There are about 3000 full time gamekeepers in the UK and a similar number who do the job part time. Game keeping is a very old profession. The first gamekeepers in Britain would have been the men who protected the deer from poachers in the medieval Royal hunting forests.

Today, gamekeepers are still concerned about poachers but their main work is to help pheasants, partridges, hares and grouse to thrive in the countryside.

Looking after the woods, hedgerows and fields in which the game birds and animals live is crucial. Game birds need good grassy cover in which to nest, plenty of food and protection from rats and crows which would otherwise attack and eat the chicks. Hares need open country and protection from foxes.

Because lots of other wild birds and animals benefit from these things too, game keeping helps to ensure a balanced countryside with plentiful wildlife.

Many gamekeepers also rear pheasants and partridges by hand for release into the countryside to supplement wild stocks. This rearing is carried out every spring, with the birds being released carefully into the wild during July and August. Some will be shot the following winter, but many will survive to strengthen numbers in the wild. It is the income from the shooting which pays for all the gamekeeper's work.

Game keeping can be a lonely job, involving hard work, anti-social hours and often low pay, although normally the employer will provide a house and a vehicle. It appeals to men and women who love working outdoors and with nature. Often game keeping runs in a family and at busy times several family members may be involved, helping to rear the chicks and manage the woodlands.

At the start of the century, when labour was cheap, there were over 10,000 gamekeepers in Britain. Today the numbers are lower, but stable.

Many of the younger keepers now learn their trade not from their fathers but in one of a number of agricultural colleges which offer a qualification in the profession. Like all things, the job has become more technical as time has gone by, and today's keepers need to understand veterinary medicines, agricultural practice, and annual budgets, as well as retaining their more traditional harmony with nature and the countryside.

Recently, Britain's gamekeepers came together, forming the National Gamekeepers' Organisation to encourage high standards and to explain game keeping to the general public. More information on the profession is available from this body on www.nationalgamekeepers.org.uk