It was at Labour’s annual party conference a quarter of a century ago that the mask slipped. With an election looming, Tony Blair was again pledging to ban foxhunting. The…
Features
The Field interview: Phil Spencer
Perhaps it’s unsurprising that we start in the boot room: if anyone knows what your home says about you, it’s Phil Spencer. And this one is a peach, crammed with…
The Field interviews Jimmy Doherty
Asked to describe himself, Jimmy Doherty takes a big intake of breath. “I suppose I am a farmer, conservationist, TV presenter.” He gives a self-deprecating laugh that invites friendship. “Or…
Thomas Straker: the joy of cooking what you shoot
“We came to thrive over other species because we were able to hunt and cook and feed our brains,” says Thomas Straker. “That all stemmed from hunting. The most dialled…
James Murray: The Field interview
James Murray, or Jim as he likes to be known, is a phenomenon. He’s a celebrated actor, a talented artist, a gifted angler and a conservationist and campaigner who is…
The City of London’s livery companies
The Lord Mayor’s Show, an 800-year-old pageant chronicled by Pepys, painted by Canaletto and the first outdoor event ever to be televised live, is a fixture of English life. So…
The Field Interview: Lady Glenconner
Even the walnut tree in the garden here has a venerability graced with a novel twist. “It is so old the holes are filled with polystyrene to stop water getting…
D-Day: 81st anniversary
In the grey dawn of D-Day, 6 June 1944, 20-year-old Trooper Lawrence Burn’s 35-tonne DD (duplex-drive) Sherman tank, its flotation screen raised, edged down the ramp of the landing craft…
Pickleball – one of the UK’s fastest-growing sports
What started across the pond in the 1960s as a game for children to play in their backyards is vying with padel to become one of the UK’s fastest-growing sports.…
Sir Peter Scott: an eminent conservationist
The renowned wildlife artist, author, international competitor in skating, sailing and gliding, wildfowler and broadcaster Sir Peter Scott became the father of modern conservation, founding the Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust…