On an annual pilgrimage to Scotland in pursuit of silver salmon, Richard Parker enjoys the many charms of the Jaguar XJ R-Sport saloon
AS has become traditional in September, I was heading north with the Editor as (always) passenger in the neverending quest for the leaper. Over the years, our transport has been on an upward trajectory, from the baseline of a Range Rover in about 2005. This year, I was promised an icon, a car of legend and, to most, extraordinary sculptured beauty bearing a prancing horse on the bonnet and boot.
When endeavouring to maximise the prospect of catching a salmon, timing is everything; you need to hit a weather pattern promising clouds and rain. I discovered that timing is important for prancing horses, too. The week I was chauffeuring Country Life’s own giant of letters to Scotland turned out to be the same week as the Goodwood Festival of Speed. The consequence was that Ferrari no longer had a car available for two middle-aged fishermen. All press cars understandably followed roads leading only to West Sussex, not a place renowned for its run of autumn fish.
However, there’s another leaping creature to add to the menagerie and it was the Jaguar that came to our rescue. Jaguar may not have quite the immediate cachet of Ferrari, but, on our drive up, it occurred to me that cats catch more fish than horses, which just might be a good omen.
Denne historien er fra December 27, 2017-utgaven av Country Life UK.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent ? Logg på
Denne historien er fra December 27, 2017-utgaven av Country Life UK.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
Happiness in small things
Putting life into perspective and forces of nature in farming
Colour vision
In an eye-baffling arrangement of geometric shapes, a sinister-looking clown and a little girl, Test Card F is one of television’s most enduring images, says Rob Crossan
'Without fever there is no creation'
Three of the top 10 operas performed worldwide are by the emotionally volatile Italian composer Giacomo Puccini, who died a century ago. Henrietta Bredin explains how his colourful life influenced his melodramatic plot lines
The colour revolution
Toxic, dull or fast-fading pigments had long made it tricky for artists to paint verdant scenes, but the 19th century ushered in a viridescent explosion of waterlili
Bullace for you
The distinction between plums, damsons and bullaces is sweetly subtle, boiling down to flavour and aesthetics, but don’t eat the stones, warns John Wright
Lights, camera, action!
Three remarkable country houses, two of which have links to the film industry, the other the setting for a top-class croquet tournament, are anything but ordinary
I was on fire for you, where did you go?
In Iceland, a land with no monks or monkeys, our correspondent attempts to master the art of fishing light’ for Salmo salar, by stroking the creases and dimples of the Midfjardara river like the features of a loved one
Bravery bevond belief
A teenager on his gap year who saved a boy and his father from being savaged by a crocodile is one of a host of heroic acts celebrated in a book to mark the 250th anniversary of the Royal Humane Society, says its author Rupert Uloth
Let's get to the bottom of this
Discovering a well on your property can be viewed as a blessing or a curse, but all's well that ends well, says Deborah Nicholls-Lee, as she examines the benefits of a personal water supply
Sing on, sweet bird
An essential component of our emotional relationship with the landscape, the mellifluous song of a thrush shapes the very foundation of human happiness, notes Mark Cocker, as he takes a closer look at this diverse family of birds
