Experience
Despite what the purveyors of Disney animal cartoons and BBC documentaries would have us believe, the countryside is not self-made. It is the result of careful management, in place since estate owners of yore saw fit to remove the mediaeval UK’s top predators, such as the wolf and lynx.
Notwithstanding the odd wildlife charity’s bid to restore these species (and despite all the ‘rewilding’ cred it might give you, would you really want a lynx in your back garden?) the resulting burden lies with humankind. Left unchecked, pigeon populations will feast on crops, squirrels will spread disease and push out native species, and roe deer will fray their antlers on trees, decimating young plantations. Without our intervention, the predator at the top of the pile is Mr Fox (sorry, there’s that Disney cartoon tendency emerging) – and given his tendency to break into chicken coops and destroy farmers’ livelihoods, we’re not getting much help there. Luckily, there is an army of people doing the job. Estate managers, gamekeepers, ghillies
and stalkers have turned wildlife management into a profession, but just as notable are the enthusiastic amateurs. The leisure sector in the countryside is worth £27bn. Those visiting rural areas to hunt, shoot, fish or walk have created an economy, boosting goods and services in areas few other job-creators can reach.
Take the traditional game shoot as an example. A ‘gun’ on a shoot stays in a hotel the night before; he buys cartridges and clothing from a bricksand-mortar retailer. His peg subscription funds a small army of keepers, beaters, pickers-up and dogs. He shoots over managed land, with knockon conservation benefits (shooting provides 3.9 million days of volunteer conservation a year), and reaps the benefits of game rearing, a farming operation of its own. It’s the same for fishing, archery – you get the idea.
The countryside economy is vast, and not as isolated as it appears. So why is it so overlooked, whether by Westminster policy-makers or media storytellers? After all, Telegraph readers know how the countryside really works. So why not
everyone else? But we can’t just blame the urban elite – existing country-dwellers have a tendency to reinforce the misconceptions too. “I never go out at weekends,” my erstwhile neighbour in the tourist-ridden Lake District said. “You can’t move for that lot, bringing noise pollution when they arrive and leaving empty crisp packets when they go…” He didn’t consider that ‘that lot’ were pumping money into the area that kept its key industries going. We mentally pit ‘true’ rural folk against the downsizers and urban invaders, but we should be the ones dispelling prejudices.
Experience Countryside celebrates the confluence of all walks of rural life; from tweeds to Hunter boots, mud-splattered shoots to pristine country homes, rural hospitality to the ultimate in selfsufficiency. Created by a team with 15 years’ experience in country sports publications, it’s a portrayal of the real countryside sans mass-media gloss. You don’t need a Piers Morgan polemic or a heartstring-tugging tale to get people reading about rural issues; we know the real countryside is much more interesting than that. CF
PUBLISHER
Wes Stanton
EDITOR
Colin Fallon
SUB-EDITORS
Jacob Barlow, Huw Hopkins, Nick Robbins, Alex Shaw
ART DIRECTOR
Chris Sweeney DESIGN
Matt Smith, Jess Riley
COMMERCIAL DIRECTOR
Josie Millar
In partnership with:
6017
MANAGING DIRECTOR
James Hurst
BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT
James Smith, Dave Edmondson, Jim Ellis, Joseph Turner
Every care is taken in compiling the contents of our publications but the publishers assume no responsibility in any effect arising therefrom. Readers are advised to seek professional advice before acting on any information which is contained in the publication. Blaze Publishing does not accept any liability for views expressed, pictures used or claims made by advertisers. All prices correct at time of going to press.
Country sports are worth billions and provide countless hours of conservation work – so why are they still so widely ignored?
Ownership of Britain’s great estates has changed much over the past century. The aristocracy and landed gentry no longer hold the monopoly they once did over the lowland acreages and sprawling heather carpeted upland hills. This seismic change in landownership is a direct result of war in Europe. The First World War is often cited as the high-water mark for the British countryside, and the rural populace. This holds a lot of water, as before the Great War some 20,000 gamekeepers actively preserved game and relentlessly pursued predators on their employers’ private bailiwicks. The tragic loss of a significant part of the male generation in the trenches saw many keepers (usually valued infantry corporals and sergeants), other estate staff, and their young officers (often from the families of the ‘big house’) never return.
When the hostilities drew to a close, fewer than 6,000 gamekeepers came home. Many landowners had become cash-strapped as a direct result of a long and bloody war, and others had lost sons and heirs – shell
and bullet exerted equal ferocity on both sides of the class divide. Former tenant farmers, woodmen, and keepers littered the battlefields of France and Belgium; most remain in no known grave. The result was the disintegration of these once great estates, fragmented and sold off into smaller holdings. With it came an exponential rise in predators. Foxes and crows in particular had prospered during the war years on both farm and moorland, continuing to do so at the expense of not only game but also much of the nation’s wildlife.
It was a similar story during and after the Second World War, with the remaining estates often isolated and surrounded by ground with no keepers, which was nothing more than a reservoir for predators. Thankfully military commanders had learned from the first war and mixed recruits into different battalions rather than keep men together from the same locale. The enduring landowning nobility and gentry had learned too. Diversification had become the keyword; radical thinking and savvy
Continued on page 6...
The pine marten, one of Britain’s rarest native mammals, is slowly making a comeback, thanks in part, to the largest carnivore recovery programme of its kind.
In autumn 2015, The Vincent Wildlife Trust, with support from other key conservation organisations, began a pilot project to bring pine martens from Scotland, where they are thriving, to mid-Wales. With the help of local volunteers, the martens are monitored and tracked daily. Similar plans are on the cards for England. This elusive relative of the weasel, polecat
and otter once thrived in Britain’s woodlands. After a dramatic decline during the 19th and early 20th century, the pine marten has made a successful comeback in Scotland, but in England and Wales it has shown no such sign of recovery and the outcome looked bleak. Now there is a chance that it can be brought back from the brink. Find out the latest: www.pine-martenrecovery-project.org.uk.
“It is so heartening to know that these animals are back in their former haunts once more” Iolo Williams, Naturalist and TV Presenter Contact information - www.vwt.org.uk, enquiries@vwt.org.uk, 01531 636441
investment had mostly saved the remaining estates. Many ‘keeper’ positions were retained after the second war, as estates remained viable. Game and wildlife conservation benefited and the gamekeeper profession, if it didn’t show growth, at least remained static.
Inheritance tax laws introduced decades later saw the fragmentation of many surviving estates on a scale not seen since the Great War. However those land-holding aristocrats that remained managed to keep their holdings together and led the way in what became a real game-shooting renaissance in the 1960s and 1970s. A new breed of landowners joined them too. Successful entrepreneurs turned sporting enthusiasts, or ‘new money’ in old parlance, have paradoxically used the fickle taxation laws to buy up vast, often unproductive acreages and give a much-needed cash injection to the rural economy. From baronet to duke, oilman to manufacturing mogul, the nation’s diversely owned shooting estates are thriving thanks to hardworking keepers and a modernisation in management practices.
The investment in currency, belief, sweat and tears has benefited the economy and wildlife of our country massively. Indeed shooting as a whole injects £2 billion into the UK economy, and the sport provides the equivalent of 74,000 jobs. Gamekeepers truly are the custodians of our countryside. Without them I am certain we would not have the biodiversity of wildlife that we currently enjoy today.
Nowhere is this more so than on our heather moorlands. A dedicated work ethic
and due diligence to the law by our nation’s hill keepers, assisted by modern advances in parasite control, has at last shown the way to avoid the traditional peaks and troughs of our grouse population’s abundance and paucity. This has been a long time coming. Predictable grouse shooting forecasts may well become the norm. Of course Mother Nature never shows her hand and unseasonal weather conditions can still devastate wild game bird broods, but modern-day grouse shooting is paying its way and providing a safe haven for many other species that would surely be lost without it. That said, there is no doubt that exciting times are ahead for our nation’s hill keepers.
Scotland has always been a mecca for the sportsman, be that a stalker, fisher or game shooter. Fieldsports enthusiasts are a large slice of the tourism revenue generated north of the border, but the next and possibly final break up of the last remaining estates in Scotland may well be down to the current ruling political elite at Holyrood. The last General Election saw an SNP landslide in Scotland at the expense of the Labour and Liberal Democrat parties north of the border.
I have no doubt the political momentum was carried over from the SNP’s previous leader, Alex Salmond, and his muchpublicised crusade for Scottish independence.
I’ve never had much faith in politicos myself, but the SNP’s trouncing of both Labour and the Liberals made me particularly uneasy about Scotland’s immediate future
– especially in regard to its sporting estates, the resident custodians’ livelihoods, and visiting sportsmen who support the game and wildlife therein.
As far as the rural populace goes, it looks like the Scottish electorate has been sold some fishy promises from the likes of Salmond and his replacement Nicola Sturgeon. I’m all for credible patriots, national pride and democracy, but common sense must prevail.
Neither Salmond nor Sturgeon is a Bruce or a Wallace. British democracy may be built on fundamentally fair foundations, but the first-past-the-post system we use to populate
Westminster every five years certainly has its quirks, and last time around in 2015, it gave a disproportionately large helping hand to the SNP. However, we voted to keep it, or rather, the relatively small number who bothered to vote in the AV referendum did. The SNP wants to ban or limit traditional country pursuits, stealing the Highlands and islands from the landowning aristocracy – feudal lairds, new money or long-standing ones. The loss of the last great estates won’t be the only casualty of this war – the remote rural populace that these estates support and the game and wildlife therein will be the real losers.
Readers of this supplement are no fools; they know the stories propagated in the tabloid media screaming about ‘guns on our streets’ are a load of waffle. But still, if you’ve never shot before, you may think of it as mostly the preserve of either rich people bedecked in tweed, or stag parties and corporate dos having a (overly loud) laugh and smashing, or perhaps missing, a load of clay targets.
Think again, because even if you don’t shoot, you’re already enjoying the benefits of the shooting sports any time you go into the countryside. Shooting providers in the UK spend nearly £250 million a year on conservation work – to put it into context, that’s eight times as much as the RSPB spends on conservation on its reserves. In many cases installing a voluntary land management system to get shoots up to scratch, shoots have drummed up the equivalent of an army of 16,000 full-time workers for the conservation effort. The hedgerows, field edges, copses and ponds shoots cultivate become havens for wildlife. It’s not just about the quarry they shoot – everything benefits, from songbirds to butterflies. Furthermore, shooting reaches corners of the country that many mainstream industries miss – in Scotland, for example, shooting is what keeps Highland estates ticking.
Those already in love with shooting will tell misty-eyed stories of monarchs on the hill, or cock pheasants screaming overhead. But there is more to it than that. It is hard to appreciate at first. Some old hands spread the notion that either you’re a shooter or you aren’t, leading to the misconception that all forms of shooting are the same. But shooters are as diverse a group as you’ll find anywhere. Big-bag commercial game shoots steal the headlines, but rough shooters, taking maybe two birds per outing, look askance at this. Deer stalkers, with their system of tests and
certificates, see themselves as the custodians of the countryside. Wildfowlers, braving the elements for a slim chance at a duck or goose at 5am on the foreshore, know they are the only true hunters. Then there’s airguning, target rifle, sporting clays…
Yes, it can be confusing. But if you want to see shooting’s accessible side, look for your local club – either clays or airguns. Populated by trained staff who see attracting new shooters as the single most important part of their job, they’ll give you a warm welcome. Before long, you’ll be hooked.
Want to fit in among shooters? Here’s what you need to know for every discipline…
Shooting pests around the farmyard, or knockdown targets on a Field Target layout
■ Bring: Little equipment is needed for this accessible sport
■ Say: “How many shots per fill do you get with that PCP?”
■ How much for a day? At a club with gun hire, you’ll get by on pocket change
Clay shooting
The biggest leisure aspect of the sport, clay-busting can nevertheless propel you to Olympic stardom (just ask 2012 Double Trap gold medallist Peter Wilson)
■ Bring: A skeet vest to save your shoulder from unwanted punishment
■ Say: “How much lead do I need to give this crosser?”
■ How much for a day? An hour’s tuition with gun hire, cartridges and clays will set you back £60-£70
Target shooting
Another Olympic sport, target shooting will have you aiming at a piece of paper at anywhere from 10 to 1,200 metres
■ Bring: Heavy, leather-based clothing if you’re indoors. If you’re outdoors, a wind meter – and a spotting scope if you want to be able to see the target
■ Say: “That fishtailing wind is a demon!”
■ How much for a day? The National Rifle Association (nra.org.uk) offers guest days for around £35 per session a few times a year
Rough shooting
Wandering the estate with a shotgun, clearing up stray pest species
■ Bring: Sturdy footwear. A dog
■ Say: “Over!” to alert your neighbouring gun to the chance of a shot
■ How much for a day? Much cheaper than a driven day, this is the affordable form of game shooting
Deer stalking
Ascending the Scottish hill for a red stag if you’re fit (and rich). If you’re not, lowground roebucks are no less magical
■ Bring: Waterproof jacket and trousers. Sturdy hill boots. Expensive bincoulars
■ Say: Hushed whispers. Deer are spookier than a re-run of the Friday the 13th series
■ How much for a day? You can shoot a deer for £150, though once you get into buying the kit, the sky’s the limit
As spring turns to summer and evenings grow longer, it’s the perfect time to take a friend or two shooting. Even old hands may want to try something different as the clay shooting season gets into full flow – and it is simple to find where to take a friend shooting for the first time or to locate a venue for sampling a new aspect of the sport.
The British Association for Shooting and Conservation (BASC) has been running the GoShooting project for over 10 years. BASC’s free online directory at goshooting.org.uk provides extensive details of what’s on offer and where. If you want to introduce your friends to shooting – or you’ve never shot before but want to try it – it provides the perfect opportunity.
In addition to free access to the directory, if a BASC member introduces a new person to shooting and you let us know about it, then both will be entered into a prize draw to win a day’s simulated game shooting. Simply go to basc.org.uk/shooting/take-a-mate-shooting and complete the online form.
BASC’s David Ilsley said, “Shooting brings together all sorts of people. Old, young, male, female, able-bodied and disabled. It’s a sport that can be enjoyed by all. So why not give it a go?”
Wading through the foreshore, trying to call geese in, enduring gales and sub-zero temperatures without a flicker of complaint
■ Bring: A chart of the tides. Someone who knows what they’re doing more than you
■ Say: Nothing for hours on end.
■ How much for a day? It’s inexpensive –don’t skimp on warm clothing though
Driven pheasant
The classic estate sport, available up and down the country
■ Bring: Smart clothing. In Britain, we treat driven game with reverence
■ Say: “Is it lunch after this drive?”
■ How much for a day? A few hundred pounds. Join a syndicate and it’s cheaper
Driven grouse
The ultimate scenic sport on the moors. An expensive habit.
■ Bring: Money, and lots of it
■ Say: “I say, which of you chaps is loading for me today?”
■ How much for a day? You’ll be paying £2,000 including tips and accommodation
Independent gun maker William Evans has been offering a world-renowned service for more than 130 years.
Formed in 1883, the company has a longstanding reputation for high quality craftsmanship and attention to detail.
The back-bone of the William Evans client list was firmly established in its early years –notably with members of the aristocracy and ranking officers in the Guards Regiments, who ordered sporting guns and rifles before leaving for the Empire.
As its reputation grew, the business attracted the patronage of members of several prestigious gentlemen’s clubs, while it was also proud to list HRH The Duke of Connaught and HRH Prince Arthur of Connaught among its clientele.
Today, customers can expect the same high level of service and attention to detail that was so important all those years ago.
At its heart is the gun room, with a selection of new and second hand side-by-side and overand-under shotguns, bolt-action and double rifles – making it a must for all shooting enthusiasts, whether a novice or crack shot.
The store at 67A, St James’s in Mayfair, London, also sells an extensive range of essential clothing and accessories, offering “shooting chic” that fuses practicality with style.
said: “The business was founded on a reputation for quality and high-level craftsmanship at affordable prices for central London – an ethos that still drives us to this day.
“Whether you’re just starting out or have been shooting for years, you can be assured of a warm welcome.”
William Evans also has a gun room at the National Rifle Association at Bisley in Surrey, offering a “try before you buy” service with an on-site gunsmith, open seven days a week.
You know what the trouble with fishing is? It’s age. Depending on whose figures you believe, the average age of anglers in the UK is somewhere between 45 and 55 –realists say it’s nearer the latter. It’s scary for us existing anglers because unless we can attract the next generation, and quickly, the very future of the sport is in question.
It’s hard to say quite how this happened, because barely 20 years ago nobody was talking about it. Fishing in all its forms was massively popular. Competitions attracted close to 600 club teams each year, with many of those clubs running qualifiers just to get into the six-man team. There were star anglers who were household names, and their exploits were followed slavishly by the angling populace.
It’s much too easy to blame the internet and video games for the subsequent shift in youngsters’ preferences towards staying indoors. The underlying cause may be less identifiable.
Cost is, of course, a factor. It’s expensive to go fishing – that’s not just about tackle but also the necessary permits, not to mention travel costs. Unless the next potential obsessed angler can find a parent, relative or mentor to take him or her, that obsession will never get off the ground.
Then there’s the tackle trade itself. Smaller specialist manufacturers simply can’t compete, with the multinationals. Bespoke tackle, artisan producers and old-fashioned individuality are more warm memories than anything else. These were the aspiration-makers, guys who produced kit that you promised yourself one day. Kit that made you, and the sport, feel special.
The question anglers ask each other each day is: How do we make fishing feel special again? Happily, there are some initiatives in progress. The hugely popular National Fishing
Month (NFM) is one such, masterminded and managed by Naidre Werner of the Angling Trades Association. Her enthusiasm has driven this forward to the point where it genuinely is a milestone in angling.
The UK Game Fair at Stoneleigh is supporting NFM – the event will be formally launched there on 22 July. On top of this, the UKGF is hosting a major innovation of its own in the form of a hands-on Advice Centre where youngsters and beginners are actively encouraged to come and meet the experts, see the latest tackle, and most importantly, have a go. There will be live fishing on stocked ponds and the River Avon, with tackle supplied by the biggest brands in the industry. Kids will have the chance to catch their first fish at the show. And nobody ever forgets their first fish.
The good news is that there are still investors prepared to create and market premium tackle again. Brands like Loop and Arctic Silver make tackle to make your mouth water (the latter will be one of the key new products showcased at the UKGF at Stoneleigh).
Fishing in all its forms needs to evolve. For the last decade we have been guilty of standing still, but at last this is changing. Exciting new disciplines are emerging such as Pike on Fly, LRF in the sea, fishing from kayaks, and the fascinating use of modern technology in the carp scene, where miniature cameras are introducing a whole new dimension to the sport.
But the ‘next big thing’ will only take us so far. It is down to the existing body of anglers to support, encourage, help and nurture the next generation. Make it your mission to take a youngster fishing this year. Take them to outdoor events like the UKGF, and get them inspired by the fishing and the countryside.
The biggest challenge facing the sport of fishing is attracting new blood.How do we get new anglers hooked?
It’s never too late to rekindle or discover a love of horses. Fitting horses into your life can be simple; just half an hour of horse riding a week can boost your sense of wellbeing and help to keep you feeling healthy. Riding may feel daunting but with the right horse to give you confidence it’s amazing how quickly you’ll get going.
Take Back The Reins is a structured series of horse riding lessons that provides coaching specifically designed to support a rider’s first steps into or back into the saddle. You will receive a warm welcome from your Take Back The Reins riding centre who will understand your worries, talk through your goals and match you with the right horse and coach to get you safely under way.
Mother of two Hannah Masquelier did just that. Hannah regularly watched her
children ride at Snowball Farm Equestrian Centre, but for years was hesitant to join in. Both daughters are part of the centre’s Pony Club activities and were keen to get their mother back in the saddle and encouraged her to sign up to Take Back The Reins.
After a number of lessons, Hannah learnt how to jump over poles and soon progressed onto a combination of small fences. Hannah has even taken part in a showjumping competition with her daughters and when asked how she got on, chuckled and replied: “Ok, but the girls were obviously better than me.”
For more information on the many ways you can get involved with horses head to hoofride.co.uk. For the latest news from Hoof follow us on Facebook and Twitter @hoofride
Waking up to the dawn chorus of birds singing outside is a wonderful reminder that summer is on its way. The great outdoors is calling.
If we’re lucky and the weather is good, the sunshine attracts drivers, cyclists, walkers and horse riders out to enjoy the beauty of our stunning countryside.
But statistics show that in June more horses and riders get killed, or are involved in serious road traffic accidents, than at any other time of the year. And that 90 per cent of the human casualties are women.
The British Horse Society, the UK’s biggest equine charity, has collected this alarming data over the past five years.
Over 2,000 road incidents have been reported to the society including 36 rider deaths and 181 deaths of horses.
To help drivers who aren’t familiar or sure how to drive pass horses, the ‘Dead Slow’ campaign and video has been created with the specific aim to reduce deaths on the UKs road.
By slowing down to a maximum of 15mph and passing a horse with at least a car’s width, drivers can protect their cars, themselves and horses. This helps to make Britain’s roads a safer place to be, especially in the summer months.
But horse riders have a role to play too. The charity wants riders to wear ‘hi-vis’ clothing, whatever the weather, and for the riders to nod to say ‘thank you’ when drivers pass them wide and slow.
Happily most drivers are kind and considerate towards horses. The charity is also working hard to discover and keep open bridleways across the countryside so riders have safe places to ride their horses.
To find out more about the campaign, view our video or to download a poster visit: www.bhs.org.uk/deadslow
Horses, hounds and hunting are for many people an integral part of the British countryside. It is a tradition, yes, but it is more than that – it still has relevance to today’s rural communities and sustainable habitat and wildlife management.
As you drive across the United Kingdom you will see innumerable hedgerows and small woods, many planted by fieldsports enthusiasts. Huge amounts of rural areas are still managed traditionally today, to the benefit of both flora and fauna. The planting of new woodlands and hedgerows continues in different parts of the country. This isn’t a happy coincidence –management is part of the sporting heritage of the UK. Game shoots and fox hunts will work to get the best out of their land, increasing the number of hedgerows, copses and ponds that form a key habitat for countless species.
Hounds are followed today by people of all walks of life both young and old. Some follow on horseback, others on foot, and some just watch from their car. Equine sports are tied inseparably to the countryside, from pony racing and point to points through to National Hunt jump races.
Horses, hounds and hunting have also played a part in our cultural heritage. The commissioning of art and music as a celebration of our relationship with the outdoors through fieldsports is a global phenomenon.
It’s viewed as a source of controversy, but for those in the know, the sport itself is anything but. Since the 2004 Hunting Act came into force, those who follow hounds have adapted their activity to fall within the law. I can report that more people today are following hounds than at any other time – amid true countryside folk, it is a uniting subject, not a divisive one. A concerted campaign continues to overturn an unjust law that does nothing to aid animal welfare.
Boxing Day meets are well known, but in terms of summer events, the hunting and hounds community has been rather underserved. The traditional British game fair has historically been a shooting-and-fishing event, in contrast to its equivalents on the continent, which have far more of a hounds-and-hunting slant.
Enter the UK Game Fair, taking place at Stoneleigh on 22-24 July, which promises to unite both communities. As well as appealing to the traditional crowd, it’s working to encourage those who may not have been to a game fair in the UK before but have strong cultural connections with hounds and horses from overseas.
There will be opportunities to see and meet sight and scent hounds, both those that traditionally use their eyes and those who use their noses to locate and follow their quarry.
The event will celebrate the thoroughbred racehorse with a display from the Retraining of Racehorses charity, which brings retired racehorses to parade who have been retrained to take part in other equestrian sports and activities since leaving the track.
Terriers and gazehounds will feature strongly, with showing classes sponsored by the Countryman’s Weekly. Simulated coursing and straight line competitions will take place in an amazing parkland setting, complemented by working breed tents where you can meet terrier, gundog and scenthound breeds and their owners.
Of course, there will be displays of hounds and horses in small, intimate rings – and what country event would be complete without the traditional parade of hounds in the main ring, with the sound of the horn and the spectacle of scarlet, horses and hounds galloping past.
Get tickets: www.ukgamefair.com
Richard Walton celebrates the traditions behind, and modern-day benefits of, hunting with hounds – and finds out where hunters are headed this summer
This year the Olympic and Paralympic Games will bring archery to a worldwide audience from Rio, but target archery’s less visible cousin will be taking place in woods and dales all over the UK.
Field archery is the practice of shooting arrows at targets stationed at various points around a course – similar to golf in some respects, in that each target will be set at a different distance from its predecessor. There is the added challenge of shooting up and down hills, over water and dead ground, and though trees.
Bows have been used for hunting and warfare for millennia, and as modern archery has left behind its military past, it has developed into a competitive sport. Though hunting was once the preserve of landowners and aristocracy in the Middle Ages, field archery’s modern take on it is far more accessible.
Rob Jones coaches field archery with the National Field Archery Society (NFAS), and says it’s very easy to get into: “I started with my wife, having gone on an afternoon field archery experience. Sharon had never shot before and I had shot a little at college, but not touched a bow in years. After an afternoon with simple instruction, we were hooked and found a local club. That was several years ago, and I’m now a coach and we both shoot most weekends.”
Modern field archery rounds vary in length, format and target style. Some involve shooting at printed targets; others recreate the challenges of woodland hunting and use printed animal targets, or even 3D foam replicas, which have ‘kill zones’ worth a certain number of points. Andrew Rees, head of the Archery GB field committee, says, “Field archery is a test of skill and subtlety which, in its variety and complexity, embodies man’s ancient relationship with the bow. The roots of the sport are deep in our hunting past, with many archers shooting traditional longbows that would be recognised by their
medieval forefathers. At the same time, design, technology and engineering are embodied in the modern incarnations of the bow.”
Several field archery societies and organisations operate today. Archery GB – the governing body for target archery in Britain – has a field section that organises shoots to World Archery rules. NFAS shoots only unmarked distances, at paper animal prints and 3D targets. Both host regular competitions throughout the year, and the competition level goes all the way from local friendlies to World Championships.
The UK has produced several field archery champions, most recently Duncan Busby, who won the European Field Championships in the men’s compound class in 2015. Duncan said, “After many years competing in target archery as part of Team GB, I took part in my first field archery competition in 2011. As I was looking for a fresh challenge within the sport, it was a great opportunity to broaden my experience.
“Field archery has allowed me to develop new skills which I believe have improved my entire archery game overall, and as the competitions don’t have the same pressures as the target circuit, I’ve re-discovered my love for the sport again. I’d recommend anyone interested in target sports to give field archery a go.” More information at archerygb.org, gnasfield.co.uk or nfas.net.
Westley Richards celebrated its bicentennial in 2012 – that’s over 200 years of some of the finest English gunmaking, in constant production, since 1812. The gravitas of that history needs hardly be explained to anyone with a knowledge of the firearms industry. But the company continues to set trends, with its apprenticeship programme offering a route into the traditional art of gunmaking that nowadays is very hard to find.
“Skilled gunmakers are in very short supply in this country – overall, it’s probably noticed by every shooter that getting guns repaired is very difficult,” says managing director Simon Clode. “It’s because no one’s been introducing younger blood into the business over the years. So there is a need for the training we offer. There’s a need to keep people’s guns working.”
Once part of a thriving Birmingham gunmaking scene, Westley Richards is now one of the few companies that still offers an apprenticeship in this craft. The firm moved to new premises in 2008 and Simon says the intervening period has been hard – but, with an apprenticeship taking five years, the scheme is now bearing fruits with the first graduates
now three years into their full careers.
“Apprentices tend to do two years’ general training, gaining skills and understanding, maturing and learning to use lathes safely, refining their machining skills,” Simon says. “After that, in discussion they say ‘I’d like to do this or that.’ They might shine in woodwork and go on to do stocking – or they might shine in barrel work or bolt rifle work or whatever it might be. We make quite a wide portfolio of guns, so whatever they’re best at, they’ll focus in on.”
Some don’t make the grade. They get turned loose after a year or two. In an era when most guns are made in a factory through fully automated CNC machining processes, to flourish in this traditional craft you’ve got to have passion and patience. “It’s like any job. Jobs are boring after a while! It’s whether you can maintain your focus and maintain the quality through all that repetition.
“You don’t see the fruits of your labour for a long time, with guns taking up to two years to make from start to finish. But once you get into the flow of it, you’ll be working on parts for many different guns, and eventually every month you’re seeing two guns come to completion – guns you were a part of. Then there’s a constant reward drip-fed into it. You’re actually seeing guns coming through the engraver and hardening, and being completed and cased and given to the client. And you think, ‘Wow, that one’s special,’ and you’ll learn from it all.”
Keeping the scheme light, Westley Richards has 15 or 16 in its team currently. Most are below 30 and from the local area. Those who started at age 16 when Westley first moved are now 24 with steady, lucrative jobs. “The average age of our team is very young, and they’re very enthusiastic,” Simon says. “It’s the opposite of how you think it might go –our customers come in and see a lot of young people, and they think it’s great. They like to see the young blood, and the enthusiasm and the attention they give their work.”
Longthorne have recently moved their operations to Northampton from Lancashire, where they have now have a state of the art factory befitting of a highend gun maker. The company manufactures highly innovative shotguns, incorporating patented barrel technology that ensures negligible felt recoil and muzzle flip. Their ‘prestige range’ of guns are all true ‘sidelocks’, manufactured entirely in house. The company plans to add to their range this year, launching their side-by-side model and boxlocks.
The Longthorne journey usually begins with a visit to the factory were they are more than happy to show you around and explain some of their processes.
They will discuss with you your preference of barrel length, choking, stock and forend shapes, choice of wood and engraving design. They will also take some rough stock dimensions and if
you wish you could choose your wood, with around 400 pieces to chose from.
If you have decided on personalisation or a bespoke engraving design, their Artist, Chloe, will take a brief from you. They are able to engrave virtually anything at all. Some designs are very detailed and can take longer than average.
When your barrels and action are made they are proofed at The London Proof house, magnum steel proof with our standard fixed chokes, of course!
If you would like to know more about Longthorne, contact them at admin@longthorneguns.com
Or ++44 (0)1772 811215 www.longthorneguns.com
One of the only gunmaking apprentice schemes in the country, at Westley Richards in Birmingham, give us a unique insight into the hand-making of gunsA pair of Westley Richards’ sidelocks
“Without question Cordings is the complete outfitter – you have everything under one roof.” – Duke of Wellington
Since 1839 Cordings has clothed explorers, rock stars and royalty in understated British country clothing. Synonymous with country style, Cordings’ men’s and ladies’ collections encompass outerwear, British tweed, tattersall shirts, knitwear and traditional cord and mole trousers, all made with a painstaking attention to detail and understated elegance that is never out of style. A recently opened second store in Harrogate, and a thriving website that ships worldwide, is testament to the enduring popularity of their unique brand of Cordings’ brilliantly British clothing.
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At Elm of Burford we pride ourselves in bringing you the finest country wear, with our aim being to provide you with the most suitable, and durable choices. We’ve used our expert knowledge to come up with a selection of what we think are ‘must haves’ from our clothing collection, ensuring you have the optimal amount of comfort and warmth, especially for the colder or rainy days.
For women, The Lyndon Fleece Gilet and for men, The Oakham Fleece Gilet is a stunning garment, iconic in the British countryside. Offering great comfort and warmth, it looks stylish as a standalone item or fits comfortably underneath an overcoat, just to provide that extra bit of warmth. Both are available in a collection of rich colours, perfect for walks through the countryside.
The early summer months are crucial for gamekeepers and land managers. The winter-that-wasn’t in 2015 has been a mixed blessing, making predator control among other things much more difficult. A spell of bad weather over a relatively short period of time during the coming months can be seriously damaging. Owners will be needing and hoping for more
favourable conditions, and this isn’t simply a matter of average rainfall and temperature over the period.
We might not be able to do much about the weather, but we can help by managing predation and habitat. It is also important to remember that much of what is done to help wild game is not only of huge benefit to other wildlife, but will also make the ground much more attractive to reared game upon release.
Common among land managers is a failure to recognise that woods and land are constantly growing, developing and changing. The warm shelter belt that was so attractive to game 10 years ago has now grown over, is dark and cold, and no pheasant is going to want to spend any time there.
Any piece of land will have a natural carrying capacity and some, without improvement, will struggle to hold game at all – think of a ploughed field as opposed to nice greening stubbles.
This is where cover crops can be particularly significant. Many shoots will grow them with an eye to producing good drives in the
winter, but often, by altering the crops, you not only help wild bird production but also hold the birds you put down.
Using the habitat to help prevent the desire to wander is a big plus, especially if you can only work on the land part-time. Where a lack of time is a real disadvantage, of course, is when it comes to pest control. The big-budget estates may be able to run extensive circuits of tunnel traps and snares, but if you follow the more DIY route, the effort of running just a few traps or snares is well spent. A stoat caught before young are produced reduces the threat to wild and reared birds on your land.
Larsens and other cage traps should by now have started to make inroads into controlling corvids, but there always seems to be an odd pair that defies capture and starts to nest in an out-of-the-way place. These are best dealt with by keeping an eye open and making a note of the location before the leaf is out on the tree.
The most important aspect in this regard, however, is to ensure you remain within the law. An estate manager, and everyone else
who carries out avian pest control, does so under the respective general licences for the home country in which they operate.
Permission is required from the land owner before setting traps on his or her land, and traps need to be inspected daily. Where traps are left in the open but not in use, you must make sure that they are rendered incapable of holding or catching birds. One way of doing this is to ensure that the door secured in open position. When your trap is not in use, remove all traces of food from within the trap.
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Afairy tale, French Renaissancestyle château in the heart of the Buckinghamshire countryside, Waddesdon Manor is one of a kind. Home to notable collections of 18th-century decorative and contemporary art, it is an extraordinary example, and rare survivor, of Rothschild splendour.
Built in the 1870s for Baron Ferdinand de Rothschild to entertain Victorian high society at his famous ‘Saturday to Monday parties’, Waddesdon Manor is synonymous with the art of hospitality. Now Waddesdon celebrates annually, through changing exhibitions and hosting public events such as ‘Feast’, Waddesdon’s festival of food, drink and entertainment (18 and 19 June).
The Rothschild family were some of the greatest collectors of the 19th-century, and Waddesdon boasts an internationally renowned collection of art. The magnificent French decorative arts (with pieces made for Louis XVI and MarieAntoinette), British portraiture (including paintings by Joshua Reynolds and Thomas Gainsborough) and Dutch Old Masters are
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some of the finest in the world. Exhibitions in the house offer visitors a glimpse of the cultural legacy of Waddesdon, including the current displays that evoke the experience of Ferdinand’s own visitors.
The Manor possesses an outstanding collection of wines. The cellars and wine shop contain one of the largest collections of Rothschild wines from two of the most famous Bordeaux vineyards, Château Lafite Rothschild and Château Mouton Rothschild, playing host to wine-tasting events throughout the year.
Set in 5,000 acres of glorious rolling parkland, Waddesdon has exceptional Victorian formal gardens, including an ornate Rococo-style working aviary and classical sculptures. National Trust members and local residents enjoy the parkland, restaurants and shops, offering visitors the opportunity to sample produce supplied by the working estate.
Waddesdon exemplifies the cultural richness that can be found in such rural settings. A visit to the Manor will offer a flavour of France in the sweeping English countryside.
The country estate is the mainstay of the British countryside. It’s a symbol of what, historically, has made Britain great – but more than that, estates are where wildlife flourishes and conservation is put into practice more than anything else. It’s hard to say what is perhaps the greatest example of all of this phenomenon – but Stapleford Park, near Melton Mowbray in Leicestershire, has to be close to the top. Surrounded by 500 acres of Capability Brown landscaped grounds, it’s an idyllic setting steeped in history. Early historical records indicate that at the time of the Norman Survey, Stapleford was held under the King by Henry de Ferrers, who fought at the battle of Hastings in 1066, and who was afterwards appointed the Domesday Commissioner. After passing through a succession of owners, in 1402 the house was acquired by Robert Sherard, a descendant of William the Conqueror, and for the next 484 years Stapleford remained in the possession of his family. Over this time the house developed a strong association with hunting – Lord Gretton bought the house in 1894 with the specific aim of establishing his
place in society, using the house to introduce him to fashionable hunting circles.
Today, Stapleford very much keeps fieldsports at its core. An experienced team runs a wide range of activities including shooting, archery and falconry. The local area provides excellent pheasant, partridge, duck and goose shooting during the seasons from September to January – and outside of this period it offers a clay shoot too.
As for the most aristocratic sport of them
all, Stapleford’s school of falconry can inform and entertain guests. Head falconer, Peter Sibson, owned his first kestrel when he was just six years old; today he keeps ten of his sixteen birds at Stapleford, including Chip the lanner falcon and Inga the goshawk.
Book your stay at Stapleford now: 01572 787019, www.staplefordpark.com
Chatsworth, Blenheim, Longleat –Britain is studded with notable country homes, whose splendour and heritage has earned them world renown. One name perhaps less well known is Stoneleigh Abbey – even though its remarkable history connects it to some of the most iconic figures in British history.
The Abbey sits in 690 acres of parkland overlooking the River Avon in Warwickshire, one of England’s most verdant and picturesque counties. Standing on the banks, the Abbey’s 18th Century grandeur is reflected in the calm waters of the river. It’s a view that captures something quintessential about what we call British heritage, and resonant with anyone who has come to know and love Britain’s countryside.
Stoneleigh started as a humble Cistercian monastery, built in 1154. After the Dissolution of the Monasteries between 1536 and 1541 by Henry VIII, the Abbey became the property of the crown. Henry VIII subsequently gifted the estate to his brother-in-law, Charles Brandon, the Duke of Suffolk, but the building was neglected and abandoned.
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In 1561 Sir Thomas Leigh, a London merchant and later Lord Mayor of London, inherited the Abbey through his wife and converted Stoneleigh into a family home. The additions undertaken by Thomas Leigh now form the north and west wings of Stoneleigh Abbey. Little remains of the original abbey buildings, except for the 14th Century gatehouse. By 1626, inventories show that Stoneleigh had grown to become the largest house in Warwickshire, ranking it as one of the country’s most significant estates.
In 1714, the celebrated architect Francis Smith of Warwick was commissioned to build a palatial four-storey wing in the Baroque style to expand the stately home. This is now the most recognisable part of the building, best viewed from the sweeping green lawns at the house’s front beside the river. Ask anyone to envisage the setting for a Jane Austen novel, and this is the view they will picture.
But that’s no coincidence – Britain’s most famous authoress was descended from the Leigh family on her mother’s side, and she even visited the estate in 1806. Although, sadly, we have no journal entries or letters from Austen Continued on page 22...
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herself describing her time at Stoneleigh, we do have a letter from Jane Austen’s mother to her daughter-in-law, capturing the essence of Stoneleigh with much of the eloquence and wit of her famous daughter:
“We found ourselves on Tuesday (that is yesterday se’nnight) eating fish, venison, and all manner of good things, in a large and noble parlour, hung round with family portraits. The house is larger than I could have supposed. We cannot find our way about it – I mean the best part; as to the offices, which were the Abbey, Mr Leigh almost despairs of ever finding his way about them. I have proposed his setting up direction posts at the angles.
“I had expected to find everything about the place very fine and all that, but I had no idea of its being so beautiful. I had pictured to myself long avenues, dark rookeries, and dismal yew trees, but here are no such dismal things. The Avon runs near the house, amidst green meadows, bounded by large and beautiful woods, full of delightful walks...
“The ponds supply excellent fish, the park excellent venison; there is great quantity of rabbits, pigeons, and all sorts of poultry.”
Critics widely agree that the visit to Stoneleigh directly inspired Jane Austen’s writing, with Stoneleigh’s private chapel providing the setting for a significant moment in Mansfield
Park. Giving a tour of the titular house, the character Mrs Rushworth says: “We are coming to the chapel, which properly we ought to enter from above, and look down upon.” Disappointed with a lack of Gothic extravagance, Fanny remarks: “This is not my idea of a chapel. There is nothing awful here, nothing melancholy, nothing grand. Here are no aisles, no arches, no inscriptions.”
Though a modern visitor may take issue with Fanny’s definition of ‘grand’, as the chapel and indeed the house beyond exemplifies the elegance and intricacy of its time, with delicate Baroque plasterwork, gilded furniture and high windows that illuminate every room with striking vistas of the grounds.
Later in the century the house was further updated with the addition of the Orangery, located near the river. A Victorian status symbol, orangeries allowed wealthy families to grow and enjoy the most exotic and expensive fruit from all across the British Empire. Today the Orangery has been made into a charming tearoom for visitors.
The prestigious associations continue with the exterior of the Abbey too; in 1809, the famous landscape gardener Humphry Repton completed renovation of the Abbey’s grounds, commissioned by Reverend Thomas Leigh. Considered by many to be the ‘successor’ to landscape designer Capability Brown, Repton created picturesque and romantic gardens for many of England’s greatest country homes, including Clumber Park, Harewood House, Tatton Park and Woburn Abbey. At
Stoneleigh, Repton presented Reverend Leigh with one of his famous Red Books, which illustrated Repton’s suggested alterations to the Abbey’s grounds, which sought to enhance nature, rather than tame it. Today works are underway to restore the grounds to Repton’s vision of idyllic natural beauty. Visitors can enjoy the ‘Repton Walk’ within the ground, which showcases key aspects of Repton’s horticultural designs.
The Leigh family continued to inhabit Stoneleigh from 1561 right up until the 1990s.
In 1996 Lord Leigh transferred ownership of the estate to a charitable trust. The house and grounds have been extensively renovated thanks to funding from various sources, including £7.3m from the Heritage Lottery Fund and £3m from English Heritage and the European Union.
Today, the upper floors of the house have been transformed into private apartments, while large areas of the property are accessible to the public. There are guided tours and the Abbey frequently holds Austen-themed events for enthusiasts, as well as it being a popular location for weddings.
Stoneleigh has been branded ‘Warwickshire’s Downton’ in recent years, but the comparison does little to explain the Abbey’s true historical significance. Far from being just a ‘set-piece’ that replicates the past, Stoneleigh has hosted, and been shaped by, some of the most influential names in British culture, rightfully earning it a place among the most celebrated of Britain’s country homes.
Thomas Leigh of Stoneleigh was ennobled in July 1643 for assisting King Charles I during the Civil War. After the gates of Coventry were shut against the illfated king, Thomas Leigh welcomed King Charles and was, in return, made the first Baron Leigh of Stoneleigh.
Jane Austen
One of Britain’s most treasured authors visited Stoneleigh in the company of her sister and mother in 1806. They were visiting their relative, Reverend Thomas Leigh, who had recently inherited the impressive estate and was trying to adjust to his new lifestyle.
Queen Victoria
In the summer of 1858, Queen Victoria and Prince Albert visited Stoneleigh Park. In her journal, Georgina Leigh describes their visit: “Nature itself dressed her loveliest garb to do honour to our beloved Queen Victoria upon her first visit into Warwickshire.”
What better way is there to enjoy the countryside than to spend it with our canine companions? But is your dog really safe when out walking or working in rural areas?
Many people don’t realise that their friendly pet can turn into a predator when faced with livestock; cattle, sheep and horses can often induce chase behaviour in the best of behaved dog. Even if dogs chase for ‘fun’ and make no attempt to bite, the consequences can be disastrous, sometimes fatal, not just for the
livestock but also the dog. Animal Training and Behaviour experts, The Company of Animals, offer dog owners the following advice:
“It’s important that owners have their dogs under ‘close control’ around livestock, this means being capable of instantly controlling their dog, no matter what the circumstances.
“Keeping your dog on a retractable lead gives freedom to dogs when walking and reassurance to the owner by keeping them safe and secure.”
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It is fair to say that for centuries dogs have been present in the countryside in one form or another, assisting the work of countrymen in their daily endeavours, either for herding, guarding, or companionship. It did not takse long for country sportsmen to also realise that dogs could make finding and locating food for the pot easier and with a greater chance of success. It therefore made great sense to train dogs for this task and quickly became apparent that certain types of dogs were better suited to particular types of hunting, depending on such factors as the terrain and quarry available. The ‘pointing’ breeds were favoured on open ground such as moorland where they could quest over larger distances; find game and hold it ‘on point’ till the handler came close enough to shoot once the quarry was flushed. For the shooter that had access to the hedgerows and spinneys, the spaniel came to be the dog of choice; hunting fervently, they leave no bush or tussock untouched and flushing game the moment it found it. With the development of driven game shooting,
where the shooters are positioned and remain static with game being flushed over them, the ‘retrieving’ breeds came to the fore, and today there is no more popular a dog than the Labrador for this task.
According to Kennel Club records, Labradors and spaniels count for the most popularly bred and owned dogs today in the UK. Although it is reasonable to say that the greater majority are not used for shooting or sporting purposes, deeply rooted in their ancestry would undoubtedly be a dog from working stock. Spaniels and retrievers remain the dogs of choice for country fieldsportsmen, owing to their suitability for task (‘biddability’ and fitness).
Gundogs are a key element of any shooting day and there is an expectation that they will be steady and reliable with impeccable obedience – only achieved by implementing a consistent staged training plan. It is any live quarry shooter’s prime objective, once the trigger has been pulled, to ensure that shot game is collected as quickly as possible
Continued on page 28...
Ian Clinton reveals why a dog’s ancestry might explain it’s behaviour, and what the five crucial traits are to training your
for obvious reasons (only with a well trained gundog to hand can this be achieved swiftly). In the high octane atmosphere of a shooting day, involving dogs off leads, the movement of game and the bangs of guns, there is clearly no room for an out of control and excitable
dog creating havoc as well as potential danger. Trained into the dogs from early days is the requirement to be responsive to the handler; walking at heel both on and off the lead, to sit still and steady off lead when required, ignore all livestock and possess a solid 100 percent recall, to name just a few. Further advanced training involves teaching the dog to be responsive to whistle and hand signals at distance from the handler, as well as to be able to retrieve with speed and efficiency from distance, over obstacles such as ditches, fences or water. Traits I am sure that any nonshooting owner of a highly charged gundog breed would love to emulate. The secret to this level of obedience is good training and a calm but assertive and confident approach.
Supporting the gundog world, a whole industry sector has evolved, from working dog feed to specialist training dummies, used to train a dog to carry and retrieve, mimicking both the feel and weight of real quarry. In addition, a vast network of trainers and gundog clubs and societies exist throughout the country, helping owners to achieve a high standard of obedience. Dogs from working stock have a history in demonstrating that they have a great aptitude for training, being both very biddable and keen to please. However, without the right stimuli they may become frustrated and develop unexpected behaviour issues for the unwary pet owner.
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consider carefully the commitment required to keep it active and well trained. Springer and cocker spaniels can be very high-energy dogs and require lots of active exercise. They should not be expected to settle easily into a sedentary lifestyle that amounts to a quick walk in the morning, settle into its bed for the day, and get another walk in the evening after dinner. Huntpoint-retrieve breeds, just like spaniels, need to run and again benefit significantly from exercise and stimulation. Retrievers such as the Labrador can be a bit more laid back, but those from working stock do have a higher need for stimulation and exercise, so the main point to
make is, dogs need exercise and stimulation as well as good obedience training if you are to enjoy their company indoors as well as out in the big wide world of the countryside. There are many distractions in this environment so it is essential that owners avoid problems and that they can maintain complete control at all times and in any situation.
Ian Clinton is a director and principal gundog trainer for the Working Dog Company based in North Hertfordshire. For more information see www.workingdogcompany.co.uk or call 01462 450830.
Before taking a gundog into advanced work such as retrieving and distance control, I establish five key behaviours that I consider to be the foundation stones of all further work. Good foundations in basic obedience are required, whatever the final use of the dog, whether that be for working, pet or companion. The five key foundations are:
■ To sit – a simple task but one that should be responded to instantly when the command is made
■ To stay, again a key obedience behaviour to allow the handler to leave a dog where it has been told to sit whilst the handler engages in another activity, such as unloading the shopping from the car
■ To come, the recall is a very important command and should be practiced to ensure it is acted on without fail 100 per cent of the time, you never know when this command could just prove to be a lifesaver
■ Walk nicely on the lead without pulling. It is so pleasant to walk a dog close at heel without tension on the lead, sore arms or hands
■ To walk at heel without a lead on when required. This always looks impressive and demonstrates that the dog understands how it should behave and enjoy being close to its handler in spite of other distractions.
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Watch 150 dogs compete over three days at the International Sheep Dog Society’s annual National Trials. The dogs are judged as they follow a series of commands to complete a variety of tasks which reflect their everyday work with a flock of sheep.
The trials are of a practical nature and have changed little over the years. The shepherds of the past would easily recognise the requirements of today’s competitions.
“There is no good flock without a good shepherd and no good shepherd without a good dog”
More information at www.isds.org.uk or call 01234 352672.
July 28-30 – Tyfos, Llandrillo, Corwen, Denbighshire LL21 0TA
August 5-7 – Castle Howard, York YO60 7DD
August 11-13 – Ballymullock Road, Larne BT40 2LR
August 18-20 - Awhirk Farm, Lochans, Stranraer, Wigtownshire DG9 9BP Supreme Championship – September 9-11 – Sandilands Farm, Tywyn, Gwynedd LL36 9AP
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David Templar of Countryways
Gundogs is one of the country’s leading names in gundogs today, specialising in working Labradors, springer spaniels and cocker spaniels. Countryways has bred many champions and championship winners, with David also having been a member of the England gun dog team. David has 35 years experience in breeding and selecting the right dog for you, either as a shooting companion or a well-behaved family pet. You can have a dog to be proud of – whether it’s a puppy, part trained or fully trained dog, the team will spend time and work with you to find the right companion. With a focus on personal service, Countryways have taught and trained dogs all over the world. More recently David can be seen on BBC 2’s ‘Cats v Dogs’, training a cocker spaniel puppy for the first time in front of a film crew live.
You could say Rodger McPhail is the sporting artist’s sporting artist. Speak to any well-known painter of the genre, and this man’s name comes up again and again as an inspiration. Rodger is, by no means new to country life – having produced an array of work over more than three decades after first becoming known for his Shooting Times caricatures –but what is particularly interesting about his career trajectory is that he was not born or raised in the country, instead growing strong hunting and fishing links through the work he did.
How did you get into painting fieldsports subject matter?
I tend to paint the things I like. I was always fascinated by wildlife – it’s not just fishing and shooting. But my bread and butter does seem to be fieldsports these days.
You’re most known for game species but is there a particular species you are drawn to yourself?
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I like all animals. I’m particularly fond of woodcock and snipe, but I will draw anything!
Dscribe a day in your working life. When I’m not out shooting or fishing I’m in the studio working – all day every day. In the winter I’m off doing shoots and I love to fish in the summer.
Do you mix the two activities – shooting and art?
A lot of it is mixed – a lot of clients become friends. That’s one of the perks!
How did you come to get involved with the Famous Grouse label art? They wanted a change [to their branding] about 30 years ago and asked me to do it. It’s the one piece of work of mine everyone has seen. That’s another perk of the job – the people that you meet that you wouldn’t have otherwise, and things you get involved in. It does
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open a lot of doors in that way, and you meet some fascinating people of all walks of life.
How do you find the two worlds of fieldsports and art mix?
A lot of people who don’t hunt ask ‘if you love something why do you go out and kill it’. But hunters have always loved their quarry. There’s always been huge respect and admiration.
Was that an attitude you had from the beginning or was that learnt as you went along?
It was just something that was always in me. My parents weren’t really country people. I got into the shooting and fishing by other routes.
How did you get started in fieldsports?
I just always had a passion about it when I was a kid. I was always out fishing and ferreting. I was out and about all of the time – I think I was one of the last generations to have a free
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childhood. It’s not as easy for children now to just wander off into a forest, say.
You grew up in a town, didn’t you?
I was on the edge of a town, near Coventry. I was born in Lancashire, though, and I returned as soon as I could. We now live in the Lune Valley near the Lake District. I go for a walk every morning before I start work. It’s amazing what inspiration you can get within just half a mile of the country here. It’s always changing.
Do you keep animals?
I’m not a doggy person, but I like other people’s dogs.
What are your influences?
I have always loved Rien Poortvliet’s art. There’s too many to list. I admire so many artists with different styles. Everyone assumes I like Thorburn. He’s not my least favourite but
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The artist and cartoonist behind the Famous Grouse label – and too many other well-known wildlife pieces to count – talks to Kate Puttick about art, fieldsports and why you don’t have to be born in the country to love it
there are other artists I admire more. I always thought his work was a bit samey.
Do you ever decide to change medium?
I have rather gone off watercolours. A watercolour always tends to look like a watercolour, but an oil can look like anything, it’s so versatile. I have pictures now that look like watercolours but are actually oil.
Do you like to linger over a picture for a defined amount of time?
I get pretty bored at some point in the process. That’s why I always work on four or five at a time. Then, when I get fed up with one, I go and work on another one. That allows me to let one layer dry while working on another one, without having to wait around doing nothing.
Have you been working on any comic style works recently?
Last year I had some pictures in Private Eye and Spectator . My nephew is a cartoonist and
I suppose I wanted to show that I could do it too. A bit of family competition!
The Spectator? Do you have to go along with any particular political message? It’s rather hard work for not much return, to be honest! I stay away from politics.
Are there any commissions that you wouldn’t take?
For commissions I do anything that anyone wants! One thing I do tend to avoid is black
Labradors – to me they all look the same. The other thing is horses. To paint horses well you have to like them. And I don’t particularly like them. I have done a few but I don’t know them well enough.
Are you looking forward to the UK Game Fair on 22-24 July?
I will be on site for the first day of the UK Game Fair for anyone who wants to pop by – in some cases, just to check if I’m still alive, no doubt.
The biggest names in shooting, fishing and hunting are signing up to exhibit at the UK Game Fair.
The fair’s Gun Quarter is shaping up to be not just an unparalleled shooting retail experience but also a global showcase for country sports.
After the demise of the CLA Game Fair in 2015, the UK Game Fair is widely considered to be the natural replacement for this flagship event. In contrast to recent game fairs that were perceived as shunting their gunmakers’ sections into the periphery, the UK Game Fair restores fieldsports to the core of its layout, with the Gun Quarter at the heart of the show.
Renowned optics manufacturer Swarovski will be a flagship exhibitor at the UK Game Fair 2016, with a significant presence at the show including exhibition space and sponsorship. The Austrian firm is instantly recognisable to
fieldsports followers as a producer of top-end riflescopes, binoculars and spotters. Globally, the business also has influence in a number of other sectors, from jewellery to lighting all the way to the movie industry.
Stoneleigh will also welcome an icon of British manufacturing in BSA, the Birminghambased airgun firm that manufactures its PCP airguns at its HQ to this day. BSA and Gamo will take a significant presence at Stoneleigh that includes both brands’ airguns as well as BSA-branded optics.
And capping the line-up is Beretta, the world’s biggest name in guns. The Beretta empire contains some of the world’s most recognisable names in shotguns, rifles and optics including Sako, Beretta, Benelli, Franchi, Steiner and Burris.
The UK Game Fair’s stellar cast of fieldsports giants also includes Promatic, Eley Hawk, Ruger, BASC, the Countryside Alliance, the Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust, Yama-
ha, Great Wall, Longthorne Guns, Boxall & Edmiston, Deerhunter and Brocklehurts.
And you won’t just be able to see all these world-leading brands and their new products – you’ll be able to buy them too. The retail contingent at the Gun Quarter continues to grow, with Ladds Guns the latest to confirm.
“We’re excited to be attending the UK Game Fair – all of us at Ladds are looking forward to supporting this new event and helping make it a success,” Mike Ladd said after confirming the company’s presence at Stoneleigh this July. “We’ll be attending with our full range of new and second-hand shotguns, including Beretta, Browning and Blaser, for whom we’ve just become a main dealer.”
Gunshop Rugby will also exhibit, bringing up to 300 guns. Martin Perkin said: “We’re a premium Beretta dealer – one of the biggest in the Midlands. The two shops and the shooting
ground mean we’ve got a fair amount of stock.
“We are also official dealers for the Browning B15 range – there’s only 11 dealers in the country and we’re one of them. Then there’s the new Blaser F16 – we’ll be stocking a lot of that – and we do a lot with Perazzi as well. In rifles, we’re very big dealers for Sauer. We’ll have the Sauer 404 and also the Blaser R8 – another premium rifle.
“And we’ll take optics to go with the rifles. We’re a key account holder for Swarovski –we’ll bring a lot of those, including the new Z8 range.”
Zoli premium dealer Stutley Gun is another to confirm a major presence at the UK Game Fair. “We’ll be bringing a lot of guns – Zolis, Berettas and the other big brands,” said Jim Stutley.
“Express cartridges are coming to support us – they’ll have a presence on the stand. Titan rifles will be there, we’ll have a lot of Vortex optics there… We’ve taken a bigger stand to fit this all in!”
Shooters should make a bee-line for the clay line at the UK Game Fair.
EJ Churchill, one of the UK’s most prestigious shooting grounds, has signed up to run the clay line and competitions, bolstered by a 35,000-cartridge sponsorship from Eley Hawk, including prizes to take home and shells for use at the fair. Promatic and Clay Shooting magazine are also key sponsors.
Organisers recently announced the first UK Game Fair Classic – a 50-bird English Sporting championship – run by EJ Churchill, with substantial prizes across the classes and categories. There will also be a 25-bird Sport Trap event, again with substantial prize money. Additional prize money will be added to the highest aggregate scores over both events to make for an exciting new challenge for the competitive shot. In total, the clay line will offer over £20,000 in prizes and sponsorship. Newcomers will be able to try clay shooting under the guidance of expert coaches in a safe environment. EJ Churchill’s team of professional coaches will oversee the have-a-go lines, and BASC will run a full tuition package.
You can experience the countryside at the UK Game Fair – the show has launched an initiative to attract thousands of country sports newcomers.
The Experience Campaign encourages those who have not tried clay shooting, airgunning, gundog handling, 4x4 driving or
fishing to get involved.
Experience is designed for newcomers of all ages and actively rewards showgoers for visiting every area of the show, including the clay line, airgun ranges, Focus on Fishing, arenas, 4x4 track and more. Younger visitors will be able to collect stamps for each activity on a special certificate.
A concerted promotional effort is under way to build excitement for Experience, including print advertising and online marketing. This reaches further than the shooting press – for example, the UK Game Fair has booked a heavy campaign with the Midlands-based Touch FM network, which will include on-air advertising, editorial content and live broadcasts from the fair itself.
“We’re attracting a fieldsports-friendly audience to the UK Game Fair, and that includes new blood as well as seasoned country sports veterans,” said show founder Wes Stanton. “With the Experience campaign, we want to give the associations and businesses attending our show every chance of gaining new members and customers.”
Whatever countryside pursuit you’re into, there’s something at the UK Game Fair for you.
Focus on Fishing at the UK Game Fair is set to be an angling extravaganza, with casting and fishing demos, live fishing in all angling disciplines, kayak fishing, casting and fly-tying competitions for all levels of ability – plus an all-new
Advice Centre that looks set to become the hub of the show.
Meanwhile, the working dog area at the UK Game Fair will represent every breed, from Labradors and spaniels, to terriers and lurchers, with displays, trade stands, competitions and demonstrations. The Countryman’s Weekly, the national country sports newspaper, is sponsoring the working dog arenas where demonstrations and displays will take place. Prestigious company Scurry Bandits has signed up to deliver an exciting programme of gundog scurries, and Ian Clinton and Howard Kirby will run a gundog clinic.
Fans of 4x4s will be able to ride in a fleet of Land Rovers over Stoneleigh’s testing track, built by Land Rover to put its vehicles through their paces. Great Wall and Yamaha have confirmed their support of the show.
And the UK Game Fair’s Artisan Food exhibition will bring together rural food and drink producers from across the nation, showing off their mouthwatering wares and headed by a line-up of demos from top chefs including Tim Maddams, Peter Gott, Kathy Slack, Rayeesa and Jose Souto.
Discounted
of shooting socks, then you’ve stumbled on a revered rural tradition. Game fairs are more than just a place for traders to hawk their country sports products – they are a countryside meeting place with roots going back to 1958.
This was the year that the daddy of all country fairs, the CLA Game Fair, made its first
If, in the course of your wanderings around a country estate or the grounds of a stately home, you come across a large collection of what appear to be glorified tents arranged into aisles, while green-clad punters march up and down the grassy corridors inspecting an assortment of leather cartridge bags and pairs ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT
outing. Previously, the only chance keepers, land managers and estate owners had to get together was at events such as Crufts, where the Game Research Station (now the Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust) took a stand, having noticed the number of gamekeepers who flocked to the gundog events. At the
same time, training courses for keepers were becoming hugely popular – the demand for a standalone event was apparent.
The first CLA Game Fair took place on 2527 July 1958 at Stetchworth near Cambridge. In a situation that will be familiar to game fair attendees today, the weeks before the fair were plagued by almost continuous rain, leading to fears of a dismal show. As it happened, it was a raging success, the visitor figures of 8,000 nearly tripling expectations.
The key was the fair’s universal appeal. It wasn’t just a keepers’ event or a landowners’ get together – it was an invitation for everyone on the countryside spectrum, rich or poor, to get together to discuss ideas and promote fieldsports. Unlike county shows, point-topoints or more generic country shows, this game fair had a distinct focus on shooting and its associated sports. There was a rifle range in attendance; falconry displays took place in the arena; a clay shoot was organised; there was a Gamekeepers’ Club put on by the Gamekeepers’ Association. The game fair as we know it was born.
Continued on page 36...
of the gun, all the clay targets, cartridges and hearing/eye protection.
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rise, fall and subsequent rebirth of the traditional rural game fair – and the countryside event everyone’s going to this summerNo small beer – game fairs can attract upwards of 100,000 visitors
As the spring sunshine spreads its rays across the country everyone is heading outside; families flock to national parks, cyclists take to country lanes and walkers enjoy the warm temperatures and clear views from vantage points across the land. Getting outside is never more appealing than when the weather is at its best, and whether you’re walking, hiking, cycling or horse-riding, you want to make sure you’re getting the most out of your time outdoors.
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Fast forward 50 years, and though the scales have changed – the biggest ever CLA Game Fair attracted somewhere near 150,000 visitors – the central focus is remarkably similar. You’ll still see clay shoots, falconry displays and gamekeepers’ gatherings at just about every game fair. And there are more of them to boot – the Midland Game Fair welcomes 90,000 visitors a year to
Weston Park, the Scottish Game Fair at Scone is the biggest event north of the border, and countless more localised events fly the game fair flag.
They are not all huge, of course, but whether it’s six-figure attendance or two boles and a dog, the formula is recognisable. Take one manor house or countryside attraction, situate the aisles of shedding and main arena in the grounds, and populate it with mostly green-clad, dog-towing clientele. As the shooting sports are central to a game fair, you’ll need your exhibitors to follow
suit – gun dealers, country clothing retailers, dog training gear suppliers, and of course, as many hat sellers as you can cram in. Get your main arena demos right – a wildfowler with an abnormally large gun and several terrier races to start with – and you’re on the right track. Over the coming weekend, prodigious amounts of gunslips and whistle lanyards will be sold, the pub will be drained of cider, and the visiting folk will be happy (if quite a bit muddier than when they started).
The game fair circuit was dealt a major blow in 2015 when the CLA closed its game fair’s doors for good. The association cited huge financial losses, and said it could no longer continue to prop up the event with its members’ subscriptions.
Thus ended a 58-year tradition – but what went wrong? Every field-hardened game fair trader in the country has their own idea –but the prevailing theory is that it just got too big. Occupying a huge swathe of land, the CLA Game Fair regularly had more than 800 exhibitors and occasionally as many as 1,100. Shooting was involved, as were fishing, gamekeeping and gundogs – but regular exhibitors began to notice more peripheral additions creeping in. Merry-gorounds, jacuzzis and expensive cars began to take up space as organisers sought to keep the numbers up. The inevitable result was that a jeans-clad ‘family day out’ crowd began to usurp the core fieldsports audience, leaving the traditional traders, who need that core if they’re going to make their stand fee back, out of pocket.
Whatever the reasons behind the CLA Game Fair’s downfall, or the disgruntlement that surrounded its final outing in 2015 at Harewood House, the event will forever be looked on fondly as the ultimate countryside meeting place. It was the one event that country folk from Cornwall and Scotland would be equally likely to travel to – and, for
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many, it was their only opportunity in a busy farming or gamekeeping schedule to meet in the flesh and swap stories. It was the only event you knew everyone would be at.
So what do we do now? We learn from our mistakes and start again. The UK Game Fair, taking place at Stoneleigh on 22-24 July, is the new flagship event for fieldsports in the UK. Coming in at around half the size of CLAs past, it is designed to attract the core Game Fair following – both in terms of exhibitors and visitors – and put fieldsports back at the heart of rural events, with a clear focus on shooting, fishing, working dogs, hunting with hounds and rural estate management.
The venue is no stranger to the rural economy and the agricultural industry: the NAEC at Stoneleigh Park. The site, based between Coventry and Leamington Spa, Warwickshire, for many years hosted the farming community’s blue riband event, The Royal Show. It might not exactly be a country manor – but just a stone’s throw away is the 12th century Stoneleigh Abbey, adding some crucial heritage to the event.
Major organisations such as the British Association for Shooting and Conservation, Countryside Alliance, and Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust have confirmed their attendance – as have shooting industry giants including Beretta, Eley Hawk, Viking Arms, EJ Churchill, Promatic and BSA.
Find out more at www.ukgamefair.com
briefly, becoming chairman of an FT100 listed company. But these are the exceptions.
Most traders are fiercely independent and want to run a business with as little outside interference as possible. The force, as Obi Wan Kenobi put it, is strong with these traders, who are willing to endure nearly anything to keep their businesses going in the face of weather, economic recessions or acts of God.
“It’s a really great life,” I remember one trader telling me, “providing you don’t mind sleeping in a van, working all hours and getting paid basically nothing.” The trader in question is still doing business at this year’s fairs.
by 50 percent,” a cider producer told me at the East Anglian Game Fair this year. Surprise, surprise – to keep your traders happy, pander to their innate conservatism by never changing the dates of an event or their location.
Standing in a rainy, wind-swept showground in March, most traders would be lying if they denied ever thinking: “What on earth am I doing here?” Many will have been asked by their friends and family: “Why do you do it?”
It’s true. Some people stumble into trading at game fairs after an unsuccessful career in parliament, an unhappy love affair, finding out that being president of Brazil wasn’t for them, or after perpetrating fraud and, albeit
When I returned to the UK after running a business in Asia, I was unemployable. Doing business in China in wthe 1990s was entirely alien to the regulated UK arena. A one-man business at the game fairs seemed to be the only option for my buccaneering business style.
The game fairs also allow you to meet your clientele face-to-face – and, with a few dishonourable exceptions, they’re a great bunch. They may not remember you from year to year but they certainly remember your location at the show. “Moving traders without warning is tantamount to reducing their trade
If you make your own product, game fairs offer a valuable alternative to the internet and a means of finding out just what people think about your products. There are, however, downsides. Shoppers never stop at the tills in Marks & Spencer and haggle like camel traders, but they have no problem doing this at game fairs. A bluff and hearty “F*** off!” usually does the trick, especially if the customer enters into protracted bargaining and decides not to buy.
I suspect that as much as traders complain about the mud, trench foot, snow, wind, customers, government, taxes, other people’s dogs, children and so on, many enjoy for the social side of things. There is a strong sense of camaraderie and esprit de corps. Every evening traders entertain each other in their tents, caravans, mobile homes, LDV vans or just out in the open, leaning into the wind and rain.
“You’ll never die a wealthy man trading,” a trader once told me, “but you’ll have a lot of fun trying!”
Game fair stalwart Philip Moss argues that, while it certainly has its ups and downs, trading at game fairs can be truly rewarding
Once you are the owner of an Adria caravan or motorhome, you can wave goodbye to expensive hotel bills and hours spent looking for somewhere to stay in a remote rural area. Instead, just relax and enjoy the ride. You’re taking your own bed with you – not to mention everything else you need, including the kitchen sink!
Just imagine no longer having to fret about how much luggage you can carry on a trip – your motorhome caravan will stow it all. Gone are the days of hurriedly trying to force all your shooting gear or fishing tackle into the boot ahead of a weekend trip. An Adria motorhome has room for it all – not to mention your best tweeds, the dogs and all their toys, the kids and all their toys... Whatever you need, you can take it. What’s more, the freedom an Adria motorhome give you is immense. Last-minute vacancy on a shoot day? You can take it. Impromptu trip to Calais for cheese and wine? No problem.
Motorhomes and caravans are fast becoming the leading holiday choice, as an increasing number of people discover the joy of a break on four wheels – whether it’s a fieldsports getaway or a family road trip. There are countless benefits in opting to buy an Adria caravan or motorhome this year, not least of which is the flexibility it offers.
And there’s no need for luxury to take a back seat to practicality. If you choose one of Adria’s caravans and motorhomes, you’ll always have both. If you shoot, fish, hunt or just walk in the countryside, an Adria motorhome offers you something unique.
The smallholding dream has caught the imaginations of people from all backgrounds since time immemorial – even before BBC’s The Good Life hit screens in the 1970s. But suburban chicken sheds and larks with goats aside, what are the practical aspects that you need to bear in mind before attempting to create your very own slice of rural paradise? Smallholding enthusiast Lisa Williams of the Somerset Smallholders Association gave us some advice on how to get started on this rewarding – if in, some cases, rather fraught – endeavour.
How did you get into smallholding?
I had a firm grounding in husbandry – I worked at Bristol Zoo, and then the RSPCA, as a canine behaviourist, and at a small local rehoming charity in my former life. However, I had never worked with livestock before starting smallholding.
I originally bought three chickens and kept them in the garden. Then I got ducks. Then more chickens. They totally trashed the garden, the ducks got eaten by a fox and I had to move them out to a corner of an acquaintance’s field.
But I really got into it when I raised a few weaners with a friend in her pig pen and we got a couple of orphan lambs together. We had nowhere to keep them (I live in a cul-de-sac) but she did have a big grassy garden so we kept them in a wendy house at night with daytime playing in a large run attached. We now cover three villages with many different plots.
Is it a whole family affair or is it possible to make it work with one person in the couple doing an office job, for example?
I started while working full time as a single
parent with an autistic son. It was easier then, as I had a few sheep, chickens and weaners that went off in the autumn, so I could easily look after them before and after work (although it became more onerous in winter). I’m heavily pregnant and have given up working, but luckily my partner has a good job. Before this though, I ran another business and it was incredibly difficult. I am glad to now be the full time smallholder.
Family support is invaluable for when things go wrong. You can do it on your own – I did so
Continued on page 40...
The ultimate in self-sustaining country life is the smallholding. Kate Puttick finds out just what it takes to make one work
for years – but it is much, much nicer to have the family involved. And all children should be able to experience caring for animals – and know where their food comes from.
What are some of the most common ’starter’ projects for smallholding that you have seen in recent years?
Many people start off with a few chickens in the back garden, or have a pony and want to
expand into livestock i.e. a few chickens and a couple of sheep to graze over the horses. Others have an allotment and get ‘the bug’. All these ways are pretty good, low cost, fairly stress-less ways of starting to ‘smallhold’.
Others leave the city for a more sustainable lifestyle, buying a property with paddocks, grow veg, have a few chickens and often get someone already with sheep to graze the main paddock for them, possibly expanding into it themselves later on. Then there are those who completely go for it, putting up coops for chickens, ducks, geese, turkeys, barns for sheep and fodder, pigs and cattle – all over a short time.
What pitfalls do people encounter when first getting into it?
Some people see it as a hobby. It definitely isn’t. Whether it’s two chickens or 100 sheep, smallholding is a commitment, come rain or shine. I am currently 37 weeks pregnant and still have to see that the animals are at an impeccable standard.
Are there any particular areas beginners should stay away from?
Tenant farming. Tenancies are expensive and you need a good background in livestock management to even attempt it. Cattle, although fantastic, are subject to stringent TB testing routines which involve expensive catching equipment (crushes, etc) and a lot of potential heart-break. They also need good housing, good fodder in large quantities in
winter and a good level of farmer-handling ability. Avoid doing anything on an intensive basis, whether intensive chicken rearing or large flocks of sheep.
What are the requirements in terms of facilities?
It totally depends what you want from it. For a few chickens and vegetables, a garden is fine. I grew veg, strawberries and herbs from window boxes in a flat in Bristol when I was in my twenties. I live in a tiny two up, two down now in a small market town but have to accept that I have to travel every day to do the animals. Different animals and different breeds require different facilities. I think the best thing is to plan what you want and stock your area accordingly. Overstocking is a real no-no, as are substandard facilities. Lockable gates, lockable buildings and a safe place to smallhold are probably a few of the most important factors as, unfortunately, in recent years, theft is rife on smallholdings and farms.
What are your tips for getting started?
Start small, go to events (many are free and many smallholder groups and breed societies offer free or very low cost courses), talk to everyone, build a rapport with your vets, feed merchants, local farmers and contractors.
YouTube has a whole host of excellent ‘how to’ videos on all things smallholder-related. Read as much as you can prior (and I emphasise that word) to buying any stock.
Do
■ Learn the basics of husbandry, basic medication/first aid
■ Make sure you have someone to contact when something goes wrong
■ Register your activities with the relevant authorities. The DEFRA (Department for Environment, Farming and Rural Affairs) website offers a comprehensive checklist with regards necessary administration tasks www.gov.uk/ government/topical-events/farming
Don’t
■ Purchase livestock without experience of working with them
■ Take on too much in one go or too many different types of animals all grazing over each other without sufficient land
■ Try to make a living out of what you are doing too soon after getting involved, unless you have a firm plan and necessary financing
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feeds within the Smallholder range. Containing a mixture of grass, maize and marigold petals (boosted with vitamins and minerals) to promote a naturally golden yolk colour, these pellets provide everything hens need for optimum health all year round. At the same time, the small pellet size means it is also suitable for bantams.
The Smallholder Range is a familyrun business with four generations of experience behind it. The company is quite clear in its message that ‘healthy hens lay healthy eggs’.
Additional treats should be fed sparingly and in the afternoon – although this is not essential as the Smallholder Range Crumble and Pellets provide a fully balanced diet.
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Check your feed bag label to ensure you know the specific ingredients in your feed.
“To lay tasty, nutritious eggs, hens should be fed a high quality, balanced diet”
