What happens to a family when one son achieves wealth and celebrity - and his sibling goes home to a simple life and semi?

By Mary Keenan and Steve Tooze
(Donated by Tara C. and transcribed by Beate)

Jake Fiennes

Jake, 27, is the younger brother of actor Ralph Fiennes, Oscar-nominated star of The English Patient. He is the gamekeeper on a 5,000 acre estate in East Anglia and lives with his girlfriend, Mel, 26, a veterinary assistant.

"I've read newspaper articles that claim that my brother is envious of my lifestyle. It's rubbish, of course. Once, when he was being mobbed by reporters, Ralph said, that at that moment, he was quite jealous of my relatively peaceful existence. That was misinterpreted to mean that he'd like to swap places with me. In reality, he loves doing what he does; acting is the thing he has always wanted to do, just like working in the countryside is what I love doing.

My sister is a film director and is happy doing that. I certainly wouldn't want to swap places with either of them - living in the spotlight is not for me. Our father was a farmer and we all love the countryside. My brother enjoys visiting the country, but we're different people with different plans and ambitions.

I've been to film premieres and that sort of thing with him, which has given me a good idea of how his life must be. And I can relate to his lifestyle when we have a shoot on the estate and I'm surrounded by crowds of people all wanting to ask me questions. I wouldn't like to have to do that all the time.

I'm a gamekeeper on an old-fashioned estate and my job is to manage and create an environment for all ground-nesting birds. I have to control pests such as magpies, rabbits, rats and foxes, and manage the hedgerows. It's a delicate environmental balancing act to manage game birds in the old-fashioned way. They are wild animals and a moment's carelessness can, for example, scare a mother off her nest. I have to be on the lookout for problems all the time.

In summer, I'm often working at 3.30am, when the animals start moving around. I take a break in the middle of the day, then in the evening I'm out again until the light fails. In winter I'll go out late at night to keep the number of rabbits down. You never want to eradicate them, but it's about keeping a balance. This goes for predators such as foxes and stoats as well. I get as much pleasure out of seeing a vixen with her cubs as anyone else, but I have to try to keep them under control for the sake of the other animals.

I became a gamekeeper because I've always been interested in the countryside. I worked in Australia for two years on sheep and cattle stations before I started this job. I wanted to do something which helped a farmer to turn in a profit, while benefiting wildlife.

In some ways, my type of gamekeeping is a dying profession. Not many people manage birds in the traditional way, allowing them to develop in the wild, because there are no guarantees as to how many will survive. A bad year can mean very few birds, a risk that a lot of estates are not willing to take. I work on my own and spend large amounts of time by myself. I see the occasional estate worker for a five-minute chat, but mostly it's just me and the dog in the woods.

I live in an estate cottage which is quite isolated, but I never worry about being alone. I can't imagine ever living in a city. I've never been particularly keen on nightclubs and pubs and I hate visiting London - even places like Hyde Park seem very urban and I can't wait to get back to the country.

My life is my work and, while I'm on the estate, I never stop, although I know it annoys Mel at times. If we're out for a walk, I'm too busy looking for signs of nests or problems with foxes to concentrate on simply enjoying our surroundings, but I can't honestly think of a downside to my life. Of course, there are times when things are going wrong, when the weather is miserable and the birds are failing to thrive as well as I'd like.

But there are sights which make it all worthwhile. Walking down a wheat crop and spotting a hen pheasant with a brood of chicks is quite amazing. There's a magical feeling early in the morning when there is no one else around. That's when I realise all over again why I love what I do so much."