Many years ago, I made some mince pies containing minced meat - I forget whether it was lamb or beef - according to a Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall recipe and took them into Chambers. Everyone loved them until I revealed their secret ingredient.

Their mince pies and brandy butter are extraordinarily good, though very expensive, but their Christmas pudding isn’t a patch on St John’s (whose mince pies I’ve yet to try).

I don’t know if those are just guesstimates but I’d be sorry to see them confirmed. I’d always believed that the moral imperative to ensure that every bird shot is picked up and eaten was taken seriously by the vast majority. I’d still rather be a pheasant than a typical supermarket chicken.

It’s not a children’s book but ‘Bird Brain’ by Guy Kennaway might fit the bill. FWIW, I take your point about pheasants being neither native nor wild, but they enjoy a better life and death than most animals in the human food chain. Ethically speaking, it is venison we should eat more, of course.

I had the pleasure of attending on Saturday and it was excellent (even if subjecting my advocacy to the scrutiny of a full Hampel review for the first time in nearly 20 years was rather daunting). Many thanks to all involved.

This is amazing. Even better than your recent article in ‘Counsel’. Please let there be a happy ending they can make a heartwarming Christmas movie about, possibly using Bristolian plasticine.