Book Reviews
Portrait of a Hunt
by various authors
ISBN: 978-1-87444-816-7
Published by the Chipstable Hunt Committee | £24.00
I thoroughly enjoyed this book which is, essentially, the story of a rather unique hunt country and a family on the West Somerset/Devon border. The country, known as the Chipstable, was hunted for about thirty years by Mr. Roffe-Silvester’s Foxhounds, a pack created by Michael Roffe-Silvester in the mid 1960s and which existed until the mid 1990s. The hunt country is unique because, firstly, it is relatively small and barely capable of being hunted one day a week. Secondly, it is at the corner of where four other hunt countries meet. Thirdly, prior to 1950 it had actually been part of the Tiverton Foxhounds’ country, but the hunting farmers within it had felt somewhat neglected and decided to establish their own Chipstable Hunt Committee and run it themselves. Their problem at the time was finding a hunt to hunt it.
Michael Roffe-Silvester originally came from Cornwall after the Second World War and settled at a farm known as Reaphay, where he seems to have divided his time rather unequally between farming and hunting. He first took on as Master & huntsman of the Taunton Vale Harriers in 1955, at which time they changed from hunting hares to hunting foxes. He was obviously a very good hound man and had started hunting as Master & huntsman of the Beacon Beagles in his younger days. For many years at his farm Reaphay, he and his kennel-huntsman, Dave Allibone, looked after The Beacon Beagles, The Culmstock & District Otterhounds, The Taunton Vale Harriers and Mr. Roffe-Silvester’s Foxhounds – all four packs being kennelled at the farm.
Michael for some time was Master of both the Taunton Vale Harriers and of Mr. Roffe-Silvester’s Foxhounds and, after he retired, his son John took over and was reputed to be as good a hound man as his father. Tragically, John and his young wife were both killed in a road accident in 1996 and Mr. Roffe Silvester’s Foxhounds were, regrettably, disbanded. However, the Chipstable Hunt Committee is still alive and well and continues to run the country and this is the second edition of the book, originally published after the tragic death of John Roffe-Silvester in 1996, and covers the continuing story from that date.
Each chapter is written by a different author or authors, each of whom is or was intimately connected with either the family, the hunt or the country and the book is a tribute to all three. Together they form an amusing, sometimes riotous, charming and profound story. Chapters have been written by, among others, R. W. F. Poole; Ronnie Wallace; Dave Allibone; Ben Hardaway and Vyvyan Eames MFH and I heartily recommend this book to all hunting folk. It is well produced in hardback and well illustrated with numerous good photographs in colour.
Available at £24 (inc. postage and packing)
Cheques should be made payable to: The Chipstable Hunt Committee and sent to:CHC, PO Box 2, Wiveliscombe, Somerset, TA4 2YJ
How to be Asked Again
by Rosie Nickerson
ISBN: 978-1-84689-057-4
Published by Quiller | £20.00
If you are, as I used to be, what is known as an occasional shot - or have ambitions to become one - you will get a lot of useful information out of this book while, at the same time, have an amusing time doing so. The author is Rosie Nickerson who, from the age of five, often accompanied her father the late Sir Joseph Nickerson when he went shooting and who is no mean shot herself.
Sir Joseph in his prime was reputed to have been one of the best shots in Britain and had a top class partridge and pheasant shoot in Lincolnshire, as well as a grouse moor in County Durham, both of which he used for entertaining his friends and business contacts. His world record for the number of wild grey partridges shot in one day has never been broken and, I suspect, never will. He was a stickler for doing things “the right way”. I know because I worked for him in his seed business for twenty four years. His book entitled A Shooting Man’s Creed is still one of the shooting classics.
The sort of shooting we are talking about here is not walking about the farm with a dog and a gun to get the odd bird “for the pot”. This is a more formal affair with driven birds, thoughtfully and beautifully presented to a line of eight or nine waiting guns by a team of keepers and beaters in organised drives. To be invited to one of these shoots is an experience and I have been lucky enough to have had a few days like this when I was younger. However, I have to say that I have always really been a hunting man. Nevertheless, the memory of such days will be with me until my dotage.
In recent years the costs of running such a shoot have soared and, as a consequence, many shoot owners have had to let the odd day or two to help cover the running costs. Many large and small commercial companies found this to be a great opportunity to entertain their important business clients and considered the idea of renting a day for their guests to be money well spent. The sport, camaraderie and the general relaxed atmosphere of such a day never fails to impress good clients, many of whom might not otherwise get such an opportunity. There are, therefore, quite a few people invited to shoot and who have no previous experience and who maybe unsure of how to go about it. This book will tell them how to be the perfect guest and how, as the title indicates, be asked again.
Rosie Nickerson has had proper respect for shooting safety, procedure and etiquette drilled into her from a tender age and relatively few people have had such an upbringing. The book encapsulates everything you might need to know and is written in a way that is amusing, with many anecdotes and quotes. It will certainly help you to remember how to avoid the various potential pitfalls and is humorously illustrated by Oliver Preston, cartoonist for The Field magazine since1995.
How to be Asked Again has been compiled from a wide range of interviews with beaters, pickers-up, keepers and owners, most of them personally known to the author of the book. Not only does she let you know what best to do but, probably more importantly, what never to do!
Reviewed by:
David Hindle