The Purdey Awards Celebrations 2017

Northumberland Wild Game Shoot Wins the 2017 Purdey Awards 

The Gold Award was won by the Bywell Shoot, Northumberland, for their work in turning a reared pheasant shoot into a wild game shoot with a sustainable population of wild grey partridge and pheasant. Brewery Farm, Suffolk, won the Silver Award for their extensive work on the farm’s biodiversity. The Bronze Award was given to Lindisfarne Island’s Wildfowling Club for its work in having a wholly sustainable operation on the land, which also supports a public nature reserve. 

At the presentations, the Duke of Wellington, Chairman of the Awards judging panel, announced the 2017 winners of Purdey’s annual competition to find the UK’s most outstanding game and conservation projects. They were presented with their awards by farmer, countryside broadcaster and TV personality Adam Henson. 

The Bywell Shoot, Stocksdale, Northumberland wins the 2017 Purdey Gold Award 

Viscount Allendale, and his son the Hon Wentworth Beaumont, owners of the Bywell Estate, were last night, announced as the overall winners of the 2017 Purdey Awards for Game and Conservation.  

The Purdey judges recognised the outstanding vision and leadership of the owners and their head keeper, Alan Edwards. They have successfully changed the 5,000 acre Bywell Estate Shoot from a ‘family and friends’ reared pheasant shoot in 2012 to what is now: a wild game shoot with a sustainable population of many wild birds including grey partridge. It sits on 3,700 acres, with the 1,300 acres of remaining land run as a syndicate shoot, members being drawn from within the local community. 

Lord Allendale was presented with the 2017 Purdey Annual Trophy and the £5,000 Gold Award.

Brewery Farm, Stonham, Suffolk wins Silver Award  

In second place, winning the 2017 Purdey Silver Award and £3,000, is farmer and former game keeper Graham Denny with his Brewery Farm, near Stowmarket in Suffolk. Judges said that this family owned and managed shoot is clearly very well run and successful, but what is really exceptional, and makes it stand out in the Purdey Awards, is the quality of the environment around the shoot. This is thanks to the Denny family taking such a close interest in the farm’s overall biodiversity.  

Lindisfarne Island Wildfowling Club wins the Bronze Award 

The judging panel considered Lindisfarne to be a quite exceptional wildfowling shoot, not just for it size, but also for taking place at one of the UK’s largest and best known nature reserves, with strong public access and attracting over 500,000 visitors a year and for the fact that it is wholly sustainable. The Lindisfarne Wildfowling Shoot operates over 750 hectares of the total area of 3,500 hectares, and is run by a dedicated team of highly knowledgeable and experienced wildfowlers and conservators. Judges were unanimous in their wish to give recognition to Lindisfarne Island Wildfowling Club for their outstanding work by awarding them the Bronze Award and £2,000.  

Swannybrook Farm, Oxfordshire wins a GWCT Advisory Visit 

The Swannybrook Farm Shoot is a well-run family shoot, but all the more remarkable because its owner, James Thomson, has continued to manage the shoot himself in spite of being paralysed in March 2016 following a skiing accident. In recognition of Mr Thomson’s determination and courage, judges awarded him a Purdey GWCT Award which funds a day’s visit from a senior GWCT Advisor to assess the options on how best to proceed with further conservation projects.

Walton Shoot, Somerset wins a Special Award for Community Engagement 

The 1,700 acre Walton Shoot, situated between the Somerset towns of Clevedon and Portishead, is sandwiched between the M5 motorway and the Bristol Channel, and has been running continuously in one form or another since 1853. For several decades, the shooting has been managed by a local syndicate, currently captained by shooting rights holder Nigel Williams and keepered full-time by Andrew Waygood. With Bristol close by, this area is popular countryside for dog walking and recreation, Walton Common is open access land, whilst a further third of the shoot area is a golf course. Judges felt the most remarkable feature of the Walton Shoot is that anyone manages to run a shoot here at all, yet the syndicate enjoy 18 thoroughly sporting days, with bags on driven days sometimes reaching 200 head. Judges considered Walton Shoot to be a most unusual, well managed and interesting entry, with some excellent conservation commitments, and the Panel granted Walton Shoot a Special Award of £1,000 in recognition of their positive engagement with their local community.   

Mrs Katherine Astor, Kirby Estate, Inkpen, Berkshire wins a Special Award for Community Engagement 

The visiting judges were unanimous in their praise for the Kirby Estate Shoot, renowned as an outstanding commercial shoot, exceptionally well-planned and managed it makes full use of its stunning terrain. Mrs Astor is committed to continuing the Shoot’s exemplary conservation work, started 30 years ago by her late husband Richard. The resultant benefits of this long term approach are energetically communicated by Kirby’s Head Keeper James Sadler and his conservation assistant and journalist Nicola Chester. They are both well known for their nature walks and more recently, a Countryman blog with 800+ daily readers with over 120,000 hits to its credit, and it is in recognition of how the Kirby Shoot have reached out to local schools and conservation groups so effectively that the Judging Panel decided to present Mrs Astor and the Kirby Estate with a Special Award of £1,000.  

The following Finalists were awarded Highly Commended Certificates 

• Mr John Harris - owner of Brackenburgh Shoot, Penrith, Cumbria  
• Mr Charles Lane – Fox - owner of Bignell Park Farm, near Bicester, Oxfordshire 
• Mr Luke Wilkinson – owner of Bransdale Moor, Kirkby Moorside, West Yorkshire 

Notes 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. 

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