#TheGameFair Theatre Preview

What’s on at the Game Fair Theatre in 2017? It’s all being organised by Fieldsports Channel. Here’s a preview.

Friday 28 July

9.30am-10am Justin Urquhart Stewart on how to make a million… in twenty minutes
Justin is a well-known TV and radio commentator on investment matters and co-founder of Seven Investment Management. He takes the stage at the Game Fair Theatre to entertain and inform with facts, figures and favourite war stories. Among his top tips: the secrets of the ‘latte pension’, showing how starting small but investing regularly over years and years bears fruit. The fun continues on 7IM’s stand on the Village Green, where you can have a drink and take a turn in Justin’s half-timbered car.

10am-11am Should we repeal the Wildlife & Countryside Act?
So Brexit means Brexit – and at 10am in the Game Fair Theatre that means the 1981 Wildlife & Countryside Act (WACA) is subject to repeal. European Directives have been the cornerstone to much conservation in the UK – but the British version of the 1979 EC Birds Directive, the ‘WACA’, includes general licences, open access and a legislative structure that can catch out a gamekeeper controlling crows, a dog catching a mouse and a wildlife warden removing hedgehogs from an island. Our panel discusses how to best to make the WACA fit for purpose. Panel includes RSPB head of nature policy Jeff Knott, independent commentator Rob Yorke, GWCT chairman Ian Coghill and The Times countryside correspondent Jerome Starkey.

11am-11.25am Nigel Farage on seafishing
Political Marmite he might be, but he is also a keen sea angler. Nigel Farage comes on to the stage at the Game Fair Theatre to talk about thje joys of seafishing around the UK.

11.25am-11.50am Andy Crow on pigeonshooting
Not just a farm manager from Kent, Andy has become one of the biggest personalities in British shooting. His appearances on Fieldsports Channel plus his regular column in Sporting Shooter have given him a global audience of millions. Named UK top pigeon shot by The Field magazine, here’s how to bring in the birds.

11.50am-12.15pm Stuart Walker on Himalayan monsters
When Stuart Walker watched a TV documentary about an expedition for Himalayan mahseer on the River Ganges, it left a lasting impression. Eventually, he made a journey of adventure into the Himalayan foothills of Northern India after big golden mahseer, at the end of the monsoon season, to catch the fish of his dreams. He is joined on stage by Classic Angling editor Keith Elliott, who has also caught big goldens in the Himalayas. Together, and with Bob Roberts, they are making a film series about fishing in the UK, Caught In The Act

12.15pm-12.40pm Jim Barrington on foxhunting ban repeal
The former head of the League Against Cruel Sports, Jim now campaigns in favour of hunting with hounds. Lack of a Tory landslide may have kicked repeal of the foxhunting ban off the government agenda for the time being, but Jim explains how it could still happen.

12.40pm-1.05pm Charles Jardine on Fishing4Schools
One of the most entertaining people in angling, Charles’s tireless work promoting fishing to the underprivileged brings him to the Game Fair Theatre. Fishing4Schools is a Countryside Alliance initiative that started in 2008 and has given more than 2,000 young people the opportunity to discover the joy of fishing.

1.05pm-1.30pm Tim Pilbeam on Rucksack & Rifle
Tim is the man at the airport with the small bag and the gun. His series on shooting abroad, Rucksack & Rifle, has earned him millions of views on YouTube and is taking him all over the world. A shooting enthusiast from Kent, he shows how the modern big-game hunter is a long way from the pith-helmeted adventurer of 100 years ago.

1.30pm-1.55pm Dom Holtam on the Ferrari Macnab
When Sporting Shooter editor-in-chief Dom Holtam was offered a Ferrari FF to review, the first thing he checked was whether it would fit rod, rifle and shotgun. It does, so he roared off from deerstalking in Cornwall via grouseshooting in Yorkshire to a salmon on the River Thurso, all in three days, and he is here to talk about it.

1.55pm-2.20pm The vocal yokel: Robin Page’s vision of the countryside
Former TV presenter, national newspaper columnist and founder of the Countryside Restoration Trust does not tolerate fools or antis. He explains what’s wrong with the modern countryside and how his way is the right way to put it right.

2.20pm-2.45pm Louise Gray, the Ethical Carnivore
Writer and journalist Louise Gray spent a year only eating meat she had killed. Starting small with oysters and fish, she moved up through pigeons and rabbits in what became a quest to reconnect with nature. Her book, The Ethical Carnivore, is ‘eye-opening’ (The Guardian) and ‘a must-read’ (The Press & Journal).

2.45pm-3.10pm CLA president Ross Murray on The Countryside Matters
Brexit could be bad for landowners. The British countryside is the eighth wonder of the world, says the CLA president. He launched The Countryside Matters campaign to highlight why a vibrant, living and working countryside should be a government priority that it is worth investment in the wake of Brexit.  He is joined on stage by Carter Jonas’s Richard Liddiard.

3.10pm-3.30pm Roy Lupton on flying golden eagles
It’s time to go Lord of the Rings. Roy Lupton and vet Tom Dutton are passionate about eagles. We play footage of one of Roy’s golden eagles catching a mountain hare, filmed from a camera on the back of the eagle. They will talk about that, and about the threat to raptors from lead bullet fragments left in gralloch.

3.30pm-4pm Fox calling competition, in association with The Countryman’s Weekly
Can you call a fox? Bring your (non-electronic) fox-calling devices to the Game Fair Theatre for a scratch and a squeak, and a chance to win both glory and Game Fair goodies. Held in association with the Countryman’s Weekly, expect to see masters of the art of expanded polystyrene to the good old back of the hand. Sign up for it here: bit.ly/gftcomps

4pm-4.30pm Ivan Tarin on fly fishing in Spain
If you though Spain was all sun and sangria, think again. Ivan Tarin of tour operator Salvelinus offers a range of rivers and accompanying wine bodegas to visit. He talks through Spain’s viticultural and piscatorial delights.

4.30pm-5pm Marc Newton on Jim Corbett’s rifle
When conservationist, rainforest expert and tiger hunter Jim Corbett shot the Champawat man-eater, the local governor presented him with a Rigby .275. The boss of London gunmaker Rigby bought the gun and will be showing it off on stage as he talks about that, and the new rifles Rigby is making.

Saturday 29 July

10am-11am What’s the BBC’s problem with Fieldsports?
Some 17% of the population lives in the countryside, as many as three million of them fish, more than half a million are licenced to own guns and 250,000 go to the Boxing Day meets of foxhounds – so is the BBC right to treat countrysports as controversial? And is there urban bias at work here? Panel includes: Countryside ALliance chief executive Tim Bonner, the ‘vocal yokel’ Robin Page, BBS rural champion Dimitri Houtart and Shooting Times editor Patrick Galbraith

11am-11.30am Andy Crow on pigeonshooting
Not just a farm manager from Kent, Andy has become one of the biggest personalities in British shooting. His appearances on Fieldsports Channel plus his regular column in Sporting Shooter have given him a global audience of millions. Named UK top pigeon shot by The Field magazine, here’s how to bring in the birds.

11.30am-12pm Gold medallist Peter Wilson on the future of Olympic shooting
The Olympics was founded partly on shooting sports. The International Shooting Sports Federation has now replaced three shooting sports with mixed team events amid rumours that they want to replace all shooting sports with lasers. Double trap, Peter Wilson’s own sports, is among those the ISSF has axed. So what is the future of Olympic shooting?

12pm-12.30pm Rob Gearing on shooting at altitudes
It is one of the trickiest shots in the world. Suffering from altitude sickness, exhausted after the rough journey up into the mountains of Kyrgyzstan, Rob shot an ibex at 600 metres. How do you achieve a clean kill under those conditions? He talks about his experiences.

12.30pm-1pm Terry Doe and Russ Douglas
There are up to 5 million airgunners in the UK. It’s a burgeoning sport, with new disciplines such as target sprint and HFT taking the world of shooting by storm. Disabled airgunner Russ Douglas and Airgun World editor Terry Doe talk about why they love airgunning – the accessible sport.

1pm-1.30pm Antis in bed with shooters: Rachel Carrie talks about Jodie Marsh
Last autumn, celebrity vegan anti-hunter Jodie Marsh got into bed with the enemy in a new TV documentary about hunting. She went head-to-head with shooter Rachel Carrie in her show Jodie Marsh Goes Hunting – and Rachel talked her round. Rachel comes to the theatre to talk about how she did it.

1.30pm-1.50pm Justin Urquhart Stewart on how to make a million… in twenty minutes
Justin is a well-known TV and radio commentator on investment matters and co-founder of Seven Investment Management. He takes the stage at the Game Fair Theatre to entertain and inform with facts, figures and favourite war stories. Among his top tips: the secrets of the ‘latte pension’, showing how starting small but investing regularly over years and years bears fruit. The fun continues on 7IM’s stand on the Village Green, where you can have a drink and take a turn in Justin’s half-timbered car.

2pm-2.30pm Peter Carr on ptarmigan
Sporting Rifle editor Peter Carr has many passions – and one of them is small, white and needs legwork. Whenever he can, Peter climbs to more than 3,000ft in Scotland where he can track down ptarmigan, one of the most elusive of the grouse species. He tells us what grit and spit it takes.

2.30pm-3pm Hornblowing competition, in association with The Countryman’s Weekly
Are you up for the Countryman’s Weekly’s hornblowing competition? A panel of fearsome foxhunting judges will hear you blow anything from ‘gone away’ through ‘moving off’ to ‘gone to ground’ and, if you do it better than the rest, you win glory and Game Fair goodies. Sign up for it here: bit.ly/gftcomps

3pm-3.30pm Wayne McGee and Marina Gibson on fishing wildernesses
Two stars of the world of fishing take to the Game Fair Theatre stage to talk about angling wildernesses. Wayne runs a world class fishing operation on a prolific Alaskan river system. Marina is a fanatical angler who spent much of her childhood chasing salmon, trout and sea trout throughout the Scottish Highlands.

3.30pm-4pm The amazing price of grouse
Shooting experts Chris Horne from GunsOnPegs and James Chapel from William Powell talks about grouseshooting. Chris reveals the latest state-of-the-nation about grouse and grouseshooting thanks to research commissioned by GunsonPegs.com. And then there is the subject of grouse prospects. Will 2017 be a bumper season for Britain’s most native of gamebirds?

4pm-4.30pm The Guntiques Roadshow
Bill Harriman from BASC and the BBC’s Antiques Roadshow, plus gun auctioneers Nick Holt and Gavin Gardiner and antique fishing tackle specialist Victor Bonutto talk about unusual lots that have passed through their and other people’s auction catalogues. You can’t hold down a good auctioneer. Expect explosions.

4.30pm-5pm Byron Pace on Into The Wilderness
Staying with the wilderness theme, Byron and Daryl Pace’s sensational YouTube channel about the loneliest and most exhilarating deerstalking in Scotland, accompanied by their prolific podcast about characters from the world of fieldsports, makes Byron a fascinating subject for a Game Fair Theatre interview.

Sunday 30 July

10am-11am Why does Scotland hate its countryside?
First there was the destruction of the West Coast salmon fishery, then the kill order on Scotland’s deer, followed by land reform, shoot licencing, the organised monstering of grousemoor keepers and airgun licencing. What is the Scottish central belt politicians’ problem with the bulk of their country? We bring together Scots to find out. Panel includes Scottish sporting filmmaker Byron Pace, RSPB Scotland’s Duncan Orr-Ewing and Shooting Times editor Patrick Galbraith

11am-11.30am Disabled shooter Jamie Chandler
Jamie Chandler was born with no hands and an abiding passion for shooting. He has not let the one get in the way of the other, and his YouTube videos are now some of the most-watched airgunning videos in the world. He is on stage to talk about it.

Time to be confirmed Environment minister Thérèse Coffey
What is the Government going to do next with the environment? Thérèse is here to answer our questions. She looks after the natural environment, including biodiversity, the marine environment, and international wildlife trafficking. She is also in charge of floods, water and waterways, and air quality. Plus she had to break the news to parliament that there would be no free vote on foxhunting ban repeal following the general election.

11.30am-12pm Christopher Somerville from The Times Britain’s Best Walks
The Times’ own rambling writer Christopher Somerville comes on stage for some live walking. He will be on a treadmill reacting to images of the British countryside and talking about his book, The Times Britain’s Best Walks

12.30pm-1pm Jim Barrington on foxhunting ban repeal
The former head of the League Against Cruel Sports, Jim now campaigns in favour of hunting with hounds. Lack of a Tory landslide may have kicked repeal of the foxhunting ban off the government agenda for the time being, but Jim explains how it could still happen.

1pm-1.30pm Mike Robinson on deer
Restaurateur, deer manager and TV presenter Mike Robinson manages his own deer park in Berkshire. He talks about the highs and lows of looking after wildlife, and the ultimate joy of taking it from his field to your fork.

1.30pm-2pm Asa Wilson – the Bugatti of catties
Asa Wilson makes the world’s most beautiful catapults, from high-tech materials with an aircraft-grade aluminium core. They are the Holland & Holland of slingshots. He shows off the inner nobility of the catapult.

2pm-3pm The Green Belt and the North Herts Plan
North Hertfordshire District Council isproducing its controversial local plan, which will see thousands of new houses built on green belt. Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council has just produced its plan. So what price the green belt? We bring together the protagonists to argue it out. Panel includes Gareth Hawkins of Save Our Green Belt, local campaigner Carolyn Cottier, Colin Haigh of Welwyn Hatfield Council and Robert Smith from Carter Jonas.

3pm-3.30pm Chris Green on Wildfowling
One of the best-known wildfowlers in the UK, Chris’s DVDs sell by the thousand. In them, he offers a lifetime of experience about wildfowling and other countrysports. It is one of the noblest callings in shooting sports – so come and meet true sporting aristocrat.

3.30pm-4pm Duck calling competition, in association with The Countryman’s Weekly
Chris Green stays on stage to judge our duck calling competition. Can you quack in a mallard or whistle in a teal? Come up on stage and give it a go. There are great prizes for the winner – and fun for friends and family all round. But beware: Chris can tell the difference between a winning widgeon and a rank outs-eider (geddit?). Sign up for it here: bit.ly/gftcomps

Game Fair Theatre
What it looks like 10 days before the event

The Game Fair is at Hatfield House, Hertfordshire, on 28-30 July 2017. Visit TheGameFair.org

This film was first shown in Fieldsports Britain episode 399.  To watch the whole show go to Fcha.nl/fieldsportsbritain399

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