Why does it make such an impact? One of the reasons: You are safe here. No one is going to harass you, no one is going to try and take away something that is precious to you. No one is trying to take away your fishing, or your shooting, or scream at you that that you shouldn't be involved in blood sports.

The city-based Storm Troopers think that they are the keepers of the countryside. All around us are enemies, who tell us they will vote us into oblivion. Just like the Germans, who voted too, for Hitler. I had an experience recently that illustrates what I am saying: There is an elderly woman in our neighbourhood, who walks about with a little dog, with whom we occasionally stop to chat. We are not sufficiently intimate to have exchanged names. The other day she saw me a short distance off, and moved toward me with uncharacteristic belligerence. "I've been hearing about you," she shouted. "You kill birds. You've got to stop it!"

The lady, who lives in social housing, comes from a land where so many are involved in the pursuit of fish and game, which has general approval - Ireland. Had life in the Big City poisoned her to the extent that she would take it upon herself to conduct herself in such an unseemly manner? The chances are we won't be stopping to chat any time soon.

In the recent London riots, parts of Ealing (where we live) were devastated. Without having done on-the-spot interviews, I would go so far as to say that few of the rioters were either shooters or fishermen. The vast majority of our sporting people are of the highest of moral character, and values. These are inculcated in us by parents who know what the countryside is for, or, which we have sought out for ourselves, and gladly observe, and re-create, a way of life that gives our lives value and meaning. We are way above our detractors, who claim a moral position, but who are so distorted in their thinking.

As I say every year, and I'm going to say again, the kids and the dogs are extremely well behaved at the Game Fair. You see little ones, starting in push-chair size, and going upward in age, often tired, sometimes affected by the heat, perhaps not particularly comfortable, but showing no signs of displeasure. For the kids of all ages, this is a dreamland. But why, I ask myself is this place so unique in the reaction of both dogs and children? One of the reasons at least is that the parents convey the pleasure of the experience. Parents - both parents, because the women are as strong on the ground as the men. This isn't just a man's game; it is everybody's game. And rarely do you hear a dog bark, and certainly never in anger.

Moving about on the Game Fair grounds I began to think how extensive they were - that here they had created a town, with a population, albeit a floating one, of not that much under two hundred thousand people. Plus their dogs, here to a greater extent than is normally the case, who not only need to be accommodated, but require special accommodation. It is an absolute miracle, when you stop to think about it. It happens every year, and we take it for granted, since it all works so well. And the new town lasts for but three days. What a fantastic tribute to all who create this miracle, and make it all possible.

We stopped to visit the Eyebrook Trout Fishery stand.

Walking along Gunmaker's Row, we stopped by to say hello to our friends at Viking Arms. Managing Director Samantha Brown Mac Arthur was there, running things in her usual self-confident way. Everything was under control. When do they start putting this all together? In February and March. Just think what a momentous task it all is. You move into this temporary city, and almost everything you have, has to be brought from home, and if you forget something, the chances are it isn't replaceable. Samantha recommends a list, kept from year to year, to which she adds or subtracts, as the need arises.

Here Samantha had reproduced a whole room, including a fireplace, to represent a homey atmosphere where you would be comfortable showing your guns, all as part of their exhibit. Viking Arms must have exceptional relations with their employees, because several of them have been with Viking for more than twenty-five years. Samantha put it this way: "We have a very good team because everybody is very good working together - everybody has a very good work ethic."

This was a particularly happy time for the Mac Arthur family. Their son George had his eleventh birthday on the second day of the Game Fair- a real Game Fair fellow.

Samantha's husband Rob Mac Arthur is a well-known deer stalker and fisherman, born to both rod and gun. It runs in his blood and in his genes. He had what a lot of people might think is the best job in the whole world. He opened up the Russian Kola Peninsula to salmon fishing with a fly. Or, as Rob puts it, re-opened it. Victorian-era British sportsmen got there first. Meanwhile a lot of things happened in the region in-between, and not many foreigners got the chance to cast their flies there. That is, until Rob came along.

It all started in a bar in London. Rob was approached by a man who knew Rob's father, a well-known fly fisherman, and had heard about Rob. The man wanted to open the Kola, and he needed someone to go there and fish, to find the most suitable place, or places. Did Rob want the job?

Rob wanted the job. He flew off to what was then Leningrad, more laterally known as St. Petersburg (again), in the second year of the Gorbachev reign. Things were getting better, easier. They liked the idea of foreigners coming to fish, to spend their money lavishly. A fishing licence that cost $25 in Moscow, Rob explained, cost $1000 by the time it was issued to a fisherman from abroad, with a lot of Russians taking their cut along the way.

Rob arrived with substantial amounts of cash, to be spread around where it would do the most good. He was provided with a helicopter and fished all the rivers down the east coast of the Kola. The next year he went back and made contact with local officials.

"The fishing was awesome," Rob said. "The river fishing was similar to Scotland two, three hundred years ago. Anglers could expect to catch a hundred plus fish in a week."

It cost nine thousand to twelve thousand dollars to go fishing, and when they started out, every place was full. Guides and cleaners were supplied locally. The average monthly wage was $29 a month. But with the arrival of the fishing folk, wages went up to $100 a week.

The Russians didn't understand fly fishing, nor catch and release (neither do I). They did it with nets, from boats. Those fish were dinner. Solo Russian fisherman wound wire around a can, which was both rod and reel, cast out, and if a fish took, dragged it in.

But it's more fun on a fly, even if it costs twelve thousand dollars.