We assembled with great anticipation like the guests of The Shooting Party, that wonderfully evocative film set in the privileged world of Edwardian England just before the Great War. But instead of arriving at the Oxfordshire estate of Sir Randolph Nettleby, played by James Mason, we had travelled north to Ross-shire and the beautiful Georgian estate of Novar Ardtalla. Our quarry was the red legged partridge, which would be driven off the snow covered hills around us, and if all went well they would burst over the guns like star shells, testing us to the limit. All that, plus the added ingredient of Michel Roux in our company and the promise of him preparing delicious food for us to eat and talk over, and you will understand why we were so excited. Sipping tea and nibbling, delicious sponge cake, we greeted our fellow guests in the sitting room of the converted stable block that had become our five star home for the weekend. It was a chance to meet owners Ronald and Erica Munro Ferguson, who had spent a fortune on converting the derelict building into the perfect place for a country house party.

Gathering of the guns

Justin, a dapper stockbroker in his Range Rover, and an excellent shot, was accompanied by his wife Rachel who had a penchant for Austrian style trilby hats with wispy feathers in them. His best friend Nigel was big in communications. He too was a hot shot in a Range Rover, but so was his wife Jenny, now five months pregnant but determined not to miss a moment in the field. Adrian and his lawyer wife Lisa were less experienced with their shotguns but still keen, while James, who had quit the city in a timely manner for a more relaxed lifestyle, came with his wife Grace from Oxfordshire. Ahmed was in oil and flew in from Kuwait. He had dressed up in new tweeds and a cape for the occasion, while his American wife Kelly laughed a lot and kept us amused with her stories. Then there was my wife Lynne and I, who had dreamed this whole thing up in conjunction with Edinburgh letting agent George Goldsmith. Last but not least, Michel and his wife Robyn would add that very special touch to our three night sporting soiree.

Shooting soirees in Scotland are nothing new. They go back at least 200 years when travelling to Scotland wasn’t so easy. In 1820 the Range Rover of the day was the stagecoach. By then as many as 30 a day were leaving London bound for Edinburgh, the journey taking about 42 hours with 28 changes requiring some 112 horses! A few went on to Inverness, but they ran like clockwork. Later, Queen Victoria and Prince Albert’s yearly autumn migrations to Scotland set the fashion for others to follow, and it became known as the ‘Scottish Season.’ By then, though, the railways had made the journey to the highlands so much easier and quicker.

Picturesque valley

By 8 o’clock on our first morning everyone had emerged for a hearty breakfast, and then it was off to our pegs and the first drive, which was set in the picturesque valley of the River Alness. Luckily everyone got off to a reasonable start with some fine birds coming at us in lovely little packs resulting in some excellent shooting. Michel Roux’s interest in shooting goes back at least forty years. ‘My brother Albert and I had been invited to go shooting in Norfolk not long after we had opened Le Gavroche in London and my dress code left a little to be desired, he remembered. ‘I wore my old army shoes and a suede jacket and my first double barrel gun was bought in a department store in Paris!’ The finer points of dressing for the shooting field might have passed them by, but they more than made up for it in the food department. ‘Hams and pâtés came with us from our delicatessen and I usually made the biggest apple pie I could manage.’

The first drive had come to an end with one or two birds splashing down in the river. It looked as though they might float away, but thanks to an excellent pair of Chesapeake Bay retrievers and a Labrador or two they were quickly retrieved. More excellent drives yielded a bag of 212 partridges, 34 pheasants and two woodcock and then it was back to Ardtalla’s kitchen to see the incredibly talented Michel Roux produce some of his famous pastry, a pâte sucrée that would be used for a delicious chocolate and raspberry tart at dinner that night.

Low and fast

On our final day we returned to the hills for a repeat performance. Sometimes our pegs were tucked into tight little valleys where you had to be quick to get on to the birds as they sailed overhead, while one stand was akin to shooting driven grouse as they came at us low and fast. The variety of shooting was a sheer delight and although our second day’s bag was a little down on the first it didn’t matter. Besides we had a four course Roux dinner to look forward to! It began with a delicious foie gras terrine delivered straight from the Waterside Inn in Bray where Michel has held three Michelin stars for more than twenty years. That was followed by a ceviche of scallops and tuna and the most mouth watering, delicious and tender venison en croute imaginable. And perhaps not surprisingly a classic tarte tatin appeared for dessert. A glance round the table at a sea of happy faces told its own story. And when the talk turned to when we might do the next Roux Shooting Party, we all knew it had been a roaring success.

field facts

For more details of the 2009 Roux Shooting Party contact George Goldsmith 0131 476 6500 or www. georgegoldsmith. com