The Brigands Game Shooting Estate by Bettws Hall
As you arrive at the Brigands it soon becomes apparent that the pheasants are going to be high! The hillsides are better described as mountains and frequently the birds are flushed from bracken, gorse or a cover crop on top of them. As the pheasants set off in flight you prepare, ready your feet and wait, and wait and then it dawns on you how high the birds actually are!
The Brigands is certainly not for the faint hearted, but there are always an array of birds at different heights throughout a drive. This enables you to regain your confidence and then really test yourself on a high bird.
We meet at Bryn Cleifion Hall for coffee beside the open fire in the sitting room, then draw pegs and proceed to the veranda to meet the loaders for the day. Between the three morning drives we break for champagne and sloe gin, then soup and nibbles before returning to the Hall for lunch. Alternatively, you can shoot through and have a later lunch if you prefer, rather than returning to the shooting estate for the afternoon drives.
“Standing near the towering waterfall on the Seven Twenty drive at Brigands, mesmerised by the pheasants in an apparent distant orbit, it is hard to think about anything other than the moment in which you are immersed. It is without doubt one of the greatest drives in contemporary driven game shooting.” Mike Barnes, Fieldsports 2007
