Country House

Rare breeds are under threat

Some rare breeds are becoming rarer, if the recent Rare Breeds Survival Trust watchlist is anything to go by. Britain’s native pig breeds face “significant threats” according to the latest…

Scots Grey Hen in bronze resin by Elliot Channer.

Elliot Channer started his route to artistic success via the internet. Not something Sir Alfred Munnings had recourse to. But his sculptures are decidedly tangible. Janet Menzies meets Elliot Channer.…

Gurkha soldiers in alert and patrol.

Gurkhas have fought for Britain in many significant campaigns for the last two hundred years. With such a determined and ferocious enemy, it had seemed only natural to recruit them…

Wheellock. Historical hunting weapons. Main mechanism

The wheellock transformed warfare and shooting. Its place in the history of the shotgun and shooting is confirmed. The new mechanism, in existence by about 1500, employed an enclosed, sprung…

Scottish Land Reform.

Scottish Land Reform is a question that affects those in Scotland and those who enjoy their Scottish sport, grouse shooting, stalking and fishing. It affects my home, Raehills, in the…

Orkeny unseen naked chaity calendar 2015

The Orkney Unseen naked charity calendar 2015 has put the archipelago, just off the north coast of Scotland, in the spotlight. The Orkney inhabitants have laid bare the inner Islander,…

Early Morning Light in the Cotswolds by sporting artist Jeremy Houghton

Jeremy Houghton’s work is all about the spaces in between, which somehow convey the realities of the sports he depicts more convincingly than any amount of photographic detail. The forbidding…

A snarling man-eater is not the best thing to encounter on the way to the shower block.

Man-eaters are not just a category of monsters consigned to schlock horror films. They are a very real danger, particularly if one finds oneself on safari (for expert advice see…