Spanish Style At Challacombe

How would French redlegs, bred and reared in Spain, perform during a Westcountry southwester?

- Janet Menzies

It was the second day of the season but the French red-legged I partridges at Challacombe, on the western edge of Exmoor National Park, flew brilliantly, overcoming both gale and rain – and, indeed, many of the guns. This last achievement was probably the Spanish-bred-and-reared partridges’ finest, as the team included some of the country’s high-bird specialists.

Challacombe shoot, formerly attached to Castle Hill, is now part of a group of shoots run by the Bray Valley Sporting Club. This interesting concept – running an elite syndicate as a club – was explained by one of the founders, Charles Fussell. “We set up the partner shoots of Challacombe and Edgcott about seven or eight years ago as sporting clubs, organised as a company with an independent board. So it is a little different from the traditional syndicate shoot. Angus Barnes, who owns Loyton Lodge where we all stay, is also our man on the ground. Angus is the brains behind the operation. He liaises with the keepers and takes responsibility for designing drives and if we take on new ground, and generally running the shoots. Then he will report back to the board. Members have a fee to join and there are fees depending on how many shoots you attend. The whole structure seems to work very well. You can tell because the central core of the membership all gets to shoot together about three or four times a year and, when we do, we all enjoy it and there is a real party atmosphere.” It was one of these days that The Field was invited to attend, with Editor Jonathan Young showing his mettle.

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