Shooting Times & Country – 17 July 2019

TAYLORMADE PHOTOGRAPHY

Keeperinghasbeen a wayoflifeforPaulCockings—

andat 77 he’sstillnotreadytohanguphisboots

F

ew13-year-oldsknowwhatthey

wanttodoinlife.ButforPaul

Cockingstherewasneverany

doubt—heleftschoolandwent

straighttolearntobea keeperonan estate

inBedfordshiresixmilesaway.

“Iusedtobikebackwardsandforwards

everyday,”herecalls.“Itmademegrowup

prettyquickly.I wasunderoneoftheold-

school gamekeepers called Ted Lavender.

topoachingpatr It wasa bigproblemin

thosedaysandwedida lotofnightwork.

Pheasantsfetchedsomemoneythen.”

Hemovedonagainaftera fewyears,

gotmarriedandeventuallysettledwhere

heisnow,theSotterleyestateinSuffolk.

It hasaround5,500acres,includingseveral

hundredacresofoakwoodland.Paul’s

youngestsonJasonworkedwithhimuntil

lastseason.Nowhiseldest son, Phil, has

takenJason’splace.

“It’sverysatisfying,”saysPaul,but

admitsit’snotaneasycareer.“Youhave

tobeabsolutelydedicatedtothejob,seven

daysa week.Themostsatisfyingpartis

beingoutwithnature.Keepersarethe

conservationistsofthecountryside.If the

publicknewwhatwedo,they’drealise how

muchweputintomaintainingit.”

Sotterleyhas 32 drivesandshoots

25 daysduringtheseason.Paul’spersonal

favouriteisdrivenpartridgesbutadmits

it makeshimmournthewildgreys.

“ForyearsweputdownrearedEnglish

greys,buttheyneverstopped,”hemuses.

“Theydon’tseemtostayontheplacelike

theseFrenchmen.Tohaveanysuccesswith

theEnglish,youmuststartoffwithwild

pairs,whichveryfewpeoplewillsellyou.”

Paulalwayslooksforwardtoautumn.

“Myfavouritedayisdrivingpartridgesin

lateOctober;I lovethetimeofyear,the

coloursofthetrees.Partridgesaregoing

wellbymiddleorlateOctober.If yougetthe

rightday—a littledull,with a bit of wind —

thatreallysetsyouup.”

Butkeeperingischanging.“Moneyplays

a biggerroleandeverydayhastobea good

day,”hesays.“There’sa lotofpressure

ona keepertomaintainevery shoot day

throughtheseason.

“Moreandmorepheasantsarebeing

rearedandI thinktherewillbea limitone

day,”headds.“Allshotgamemustgo

throughthefoodchainorwhat’sthepoint?

Theymightaswellshootclaypigeons.”

Surely,now,attheageof77,hemust

bethinkingaboutretiring?Nota bitofit.

“Ihavenointentionofretiring”he

sayswithpalpabledelight,“noneatall,

myemployersaysI’m not allowed to retire

until he does”.

Nicola Jane Swinney

Hetoldmehewouldshowmehowtodoa

jobonce,andif I hadn’tpicked it up, I would

havetoteachmyself.”

Afterfiveyears,Teddecidedhehad

taughtPaulallhecould;it wastimehe

movedon.PaulwenttoStudleyRoyalin

NorthYorkshireintheharshwinterof1963.

“Therewasdeepsnoweverywhere,”

saysPaul.“Theheadkeepermetmeoff

the train at Ripon and we went straight on

eeper of the h

PaulCockingswithhis

trustyLabradorand

(inset) as a young man

Celebrating the custodians of our countryside

SHOOTING TIMES & COUNTRY MAGAZINE • 91