The Greatest Countryside & Shooting Challenge
Matt Limb OBE looks at a competition inspired by John Buchan, and perhaps the greatest countryside challenge, which lasted a decade.
‘For in the hills there was a world apart, with its own code of manners and values, a world of clean effort and hazard and the breath of danger in the nostrils, where men lived by their own skill and hardihood and the qualities of the wild creatures they hunted.’ John Buchan
I have heard it echoing in conversations in recent days, October already, where has the year gone? But for anyone with an interest in shooting, October is the true start of the year, or to be more exact the true start of the shooting season. In recent weeks beaters, gamekeepers and guns alike have been busy getting ready for that highlight, the opening day of the shoot. A day that so often sets the tone and mood for the rest of the season.
Opening days can be competitive; who will get the first shot, the first high bird and the first left and right of the season? But for me shooting is not about being competitive, more about the company of like-minded friends and a day in the countryside. But that is not for everyone, as we have seen recently at the Paris Olympics with great success in shooting for team Great Britain.
One competition I have often admired is very traditional, The Macnab. Less of a competition and far more of a challenge, the original and classic Macnab is a quest to catch a salmon on a fly, take a stag and a brace of grouse between sunrise and sunset on the same day. Trust me, it is not an easy feat and many that try fail. Over the years I have heard stories of the well booted and suited so determined to achieve a Macnab that helicopters have been involved, plus drivers with fast cars to speedily get from moor to river – and they have still failed.
The use of such modern transport is somewhat different to the origins of the Macnab, which comes from the John Buchan book John Macnab, written a century ago. Like his bestselling book The Thirty-Nine Steps, it is a book of great adventure as he tells the story of three highly successful London businessmen who spend the summer in Scotland, under the collective name of ‘John Macnab’. Their plan is to become poachers, which can be both challenging and dangerous; if they are caught, they will be publicly named and shamed, the result will be career-ending and a costly scandal.
The story starts with ‘John Macnab’ writing to neighbouring estates saying he intends to take a stag or a salmon on their land between specified dates. If he fails, he will pay a forfeit, but if he succeeds, he will pay to a charity. So, in a style that only John Buchan can write, a summer of great daring-do and high adventure unfolds. It is from this story, based on the Scottish adventures of three city gents, that the modern-day shooting challenge, The Macnab, was created.
But I think even the epic challenge and exploits of ‘John Macnab’ a century ago would be put into second place when I look back on a good friend’s own sporting adventure. Barry Atkinson may not ring an immediate bell with you, but if I add he was the idea, inspiration and above all the strength behind the highly successful ‘Spider’s Appeal’, you may remember him.
Spider’s Appeal was Barry’s brainchild over two decades ago, when he challenged himself to go beating on 1,000 different shoots, in 100 different counties, over 10 shooting seasons to raise money for charity. It was soon after Barry came up with the idea of Spider’s Appeal that I first met him, living on the Lincolnshire/Nottinghamshire border – it was a friendship that would last the rest of his life.
Barry was a true countryman and proud Yorkshireman, an art and design professional and a talented landscape painter. He once told me this love and passion came from his parents, both of whom, like Barry, adored the countryside and dogs. But after losing his father, Arnold, at a relatively young age to cancer, Barry knew, in the back of his mind, he wanted to do something special.
It was while Barry was out beating and helping on his local shoots with his dog, which was his true passion, that the concept of Spider’s Appeal came to light. After chatting with several friends, the idea fully developed.
Somehow the very idea had Barry written all over it, anything for a challenge and an adventure, but it had to be for a good cause and above all, in the British countryside, with dogs.
Sadly, after embarking on his mammoth quest, Spider, Barry’s much-loved English Springer Spaniel, who the appeal was named after, was diagnosed with an incurable cancerous tumour. I remember Barry telling me that it was the turning point, as Barry became more determined than ever to make Spider’s Appeal work, raise money for good causes and now, public health awareness.
Twelve-year-old Spider lost his battle with cancer peacefully at home, with Barry by his side, on Easter Sunday 2007, after visiting the first 400 shoots. To honour faithful Spider, who started life as a working gamekeeper’s dog, his ashes were spread on every shoot following his untimely death. I remember standing quietly with Barry after the final drive of a shoot as he produced a small pouch from his jacket pocket. He then scattered a good pinch of Spider’s ashes, as he whispered, that’s another shoot done – to Spider.
After the tragic loss of Spider, Barry’s companion became another English Springer Spaniel; he was Spider’s grandson, who was fittingly also called Spider – he remained at Barry’s side until he finished his challenge.
Barry would often be the first to arrive at a shoot on an early winter’s morning and regularly the last to leave. He would then drive through the night, often hundreds of miles, frequently sleeping in the car during his journeys, to arrive at the next shoot. Occasionally, a gamekeeper or shoot captain would offer Barry and Spider a bed for the night, for which they were always grateful. Then as bright as a button and full of energy he would be beating for the day before reminding everyone about Spider’s Appeal.
First, he would tell them their unique shoot number in the appeal’s running order, followed by the appeal’s long-term plan and how much had been achieved, including miles driven, often throwing in a favourable story for good measure, as Barry could be the storyteller. He would then ask for donations; in that moment I have seen wealthy guns donate several hundred pounds and beaters throwing their day’s pay into the collection.
It was in January 2013 that Barry and Spider reached the massive milestone of 1,000 shoots in Sussex. I had hoped to join him that day, but I was at the other end of the country. But talking later that evening, I asked what his thoughts were about the final and 1,000th shoot day.
He said it was better than he could have ever imagined, he was too busy enjoying and cherishing the moment to feel emotional about the achievement. It was then back home for some well-deserved rest, as an Early Day Motion was raised in Parliament, which congratulated Barry and his achievement.
But sadly, the joy was short-lived as Barry himself was diagnosed with cancer. I watched as his condition got worse but could never remember his resolve being weakened. Barry always had another idea he wanted to try, and the great satisfaction from Spider’s Appeal that he lived for a decade, shoot to shoot, season to season, raising money for such good causes would not stop because of cancer.
I well remember the last time I met with Barry, he was in a nursing home and the couple of hours together now feel precious. We sat together drinking tea and laughing as we recollected the many adventures, the highs and the lows.
That day Barry was clearly very ill and a mere shadow of the man I had known; I still see him striding across a field on a shoot, with Spider by his side.
But Barry, ever the optimist, spoke of a plan he had to move forward and raise more awareness of cancer and hopefully more money. Sadly, it was not to be. Just days after our meeting, Barry’s condition rapidly deteriorated, he moved to a hospice close to his family and soon passed away peacefully with them at his bedside.
For all of us that have shot a gun, held a stick in a beating line, worked a gundog on a shoot or have a love of the countryside, we owe a great deal to Barry Atkinson and the two Spider dogs of Spider’s Appeal. They worked tirelessly to promote our countryside, our way of life and public awareness for good health.
But above all they succeeded in what must be ‘The Greatest Macnab’ ever attempted and they enjoyed and thrived on every minute of it.
Photographs: Matt Limb OBE
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