Edna Philp
Edna Philp
Edna Philp is joint-master and huntsman of the De Burgh and North Essex Bassets and farmer's wife near Saffron Walden.
Edna Philp
Hi everyone, great to be back into another hunting season and all the joys that it brings. My farmer is happy, we have had rain, the drilling is finished and next years harvest is coming up well, so now he can go out to play too.
Really the autumn over here has been very kind and it has only recently just started to feel like November should. Last month was very warm, even up at Alston in Cumbria for the Hunting Festival organised by the Weardale, it was unseasonably warm.
Normally up there winter woolies are essential for the week as the wind cuts across the moors. Not so this year, anyone putting on too many layers found themselves in their own sauna suit for the day.
The late hatching Crane fly were blown along in the breeze which I had not seen before at this time of year tells you how mild it was. Despite the warmth, we had some good sport with the visiting packs who all put on good days and plenty of hound music for the large crowds following.
...like minded people enjoying hunting and the countryside which is so beautiful in this part...
Since I started going to this some 10 years ago, I have made good friends with other regulars and always look forward to it. It is one of the great things that have made it so successful, like minded people enjoying hunting and the countryside which is so beautiful in this part. The only down side this year was the host pack were confined to kennels as a result of a mild cough virus, so we could not see them at work.
From my own perspective I enjoy the chance to watch hounds work without the responsibilities for a few days. It is very relaxing, albeit hard work at times in a terrain that is so far removed from our normal country. But the plus side too, there is no mud here to stick to your boots, just bogs to fall in and get wet!
Our own Opening Meet was very warm and dry, the hounds hated it as there was no scent, the ground like concrete and very hard on their pads. The best part without doubt was going in for tea when we could all pray that things could only improve as they certainly could not get worse!
We had a good crowd anyway and a few new faces too who have joined via friends who already follow. Since then things have improved with the going and scent had certainly improved just this week, so much so that some of our naughty little Bassets went deer hunting for most of the afternoon and stayed out all night too!
Our early litter of pups are back into kennels now and looking good. One called Eric completely disgraced himself by chewing through the internet and telephone connection of the business, a game processing plant. But Eric was also given access to the farmhouse so really became part of the family. His level of gratitude did not impress at the time but I think he has now been forgiven and is generally missed.
Once the puppies return from walk they generally take a couple of days to acclimatise, and then settle down into the routine quite well. They still have a little more growing to do but they look like all the others, and there are no runts. The Frenchies as we have called them have been tattooed, inoculated and are ready to go to their walks but as you can imagine they have been much admired in kennels by all who visit.
Andrew, the East Essex huntsman has never seen such bold pups, they were helping him mow the grass the other day, not at all bothered by the mower but climbing on it as he emptied the grass box. Not sure if this is the French in them or what, they are certainly going to give their walkers some interesting times - but I won’t say anything more because I don't want to put my walkers off. We are very lucky we have two new volunteers who have agreed to have pups at walk; both are experienced in this but have not had Bassets before.
Our next social event coming up very shortly is our Annual Dinner and this year we have Sir Mark Prescott coming as our Guest. He is an excellent after dinner speaker who is very entertaining so will tell you all about that next time. Ticket sales have gone like hot cakes as you can imagine and it should be a really good night. Yes the social scene really picks up when the clocks change, lots of
Hunt suppers, parties and general socialising, making up for the summer when we had no time or energy to socialize. I think we all deserve some entertainment and fun, don’t you agree?
Edna Philp