The Diary: The Gentleman's Journal Shoot with Purdey at the Royal Berkshire

It was a bad day to be a clay disk above the skies of Royal Berkshire. (Unless, perhaps, a certain Joseph Bullmore was at the peg — winner of the ‘clay conservationist’ prize, though surely ‘top gun’ in the bacon roll department.) On Thursday, at The Purdey esteemed shooting school near Pangbourne, a selection of crack shots and people without proper jobs descended on the green and pleasant valley for an excellent day on the clays. Divided into four teams, the cohort headed out into the shooting marque’s highly varied terrain — a mix of mature woodlands, rolling grasses, and swaying trees — to see who might come out on top in a series of highly technical challenges. It was a closely fought contest, with every guest — including Archie Rutland, Araminta Reed, Eleanor Wellesley, Ed Straker, Dillon Bacon, Will Pelham, Charles Rolls, James Aiken, Mathias Le Fèvre and Joe Knopfler — acquitting themselves excellently, from scuttling rabbits to low-slung grouse. It wasn’t all hard work, however. Inside the gorgeous interiors of The Purdey newly renovated lodge house, elevenses quickly gave way to a very hearty lunch, with a rich venison sirloin and some fine cheeses to the fore. At the final prize-giving, top gun William McManners took home the grand trophy of a very handsome Tom Purdey raglan tweed coat — though the real winner, surely, was friendship. And possibly the pigeon skewers.