b'TURN A WALK INTO AN ADVENTUREFollow the bands. Can you see the crouching hen pheasant?T he Game Fair, lastof field sports. The lounge time it was heldarea was wood panelled and in Hatfield, washad a huge antique table where demonin the middle and clubby shot Mark ClarkChesterfield sofas and chairs had his first outing for hishere and there. The walls also Sling City slingshot range.had game trophies. Stu ed They used hay bales to build hisimpala and heads of various other range and WASP Uniphoxxes onAfrican game species as well as security chains were the slingshots.grouse.We had been invited by a top exec of theAnd absolutely nothing whatsoever organisers, who was of South Africanabout pheasants. No stu ed ones, and origin, from a slice of society involvednone featuring in the art on the walls. For in the African Safari hunting world, Ichap being terribly, awfully apologetic,this place was for the Scottish landed thought. She figured we would be greathoping his car wont be checked forgentry who go on safari or else fish for for the kids section of the Fair. We werewarm, twitching pheasants. The schoolsalmon not trout and shoot grouse, not handsomely well looked after. I learned aitself was filled with upwardly mobilepheasants. Pheasants are for yokels and little about the influence of South Africanyuppies who seemed to be there forthe not terribly posh, the lesser gentry safari scene on British huntin, shootin,the social climbing rather than any loveand those without titlesfishin to s, when visiting the West London Shooting School and later when I popped into Bisley to see Terry Doe at his airgun HFT club house and range. At the school, I had felt a total oik.Id used my best posh public school accent and had gained entry to await to see the boss about possibly stocking the magazine in their shop. I find the posh tones invoke the most absurd white middle class privilege. It can help me get away with stulike being caught somewhere I aught not be inThis sight makes a slingshot my Volvo. A low-suss car and a fathunters thumbs itch.031030-033 SSW005 the mooch.indd 31 26/11/2021 14:53'