HRH PRINCE PHILIP, DUKE OF EDINBURGH
Amongst the many organisations of which HRH was a Patron was The Standing Conference on Countryside Sports, now The Countryside Forum, from its foundation in 1978. The Duke first addressed the Conference in 1980 and spoke again at its 25th Anniversary meeting in 2003, and has been a staunch supporter throughout its existence.
The Forum is proud to have had such a remarkable man as its Patron and would like to offer respectful condolences to Her Majesty The Queen and her family on their loss.
HRH The Duke of Edinburgh
Address 2003
The Address by HRH the Duke of Edinburgh, KG, KT to the
Standing Conference on Countryside Sports
25th Anniversary Meeting 29th October 2003
When I addressed the Conference in 1980, I said “The danger, as I see it, was that the critics, who are always on the offensive, might force participants in countryside sports into separate entrenched defensive postures; when their only hope lay in the strength of mutual support and encouragement.” I believe that this is still true today, and I am convinced that the need for the Conference is as great, if not greater than ever.
It was not all that long ago that people in the urban population had experience of the rural way of life. That generation has gone and the urban population is not only bigger, it has lost touch with its rural roots. Ignorance is the deadliest enemy of the whole rural way of life, including its sports.
Ignorance is also the mother of prejudice. If you don’t know the facts, it is very easy to take a high moral line. If you don’t know the facts, your prejudice is bound to cloud your judgement. It is a case of ‘my mind is made up, do not confuse me with the facts’.
Unfortunately, knowledge of the facts is not the complete answer. It is also a matter of perception and belief. These can be held with religious fervour and are much more difficult to influence. Emotion can easily distort practicality. I wonder sometimes what would happen if baby rats were as cuddly as baby seals. If it is morally permissible to control the population of one wild species, why is it immoral to control any other wild species when the need arises?
What matters today is that the value of the Conference has been amply proved by subsequent events. The threats to the natural environment are greater than ever, yet it is the genuine countryside sports that have attracted critical attention, this in spite of the fact that they are generally ’nature friendly’. For 25 years this Conference has provided the invaluable opportunity for the representatives of the countryside sports to get to know each other by discussing issues of common interest. I am sure that all its members are agreed that its most important activity is trying to explain the facts of rural life to opinion formers in the urban sector.
It may not have been quite as successful as we might have hoped, but I have no doubt that matters would have been a great deal worse had the Conference not existed. I can only hope that it will continue to make the case for countryside sports by intelligent persuasion and rational argument. There is a great deal at stake and there is much to be gained.
The man who first recognised the need for country sports to support each other and to present a united front to a critical world was John Anderton. At that time he was Director of the Wildfowlers Association of Great Britain and Ireland of which I happened to be Patron. It is now known as the British Association for Shooting and Conservation. I gave him my whole-hearted support and helped him to persuade Lord Porchester – later to succeed his father as the Earl of Carnavon – to become its Chairman.
It was their combined efforts, which got the Conference started, and it was thanks to their enthusiasm and persistence that it prospered and attracted more members. It was their leadership which was largely instrumental in charting its policies and initiating its projects.
I am delighted to have this opportunity to pay tribute to their vision and foresight, and to couple their names with a toast to the Standing Conference on its 25th Anniversary.