As millions of people know, one of the great pleasures of walking in areas of the uplands managed for grouse is to see and hear large numbers of curlew, lapwing and golden plover - all ground-nesting birds largely absent or in rapidly declining numbers elsewhere.

As Churchill's grandson, I am in daily receipt of vile correspondence from people telling me that I am a traitor to his memory.

Game-keepers on grouse moors control common predators such as foxes and crows and this gives wading birds a much greater chance of breeding successfully.

Nicholas Soames Quotes