Friday 16 November 2007

Purdey Awards


Good to see the Duke of Northumberland's grey partridge project win the Purdey Award for Game & Conservation last night. I visited the estate at Alnwick a couple of years ago, and was very impressed with the work being done there by headkeeper Garry Whitfield and partridge ground keeper Kevan McCaig.

Pictured above is the Duke (in suit) flanked by Garry and Kevan, laden with their winnings, including a cheque for £4,000 and a jeroboam of Laurent Perrier champagne. At the back of the shot is Richard Purdey, who has been running the awards since 1999.

The awards ceremony was held, as always, in the famous Long Room at Purdey's shop in South Audley Street - a fascinating venue with the walls covered with paintings, old guns and memorabilia from Purdey's long history.

Unfortunately I wasn't able to stay long after the presentation, as I had to dash off to another event - but the silver lining was that there I met game chef Mark Gilchrist who came up with some great ideas for features for the magazine... watch this space!

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