The Suffolk Scribe The quarterly newsletter of The Suffolk Hunt Summer 2014 Welcome to our Summer newsletter Contents: Although the Suffolk Foxhounds season ended some months ago, since the end of Introduction 1 Chris Minter MFH Kennel s update 2 2 March there has still been a host of activities, events and hard work that the Joint Masters, the team at the kennels, Supporters and followers alike have all been involved in. The aim of this newsletter is to keep everyone posted with regards to any updates In the Hot Seat: Mark Dudley Update from Gary Tate Farmer s Corner: Mark Wells New Whipper-in: Chris Mardles 3 3 and happenings, in addition to being an opportunity for people to share and learn a bit more about the people who are part of the Suffolk Hunt. On that note, our new Joint Master - Chris Minter, has kindly provided us with 4 some background information on himself. Chris Mardles has made the move from 4 Dudley is In the Hot Seat whilst Mark Wells is this edition s contributor to the Classifieds 5 Forrad on 6 the Kimblewick Hunt in May to become our new Whipper-in. Additionally, Mark Farmer s Corner. In the past few months the hounds have been shown at Blaston, Horseheath and Peterborough and have been paraded at a whole host of events. The Kennels update on page 2 will give you more information on this. We also have reports on the Barn Dance and Terrier Show, both of which proved to be a great success. As we are now approaching the middle of the summer, our thoughts are beginning to turn towards the start of the new season and Autumn Hunting. It won t be long until we re back meeting on horseback and enjoying watching the hounds work in the beautiful Suffolk countryside, as they have done for hundreds of years.
My hunting started as a child in the New Forest where my grandparents lived. We went out with the Buckhounds before their disbandment in the late nineties. Fallow deer had been hunted with hounds in the New Forest since the days of William the Conqueror (indeed, his son died in a hunting accident in the forest). Sadly, today the country is heavily restricted by dual carriageways, although the forest itself retains much of its magic. University brought the opportunity to hunt a pack of Beagles (the Trinity Foot), but subsequently working in London and abroad restricted my hunting to long weekends, often with the Devon and Somerset (hunting red deer rather than the fallow of my youth), and weeks in the Midlands of Ireland following the Ballymacad from which I would occasionally return on crutches. After a number of years living abroad, I returned in 2003 with a young family to live just outside Long Melford and have enjoyed eleven tremendous seasons with the Suffolk (with the exception of one season during which I was "off games" having come a cropper on a recently bought hunter). As some people are aware, I split my time these days between working in Switzerland most weeks and Suffolk at weekends. Hence, in the immediate future, I will be a less active member of the mastership than I would like. But if there is one thing that quickens my blood of a rainy Friday afternoon in Zurich, it is the anticipation of following hounds across the Suffolk country the following day. Of course, the days hunting which give us all so much pleasure happen only as a consequence of a huge amount of goodwill from farmers and landowners and a huge amount of hard work on the part of Sean and the team at the kennels, Angela and Gary, my joint-masters and many others who give of their time so generously. For this, I am ever mindful and thankful. Welcome to our new Joint Master: Chris Minter MFH Kennels update Chris Minter MFH Our first parade was at the local agricultural show, South Suffolk, kindly hosted by the Turner family at Ampton. This was followed by Suffolk County Show and Euston Rural Pastimes. We also paraded hounds at Elveden Dog Day, on foot, which is super for meeting people who would not normally see hounds. The day went well given the unpredictable weather with a good turnout of the public. We went to Blaston Hound Show in Leicestershire, where we also took some young hounds, but unfortunately no prizes. We then attended the East Anglian Hound Show at Horseheath, where under a different judge, we had a super day coming home with the Supreme Championship. Boastful and Artful 1 st and 2 nd Entered Bitches, Boastful and Bonfire 1 st Entered Couples, then Bonfire went on to be Champion bitch and then Supreme Champion Hound. During the last week before Easter half term we had two visits from the local school to see the hound puppies. We had Cygnets pre-school children and Year 2 children, both were beautiful days and children and puppies had great fun. We have had four litters of puppies this year, which are all out to walk now, the horses have been brought up and are now in work and the hounds also doing about an hour and a half roadwork each day.
In the Hot Seat Mark Dudley My Hunting days started as a child with the Suffolk. I was taken on lead rein with my mother, Judy who was also the Secretary of the pony club, and two sisters Camilla and Karen. I enjoyed competing in Hunter Trials and Pony Club events where I was fortunate to win several cups and trophies which are still in circulation with my name on. At 16 years old I decided to move to Wales to work on a dairy farm where I stayed for two years returning to Suffolk to gain experience doing seasonal agricultural work before joining Oakland s Agricultural College for three years. After college I spent the summer combining to pay off my educational debts and save up for a flight ticket to New Zealand where I worked preparing yearlings for the sales. This is where I was taught fencing which has kept me employed for the last 24 years. I started hunting again when my daughters had their first ponies. The first cubbing morning was enough to ignite my passion for hunting again. I felt incredibly proud receiving a letter from James Aldous awarding me Hunt buttons and then a few years later equally proud being awarded a red coat. I am thoroughly enjoying building Hunt jumps which land owners have very kindly allowed, but more sites are required!! A very memorable meet for the field was at Boxted where the jumps were perfectly placed for an exhilarating time when the hounds were running well. I have been very fortunate to be able to visit neighbouring packs, Fitzwilliam, West Norfolk and Thurlow. I travelled to Exmoor and hunted with the Staghounds and Foxhounds which was an incredible experience. It has been a privilege to be invited on point where I am able to, at close quarters, watch and hear the hounds working. Looking forward to the forthcoming season, see you all on the hunting field. Update from Gary Tate, Joint Hon. Secretary. The Hunt stables have their latest recruit in the form of Millie, a 6 year old mare (pictured). Some of you may have seen her out last season while she was on loan from Wendy and Brian King, but thanks to Richard Thomson s generosity she now belongs to the hunt. She will now go up the front with Sean hunting hounds off of her. This leads me neatly onto the finances of the hunt. We do now have the money from the sale of Thorpe Wood which will be invested to give an income to help the running of the hunt, but after paying our creditors and tax, the return on the balance is unlikely be great enough meet even our current annual income shortfall. It is therefore absolutely crucial that we continue to do all we can to generate income from Subs, Caps and Fundraising Events to make sure we at least break even each year. If the capital gets denuded, we will be on a steep and slippery slope back to where we have just come from and the future of the Suffolk Hunt will be in jeopardy. A big thank you all the people who supported the Suffolk Hunt Lottery Syndicates. Unfortunately it did not make any new millionaires in within the hunt, but as they say you have to be in it to win it. During the year over which it ran, one syndicate won 166 and the other syndicate won 145, which under the scheme rules being below the 500 threshold, was donated to the hunt. If there is enough support I would very much like to try to run it again perhaps starting when the new season is underway. I would welcome anyone s thoughts or ideas on how we might get more people involved next time.
Farmer s Corner Mark Wells In the Spring of 1998 I moved to Suffolk to manage a mixed farm for Mr John Cross at Ixworth where I spent eight busy but very happy years after that I moved all the way to Risby to help manage the Gittus family farming business which is where I still remain today and keeps me busy with a wide range of businesses from contract farming, indoor and outdoor pigs, business park and Anaerobic Digester to look after. I had never been to Suffolk before moving here to work and my only previous memory of Suffolk was a boy at school in the very early 80 s called John Bartrum who wore an Ipswich Town football shirt. I was brought up on my family s farm in North Wiltshire. We had a 400 acre mixed farm and as children we spent many hours helping out on the farm and getting into mischief. My passion was always to farm and it came first before everything including school and I just had to do enough to get to Agricultural College. I have been very lucky in my farming career and now consider Suffolk very much my home, I met my wife Georgie in Newmarket and we married at her parent s home in North Yorkshire. We now have two boys Harry and Edward both enjoy the country life and Harry enjoyed his first experience cubbing last autumn at Park Farm Lavenham and was given a memento of the day which now takes pride of place in the downstairs loo!! My earliest memories of hunting are of my grandfather who was MFH of the VWH along with being a NH jockey and trainer, my parents both hunted until the early 80 s which meant we were exposed to horses and ponies from an early age although the draw of tractors and motorbikes were far greater than the thought of having to look after a pony. That said I enjoyed my first time out hunting with the Brocklesbury last season after some intense coaching from Lou Cornwell and I hope to join the field on a few occasions this season and at least steer a horse in the right direction. Now with Harvest fast approaching, where we will soon see how far our hard work has taken us despite the atrocious conditions of last winter and we can hopefully get some really good crops established before winter sets in. I wish you all a happy and long summer. New Whipper-in Chris Mardles I am 18 years old and grew up with my mother, father and older brother in a small village called Petworth in West Sussex. As a family we have always hunted with the Chiddingfield, Leconfield and Cowdray Foxhounds. I left school and whipped in to the BSSNS beagles for a couple of seasons before starting full time employment as second whip with the Kimblewick Foxhounds in Buckinghamshire, where I stayed for two seasons completing the hunt bursary scheme, before moving here to the Suffolk as First Whipper-in.
Classifieds Rodent & Insect Specialists: Cluster flys, Loft area, Wasps, Ants, Fleas, Rats, Mice, Moles, Rabbits & Deer Management. Agricultural & domestic. 6 & 12 month contracts available. Nick Leonard 07979648857 www.pestcontrolserviceshaverhill.co.uk A.C.H FARRIERY All types of shoeing and trimming undertaken, in a friendly professional manner. Please call Ashley Holmes on 07852 302158 or email shoeyou@hotmail.co.uk LUCY S SNACKS Lucy caters for any occasions: Business lunches, private parties, childrens parties. Bacon rolls, burgers, sausages, sandwiches, hot & cold drinks, homemade cakes. Available for private functions. Also cold finger buffets for any occasion. 01359 270208/ 07799120081 lucypettitt@live.co.uk For all types of fencing commercial, domestic and equestrian. Tel: 01284 728428 Mob: 07831 191475 Email: Griffin.fencing@btinternet.com CHARWOOD EQUESTRIAN Offering Part, Full,Hunting, Schooling and Sales livery also Backing/Breaking youngsters all tailored to individual requirements. Indoor loddon boxes, Individual tack lockers in a secure tack room. Lunge/Turnout arena. 60x40 Floodlit arena. Post and rail/ wooden posts and lovely off-road hacking. For more details please contact Gemma on 07793 610810 or gemma.white@btinternet.com Birds Farm, Blacksmiths Lane, Thorpe Morieux.
Pony Racing We would like to say well done to all the hunting kids who have done so well this season Pony Racing : Joe Bradnam, Laura Pearson, Max Wilson and Zara Brooks. Barn Dance A great night had by all The Barn Dance that was held on Saturday 10th May was a great success. Thank you to everyone that came along & supported The Suffolk Hunt Supporters and Ashley Holmes & Sam Morris. The Bar was busy, the Ale flowed, the bunting stayed up & the Band played till late. None of this would have be possible without a marvellous group of ladies that always rise to the challenge... So a huge thank you to all the ladies who helped and also those who kindly donated prizes: We raised over 1700! The SHSA Terrier, Lurcher and Family Fog Show Ashley and Sam. The Suffolk Hunt Supporters Association Terrier, Lurcher & Family Dog Show took place at the Hunt Kennels on Sunday 18 May 2014. This event was kindly sponsored by Happy Hounds (Happy Hounds offer dog washing and grooming - 01284 711613) In the Terrier ring judged by Mr K Hudson Best in Show and Best Dog was Mr R Brewsters Sam with the Reserve Best in Show and Best Bitch going to Mrs J Robinson's Molly. Best Puppy was Mrs J Robinson's Hooky and Reserve Best Puppy Mr Brewster's Blue. Best under 12.5 Terrier was Mrs L Clarke's Sizzle. In the Children's handling which was won by Molly Hall with Nettle and brother Sam Hall with Jango was in second place. In the Lurcher ring judged by Mr J Smith Best in Show and Best U23" was Mrs P Flatman's Rosie with Reserve Best in Show and Best O23" Miss L Flatman's Kizzy. Best Puppy was Ms K Beavis with Flow and Reserve was Mr J Hoyland's Jenson. In the Children's handling class won by Ellie Fudge with Muffin and sister Lucy Fudge with Cinders was in second place. In the Family Dog Show the Champion was Catlijn Brame with Flynn and Reserve Miss A Perry with Guy. Forrad on Dates for your diary: Sunday 30 th August: Hound Point to Point and Family Dog Racing. The Kennels. First Race 3:00pm. Licensed Bar, BBQ and Tote. September: A summer ride in the Culford / Thetford area. Contact: Di Spark: 07786513616 The Hunt Ball Saturday 1 st November 2014. Contact: Kirstie Johnston: kirstiejohnston@hotmail.com Suffolk Hunt Supporter s Association Membership Became due on 1st May 2014 for the coming 2014/15 season. Please make your cheque for 10 payable to SHSA and send to Membership Secretary Mrs L Clarke, Torwan House, Mill Road, Pakenham, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, IP31 2NE. We hope you have enjoyed our Hunt Newsletter. Many thanks to all those who supplied photos, including Mr James Barclay. If you would like anything included in our Autumn edition, please do not hesitate to get in touch with either Ryan O Connell (07740344862 ryan@evogreen.co.uk) or Tina Hutchinson (07810030560 christinahutchinson@live.co.uk). Please submit your content by the 1st October. If you would like to receive this newsletter via email in future, please let us know and we will ensure you are added to the distribution list.