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With the difficult season we have been experiencing along with other hunts alike. It was a particular delight to invite Rory Knight Bruce to be after dinner speaker at a hunt dinner in order to raise funds for the Waveney Harriers and stay the weekend at my home.
The Waveney Harriers are a small hunt but have an enormous heart and welcome people to visit and experience the diverse cross section of people who are involved in watching the Stud Book Harriers in the Waveney Valley.
Their Huntsman, Nick Badger has been with them since 1993 and there is long stability with two of the Masters’ Senior John Ibbott (1997) and Dominic Parravani (1998) Lucy Wyatt MH compliments the partnership and there is a great sense of singing from the same hymn sheet! The Hounds would be “chorus”! To that
The Waveney Valley extends some twenty two miles from east to west and nineteen miles from north to south, lies in East Suffolk and part of Norfolk and is roughly bisected by the River Waveney and without the enormous contribution the landowners’ make – allowing us the privilege to be hunting within the law on their land now six years after the ban!
The pack began as foxhounds over two hundred years ago. Run privately by the Freestone family and later as a subscription pack under A.G. Freestone, who died in 1872. They were then known as the Waveney Harriers, but after the Mastership of Sir Savile Crossley, Bt. (later Lord Somerleyton) from 1881 to 1888, the Earl of Stradbroke purchased them, and they took the title of the Henham Harriers. The Earl himself hunted hounds until 1939. On his death they passed to the Countess, being hunted by Major the Hon George Rous. In 1954 the Henham were reorganized as the Waveney Valley and in 1960 they became, as in their early days, the Waveney Harriers.
Rory made the trip up from Devon for a weekend with our small hunt and I was delighted to hear of his positive comments. He said, “It is like a bit of Cornwall and there are so many friendly people.”
Our Hunt Chairman Robin Bramley (1994) and his wife Trisha had a meet at their Hill Farm, Gillingham and kindly provided Rory with a horse to enable him to ride to hounds. Rory has hunted with some one hundred and fifty packs, when Michael Clayton was Editor of Horse and Hound. He is still correspondent for Horse and Hound today, along with his other journalistic skills writing for the Independent, Daily Mail, and where many would be familiar with his “Mad, Bad and Dangerous” column in The Field magazine. He cut his teeth as a Fleet Street journalist, has written two books, Red Letter Day’s which is Memoirs of his hunting across the British Isles and includes his Mastership of the United Foxhounds. And “Timothy the Tortoise” a remarkable story of a Mediterranean spur-thighed tortoise who lived to over one hundred and sixty years.
There were several visitors at Hill Farm on the 5th February 2011 and Rory rode a nice bay horse called “Dee Dee” I did not tell him it was named “The bonecrusher” for obvious reasons, however the horse did not put a foot wrong all day and he had a marvellous day.
The Huntsman brought ten and a half couple of Stud Book Harriers and the Waveney completely rely on amateur whippers-in. Former whipper-in Liz Flatt who did extremely “long service” as an amateur was riding in the field and soon made friends with Rory. Along with many others who had a “tale to tell”. Sharing an interest that day regarding the subject of newspapers was the Managing Director of Archant Publishing (Eastern Daily Press) Johnny Hustler. There was a guest of the neighbouring Freeland family whose land we are again welcomed with hounds and Idi Firmin was up from London and also riding a hunter of the Bramleys’
Robin Bramley was field Master on his side of the country and as hounds moved off – the field followed on swiftly; Rory said, “It was like being in the Foxhunters at Aintree.” Joint Master Dominic Parravani led the field for the rest of the day and there were a few newcomers out who had not experienced hunting to hounds and many stalwarts who hunt with this pack twice a week.
On a ride in the woods, I spotted Rory talking to Edward Knowles (who was following on foot), a familiar face he would know – former Master of the South Dorset and now resides in our country and is Farm Manager on the Somerleyton estate which we are also privileged to hunt over and have several meets there in a season. Edward’s daughters were riding in the field and Rory said to me later on, he had recognised Edward’s wife Kitty (a West Country girl) and her father at the meet.
Although milder was the weather and better going underfoot, there was a fiercely strong westerly wind and as the Huntsman said at the end of the day “you should never take hounds out on a windy day.” However, that is the old adage and never a truer word said but if conditions are huntable we must go and in the North-East if you waited for “no wind” you would never go at all!
There are “no days bad in hunting” – “just some are better than others!”
So although we did not have the best of days for our visitors, we had a lot of fun and as Rory Knight Bruce said, “A very special hunt and part of England”. In the evening a dinner was held at the village of St. Cross South Elmham in a very rural part of Suffolk and a splendid after dinner speech by Rory giving compliments to our Masters’ hunt staff and Entertainments committee for organising the Dinner – and all the people who have the pleasure to hunt with the Waveney Harriers. He spoke with the knowledge of the countryside and hunting that he has grown up with and the importance of the relevant organisations like the Countryside Alliance who campaign to keep the importance of rural life at the forefront in people’s minds. Most of all he told amusing and witty stories that made us all laugh!