The resultant financial losses led directly to the CLA abandoning the organisation of the Game Fair in 2015 and other interests taking over and creating a new event in its image.
To date nothing has managed to replicate the grandeur and scale of the original but the demand for a summer meet-up of the trades and participants involved in country pursuits endures and the 2026 Game Fair, organised by Stable Events, was, we think, the best since it was re-imagined in 2017.
Great strides have been made in providing a proper display space for top-level gunmakers in Gunmakers’ Row and this year Westley Richards rubbed shoulders with Boss & Co., Holland & Holland, E. J. Churchill, William Powell and others, while Bill Blacker and his team exhibited the gun-maker’s craft in all its glorious variety a short walk away.
The Westley Richards tent was manned for all three days by various members of the team. Customers and the interested public were able to discuss any matters they wished to discuss with us. We fielded enquiries for new guns, questions about old ones, possibilities for training and employment and general queries about who we are and what we do.
Ragley Hall, the venue this year, is but a short drive from Pritchett Street and Westley Richards was proud to fly the flag for our best sporting guns emanating from Birmingham and maintaining the city’s, once universally applauded, reputation for excellence in all things.
Footfall was pleasingly abundant on the decking assembled on the main walkways and the much increased but subtly deployed security apparatus provided a secure and relaxed atmosphere for trading and display. As a showcase for country sports and hobbies, the Game Fair remains excellent, with displays, competitions and discussions aplenty.
On the Wesley Richards stand, examples of our historic guns were displayed alongside our more recent work, with a .577 double rifle contrasting with a 28-bore drop-lock shotgun and John Deeley’s personal Westley Richards alongside a cut-away display piece showing the workings of an Anson & Deeley action.
All drew questions and observations from visitors and helped widen the public’s awareness and knowledge of our operations and products, including our rapidly expanding leather working department, demonstrated in action by Alice, who stitched bags on the front porch of our tented pitch, as guests mingled around her.
The Game Fair at Ragley Hall was not actually our first of the year. We made the trip to Scone for the Scottish Game Fair on July 3rd-5th and thoroughly enjoyed our first display there in years.
Scone has a special atmosphere and it was clear that visitors to the event were very well versed in country matters and sports. It was an intimate, knowledgeable crowd with much in common and a love of all things outdoors.
Westley Richards has committed to supporting these events for the foreseeable future. They deserve it. As advertisements for country traditions they are peerless and any overseas visitors will get from them an invaluable glimpse of the best of the British countryside, its folk, crafts, animals and trades.
For residents, both Game Fairs provide a destination for gathering annually, and discussing all matters of interest, sport, business and politics, in familiar territory, surrounded by the accoutrements of the country lifestyle.
Any readers who have yet to experience a game fair; we seriously recommend you make plans to do so. It is an embodiment of Britain’s rural sports and traditions and its thriving, discombobulated band of associated enthusiasts, whose passions may be jam making, sheep breeding, knife making, brewing, dog training, clay pigeon shooting or any number of niche activities of mutual fascination.
Put a date in your diary and come and see us at these events in 2027!
The Explora Blog is the world’s premier online journal for field sports enthusiasts, outdoor adventurers, conservationists and admirers of bespoke gunmaking, fine leather goods and timeless safari clothes. Each month Westley Richards publishes up to 8 blog posts on a range of topics with an avid readership totalling 500,000+ page views per year.
Blog post topics include: Finished custom rifles and bespoke guns leaving the Westley Richards factory; examples of heritage firearms with unique designs and celebrated owners like James Sutherland and Frederick Courteney Selous; the latest from the company pre-owned guns and rifles collection; interviews with the makers from the gun and leather factory; new season safari wear and country clothing; recent additions to our luxury travel bags and sporting leather goods range; time well spent out in the field; latest news in the sporting world; and key international conservation stories.
