The Game Fair 2016

So this weekend we went to the Game Fair at Ragley Hall. And it was excellent. Nearly but not quite 100%.

The scale of the show is vast. Here we are just inside one of the entrances looking out over just a fraction of the show. The fishing lake is to the left, and the main bulk of the show ahead and to the right.

I was much taken with a stand promoting salt-water fly fishing. I was even tempted to go to the UK Saltwater Fly Fishing Festival in Cornwall in September. But it would mean rearranging too many commitments. Maybe next year!

We’d arrived early with the intention of looking at air rifles, which I’ll cover in a subsequent blog entry. I’m fancying a nice new gun, and there’s no substitute for having a go with the ones on the shortlist.

We walked the length of “Gunmakers’ Row” but were a wee bit disappointed. To be fair, shotguns are the mainstay of shooting, whether for pest control, for game, or for clays, but there seemed to be little else. But there were many other things to entertain us. A wonderful display of gundog training, for example:

Or Sean Hellman’s wonderful carvings. Sean is a regular teacher at Spoonfest, and a great artist and craftsman.

Or how about a tracked amphibian to dredge out your garden pond? Who knew such things even existed?

We also spent an informative hour in the cookery demonstration theatre, watching Jose Souto. Here he’s demonstrating how to make gravadlax and expert ways with salmon, sponsored by Norwegian Seafoods.

But what we wanted to see was Jose’s next demonstration, of dealing with a deer from field to table. That will wait for a future blog entry too.

I’ll leave you with a picture of the happy crowds thronging the food court. There was no shortage of choice for lunch, a snack, or a drink! But it also shows how nicely laid out the Game Fair was. No matter how many thousand people, there was plenty of room to stroll around, and plenty of tables and seating.

Next year’s Game Fair is in Hertfordshire, so very handy for us. See you there!