51st CLA Game Fair – a classic case of Belvoir brilliance

With Sarah Perkins & Sarah Chase ( Head of PR & Marketing for www.ruraltv.tv  )making their location debuts for Southside, day 2 of the CLA Game fair in association with the Daily Telegraph was inevitably going to be full of top treats. From the amazing clothing range provided by Fiona Playford & her colleagues at the Really Wild Clothing company www.reallywildclothing.co.uk  , through Ian Andrews and the fantastic quality of the Purdey rifle www.purdey.com , the standard of exhibitors and tradestands was first class. With Fiona Eastman maintaining press office standards, the overall impression was one of professionalism which celebrated the very best in outdoor pursuits. From the exciting world of lurcher racing with Linda Vaughn, secretary of the National Lurcher racing association, to the simply breathtaking work of painter James Gillick www.gillick-artist.com  and twin brother and sculptor Theo, the outstanding range of activities and displays made for a perfect Saturday. Ian & his team from The Field were, as expected, in their element, whilst the standard of debate in the CLA Game fair Theatre was quite simply excellent with issues ranging from Re-wilding to the intriguingly named- The BBC and the Countryside: Friend or Foe. With Robin Page opening with the notion of the BBC being comprised of liberal elitists speciailising in low-definition information, this was perhaps guaranteed to stir up strong feelings . Thankfully Lord Mancroft proved to be a more than capable Chair and duly kept a tight ship as Sarah will confirm !. Meeting up with Simon Frere-Cook, shortly after his duties on the last Royal Show was an unexpected bonus, and even though the Gillick twins probably just secured our personal top prize for artistic quality, Hamish Macvie & colleagues were a mighty close second. Audio for our coverage will be online as a Southside Special very soon.