish
Melt the butter in a large saucepan, add the chopped onion and cook over a moderate heat until soft and transparent.
Add the potatoes, stock, salt, pepper and sugar and simmer for about 30 minutes uncovered until the po-tatoes are soft and the liquid is thickened.
Just before serving, gently stir in the cream, chopped herbs, flaked fish and tomatoes.
The best hunting horse used to have the head of a Duchess and the bottom of a cook. Does the maxim still hold?
Portman Hunt meet at Manston (Dorset, UK) 6th Feb 2010
Finding the best hunting horse can be lifetime’s quest. But when one does manage to find the best hunting horse what does it look like? Does it conform to the traditional maxim of ‘face like a Duchess, bottom like a cook’?
In the London flat where I occasionally stay, I am lucky enough to be able to drink my morning coffee looking at a watercolour by Lionel Edwards of two of the best hunting horses, a grey and a bay, jumping a hairy-looking place with hounds far away in the distance. I am especially fond of the grey, who is being ridden on a long rein and is obviously both taking care and looking ahead to where hounds are running. His big, intelligent ears are pricked, his eyes wide open. The bay has already landed well out and is about to gallop away. The rider has plenty in front of him, so reassuring when you land over a big fence. You can clearly see the horse’s strong hindquarters and his nice, short back. He has plenty of bone but is athletic, neat and not too big. There’s no way of telling which pack these two are out with or who they are but, whatever their breeding or their long-forgotten names, they are hunters through and through.
The best hunting horse needs to be just that, bred for the job, ideally three-quarter bred with the rest Irish Draught, and 16hh-17hh with plenty of bone and heart room, a good shoulder, a short back and legs, a large engine behind and enough of a front to make you feel safe. And, of course, good feet. No hoof, no horse.
He or she should have the scope to keep up with hounds over any country, clear hedges with the ditch towards and find a fifth leg if there is a drop on the landing side, as well as the toughness to handle long days, the intelligence to cope with uneven ground such as furrow or moorland. They mustn’t kick and you should be able to open and shut gates and queue if need be.
However, what constitutes the best hunting horse today isn’t what it was in the days of “seas of grass”. What is needed now is an all-terrain vehicle – handy, hardy, economical and suited to its job. Show hunters, glorious as they look in the summer, have diverged from the actual animal on which most people will follow hounds, much as show dogs (even those of working breeds) differ from real working dogs. That isn’t to say that you should not look for good conformation and, of course, many lovely horses that have been shown and have won in hand do go on to make some of the best hunting horses, but very big horses who catch the judge’s eye may not be as practical as smaller, tougher individuals. My beau idéal as a child with the Cottesmore was the late Colonel Steven Eve who rode big, home-bred hunters fit for a Christmas card. He was always perfectly turned out, from the tips of his snow-white moustache to the toes of his waxed-calf top boots.
Even in Leicestershire, you do not need picture-perfect hunters today. It is performance that matters. Helen Connors, daughter-in-law of the legendary Dr Tom Connors who supplied horses for so many years, speaks warmly of Quorn subscriber Corty Howard’s horse Uccello by the jumping stallion Cruising: “He was so plain when he arrived, I thought they’d sent the wrong horse. He was built like a brick outhouse with a leg at each corner, but he has to be one of the county’s best hunters.”
Connors says that she does not think the best hunting horse needs to be overly big or particularly fast and that very long-striding horses are not the answer. “To be able to canter downhill into a 5ft hedge and the horse to be able to back off by himself is the ultimate,” she says. “But they also need to be able to turn away from everyone else and jump a narrow place or a tiger-trap without falling into the middle of it.” She adds that horses that are too competitive may not settle in the field or queue. They are better off becoming eventers. At the other end of their careers some eventers settle down and hunt. Mary Gordon-Watson’s Cornishman was one; another was the Strakers’ George, who I am told (although by then quite old and shaggy), jumped an in-and-out of level crossing gates on a visit to the Cotswold and, unrecognised at the meet, duly astonished the field.
It has always been difficult to find a really good “made” hunter, as people rarely want to part with them. At the same time, some people feel that a “hunter” is a good description for an eventer or show-jumper that has not quite made the grade. This attitude annoys Connors, who feels that the best hunting horse is valuable in itself, needing to be brave and calm. “They need to be able to do everything,” she says. She thinks the best are those who have hunted for a couple of seasons in Ireland, particularly over rough country, scrambling over banks and ditches, so that they’ve learnt how to look after themselves. They may still only be five or six but have had the experience. She feels this practical apprenticeship, similar to nurses being trained in the ward not the lecture the-atre, is worth a great deal of schooling. “When we were dealing, we quickly knew what we were sitting on by cantering down the grass verge to the meet. If they popped the drainage ditches and looked where they were going, you knew you were in for a safe day.”
Dr Connors always bought horses from Ireland, mainly half- or three-quarter-bred. He was not keen on the now-very-popular, modern Continental warmblood breeds, but the individual horse was more important to him than its papers. He famously asked potential purchasers who enquired into the antecedents of any animal, “How would you like him to be bred?” You could try his horses over nat-ural hedges and ditches on the farm and out hunting. The top dealers will still allow you to do so but not all private sellers will.
Many of us end up looking at advertisements but there are certain things to avoid. I always think the words “has hunted” a bit doubtful. Did they take the animal out once and have to go home in an ambulance? And the seller’s idea of a hunter may not be yours. Writing in 1932, Lady Diana Shedden and Lady Apsley, authors of my bedside bible To whom the Goddess, wrote, “The advertisement of a perfect hunter may materialise into either a well-bred utter weed or a big, heavy common brute.” Still true. The traditional time to look for one is during autumn hunting but it can be a good thing to see a horse towards the end of the season when it is fit and, crucially, to see how sound it is. The chances are better that the owner may let you have half a day and then you have the summer getting to know it.
Personal recommendation is a good thing but do beware of human nature. Everyone, however saintly and honest in other walks of life, will try to sell you some awful horse before giving unbiased advice. You should also know your limits and your country and get a horse to suit. In my case with the Ludlow, this is a middle-aged, coloured horse, insultingly referred to as a “pikey pony” by one of my grander neighbours. Unless you are intent on making a young horse yourself, manners are paramount, as is comfort – no jogging or reaching for his head. Ideally, if you are riding to hounds rather than just practising a branch of equestrianism, you want to be able to forget the horse and concentrate on the hounds.
The very best hunters should allow you to do this. This doesn’t mean the ride should be no fun. Those a bit bolder than me or in a more galloping country may want a faster horse. However, Charles Lumsden, who hunts with the Wynnstay, says that even there you still need to be able to jump trappy obstacles. He does not go in for very big horses although he is tall: “A compact 16.2hh beats a rangy 17hh and big horses also break down more often.” The question of size arises more for men than women, who can manage on smaller, cheaper horses. For a heavy man to find a quality hunter can be expensive and difficult but if your horse is not up to your weight, it can be like a large man driving a Mini on a long journey, and the horse won’t be able to stand long days. A horse that is part-Irish Draught is the traditional answer for many but there are other options: part-Cleveland Bay or part-Shire, or if you really hate hairy heels you could go on a diet.
Reading old hunting books about tremendous five-mile points on old turf with never a strand of wire to be seen and hedges that have not been cut by machines, it is clear that blood horses were needed if you were going to keep up, but today you may need to jump wire, go along roads, or get on and off to open and shut impossible gates. Your horse may be asked to do three days a fortnight or more for a number of seasons and you may need to be able to load him into a trailer by yourself in a remote spot.
The result is that not all horses that hunt are “hunters”. Realistically, many people hunt the horse they have, regardless. Cobs have long been a good option but people even hunt Arabs and all sorts of coloured horses and ponies. In most countries you do not need a thoroughbred (TB) but they do have their fans. Retraining racehorses is commendable but you need skill and luck. Caroline Jenks, who hunts with both the Wynnstay and the South Shropshire and is married to former trainer Willie Jenks, now chairman of Ludlow racecourse, has four hunters. Two are ex-racehorses and two are part-breds. “Ex-racehorses can make wonderful hunters and if they have withstood the wear and tear of the racecourse they often benefit from the change of career and some seem to find it much to their liking,” she says. “The TB hunter wins hands down on ride, stamina and, often, amazing ability. There is no better feeling than to come down to a hedge and ditch and know that you can fly it.” However, she’s a very experienced rider and what works for her would not suit a beginner, as many ex-racehorses can jump at speed but are not used to having to jump out of a trot. Jenks concludes that what you need, above all, is a horse you can trust as, although her own two beloved “commoners” tend to be more sensible than her thoroughbreds, with sturdier legs that withstand thorns and knocks better, any breed can be a wimp. “I would stand up for either but either can have you sitting in the bottom of the ditch.”
Sadly, today you need a horse tough enough to cope with the “hammer, hammer, hammer down the hard, hard road”, which is, in practice, a big part of modern-day hunting in most countries. A couple of years ago I was shown round the immaculate Devon and Somerset Staghounds hunt kennels and saw one lovely bay thoroughbred after another, many of them ex-racehorses but, of course, they are suited to their job and their country, where roadwork is mercifully rare.
I love the idea of a hunter like the bay in the Lionel Edwards painting but if you ask me what quality is essential in a good hunter, I’d say honesty. There is nothing more sapping to the nerve than a horse that stops. Good hunters can be dull to hack but should love hounds and transform themselves without going mad. They should tremble with excitement when they first see hounds at the beginning of the season but stand stock still in anticipation rather than exploding or, heaven forbid, kicking. And you want a pair of nice, big ears through which you can look at the best view in the world.
If Nigel Farage ruled the world, what would he do? We asked the question, and Farage gave us the answer
Nigel Farage, leader of UKIP explains how it would work if he ruled the world
Nigel Farage gives The Field the lowdown on what he would do if he ruled the world. This regular opinion piece features in The Field every month and aims to generate interest and debate. The Field understands the issues at the heart of the countryside, and that is why we are an authority on rural opinion, shooting, hunting, fishing and everything else you might find in a country house. To make sure you never miss out on what is best in The Field subscribe to The Field before Christmas and receive a fantastic 38% saving.
When Nigel Farage had the opportunity to tell us what he would do if he ruled the world it was enlightening. Do you agree? As leader of the UK Independence Party his role at the next general election may be crucial. Will the countryside lend its support? Or do the Tories still have what it takes?
NIGEL FARAGE
If I ruled the world then UKIP have done rather better in the May 2104 elections than anyone was anticipating. Not that the job would be one I could imagine anyone wanting and for me the same principles would apply as with my current position: I’d give the power straight back to the people.
But in the spirit of this column and to avoid an article as deadly dull as the AV referendum debate, I shall imagine I had unlimited power to make rules as I see fit and hope that The Times doesn’t try to make out it’s the 2015 UKIP manifesto.
First things first: let’s deal with those speed cameras. I have been flashed a few times, which is unsurprising given the hundreds of thousands of miles I have driven around the country over the past 15 years as an MEP. They’re nothing more than a cash cow for the police at the expense of busy people who just want to get from A to B. Driving in this country is unpleasant enough and personally I think people should concentrate on what’s on the road rather than what’s at the side of it.
And on the subject of bans, I won’t surprise anyone by saying that I’d overturn the smoking ban and let pubs and clubs decide their own rules. With pubs closing at a rate of 26 a week I think it’s fair to assume that the fanat-ical anti smokers haven’t been rushing to their local hostelries ordering pints of the local ale: all it has done is drive away the regulars from pubs, slashing their takings when they are already struggling with the high prices from the pub companies.
I love local pubs. Not the identikit ones with loud music blaring, interspersed with the pings from the microwaves in the kitchen but the traditional village pubs where people meet up after work or at the weekend to chat with each other and set the world to rights. They’re mini parliaments where people keep abreast of news and talk about matters that concern them and they’re an important part of our country’s traditions and ways of life.
But enough of the bans! If I am to rule the world then I think it’s vital that I bring in some laws based purely on vanity and personal preference in keeping with the grand tradition of emperors. Firstly, I need to do something about the England cricket team. Given their ghastly performance in the Ashes earlier this year I think I need to give considerable attention to ensuring the Barmy Army don’t feel so humiliated again. Long term, I think this means that we have to bring cricket back into all schools, not just the private schools, so selectors have a wealth of talent from all backgrounds to pick from, not just the privileged few. It’s basically our education policy combined with the thump of leather on willow. After all, if we want cricket to be successful we shouldn’t model it on how we pick our politicians. Look where that has got us – bread-making prime ministers and a leader of the opposition who doesn’t know the price of a loaf, let alone use his own.
But clearly there’s a short-term problem that needs to be addressed and that is why I think I will need to ensure that English batsmen have some kind of superpower advantage until the long-run strategy bears fruit. So in the “to do” column of the “ruling the world” section of my note pad I’ll blue-sky think whether it’s running at incredible speed to rack up the runs, magnet-style hands to never miss a catch or the bat equivalent of the Firebolt broomstick to get that ball over the boundary.
On the subject of hobbies, I would bring in a new rule for anglers who suffer far too much at the hands of the weather. Naturally my globally dominant position will result in the breakdown of the EU and a world of free liberal democracies cooperating and trading with each other. This means the end to the environmental disaster that is the Common Fisheries Policy, which has destroyed our traditional fishing industries and the seaside towns and villages that lived off the sea for hundreds of years.
But I will also bring in a new rule which will allow any angler who has had their weekend sport cancelled because of bad weather to take a day off in lieu at the next available opportunity. Given the relaxation in rules for businesses which the demise of the EU would result in, there will be scope to allow flexi-fishing-time in order to achieve a healthy work-life balance for those people who wish to spend time on the ocean wave.
Readers may think that this is a rather male-dominated list, although given that I am a man that shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise. However, I am aware of a number of rules which discriminate against women and which I would seek to scrap. First on the list would be the reversal of that stupid rule which stops insurance companies giving women cheaper car insurance based on the statistical evidence that they have fewer accidents. And second, chocolate would be calorie free.
Not an exhaustive list for sure, but it goes without saying that many of society’s ills would be achieved by one measure I hope I will not need to rule the world to achieve.
Nigel Farage is leader of UKIP, the UK Independence Party
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 Ness.
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.
The WFYFC naked Charity Calendar is available to buy from www.wiltshireyfc.co.uk
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 with the details. We are searching for the very best naked charity calendars for 2015 now.
This Italian pheasant recipe is named after Gennaro Contaldo and shows the rustic side of Italian food
The Top 10 best pheasant recipes need the right game to start with...
An Italian pheasant recipe should be included on the list of the top 10 best pheasant recipes. It melds the flavours of the Mediterranean, lemon, garlic and olive oil, to create an Italian pheasant recipe classic. We are used to using Italian flavours in our everyday cooking, but game is often overlooked. It could not be more delicious, and is particularly good when made with young birds.
This Italian pheasant recipe comes from Mike Robinson’s book, Wild Flavours and is named after Gennaro Contaldo who appears regularly on Jamie Oliver’s TV programmes. It is, I have to say, quite divine and shows the rustic side of Italian food.
ITALIAN PHEASANT RECIPE
Serves 4
■ 2 pheasants (young if possible)
■ 50ml (13⁄4fl oz) good olive oil
■ Sea salt and freshly ground pepper
■ 2 lemons, quartered
■ 4 whole bulbs garlic
■ 10 large rosemary sprigs
■ 2 glasses white wine
Remove the pheasants’ backbones (easily done with a heavy, sharp knife and scissors), halve the meat and trim off any nasty bits. Put in a bowl with the olive oil, seasoning and quartered lemons and mix. Squash the garlic bulbs (don’t peel), strip a third of the rosemary leaves off the stalks and add both.
Preheat the oven to 230°C/450F°/Gas Mark 8 and sear the pheasants in a hot, ovenproof pan. Add the rest of the rosemary and pour the white wine over.
Cover the pan with foil and place in the oven for 20 minutes. Remove and allow the meat to rest for 15 mins.
Now serve with foccacia bread or new potatoes and a salad. A delicious and unusual way to eat pheasant, and a great way to avoid the mid season pheasant blues.
The Holcombe Hunt naked charity calendar 2015 sees members bravely baring all to raise money for Help for Heroes
Holcombe Hunt naked charity calendar 2015
The Holcombe Hunt naked charity calendar 2015 has earned a spot on The Field’s naked charity calendars 2015 list. A jolly romp through various hunting scenes the Holcombe Hunt naked charity calendar is packed with hunting gels and chaps who like nothing better than a spot of bare back riding, especially when the cause is a charitable one. So whether it is in the field, or surrounded by hound puppies, or reclining on an appropriate rug, the Holcombe Hunt regulars are a game bunch.
During WW2 the Hunt Class destroyer HMS Holcombe was sunk by a U-boat with the loss of 84 men. The hunt honours contemporary casualties with profits from the Holcombe Hunt calendar 2015 going to Help for Heroes.
The charity, founded by country stalwart Bryn Parry, has gone from strength to strength. Help for Heroes endeavours to provide support and assistance to the wounded and their families. The strong links between the countryside and the military mean Help for Heroes is a cause close to many hunting hearts. The Holcombe Hunt naked charity calendar 2015 is rather a jolly way of supporting them.
The Holcombe Hunt naked charity calendar 2015 costs £10, plus £3.25 p&p and is available from Vicky by email.
The countryside simply loves shedding clothes for a good cause. The WFYFC naked charity calendar is full of keen young farmer’s doing their bit, the Foxy Hunters raises an amazing amount of money for the Air Ambulance and the Garrison Girls shed their stitching for PTSD.
If you know of a naked charity calendar that supports a good cause then do please let us know. Every month The Field features a naked charity calendar in our news pages and donates to the cause.
The best sporting estates in the country. The Field's list includes high birds in Yorkshire, West Country hunting, shooting on the Scottish moors and salmon on the fly. Be prepared for a serious case of acres envy.
50 best sporting estates. The shoot bus at Houghton Hall
What makes a great sporting estate? With the assistance of Britain’s top agents The Field has found the most desirable sporting estates across England, Scotland and Wales. The Field knows where the very best sporting estates are, and why they make the grade. Our readers shoot, hunt and fish over these extraordinary locations and you can find it all within our pages. You can subscribe to The Field until Christmas 2014 for a tempting 38% discount, so a year’s subscription is only £17.99.
So does your sporting estate comprise Leicestershire acres for hunting? Lancashire fields for pheasant and partridge shooting? Or grouse shooting on Gunnerside? These are the estates where invitations are craved after, and sport is taken in style.
BEST SPORTING ESTATES
Ardverikie, Inverness-shire
A shimmering Highland estate and a lead role in the BBC’s Monarch of the Glen might attract uninvited visitors but they can’t reach you on the other side of Loch Laggan and the midges are mighty effective bouncers. Fishing on the loch and stalking across 45,000 acres of deer forests. The Baronial-style house sits on a promontory overlooking King Fergus’s Island. Queen Victoria liked it.
Ashcombe, Wiltshire
Ashcombe’s 1,100 unspoilt acres across chalk valleys with steep contours present high, testing partridges and pheasants as part of an outstanding, well-managed shoot. There is a lovely Georgian house and an orangery for lunches. Guy Ritchie, Madonna’s ex-husband, has plans which include bringing back the vegetable gardens, lock, stock and two smoking beetroots. A beautiful divorce settlement.
Balmoral, Aberdeenshire
The Scottish home of the Royal Family beneath Lochnagar in Royal Deeside, with the granite castle and its sporting lands not expected on the market any time soon. Heather-clad hills, ancient Caledonian woodland and the River Dee weave over 50,000 acres. There is grouse-shooting at Corgarff and stalking in the forests. Balmoral chatters with the noise of silence, with the water running from the burns.
Barningham and Holgate, North Yorkshire
Like a bit of everything? This estate, on the edge of the Dales, has trout fishing, wildfowling, a pheasant-shoot and a productive two-day grouse moor. Throw in English partridges, duck- and goose-flighting, roe-stalking and a Grade 11* listed house. Listen to the singing; proof that moorland well managed for red grouse can produce an infinite variety of birds.
Bereleigh, Hampshire
Owned by the Tyrwhitt-Drake family, this 2,500 acre estate with its largely Georgian house provides one of the county’s best shoots, with great woods. The terrain is more down-land Sussex than Hampshire, creating challenging high birds. You also get to shoot lobsters to upset the Crustacean Alliance. (Its lobster shoot – clays the quarry and lobster the fare – raises lots of money for the Countryside Alliance.)
Bleasdale, Lancashire
Bleasdale Tower sits in the head of a lovely bowl, with a stunning view south. The house, not too big, is ideal for a shoot party. “The shoot has some spectacular drives off the moor edge and can show pheasants and partridges that are ridiculously high,” says Frank Speir of Prime Purchase. There is a grouse moor of 6,000-plus acres, too, with a lot of work done on upland management to regenerate the moorland.
Bolton Abbey, North Yorkshire
A 30,000-acre sporting playground on the banks of the Wharfe, with 13,500 acres of moorland. High pheasants and quick grouse sate the shooting appetite and for anglers there are brown trout and grayling to be had on the fly. Take food and shelter in the estate’s splendid Devonshire Arms, with a wine list Bacchus compiled. Play cricket, too. But beware the ghost of Fred Trueman telling you to “Pitch it up lad.”
Brimpsfield Park, Gloucestershire
High pheasants and partridges fly over the roof of the Cotswolds. Steep valleys and woods are the ingredients for a shoot transformed by the Larthe family over the past 25 years. The mellow stone house has had a refurbishment, too. The property gets a mention in the Domesday Book but with no explanation as to how one of its drives came to be called The Fat Controller, although the sausage rolls are legendary.
A high bird makes the day at one of the 50 best sporting estates
Broadlands, Hampshire
History in every Hampshire pore. Once the seat of Earl Mountbatten of Burma, now home to Lord Brabourne. Fly fishermen ask to be baptised in the Test, such is its nobility among chalkstreams, with brown and sea-trout and salmon, while a wild shoot promises snipe and duck. Royalty and statesmen decorate the honours board. A Game Fair host, its centrepiece is a lovely house in Capability Brown parkland.
Castle Hill, Devon
Some think it is the greatest pheasant-shooting in the world. “Many drives provide birds that are genuinely unkillable,” says William Duckworth-Chad of Savills. The highest of pheasants in the deepest of Devon valleys over thousands of acres make it difficult to beat, with brown trout, sea-trout and salmon on the Bray. The house is special, too.
Caerhays, Cornwall
On the south Cornwall coast, Caerhays has a variety of shooting in spectacular surroundings. The Rookery is the pick of the drives, where the guns get the view down Porthluney Valley, with pheasants flying out of the canvas of the Nash-designed Grade I listed castle, which in the mid 19th century was so derelict geese drank in the drawing-room. The Vean lodge is very plush.
Chatsworth, Derbyshire
If you like estates big, as in 35,000 acres, then Chatsworth is your quarry. You have the pheasant-shoot, a trout stream on the Wye, parkland and stable blocks. It is the heart of the Peak District National Park and most of its lung, too. There is moorland and woodland, with a rare collection of ancient oaks. Chatsworth House, across the Derwent, puts the stately into home and has a few spare rooms for sporting guests.
Compton Manor, Hampshire
“Brought up fishing the River Itchen, I had to choose perhaps the greatest estate on the Test or the Itchen – Compton Manor. A fine house, thousands of acres of good partridge- and pheasant-shooting, but, most importantly, one of the premier beats on unquestionably the premier chalkstream in the world,” says Mark McAndrew of Strutt & Parker.
Catching a salmon on the fly is on the list at some of the 50 best sporting estates
Conholt, Hampshire
The lovely house sits in a park and the estate runs one of the finest shoots in the south of England. Wildlife and conser-vation is at its core, with a third of the estate woodland. There are valleys at Conholt where no machine has been allowed to venture. The guns move around on foot and the game cart is pulled by a horse, with damson gin in the saddlebag. An estate with magic in the mahonias.
Corrour, Inverness-shire
“Can somewhere so remote still exist in this day and age? It is so quiet you can hear yourself think,” says Anna Thomas of Savills. The lodge is a thoroughly modern castle with views over the loch. More than 50,000 acres to play in. Go stalking on the hill and get distracted by golden eagles, or try some trout fishing. This is sporting estate meets natural wilderness. It also produces its own venison.
Delfur, Speyside
A fly-fisherman’s dream and one for the purist – and that’s before you take the whisky trail and pay homage to the glens of Fiddich and Livet. The lodge sits on the banks of the Spey and you get to catch an Atlantic salmon on the finest fly water. An unbeatable and challenging beat on a top performing Scottish river. There is also high- and lowground shooting.
Drumlanrig, Dumfriesshire
A Buccleuch estate with pheasants and partridges, salmon on the Nith, trout in the lochs, driven grouse, roe- and wild-goat stalking and a castle. “I grew up at Drumlanrig, shooting pigeon, ferreting, sea-trout fishing at night, beating on the smart days. Then I had my first chance at driven grouse and pheasants. Part of my shooting soul will always be there,” says Jonathan Kennedy of CKD Kennedy Macpherson.
Elveden, Norfolk
Ownership passed from the Singhs – 846 partridges shot before lunch on a September day in 1895 – to a brewing dynasty. Curry and Guinness – sounds like a night out after the rugby. The idea for a Guinness Book of Records came from a shooting party in Ireland in 1951 when guns argued about the relative speeds of golden plover and grouse. Fine shooting and lavish parties. Is there a toucan in the gamebook?
Encombe, Dorset
Desirable? You want to take it to bed. A Georgian house of great beauty, 2,000 acres on the Isle of Purbeck and an outstanding pheasant shoot – this is high-bird heaven on sea. The golden bowl of 1,000 acres at the heart of the estate is a stunning landscape and the first glimpse of the house as you turn into the drive jaw-dropping. Fish from the rocks, be you keen fisherman or inquisitive child.
Faccombe, Hampshire
Does not usually get this good so close to the capital. This is renowned and testing pheasant- and partridge-shooing on a very well run estate. The rolling valleys provide for roe- and fallow-stalking. A beautiful house is concealed behind a high wall. “If you want to be close to London but feel hidden away in unspoilt countryside, this is the place,” says Toby Milbank of Knight Frank.
Firle, Sussex
“Whether you are following hounds over the Downs or swinging through a fast covey of partridges, the Firle estate has it all,” says David Steel of Smiths Gore: 3,500 acres of stunning South Downs countryside and a house of Tudor origins with Georgian tweaks. Try the local beer, Harveys, dating back to 1790. I start drinking it around 1800.
Fonthill, Wiltshire
A 10,000-acre estate with a large lake in a lovely landscape. “Fonthill has special valleys, fabulous for deerstalking, pheasants and partridges,” said Ed Sugden of Property Vision. Plenty of woodland, as well as farmland and gardens. The main house, built in the Sixties, is a far subtler creation than the old abbey, a neo-Gothic shocker, which eventually collapsed – hoist with its own façade.
Garrowby, North Yorkshire
Partridge- and pheasant-shooting in the Yorkshire premier league – deep, wide valleys and hanging woods are the top-ography of top sport on this 13,500-acre estate. Even the hall started life as a shooting box. Garrowby Hill is the highest point on the Yorkshire Wolds. If you swing an invitation here make sure you know your nags, for this is racing country. Actually, if you swing an invitation, you’re incredibly lucky.
Glenfeshie, Inverness-shire
Glenfeshie is 45,000 acres of the Cairngorms, a landscape of vast natural wares, including ancient Caledonian pine forest. Grouse, salmon and red deer are all here, under an hour from Inverness. If you want remote grandeur and your own private kingdom, trek here. This is wild beauty married to great sport. Take your painting oils as well as gun oil. Glenfeshie was the backdrop to Landseer’s Monarch of the Glen.
Gunnerside, North Yorkshire
If grouse-shooting were an Olympic sport this would be the venue for 2012. Half-marathons have been run in the time some drives last on this trophy estate of more than 30,000 acres. It has been described as a Highland estate in England. The shooting is exhilarating across a breadth of moors and the lowground shooting is worth texting home about – if you can get reception. A mighty fine lodge, too.
Hawnby, North Yorkshire
Another prized Yorkshire pheasant-shooting invitation, the deep, sheer valleys challenge the finest shots. Besides the pheasant-shoot there is a grouse moor, which can produce at least a day’s driving and an island moor giving an excellent “walked-up” day. Arden Hall dates back to the 17th century and has lovely gardens. This estate has demonstrated award-winning excellence in woodland management.
A wild-bird shoot and the pride of Norfolk across 25,000 acres. Wildfowling to die for and excellent driven game-shooting, with the keepers resplendent in bowler hats. A Palladian hall and a range of brick-and-flint cottages and Georgian farmhouses make up a considerable portfolio. The estate’s beach is a National Nature Reserve, and Lord Nelson had both eyes open when he explored this stretch of coast.
An historic Palladian mansion, grand parkland and a restored five-acre walled garden, Houghton also has its own private army. Well, a remarkable toy soldier collection any-way. Plenty of wild grey partridges on its rolling acres – challenging birds and a noble tradition. There is stalking, too. Houghton Hall was built in the 1720s by Sir Robert Walpole, Britain’s first prime minister and the 4,000-acre estate is the seat of the Marquess of Cholmondeley.
Shooting at Houghton Hall is a coveted invitation to one of the 50 best sporting estates
Islay, Western Isles
Sport as varied as the landscapes and as numerous as the distilleries. Brown and sea-trout fishing in the lochs, as well as salmon and sea-fishing and stalking. “Islay stags average over 18 stone and have heads like Christmas trees. There is the occasional grouse to give pointers a purpose and the chance of a Macnab. But the wildfowl and woodcock is the real secret of Islay,” says Robert McCulloch of Strutt & Parker.
Llanarmon, Denbighshire
This is a topside of rare Welsh sporting beef in the Ceiriog valley. Neck braces are worn here not after a tough afternoon in a rugby scrum, but after straining to see the highest pheasants. Go on, pronounce and spell the drives. Head for the West Arms, shooting hospitality at is finest, and you can taste that topside of beef. Llanarmon is run by Bobby McAlpine, an excellent shot, who knows his wine. Tidy. Lush.
Loch Choire, Sutherland
A mere 35,000 acres of breathtaking Highlands wilderness, largely made up of two deer forests either side of a three-mile loch. The lodge sits at the head of Loch Choire. The Mallet flows into the loch. Salmon and trout and fine red deer-stalking, with some grouse and ptarmigan on the top. “The scale is staggering. And the fact that all the sport is wild, makes it a very special place,” says Jon Lambert of John Clegg & Co.
Melbury, Dorset
Park, woodland, farm and a stunning Grade I listed late-17th century house. I know a chap who owns The Swan, but chatelaine Charlotte Townshend is allowed to own swans which puts her on a list of, er, two, alongside HM The Queen. Lady Charlotte is married to James Townshend, chief executive of Velcourt, the farming company. The couple are de-voted to fieldsports. Both hunting and shooting thrive here.
Mertoun, Roxburghshire
Languid stretches of Tweed to fish, with high cliffs and deep pools. The house, overlooking the river, has been lovingly restored; I am told by an insider that the entrance hall is 16ft high, so no need to take down your 15ft salmon rod. The river acts as a sublime backdrop to the pheasant- and partridge-shooting. There is excellent roe-stalking, too.
Millden, Angus
“As a grouse moor Millden stands supreme… Better-broken dogs were never seen on a moor,” wrote top Edwardian shot AE Gathorne-Hardy. It continues to inspire awe. In the heart of Glen Esk, it has eight days’ grouse-driving, 10 miles of double-bank salmon fishing on the North Esk and a great pheasant- and partridge-shoot. The sport is based round a refurbished lodge, overlooking the river.
Muggleswick, Co Durham
Sportsmen who meet a genie ask for three things: a great grouse moor to call their own, to be hailed as a great shot and to be a wizard fly fisherman. The fourth would be personal wealth. Meet Jeremy Herrmann, master of Muggleswick and, indeed, East Allenheads, who rubbed the right bottle. Herrmann even called a hedge fund after a predatory trout. Envious? Good lord, no. I think he just turned 40.
Newton Ferrers, East Cornwall
One for the romantics , tucked away in the hidden valleys of south-west Devon. This was a labour of love, started in 1994 by Andrew and Darcie Baylis. They restored the 17th- century manor house, revived a shoot dormant since the 1880s and cleared choked river-banks. “Shooting high birds amid ancient hardwoods and salmon fishing on the Lynher is any man’s dream of a perfect world,” according to Crispin Holborow of Savills.
If you leave Burgundy, as the family did in the 12th century, it has to be for somewhere special. Powderham Castle remains the seat of the Earl of Devon and what a 3,500-acre armchair it is. The pheasants and partridges are high and fast, the gin sloe, as was Timothy the tortoise which lived to 160. The architecture of the 14th-century castle is as rich as its tales.
The Earl and Countess of Devon at Powderham Castle, one of the 50 best sporting estates
Presaddfed, Anglesey
A cracking mixed shoot over a 10,000-acre estate. With several excellent lakes and marshes, there is fine duck-shooting: morning and evening flights to top and tail any day. To wildfowlers’ heaven add snipe and driven, migratory woodcock. Presaddfed Hall is a 17th-century manor house, set in woodland. There is fly-fishing on the lake for brown trout.
Raby, Co Durham
A Durham all-rounder to rival Sir Ian Botham, who has surely fired a few shots in these parts, from bat and gun. Driven grouse, pheasants, grey partridges, woodcock and snipe – take your pick, for this is mixed sport in stirring landscapes. There is also roe-stalking – just don’t cull them from the turrets of the magnificent 14th-century castle. The Raby estates straddle Teesdale, Co Durham and Northumberland.
This all rounder estate in Durham has exceptional mixed sport
Roxburghe, Roxburghshire
More than 54,000 acres, including pheasant-shooting amid mixed woodland and two grouse moors. The pheasant guns have lunch in the state dining-room; the grouse guns in a hut on the moor. There is salmon and sea-trout fishing on Tweed and, if you have any energy left, a stud farm. Floors Castle, complete with fairy-tale turrets, sits on a natural terrace surveying Tweed. Difficult to find flaws on this estate.
Sandringham, Norfolk
Wild pheasants, stunning grey partridges and wildfowling, all with a Royal pedigree – formal days in the company of kings, queens and smartly dressed keepers. “Rabbiting with an army of keepers strengthened one’s resolve to shoot straighter, as the insults flew. Ferreting the hedgerows, tickling the trout and being one of the guns for the annual field trial defines the breadth of the sport available,” said Charles Loyd of Strutt & Parker.
Stowell Park, Gloucestershire
A 5,500-acre estate in the Cotswolds, known for both pheasants and partridges, with the acres a mix of woodland, grassland and arable on the banks of the Coln. Stone walls and deep valleys stud the estate. Stowell Park has been owned by the Vestey family since 1921 and in the Second World War was an American hospital, where pioneering surgery took place to remove shrapnel and bullets.
Sydling, Dorset
A beautiful, 2,500-acre shooting estate set in a bowl of chalk downland straight out of Hardy. The shoot has been deliberately toned down commercially and is all the better for it. Change is organically driven: the farm animals are rare and well bred and a shop sells meat, eggs and honey. Owner Alastair Cooper is a rare breed, too – a former investment banker to be applauded.
Temple, Wiltshire
A 2,000-acre estate deep in the Marlborough Downs. “I live near Marlborough and love its countryside and landscape. Temple is a fantastic sporting estate because it provides ex-ceptional mixed partridge- and pheasant-shooting in a beautiful setting,” says Mark Lawson of The Buying Solution. Rolling hill and valley, strategically placed woodland and cover crops add to the sporting table. The house is relatively new and there is a collection of estate properties, too.
Trewithen, Cornwall
It is a love at first sight house for architectural aesthetes and has barely changed its outward appearance since its 18th-century beginnings. Then there are the gorgeous gardens, with Trewithen, which means house of trees, internationally renowned for its magnolias and camellias. For sport, there is the pheasant-shoot and all sorts of wildfowl, as well as snipe, woodcock and partridges, to keep Cornish shots keen.
Weardale, Co Durham
Under Michael Stone, Weardale has developed into one of the top moors in the country, with grouse and pheasants in good numbers. And to think a few years ago you could not find a North Pennines bird to illustrate a whisky bottle. The house is beautifully positioned in a bowl at the top of Weardale and well equipped for a shooting team. Only the hardiest of sheep apply for upland grazing rights.
Wemmergill, Co Durham
“You have to be totally mad to own a grouse moor. It makes no sense at all. But I would not swap it for anything,” says Michael Cannon of his Wemmergill estate. This is 17,000 acres of possibly the world’s finest grouse moor, with Cannon spending millions, made mainly from beer, restoring the moorland so successfully. Guns dream of standing in the Shipka Pass, waiting for the feathered red Indians.
Grouse come thick and fast at Wemmergill
West Woodhay, Berkshire
On the Berkshire/Hampshire borders in lovely downland with hidden valleys and high, very high, pheasants, thanks to the ideal topography. There is partridge country, too. Only 75 minutes from central London – when agents had fast cars – but those who love this estate, Russians and Arabs mainly, prefer to land a chopper on the front lawn (the house is Georgian and gorgeous.). Clay days take over in summer.
West Wycombe Park, Buckinghamshire
Plenty of bang for your Bucks estate here. A lovely stately home and grounds and some very good pheasant-shooting. This is 5,000 acres in the Chiltern Hills, with the house a cracking example of early 18th-century Palladian architecture. Shoot in the morning then scramble over the valley to watch Wasps play rugby. If you can wipe the owner’s eye you are doing well – he’s Sir Edward Dashwood.
Willey Park, Shropshire
The estate’s shooting records date back to 1825. “Lord Forester values quality over quantity and enjoys the company of those who, when presented with two birds will go for the more challenging,” says Lydia Forester of Carter Jonas. She should know; she married him. Lord Forester is supposedly one of the few men allowed to wear a hat in the presence of the monarch. Hats off to the Salopian splendours of Willey Park.
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.
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.
