It’s that time of year again: when The Field’s famous Christmas number wings its way to homes across the land, heralding the countdown to festive celebrations. Our December issue is packed with festive sport and is a veritable feast of the best the countryside has to offer at this time of year.
A wild and wintry Wydale shoot in North Yorkshire offers up testing birds for family and friends, while Graham Downing experiences what conservation and community can achieve when he visits a Purdey Awarding-winning shoot in the Fens. Pairing up on a peg is a great way of sharing a passion – and knowledge – for shooting but there are some important caveats, as Jonathan Irby explains.
The Border has navigated some tricky terrain but, as Tessa Waugh discovers, this invigorated hunt excels at bringing people together in appreciation of hounds and the countryside. Octavia Pollock hails the huntsman’s horse: that fearless, patient and adaptable equine who serves us so well.
We travel to the Netherlands to chase pike in the Polders, while Gabriel Stone reveals the concerted conservation efforts to save many of the world’s glorious pheasant species from extinction. Meanwhile, Janet Menzies tells us there is snow dog quite like one from those breeds harking from mountains and tundra when it comes to helping humans.
Rosie Macdonald raises her glass to the drawing room cocktail trolley; the source of much Christmas cheer and cheers. There’s more to festive cheese than simply Stilton: we lift the cloche on some of Britain’s most delicious blue cheeses.
Rory Knight Bruce sings the praises of rural choirs and the role they play in bringing communities together, as Lucy Higginson can’t resist the lure of zipping across the ice on skates, and she is far from alone. Plus we’ve Christmas camels, George Washington’s daring river crossing at the Battle of Trenton, pantomime’s biggest fan Gyles Brandreth and much, much more.