CLA honour for the custodians

John Naylor of the Rise Park estate near Skirlaugh, on the Holderness side of Hull, was recognised for 40 years in the job – 33 of them on the Rise Park estate, for the Bethell family, who run private shooting for themselves and guests. He also controls rabbits on behalf of the estate's farmers.

He served briefly as a policeman in Hull, his home town, before taking a big drop in pay to go back to his first choice of career.

Now 63, he recalled last week: "There were elements of policing I really liked but on a Friday and Saturday night, I would find myself, a callow 19-year-old, trying to sort out domestic situations where people who had been married 30 years were knocking seven bells out of each other, and I decided life was about more than earning money."

When he went back to gamekeeping, a big part of the job was finding broody hens to hatch pheasant and partridge eggs, when every farm had a few layers. But the industrialisation of egg production ended that tradition.

The intensification of farming was by far the biggest change he had seen all round, he said. Patchworks of fields, divided by hedges, gave way to huge blocks of crops, to save moving machinery from one place to another. The reduction of variety in habitats, and the impact of giant machines and spraying, had undoubtedly affected all wildlife.

He said set-aside, followed by the stewardship schemes, had begun a partial recovery and it was essential it was not reversed.

He said: "One of the reasons I love keepering is that keeping a habitat for game means keeping it for other species too. I believe in encouraging youngsters to get involved with field sports because I actually believe the best sportsmen are among the best naturalists and conservationists."

Wyne Bennett, who works on the Castle Howard estate, between Malton and Kirkbymoorside, was honoured for 50 years as a gamekeeper. He joined the Castle Howard team in the 1960s.

He said: "I'm proud of the job I do. All of the produce is sold at the Castle Howard farm shop, so we certainly mean it when we say our meat is local."

The two men were presented with their awards at the recent CLA Game Fair at Ragley Hall, Warwickshire, hosted by the Marquess of Hertford.

CLA president William Worsley, from Hovingham Hall, near Pickering, said: "In areas where wildlife is abundant, where habitat is healthy and diverse and where nature truly is in balance, the one consistent factor is a good gamekeeper. Presenting these awards is one of the most pleasing jobs I do."

CW 14/8/10