NOMINATIONS are being invited from estate owners and managers to select long-serving gamekeepers and river bailiffs for some of the countryside’s most prestigious awards.

Every year, the Country Land and Business Association (CLA) presents its long service medals to individuals who have dedicated a lifetime to looking after large areas of the countryside or its rivers. The awards recognise their unique contribution to countryside care.

To qualify, a gamekeeper must have achieved at least 40 years service to the countryside on not more than five estates. In further recognition, at 50 and 60 years, a keeper will receive an additional bar to his medal.

The awards to river keepers and ghillies provides an opportunity to recognise the contribution of those who have often given a lifetime of hard work to the preservation and protection of our river systems and management and conservation of the rural environment.

To achieve this award, a river keeper or ghillie must have dedicated at least 25 years to looking after the same river system.

The awards will be presented that the CLA’s annual game fair, to be held this year at Belvoir Castle, near Grantham, Lincs.

• Potential candidates for the awards must be nominated by an employer. Further details can be obtained from The CLA Game Fair office, PO box 6452, Basingstoke, Hants, RG25 2XQ or email: gamefair@cla.org.uk