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Bankside Bites: a day on the North Esk with The Game Chef

Family picnic on the riverbank, sharing pasties and pan bagnat by the North Esk

Early summer, and I found myself heading north on the A90 to the banks of the North Esk at Marykirk — the Gallery beat — to be met by a fly rod, a picnic hamper, and Tom Godber-Ford Moore.

Tom writes The Game Chef column for My Countryside, the magazine Dialogue Agency produce for the Countryside Alliance. This time he was on a fishing trip that turned into a story about lunch. Low water and bright sunshine meant that the salmon stayed elusive. The venison pasties and pheasant pissaladière pan bagnat (I’m afraid I had to google that one) on the other hand were delicious and plentiful.

My job was to cover both halves of the day. We started in the kitchen, then onto the water to photograph Tom working a Spey cast against a wall of North Esk green. Back on the bank he laid out a picnic board that looked and tasted better than most restaurant lunches. It’s a super brief: part portrait, part food, part landscape, with the weather dictating. Not so far removed from where I started many years ago, shooting for newspaper features.

  • Tom Godber-Ford Moore fly fishing on the North Esk, wide shot with Spey cast in motion by fishing photographer Scotland
  • Tom Godber-Ford Moore walking a riverside path carrying a fly rod and landing net by fishing photographer Scotland
  • Overhead shot of hands serving venison pasties and pan bagnat on a picnic board
  • Tom Godber-Ford Moore fly fishing on the North Esk, seen through riverside foliage
  • Raw venison, chopped vegetables and pastry laid out for a venison pasty recipe
  • Portrait of Tom Godber-Ford Moore holding a fly rod on the riverbank
  • Close-up of sliced pheasant pissaladière pan bagnat and venison pasties
  • Slicing a foil-wrapped pheasant pissaladière pan bagnat on a wooden board by the river
  • Tom Godber-Ford Moore with a picnic board of venison pasties and pan bagnat by the North Esk
  • Family picnic on the riverbank, sharing pasties and pan bagnat by the North Esk

Five pages ran in the Summer/Autumn 2026 issue of My Countryside — recipes included. So if you fancy making your own venison pasty or pheasant pissaladière pan bagnat (it’s basically a delicious sandwich).

Thanks to Tom and family for the company on the riverbank. Also Dialogue Agency for the commission, and for the kind mention when they shared the piece.

Fishing photographer Scotland – here’s some of my other Food and Drink work.

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