The Bettws Hall Experience

There are some names in the shooting world that need little introduction. Purdey. Holland & Holland. Schoffel. These are brands that are synonymous with high quality, attention to detail, and, above all, desirability. It is one of the peculiarities of shooting that as a rule, the places where we shoot are fairly anonymous. But at least one group of shoots belongs to the same constellation as the names mentioned above: Bettws Hall. 

Bettws Hall was founded in 1988 by Gwyn and Ann Evans, who took their beef and sheep farm in rural Wales and, over 30 years, transformed it into one of the premier shooting businesses in the UK, and possibly the most recognised name in driven shooting.

If you consume shooting media of any kind, you’ve likely seen the name, especially if you watch game shooting videos on YouTube or spend much time on Instagram: squadrons of breathtakingly high pheasants and partridges stream from the slopes of deep Welsh valleys, treetop-high and then some. But let’s not pretend that there aren’t lots of shoots in the UK that can show lots of very high birds, so what is it that sets Bettws Hall’s reputation so far apart from the rest?

What makes the Bettws Hall experience special?

It seems a simple question, but it is actually fairly tricky to put your finger on a single answer. Having only ever heard people speak in hushed tones, or ebullient enthusiasm about their six estates, I was fascinated to see for myself what makes them so popular.

To this end, I travelled to Powys to observe a day. Sadly I wouldn’t actually be shooting, but then, perhaps being a fly on the wall allows a more detached analysis.

Like most teams of guns, I arrived at the Mid-Wales village of Bettws Cedewain the night before the shoot, where I was greeted by Marc Brown, the Gunroom and Marketing Manager, who had issued the invitation to poke my nose in. Guns stay the night in one of Bettws Hall’s first-class shoot lodges: Bettws Hall House, the former Evans family home; The Willows Lodge and The Beeches Lodge. The lodges are arranged around a stunning courtyard, of which the centrepiece is a huge sculpture of pheasants taking to the air by local wildlife artist Terence Lambert. Driving through the archway into the yard is a breathtaking moment and really sets the tone.

Also in the courtyard is the gunroom, Marc’s domain, which is stocked with all the things a visiting gun may have forgotten, from cartridges to socks, wellingtons to shirts and everything in between. Marc proudly explained the special relationship between Bettws and Purdey too. “Working with James Purdey & Sons allows our guests to try out the finest guns on the finest estates in real life," he told me. "It is a long-term relationship and something we are very excited to develop.”

The Gunroom is also where guests’ guns are stored overnight. Since I was shooting in Hereford the next day, I was able to store my gun here overnight, where it was beautifully cleaned and handed back to me the next morning, complete with a Bettws Hall tag on the slip bearing my name.

Because I wasn’t staying in any of the lodges, I was given a tour of the Bettws Hall House to give me a feel for the accommodation. Here, the attention to detail is what stood out to me. All of the rooms (Bettws Hall House has five king rooms, the other two lodges eight apiece) are beautifully furnished in what might be termed a ‘luxury farmhouse’ style, with subtle lighting and tasteful decoration.

The Beeches and The Willows feel very ‘native’ thanks to the fact that they’re built using reclaimed oak beams from the farming sheds they once were. Log burgers, comfy sofas and beautiful exclusive dining rooms give them both a cosy yet luxurious atmosphere, creating a home-from-home feeling. When we dropped into The Beeches, where the team I was to shadow were staying, they were enjoying a drink by the fire before sitting down to a meal prepared by Bettws Hall’s team of professional chefs - from memory I think the menu included roast fillet of beef from the Evans' own farm. Marc explained that all food and drink, barring wines, is included in the price of the accommodation, and that Bettws has an extensive wine cellar from which guests can choose.

What happens on a Bettws Hall shoot day?

After a comfortable night in the nearby Granary accommodation, one of Bettws Hall’s B&Bs, I joined the guns for breakfast in the lodge where I enjoyed an excellent bacon sandwich and a cup of coffee, before everyone congregated in the courtyard. The shoot captain for the day, Anthony de la Cour, gathered the guns and gave them the morning briefing, before everyone decanted into their cars and we set off in convoy. 

Our destination was Plas Dinam. Of the six shoots in the portfolio, none could be described as anything other than challenging, but according to Anthony, Plas Dinam rates a solid 9/10 when it comes to the height of the birds, and along with the famous Brigands and the serene Vaynor Park, is one of Bettws’ most in-demand estates. “This is the big boy stuff,” he told me. Having never really experienced this kind of ‘extreme’ high bird shoot, I was fascinated to see how these birds would compare to the sort of lowland shooting I’m used to. 

Because I had arrived in the dark the previous evening, the 20 minute drive to Plas Dinam was really my first glimpse of the imposing landscape that would be the stage for the day’s action. In mid October there was still plenty of leaf on the trees, and much of the farming thereabouts is pastoral, so the green of the hills when combined with the bright blue of the crisp autumn sky painted a picture to make anyone’s heart leap, but even though I wasn’t to be shooting, I found my heart beating faster, as I imagined drives that made use of the towering hills and steep-sided valleys. 

Plas Dinam

The base for the day was the stunning Broneirion Hall, which enjoys spectacular views across the Severn Valley towards Plas Dinam shoot itself. We didn’t hang around for long, though, just enough time for the guns and loaders to get booted up and fill their cartridge bags, and then we were off for the first drive, across the valley and up a very steep track.

Big Willy Style

The first drive, “Big Willies” (no sniggering at the back!) is clearly designed to give you a good idea of what to expect for the rest of the day. With the guns lined out along the floor of a mountainside valley, the beaters push birds in a horseshoe shape along the ridgeline. This means that the birds at the end of the drive come from entirely the opposite side of the valley to the birds at the start of the drive.

Big Willies

With the bright sunshine of the morning in question, half the drive was in shadow, the other half brilliantly lit, making for a stunning scene by which head keeper, Will Diamond, presented the guns with some of the most challenging partridges that I’ve ever seen. This being said, the team, mostly from the North East and including a two-time winner of the Great British Side-by-side Championship, seemed well up to the task. 

Snap shooting at fighter planes

Fortified by a sharpener from the back of a very well-stocked Range Rover, the convoy set off for the second drive, and it was here that I felt I was seeing what makes Plas Dinam so memorable. The thing about the Powys landscape is that you could put the guns more or less anywhere, and push out pretty much any part of any of the hills and show very good birds. However, it takes a special way of thinking to look at such a landscape and design a drive like ‘Penrhyllan’.

Penrhyllan - a view up the gorge

The guns and I were escorted to the head of a deep and sheer-sided ravine, with a vigorous brook tumbling through its bottom. Wooden walkways zig-zagged their way down the gorge, with guns pegged either side of the stream.

Penrhyllan's deep gorge presented an incredible setting and impressive birds

 The birds whipped over the ravine at lightening speed, and there were a  few incredibly long crossers plus the odd bird scudding down the ravine itself, much like the pair of RAF 'Texan' training aircraft which buzzed down the valley part-way through the drive, prompting much discussion as to the best shells and how much lead would be required to bring them down. Probably not that much more than the partridges, to be honest...

Of the day’s four drives, it was this one that impressed me most of all, and not just because of the aeronautical display. In terms of memorable drives, I don’t really know how you would top it. The setting was unique, and the birds of unimpeachable quality. 

Even as the gorge opened out, Penrhyllan's banks were steep

Gourmet food and breathaking views

Given Bettws Hall’s reputation for looking after the finer details, it came as no surprise when elevenses, taken after the second drive, was a step up from your standard sausage-roll-and-a-scotch-egg affair that you might find on your local syndicate.

Ian cooking up a storm

Enjoyed at a pretty railway carriage on a saddle of the hill, with stunning views across the valley, the guns got stuck into a mug of fortifying soup while chef Ian heated a wok and prepared some of the most toothsome, tender teriyaki beef I’ve ever had the pleasure of eating.

Not a bad view for elevenses

Clive's

Enlivened by this light but delicious repast, we made our way to “Clive’s”, the third drive of the day. This was another gorge-bottom drive, though this particular canyon was slightly deeper, with slightly gentler banks lined with tall woodlands.

Again, the birds were a really long way up, and the guns seemed to be having a whale of a time. A special commendation must be given to the beating team, who had to tackle a near-vertical bank - they must breed an agile beater in Powys!

Even just watching the shooting had me gasping in amazement, not just at the height of the birds, but also in the team’s ability to fold pheasants that I would have allowed to sail on by, confident that I stood no hope of hitting them, let alone killing them.

It turns out that it is really quite draining even just spectating , so I was grateful for the longer stop afforded by lunch, taken in the bright, sunny dining room of Broneirion House. Jerk chicken, a delicious lamb wrap, a light salad and a few chips - not your standard shoot day fare by any stretch, but a really interestingly different take on a shoot lunch. I did get the impression that by this stage in the trip, the waistbands of one or two of the guns were starting to feel the quite literal strain!

Quarry: platoons of partridge

Quarry

The final drive of the day was what you might call a ‘showpiece’, not that the other drives were not incredibly impressive. Not so for “Quarry” which saw the guns pegged in rather more open country. The morning’s blue skies had given way to grey clouds, from which an increasingly intense rain began to fall.

Accompanying this was a good breeze, and the partridges performed accordingly. We were treated to the dizzying sight of huge groups of partridges bearing down on the line from seemingly miles back, with individual birds in the covey never seemingly sticking to one flight path for more than a second or two. It was a quite overwhelming, mesmerising experience. 

I had stationed myself in the middle of the line, to get the best vantage point from a photography perspective, but this meant that either end of the line was obscured from my vision by trees. Nevertheless, the sheer quantity of banging made it clear to me that the team were not having quite the same problem selecting a bird, an impression solidified by the breadth of the smiles on their faces as they regrouped after the horn had sounded to end the day’s action. 

Is Bettws Hall's reputation justified?

So, is the fuss about Bettws Hall justified? Well... that depends. I have observed on more than one occasion that shooting is a broad church, and that different people value different things. If, for you, shooting is about the raw experience of pitting your wits against wild game, days where there are more participants than birds in the bag as the sun dips below the horizon, and you value the hardship involved in getting those few precious birds, then Bettws Hall isn’t for you. That being said, you'd be hard pushed not to be impressed.

If, however, your idea of a great day's shooting means challenging yourself on some of the most testing birds you’ll find anywhere, and spoiling yourself with luxurious accommodation, gourmet food, fine wines and the kind of service you’d expect at a top hotel, then I believe you’ll struggle to find anywhere to rival the Bettws Hall experience.

It is a fine-tuned, well-oiled, slick operation where one’s every want is anticipated, every member of the extensive staff knows their role, and yet this is managed with a camaraderie and relaxed, informal, friendly air that belies the hard work going on behind the scenes. With a combination of shooting and hospitality like this it is hardly surprising that teams return to Bettws year after year, and why days and single pegs on their portfolio of shoots are like gold dust.

View Bettws Hall's shoots