LATEST NEWS:

 2012 Events:-

Wednesday 15th February.  Quiz night at Ballingham Village Hall.  Teams of 4 - £5.00 per person to enter, price includes refreshments.  Starts at 7.30pm.

Sunday 11th March.  End of season lunch & tumble club awards at Kilpeck Village Hall.  £15.00 per person.  Starts at 12.30pm.

Saturday 14th April.  Spring fun ride at Caradoc. First horses 9.30am, last horses 1pm.  £12 entry for SHH subscribers & supporters and Pony Club members.  Barbecue and refreshments provided, rosettes for all.

OBITUARY - JOHN WILLIAMS 1929 -2011

John Williams was Master of the Four Burrow Hounds in Cornwall from 1955 to 1978.  He then moved to Herefordshire and farmed on the banks of the River Wye at Aramstone. He retained his hunting links by acting as a hunting reporter under the name of “Whipcord” for The Field and by acting as Chairman or President of the South Herefordshire Hunt until his death.

John was extremely influential in the post war development of hound breeding; the Four Burrow Hounds being able to keep going during the war in a limited fashion because John was too young and his father had been severely wounded in the 1914-18 war. notably The Duke of Beaufort entered 11 couple by Pleader (38) in 1944, hounds which were used by many masters in the post war world. In 1947-8 ten packs entered 30 couple by Four Burrow Stallion Hounds.  In particular the Heythrop entered 6 ½ couple by Four Burrow Brigadier(43) in 1947 and 4 litters by Four Burrow Filbert (39) in 1948.  These Brigadier and Filbert Bitches were to produce much of the foundation stock from which Captain Wallace was to develop the Heythrop into the influential pack they were to become.

John came from a distinguished Cornish family and was the fourth of four generations to be Masters of the Four Burrow from 1857 to 1977 with one 15 year gap.  His family were heavily involved in tin mining and engineering in Cornwall and were closely associated with Brunel in the construction of the Tunnels for the Greta Line, the building of the Tamar Bridge and the construction of the Plymouth Breakwaters.  John recalled that an ancestor was winched up with Brunel as the Central span of the Tamar bridge was raised.  Similarly the breakwaters were attempted a third time at his ancestor’s insistence and still remain in place today.  He was intensely proud of his Cornish heritage and full of happy memories of his hunting life there.

After the war he was Commissioned into the Blues ( Royal Horse Guards) and served for some years in Germany.  One of his roles was to Guard Rudolf Hess in Berlin.  He returned to London for mounted duties and was an outrider of the state coach at the Queen’s coronation. He recalled “  I sat on a horse in the inner courtyard of Buckingham Palace - behind me in two ranks was the 4th Division of the Sovereign’s Escort - 24 NCOs and men of the Royal Horse Guards.

Behind them was the 3rd Division and to our right the 1st and 2nd divisions, (Life Guards).

When we were in position the gold coach rolled up to the entrance to the Palace and behind it were 4 landaus or open carriages - first out of the Palace came the Queen's maids of honour who got into the last 3 landaus - they were followed by the Duke of Beaufort (master of the horse) and Lord Athlone who was in the uniform of the order of the Thistle in the first one. The Duke of Edinburgh came out and got into the gold coach then her Majesty came out - a tiny figure she stood there, a commanding and immaculate figure. She surveyed her Household Cavalry.  I sat there, closer to her than the length of a cricket pitch, and felt an admiration and subservience which has never left me. Then it was sections right, walk march - trot and we were out and on our way to the Abbey as the rain began to fall. 

He left the Army to return to Cornwall in 1955 and joined his father in the Mastership of the Four Burrow Hounds.  He is widely recognised as one of the dominant figures in Post War  Hound breeding and as author of a book ”Riding to Hounds” (1988) which is still recognised as an authority.  He was well known in Cornwall for the sport he showed.  He was a fearless rider and broke a great many bones during this period.

In 1977 he moved to Herefordshire to take up the reins of Aramstone Estate where he took over the farming and the stud founded by his father.  However he was not to disappear into sleepy oblivion and contributed greatly to the rural life of Herefordshire. He founded the Herefordshire Country Fair now in its 32^nd year, was heavily involved in the British Field Sports Society, was a committee member and founding member of the Wye Preservation Trust, he was a national hunting correspondent under the pseudonym of Whipcord, a Committee Member of the Country Landowners Association and a Trustee of Fawley Chapel which he helped to save from closure. He was a country man through and through and greatly concerned with the diminishing number of birds and butterflies in particular.  He took the view that “Small woods, gorses, bogs and thorns are the kinds of cover most useful to wildlife of all kinds.  The majority of such places are developed and cared for with one or other of our field sports in mind.  While shooting is usually responsible for the small woods; gorses, bogs and thorns often owe their existence to hunting.”

John was a devoted family man.  He leaves behind his second wife Lois, his two daughters Venetia and Caroline and step-daughter Karen. He was intensely proud of them all.  In particular his daughter Venetia’s training successes gave him much cause for pride and caused him to reflect “ For the first half of my life I was always known as my father’s son and now I am known as my daughter’s father”.  Nothing could be further from the truth for this high achieving and modest countryman.

We are all saddended by John's passing, he was a great contributor to SHH in many ways for many years, our thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends at this time.  His funeral will be held at 2:30pm at Kings Caple on Friday 16th September 2011.

PUPPY SHOW Sunday August 28th 2011

We all enjoyed a wonderful day at the kennels, admiring the hounds and all the hard work that has happened in the past year to improve the site.  Our judges for the day were NDB Peel Esq. MFH and J Holliday Esq.  Many thanks to all our puppy walkers and to those who helped to organise our Puppy Show.

BEST DOG: Hambone walked by Miss E Garfield

BEST BITCH: Harriet walked by Mrs J Cobb

CHAMPION PUPPY: Hambone

BEST ENTERED HOUND 2010 /2011 SEASON: Milo walked by Master Gareth Henry-Picton Williams

Tumble Club award winners for 2010/11 season are:- 

Tumble King - Andrew "Flipper" Goodinson

Tumble Queen - Jan du Cros

Tumble Junior - Lucy Price

Best Provisioned Meet & Hunt Breakfast - The Cobb family, Swinmoor Farm

Thruster of the Year & Knight in Shining Armour - Kevin Smith

Most Dynamic Junior - Emily Garfield

Whisky Galore - Ian Mathison

Rear of the Year - Lyndon Ward

Best New Entry - Vanessa Parker

Best Turned Out Girlie - Lynne Evans

Traffic Management - Barbara King

Mrs Puddleduck - Linda Wallis

Drunk & Disorderly - Ruth Lee

Synchronised BogSnorkelling - Olivia Hale & Paul Cobb

The Ice Maidens - Kate Powell & Vickie Adams

Sat Nav Failure - John Ewens

Rocky The Rooster - Vic Lane

McDonalds - Mal Williams & Daryl Heathfield

Subway - Isla Pritchard

Beth Tweddle - Patrick Darling

Should have gone to Specsavers - George Probyn

White Truffle - Nobby Hobbs

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle - Philip Whitehouse