SPORT ANCIENT AND MODERN 



The Cople estate, on which Mr. T. H. 

 Earnard gave many demonstrations of the proper 

 management of driving partridges, was sold by 

 the Duke of Bedford in 1 904, and although the 

 portion which was bought by Colonel Shuttle- 

 worth and added to his Old Warden property 

 «till retains its excellence for partridges, the 

 remainder has been split up into small lots, and 

 on this partridges are now very scarce. Some of 

 the best individual days' driving on the Cople 

 estate before it was sold, and while Mr. Barnard 

 had the shooting, were in 1894, 104 brace; 

 in 1896, 165^ brace; in 1900, 162 and 163 

 brace ; in 1901, 165 and 188^ brace. This 

 bag of 377 partridges comes second to those 

 made at Putteridge. The year 1903 was a 

 very bad one all over Bedfordshire, owing to 

 an excessive amount of rain during the hatching 

 time. 



Colonel Shuttleworth's estate at Old Warden 

 has every natural advantage for partridges, but 

 most of the land is let to market gardeners, and 

 the birds in consequence are not so numerous as 

 would otherwise be the case. The best bag 

 made there was 163 brace by six guns in 1907. 

 Colonel Shuttleworth rears a large number of 

 pheasants annually ; and has killed as many as 

 1,500 in a day's shooting. 



Haynes Park (Mr. Greenfield). The records 

 of this estate from 1852, kindly supplied by Mr. 

 Greenfield, show that a total of 1,407 partridges 

 were killed in 1858, which is a great contrast to 

 the total of seventy-four killed in 1879. From 

 1896 the bags are more uniform, and in 1904 

 2,004 partridges were killed. In 1889 808 

 hares were killed, and in 1891 3,236 pheasants. 

 The total head of game killed on the estate 

 reached 6,534 in 1904. 



The Southill estate, the property of Mr. 

 Whitbread, furnishes yet another instance of the 

 injurious effect of market gardening on partridges. 

 The soil is as suitable for them as any to be 

 found in England, and yet, although 100 brace 

 is by no means uncommon, there seems to be no 

 possibility of further improvement. There is a 

 large extent of woodland on the property, and 

 Mr. Whitbread rears a number of pheasants, 

 most of which are turned down in the park, 

 where they fly very well. 



Chicksands Priory (Sir Algernon Osborn) is a 

 long narrow property, and consequently not well 

 adapted to partridge-driving, but the pheasants 

 which Sir Algernon Osborn rears fly well in the 

 park. 



The shooting at Cardington, which belongs 

 to Mr. Whitbread, is in Mr. W. Mills's hands, 

 and is first-rate partridge land, 150 brace being 

 one of the best days there. 



Elstow, another of Mr. Whitbread's proper- 

 ties, the shooting of which is now in the hands 

 of Mr. T. H. Barnard, has always produced a 

 good many partridges, and is likely to do better 



still in the near future under Mr. Barnard's 

 management. 



The shooting on Lord St, John's property at 

 Melchbourne has been in Mr. E. N. Senior's 

 hands for some years. The land is entirely of a 

 heavy nature, but the partridges have been 

 enormously increased on it of late years by dint 

 of careful preservation. One hundred brace are 

 now killed there in a day, which is more than 

 the total for the whole season a few years ago. 

 There are several large coverts on the estate in 

 which the rabbit shooting is good, the heavy soil 

 being a great help when stopping-out operations 

 are in progress. Mr. Senior rears a good many 

 pheasants, which fly especially well out of Lady 

 Wood. 



Mr. C. Alington has enough ground at Little 

 Barford for one day's driving only. The bag 

 has for several years reached from I20' to 150 

 brace in the day, and up to 300 brace in the 

 season. Owing to careful preservation the num- 

 ber of partridges now killed at Little Barford 

 annually has greatly increased during recent 

 years. The land on this estate is heavy, and 

 there is no doubt that a certain number of the 

 heaviest arable fields having been laid down to 

 grass has materially helped game preservation. 



Tempsford Hall (Mr. Stuart), now let to Sir 

 George McKenzie, is about 3,000 acres in extent, 

 and mostly heavy land. 



The Hasells (Mr. Pym) is not a large estate, 

 but a fair number of partridges are always to be 

 found there, and over one thousand pheasants 

 have been killed in a day from the coverts in the 

 park. 



Sandy Warren (Lord Peel) is an almost im- 

 possible place to show pheasants to advantage, 

 and the extent of partridge ground is limited. 



The shooting of Kimbolton Castle (the Duke 

 of Manchester) is periodically let, and the bag 

 depends largely on the number of pheasants 

 reared. Nothing very great is done with the 

 partridges, the land being for the most part 

 heavy, but a good rabbit shoot is usually obtained 

 in the extensive woods surrounding the park. 



Wrest Park (Lord Lucas) has been let to 

 different tenants for some years. The coverts 

 are capable of holding about 5,000 pheasants ; 

 the partridge shooting might be considerably 

 improved. 



Woburn (the Duke of Bedford) is a large 

 estate, but no information regarding the shooting 

 is available. 



Other estates large enough to afford good 

 shooting in Bedfordshire are Luton Hoo, which 

 has been let to different tenants of late years ; 

 Ampthill Park, Sutton Park (Sir John Burgoine), 

 Flitwick Manor, Blunham House, Cockayne 

 Hatley, and Stockwood (Mr. F. Crawley), an 

 excellent partridge manor. 



There is nothing worth mentioning in the 

 way of wild-fowl shooting in Bedfordshire, 



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