Shooting Times & Country – 21 August 2019

Gamekeeping

SHOOTING TIMES & COUNTRY MAGAZINE • 29

Pickofthejobs
Fiftyyearsago,forinstance,more
keeperswereemployedandthere
weremorejobsavailable.Should
youhappentohavea copyofthis
magazinefromthelate1960sorearly
1970s— andtheyturnupsurprisingly
regularlyat bootsales— oneofthe
firstthingstonote,especiallyif it’s
a DecemberorJanuaryissue,is the
abundanceofadvertisementsin the
situationsvacantcolumns.
Insomeissues,thereweresomany
jobsonofferthata keepercould
pickandchooseinwhatpartofthe
countryhewishedtoliveandwork.
Howdifferenttoday,whenemployers
receivehundredsofapplications for
anyjobthattheyadvertise.

Rawrecruits
Thebackgroundoftheapplicants
is alsodifferenttoday.Inthe1960s
and1970s,manymorekeepers
wouldhavecomefromgamekeeping
familiesandbeenbroughtupinthe
keeperingwayoflife.Today,it’s

morelikelythattheyaretheproduct
ofa collegeeducation— andthere’s
nothingwrongwiththat.
Collegesofferingcourseswhere
it’spossibletogaina thorough
educationingamekeeping,wildlife
managementandallaspectsof
countryside-orientatedissuescan
befoundnationwidenowadays.
Wayback,however,theywere
non-existent,andit wasnotuntil
1973 thattheHampshireCollege
ofAgricultureopeneditsdoorsto
welcome 12 studentswhohadbeen
selectedtoattendBritain’sfirst
evergamekeepingandsporting
managementcourse.
It wasaninvitationthathadtaken
a longtimetoreachfruition.Inhis
bookBritishGame, publishedin1947,
BrianVesey-Fitzgeraldsuggestedthat
a ‘newbreed’ofkeepersshouldbe
college-trainedandthata “keeper’s
collegeis...thesoundest [idea] that’s
beenputforward”.

Dogsoftheday
Justasit seemstherecruitmentof
gamekeepershaschanged,sotoo
— at leastaccordingtotheclassified
sectionsoftoday’sShootingTimes
— have the breeds of working dogs

currentlyfavoured by those involved

inkeepering.

Inthe1970s,a typicalkeepers’

kennelwouldprobablyhave

containedanequalsplitofLabradors

andEnglishspringerspaniels.

Cockers,nowenthusedoverand

workedbymany,weretheninthe

minority.Theyweregenerallyonly

seenat fieldtrialswheredogssuch

asSpeckleofArdoonwerehandledby

KeithErlandson,who became a great

personalfriend.

Thecockerdidnothavea huge

numberoffans.PeterMoxon,the

renownedtrainer,fieldtrialler,

authorandrespectedcolumnistfor

ShootingTimesat thetime,earned

thereputationforbeinga ‘cocker-

knocker’, due to his thinking that

thebreed— orstrainsofbreedthen

inexistence— weretoohot-headed

fora typicalday’s work as required

bya keeper.

Askeenonthebreedashewas,

evenKeithoncedescribedthem

asbeing:“Demonswithlivecoals

foreyessentbytheDevilhimself

totormentmortalman.”Online,in

2009,experiencedcockerspaniel

ownerAlexSwanconcurred:“During

the1970s,if youhadcockersyouwere

eithera geniusora fruitcake. They

weresuchdifficultdogs.”

Formulatedfeed

Astowhethergamekeepersofthe

timewere,likecockerspaniels,of

thegeniusorfruitcakevariety,is a

matterofopinion.Certainly,asfar

asthedevelopmentofgamerearing

wasconcerned,geniustweaksand

improvementswereforeverbeing

made.Thetransitionfrombroody

hensandhome-made,keeper-

producedfeedswasrapidthroughout

thelate1950sand1960suntil,in

the1970s,incubators,rearingunits

ofvarioustypesandspecifically

formulated,mill-manufacturedfeeds

becamethenorm— astheyaretoday.

Incubatorsandhatchershave,

however,becomemoresophisticated

and,asinthepoultryindustryfrom

whichtheyarederived,arecapable

ofdealingwiththousandsofeggs.

Therecanbenodoubtthatthere

aremanymoregamebirdsbeing

rearedintheseconddecadeofthe

21stcenturythantherewere 50

yearsago.Figuresvary,butaccording

tothosecontainedwithina much

publicisedarticlewrittenbyDrMark

Avery,asa resultofa paperpublished

in theJournal of Applied Ecology

“Asanunderkeeper,mymodeoftransport

was a bicycle — and how I came to hate it”

English springer spaniels and Labradors were the keepers’ dogs of choice in the 1960s and 1970s

Fiftyyearsago,thecockerspanielwas

thought too hot-headed to be a keeper’s dog