2018 Purdey Awards Winners Announced

This year marks the 20th anniversary of the Awards. The Gold Award was won by the Howesyke Shoot, Yorkshire for their work in woodland and heather restoration, as well as a successful black grouse reestablishment scheme. The Silver Award was given to the Burnham Thorpe Shoot, Norfolk for their success in creating and blending a grey partridge project with a traditional syndicate shoot.The Bronze Award was given to Whitburgh Farms, Midlothian for making notable changes to their shoot to create an extensive wildlife habitat and thereby demonstrating the feasibility of such projects being replicable by other farmers on a smaller scale. 

The Duke of Wellington, Chairman of the Awards judging panel, announced the 2018 winners of Purdey’s annual competition to find the UK’s most outstanding game and conservation projects. The recipients were presented with their awards by David Gower OBE, broadcaster and former international cricketer. 

The Howesyke Shoot, Grafton, York wins the 2018 Purdey Gold Award 

Mr. and Mrs. Rob and Helen Brown were last night announced as 2018 winners of the Purdey Gold Award. Since starting their project in 2009, the Brown family has taken what was hitherto an intensively managed hill farm and lovingly created a truly wonderful shoot offering a stunning variety of partridge, pheasant and grouse.  

The judges were universal in their praise for this entry’s success in their overall conservation programme, which perfectly demonstrates just how much energy, enthusiasm and knowledge can create, in their words, “a perfect small sporting estate in the uplands of England”. This is a project that has enjoyed the advice and engagement from a variety of NGOs and includes the planting of over 100,000 broadleaf trees, a successful black grouse reestablishment scheme, over 900 acres of peat restoration, the creation of five new wetland habitats and even the repair and rebuild of 1.3km of dry stone walls. 

The award is a due recognition of the success of what has been a lifetime’s project for Mr. and Mrs. Brown, with every aspect of the shoot carefully planned and including the growing the demand and distribution for shot game.  

Mr. and Mrs. Brown were presented with the annual Purdey Awards Trophy, the Gold Award and a cheque for £5,000. 

Burnham Thorpe Syndicate, King’s Lynn, Norfolk wins 2018 Purdey Silver Award 

Winning the 2018 Purdey Silver Award and a cheque for £3,000 was Mr. Nick Zoll and the Burnham Thorpe Syndicate. The award was given in recognition of the success that Mr. Zoll and his team have achieved in creating and managing a syndicate shoot that has generated and now sustains a viable and ongoing grey partridge population. The work undertaken includes the planting and management of all winter bird food strips on behalf of all tenant farmers. Alongside this, the shoot has planted an additional 22 acres of brood-rearing and overwintering cover, which divided into two and re-drilled every two years, ensures that there is always a significant amount of cover at any one time. This, along with the careful positioning of cover crops and grass margins, has maximised the nesting and brood-rearing habitat for partridges and wild pheasants.  

Whitburgh Farms, Pathhead, Midlothian wins 2018 Purdey Bronze Award 

The 2018 Purdey Bronze Award and a cheque for £2,000 was awarded to Mr. Alastair Salvesen and Whitburgh Farms for its excellent grey partridge recovery project. Running since 2010, the results and success of this project are a reflection of Mr. Salvesen’s commitment, dedication, vision and investment. The changes made to the shoot include 7% of previously cultivated land being taken out of production and used to create an extensive wildlife habitat. Alongside this and where possible, cultivated fields enjoy 8m margins on almost all headlands and fields of barley divided by a similar sized strips designed to host essential insect life. Mr. Salvesen’s overall objective is to demonstrate the feasibility of the project being replicable by other farmers on a smaller scale, an ambitious and entirely admirable goal. 

Richard Gould, Head Gamekeeper at Ixworth Thorpe wins 2018 Purdey Special Award 

The judges chose to create a special award recognising Richard Gould for his great vision and his ongoing and outstanding success in creating a most impressive lowland game shoot at Ixworth Thorpe, Suffolk. The manner in which he understands and manages all the aspects of what is a well-run shoot have combined to deliver both first class shooting and first class conservation. Described by the judges as a “one man dynamo” the panel were unanimous in their decision that Richard should be recognised as an imaginative, innovative and exceptional keeper and receive this Purdey Special Award and a cheque for £1,000.   

Special commendations 

A special commendation has been made to David J. Owen of the Camddwr Shooting Society in recognition of his passionate determination and never-ending enthusiasm that has ensured his success in establishing and building a remarkable shoot, which plays a crucial role in the community.  

David Pooler of the Rhug Estate has also been awarded a special commendation in recognition of his dedication to the sport of shooing and his passionate commitment to his role as the Head Keeper working alongside an organic farming enterprise. 

To find out more about James Purdey & Sons, visit their website.

A selection of photos from the evening:

Note to editors:

The Purdey Awards for Game and Conservation have their origins in the Laurent-Perrier Wild Game and Conservation Awards, which were run annually by Laurent-Perrier Champagne (UK) Ltd from 1986 until 1998.  James Purdey & Sons took over their Awards in 1999, with Laurent Perrier generously maintaining their support and connection through the provision of their champagne for the presentations ceremony, prizes for all the winners and finalists, and to assist the judges’ deliberations at their twice yearly meetings.