YOU WON’T notice them at first, those suspiciously well-plaited ponies at the Meet, the mothers unfathomably laid back and the bonnie child on board just a bit, well, bonnie. But as things start to unravel in your camp, it will dawn on you that those tearless, warm, gung-ho smalls have at their fingertips the most coveted of things: a sporting nanny (SN). And here is a breed of nanny that really does know best.
Take Pea Wallace’s childhood Mary Poppins, Jo, who on autumn hunting mornings would savvily lay out kit on the Aga for her charges to slide into half awake, before setting off with school uniform and a box of Frosties preloaded in the car. “She definitely played a part in my love for country life, animals and sports,” says Wallace, now in her forties. She recalls the time that having delivered the children to school post-hunting, Jo got a call from her teacher to say that six-year-old Wallace was slumped at her desk (the Ribena had been unknowingly switched for port).
But this blip was a small price to pay for helping ignite a lifelong love affair with fieldsports. “Between her and mum, they really instilled how to make the most of life and ‘getting on with it’, an invaluable lesson that has put me in good stead. Jo juggled school runs, riding, cooking, grooming for my mum who was competing, shopping, taking us hunting, swimming. There wasn’t anything she couldn’t do.”
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Strength in Numbers -The success of Britain's growing band of Farmer Clusters shows the value in working together and engaging with the public in the name of conservation, says Gabriel Stone
In a world that leans into gloomy headlines, it's important to wave the flag for a refreshing success story. That's especially the case when it comes to our overburdened farming sector and the wider way in which we manage the landscape. Yes, we: everyone can play a role, not least through one inspirational initiative. Ever since a 2013 pilot project by the GWCT in association with Natural England, Farmer Clusters have mushroomed across Britain. Led by farmers with guidance from expert advisers, today's network of about 125 clusters encourages a cohesively managed, locally tailored, larger-scale approach to conservation work.
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Forget modern tractors and minimum tillage - there is something glorious about the sight of farmer, horse and vintage plough in perfect harmony
Return of the natives
There is nothing as satisfying as creating a magical miniature woodland or conservation hedgerow using our native trees - and now is the best time to start.
Tagging the Cornish tunny
Enormous Atlantic bluefin tuna are once again making waves in UK waters almost a century after their showstopping appearance in the North Sea
In it for the long haul
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Don't play it by ear
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Back to base-ics
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Stand and deliver
A good stance provides the platform for shotgun marksmanship and is fundamental to consistent success in the field or breaking clays