Enquire
As we reviewed the blog’s analytics to assemble 2025’s 'Best of…' collection, we uncovered a few unexpected insights and a handful that came as no surprise at all. Part 1, published recently, has showcased our best gunmaking and now Part 2 explores the World of Westley Richards...
The Explora Club 'Photograph of the Season' Competition - Winner & Runners Up 2025
Every year we extend an invitation to readers, customers and friends to submit their photographs from the field to our 'Photograph of the Season' Competition. Each year the entries get better and better, and each year we are inspired by the passion, the spirit of adventure and the keenly observed moments captured on camera.
Save The Leon Mignon School of Gunmaking!
Gunmaking apprenticeships in Britain have traditionally been left in the hands of the firms employing gunmakers. However, Belgium has a long history of teaching gunmaking in specialist colleges.
'Trigger' In Tanzania
Westley Richards is proud to outfit the world’s greatest outdoor sportsmen and women with the shotguns, rifles, luggage and garments they need to live their best lives. We trade from Birmingham, in the heart of England, but it would be a mistake to believe we don’t have wilder places than the Old Gun Quarter in our sights or more in our experience bank than trips to the Bull Ring Shopping Centre.
Westley Richards At The Game Fair 2025
The Game Fair 2025 saw Westley Richards return to the flagship country sports event after a long absence. Not since the Country Landowners’ Association (CLA) ceased their longstanding support for and organisation of the Game Fair, which they had run since founding it in 1958, have Westley Richards participated.
A Sporting Century of The Macnab
John Buchan is best known to the general public for his 1915 novel The Thirty Nine Steps, which was twice filmed, firstly by Alfred Hitchcock in 1935 and again in 1978, with Robert Powell replacing Robert Donat as Buchan’s classic British hero Richard Hannay. However, fieldsports enthusiasts have long venerated another of Buchan’s novels; the now out of print John MacNab, which follows the travails of three well-connected and very 'establishment', but bored, friends, as they challenge three landowners to a battle of wits and skill.
Westley Richards x Tito West Safari Collection Campaign
Safari kit in its spiritual home - The Maasai Mara provides the perfect backdrop for Westley Richards’ iconic Safari Collection.
Blacksmith Youtuber Alec Steele Visits The Westley Richards Factor
Shortly after his YouTube film about Westley Richards topped 1.3 million views, we caught up with the hugely successful video creator, Alec Steele, to discuss his recent visit to the Birmingham factory.
Thomas Blinks: The Gunmaker's Artist
Thomas Blinks was born in Maidstone in 1853, the son of a butcher, and seemed destined to become a tailor, which is what he served an apprenticeship as. He had no formal education as a painter but clearly had talent and enough confidence or ambition to turn his back on the tailoring trade his father had chosen for him and make his way in the world by painting and drawing subjects mostly connected with hunting, shooting and country sports.
The Harpton Lightweight Tweed Launches For The Glorious Twelfth
In the lead up to the eagerly anticipated Glorious Twelfth, Westley Richards premiers its new lightweight tweed, The Harpton. Inspired by early season shoots in the British Isles, and by our international patrons sporting tweed ensembles on driven days in the Americas, the company is delighted to launch this superb lighter weight tweed from the Lovat Mill in Scotland.
Interview with Westley Richards Leatherworker – Jennifer Roberts
At Westley Richards, our legacy of excellence spans over two centuries, upheld through an unwavering commitment to craftsmanship. While many have chosen to outsource, we remain resolutely committed to the heritage of British leatherworking, a craft deeply rooted in the West Midlands home for over a millennium.
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 goodsrange; time well spent out in the field; latest news in the sporting world; and key international conservation stories.
