In the Field
£20.00
In The Field is an anthology of the writer’s favourite field sports assignments throughout Great Britain and beyond during his long association with The Field and Country Life magazines. These sporting adventures are described under the headings of Horse & Hound, Gun & Rifle, Rod & Fly and Mixed Bag.
Some recall watershed moments in rural history, such as hunting with the Duke of Beaufort’s pack the morning after the Hunting Act completed its passage through Parliament, and how the Devon & Somerset Staghounds adapted to hunting deer within the law the following year. There are also exiting days with the Exmoor, Farndale and Middleton Hunts when it was still legal to pursue a live quarry, shoot days spent in the pursuit of grouse and other wild game, and fly fishing expeditions as far afield as Ethiopia, Yorkshire and Patagonia.
Others feature challenging assignments that include catching an Indian Ocean sailfish on the fly, bagging a Macnab, shooting an English wild boar and flighting geese into Altcar’s hallowed coursing grounds beneath a full moon. The book is beautifully illustrated with unique vignettes specially painted by the renowned wildlife and sporting artist, Rodger McPhail.
“This book is a treat to be savoured; part record, part memoir, illustrated with exquisite vignettes by the renowned Rodger McPhail. Adrian writes as an enthusiast for enthusiasts, and the book reads with the same easy elegance and erudition that the author brings to his own sporting life” – Alexandra Henton, Editor The Field Magazine.
Additional information
| Weight | 0.6 kg |
|---|---|
| Dimensions | 27 × 27 × 4.5 cm |
| Number of copies | 1, 2 |
The Hampshire Hunt 1749-2022
£50.00
The History of the Hampshire Hunt Club and the eponymous Hunt is Adrian Dangar’s latest book. The writer was provided with archive material from 1795 that included minute books, hunting diaries, letters and press cuttings from which he has been able to accurately portray the Hunt’s development since the mid-eighteenth century.
In many ways the detailed history of this illustrious Hunt could be taken as a metaphor for the evolution of foxhunting itself across the entire United Kingdom. The writer reveals how the Hampshire Hunt faced up to, and ultimately overcame, a series of threats that included the introduction of driven game shooting in the mid-1800s, the advent of barbed wire, motor cars and attempts to outlaw hunting in Westminster. There is also much to celebrate with descriptions of numerous great hunting runs, brilliant hounds and gifted huntsmen. The text is full of extraordinary anecdotes that seem scarcely believable today such as an eight-mile point in 34 minutes in 1888 and the grisly fate that befell a notorious vulpicide less than 90 years ago.
The text is embellished with many fascinating images including hitherto unpublished photographs alongside rare and historical hunting documents. Published to a high standard on superb quality paper, The Hampshire Hunt 1749 – 2022 is privately commissioned by the Hunt Trustees and is available as a strictly limited edition of 500 signed and numbered copies only.
Additional information
| Weight | 0.975 kg |
|---|---|
| Dimensions | 24.7 × 17.4 × 2.7 cm |
True To The Line
£16.00
True to the Line is now available in paperback!
True to the Line is Adrian Dangar’s recollections of his life at the sharp end of hunting, during which he was a Master and huntsman of three very different hunts in three unique regions of England – Dartmoor, North Yorkshire and Leicestershire. During this time, the author came into close contact with many fascinating characters that live and work in these beautiful landscapes. True to the Line portrays these rural lives alongside hunting, hounds and foxes, together with the challenges, frustrations and rewards of organising modern hunting in an illuminating and anecdotal style. This book not only covers his account as the first amateur huntsman of the Quorn in 80 years, but also his time as hunting correspondent, hound judge, conservationist and all-round countryman.
Accompanied by Daniel Crane’s charming pencil sketches.
“Written with style and Intelligence” – Western Morning News
“A pean to hounds and venery that should grace every foxhunter’s library” – The Field Magazine
“The author writes beautifully in an engaging and illuminating style” – The Countryman’s Weekly
“Funny, interesting and poignant” – The Yorkshire Post
“Will be devoured with relish by anyone who has the remotest connection to hunting” – Horse and Pony Ireland
The work of the Sinnington Hounds 1994 – 1998
£45.00
The Work of the Sinnington Hounds is the writer’s detailed account of 287 day’s hunting spanning his final four seasons as master and huntsman of the Sinnington Hunt in North Yorkshire during the late 1990s. The diaries extend to over 123,000 words and describe the performance of the hounds, the run of foxes and the day to day challenges the writer faced as a huntsman. The book includes the pedigrees of some distinctive hounds, a map of the hunt country and observations and analysis of the occasional other pack including the Cottesmore, Blencathra, Devon & Somerset Staghounds, Exmoor, Heythrop, Quorn and Zetland. These diaries represent an accurate and possibly unique record of hunting a live quarry with hounds shortly before the invidious Hunting Act became law in 2005 and hunting changed for evermore. This book is being published as a strictly limited edition of 500 copies only.
“Beautifully produced, this book is an epitaph to a way of life” – Charles Moore, The Spectator.
“This is a book about hounds that hunted foxes, the craft, runs, people and sport. No hunting home should be without one” – The Field Magazine.
“Such great memories, beautifully written” – Anne Knocker
“Fascinating” – Benoit Guerin MH, Ampleforth Beagles.
“I received your new book as a Christmas present and I’ve been glued to it most nights since” – Gareth Watchman, MFH Berwickshire.
“Just a quick message to say how much I have enjoyed reading the diary. It made me very sad to think the days you have recorded will never return” – Mark Davies, former MFH, Barlow Hunt.
“Congratulations, beautiful book. I’ve made a start and I love it” – Nick Wood
“So many memories flooding back in such detail. I am enjoying it immensely” – Richard Tyacke, Director AMHB.
“I am just through the first hunting season in your diaries. They are living up to all I expected, and I can’t put them down” – Steve Clarke
“I am absolutely bowled over in admiration, it’s quite the most stunning book I have ever seen” – Alexia Robinson
Additional information
| Weight | 1.55 kg |
|---|---|
| Dimensions | 27 × 21 × 5 cm |
Life on the Edge
£25.00
Once described by the actress, Joanna Lumley, as ‘the man with no fear’, Tristan Voorspuy spent his whole life living up to the legend. Early stints in Northern Ireland and Germany with the Blues and Royals were followed by an epic motorbike ride from Cairo to Cape Town, which led on to an extraordinary life surrounded by wildlife in Kenya. Life on the Edge is a story of compassion, conservation and, ultimately, tragedy. In the last two decades of his life, Voorspuy transformed the overgrazed and drought-blighted Sosian ranch in Northern Kenya into a celebrated game reserve, acclaimed tourist destination and successful cattle ranch. True to form, it was whilst defending this property that an unarmed Tristan was gunned down and killed, a murder that sent shockwaves around the world.
“A gripping story, funny, inspiring and sad” – The Spectator
“Beautifully written” – The Daily Telegraph
“Captivating” – Country Life
“A wonderful testament to a life lived with passion and enthusiasm” – The Field Magazine
“A true picture of a remarkable, complex man” – Lucinda Green MBE
“An awe inspiring, amusing and ultimately heart-rending biography” – Haynet
Additional information
| Weight | 0.6 kg |
|---|---|
| Dimensions | 27 × 27 × 4.5 cm |
The Hunting Horn by G. Merle-Smith
£65.00
Grosvenor Merle-Smith, a Virginian who has been an MFH on both sides of the Atlantic and garnered many hunting friends along the way, has completed the project he has been working on for decades. The result is a magnificent, lavishly illustrated and superbly produced history of the English hunting horn. Merle-Smith’s book is a meticulously researched and fascinating account of more than two hundred horns produced by some eighty different companies including familiar names such as Keats, Kohler and Swaine & Adeney, but also rarer examples from Agate & Pritchard, Cowlan in Ireland, Rose & Co from Bombay, and many more besides. There are two sections on individual horns carried by famous huntsmen, including Frank Freeman, Tom Firr and Reverend Jack Russell. This beautiful book, which runs to some 270 glossy, gilt-edged pages, is a glorious work of art that seamlessly combines encyclopaedic fact with intriguing anecdotes, and one no sporting library or hunting household should be without.
Additional information
| Weight | 1.6 kg |
|---|---|
| Dimensions | 28 × 22 × 2 cm |
Biography
Adrian Dangar became MFH and huntsman of the Spooners & West Dartmoor Hunt at the age of 24 where ran the kennels and country single handedly for 3 seasons. He was MFH to the Sinnington in North Yorkshire for 11 season and only the second amateur huntsman in 300 years to be appointed MFH to the Quorn in Leicestershire. He has judged all the major hound shows in Britain, including the Peterborough Royal Foxhound Show three times, the Australian Hound Show twice, and the Western Hunt Challenge in the USA.
In 2000 Adrian founded Wild & Exotic Ltd, a bespoke travel company specialising in riding safaris, fly fishing and tailor-made journeys around the world. He was encouraged in this venture by close friends, Tristan and Cindy Voorspuy, and in the last twenty years has sent numerous clients to enjoy their Offbeat riding safaris and holidays in Kenya, often accompanying groups riding in the Maasai Mara, Amboseli and Laikipia. He has also travelled extensively throughout the rest of southern and eastern Africa, North and South America, India, Jordan and central Asia.
As a writer, he contributes on a regular basis to Country Life, The Field, Horse & Hound and Trout & Salmon. Published by Quiller in Shropshire, Life on the Edge is his second book. When not travelling, Adrian’s pastimes are hunting, rough shooting and chasing salmon in remote streams on the West coast of Scotland.
Pictures courtesy of Jim Meads, Mark Egerton and the Author.
Please click here for information on the author’s travel company offering riding safaris, fishing and bespoke travel, around the world.