The East Anglian Game & Country Fair will take place on Saturday 22nd & Sunday 23rd April 2017, at The Euston Estate, Thetford - you can get 25% off tickets here.
The East Anglian Game & Country Fair are delighted to welcome the GWCT to the show along with other countryside organisations such as the CLA, BASC, NGO, The British Deer Society and Fishing 4 Schools, that invite their members to visit them on their stands as well as inviting new visitors to discuss membership benefits.
The show is a great family day out which this video illustrates perfectly:
Henry FitzRoy, 12th Duke of Grafton said:
"My family and I are delighted that Euston Estate is hosting the East Anglian Game and Country Fair for the first time, as this popular event returns for its 14th year. I would like to welcome all the officials, sponsors, exhibitors and the public to what I hope will be a very enjoyable two days. The park and grounds offer a particularly attractive setting for events of this kind and all the diverse activities on offer from clay shooting to dog shows, and archery to forestry displays, make it a great day out for the whole family. With something for everyone, we hope that the Fair continues to grow from strength to strength, as it showcases the best in country pursuits,"
Euston Estate has 6,260 acres which are farmed ‘in-hand’ by the Euston Farms, on which they grow wheat, barley, oilseed rape, beans and sugar beet. The land is also used for free-range pig and poultry farming and potato, carrot and parsnip production by agreement with other producers.
They are particularly proud of the ‘Suffolk Trinity’; their own Grafton herd of Red Poll cattle, along with Suffolk Punch horses (bred by Lady Euston - mother of the current Duke) and the Suffolk sheep, which can all be seen on Estate grassland.
Farm management has been described as ‘traditional meets modern’ where commercial farming dovetails with conservation measures. The whole of their farming enterprise is part of five separate Higher Level Stewardship Schemes. In March 2016, Euston Farms was awarded the accolade of 'Greenest Farming Business' in the Creating the Greenest County Awards.
In conjunction with the Estate, Strutt and Parker Farms operate a 2.5MW gas to grid Anaerobic Digestion Plant producing gas to fuel over 5,000 homes.
Deer have also resided on the estate for hundreds of years, primarily in parks which are thought to date from the medieval period up to the early 1800's. The Estate's red, roe and non-native muntjac (and occasional fallow deer) are now truly wild and free ranging.
The Euston Estate takes a great interest in trying to improve deer management in the region. They are the leading party in organizing a red deer calf-tagging project with the Breckland Deer Group. This annual activity has helped the understanding of the potential movements and ranges of the UK's largest wild land mammal. They are also involved with several university studies looking at deer, genetics, carcass weights and their overall numbers.
For more information (and savings of up to 25% off tickets (purchased in advance) please visit www.ukgamefair.co.uk.