Head Keeper, Temple Farm Estate
Growing up in Gloucestershire and spending time on her grandparents’ farm, Kat Hutchinson knew she did not want an office job: “I always wanted to be outside as a kid.”
Today, Kat is one of Britain’s small but growing band of female head keepers, working on the Temple Farm Estate in Wiltshire. She has been head keeper since 2019 but joined the estate in 2009.
“I came for two weeks work experience from college, then a vacancy came up for an underkeeper and Phil encouraged me to go for it.”
Ten years on, in 2019, Phil decided to take a step back and Kat was given the opportunity to take on the head keeper job.
Temple Farm Estate is a working arable farm with woodland and a shoot. Kat manages the shoot, including everything from looking after the young birds, to organising feed deliveries and feeding for the pheasants.
“For shoot days, I organise and manage teams of beaters and picker-uppers. We couldn’t run the shoots without them, and we are lucky to have a loyal team.”
Then there is the conservation side, working on Higher Level Stewardship projects around the estate, like creating new dew ponds, and measuring out the cover crops and nectar mixes. Kat also gets involved in ploughing, planting and spraying, as well as woodland management.
“The estate owner, Konrad Goess-Saurau, has a vision for rewilding, which he started long before there were grants to encourage it,” says Kat. “We are part of the Marlborough Downs Nature Enhancement Partnership and, along with other members, Konrad has created a network of wildlife corridors. We also take part in the Big Farmland Bird Count and the Partridge Count Scheme and were proud to win the Purdey Award in 2013.”
“I love everything about my job!” says Kat. “Keepering isn’t just about pheasant shooting. I love being outside; I love the wildlife, I love seeing the deer and, most of all, I enjoy seeing it all working as one cycle. What we do on the estate for wildlife, like feeding the farmland birds through the hungry gap in winter, all benefits the wildlife, from bumble bees to grey partridges. And it benefits the shoot.”
Temple Farm used to be grey partridge country and Kat and Phil, who still works alongside her, are in the third year of a project to restore the partridges to the farm.
“We put 50 grey partridge eggs each year to hatch under bantam hens to help develop their foraging instincts and, hopefully, raise their own chicks, and we manage predators. We are hopeful of seeing some wild grey partridge chicks of our own this year. I love the greys, especially hearing them chatter.”
“Being a woman in the keepering industry, traditionally a ‘man’s world’, you have to be prepared to get stuck in and to prove yourself,” says Kat. “But when people see your passion and enjoyment of the job, they accept you.”
Her advice for anyone considering keepering as a career is: “Always accept help, listen to your elders and remember you’re never too old to learn. And work hard at school and college – you need the qualifications to get through the door in the first place.”
Photo credit: Simon West Photo