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
Greetings to all you TMV readers. Since I last wrote, much has happened at the Philp household to bring on a state of euphoria for a while.
At the beginning of July our daughter heard she passed her degree at Harper Adams, a great relief to her, but also to her father too, who has funded her lifestyle for the four years duration at the College. Harper has the longest bar of all the agricultural colleges and sports mad Lizzie made full use of it: après matches of Rugby, etc.
She now joins the ranks of the thousands of other graduates looking for work. However Dad, looking for some payback, has put her on the hedge cutter following the combine harvesters round, a job she has taken to quite willingly and well too.
That same weekend we had the birth of our first grandchild, a little girl now six weeks old - and an excuse to crack open another bottle. Imogen is doing well and of course living here on the farm with our eldest son and his wife, which is very handy and pleasurable for Granny...
To top this off, came the news form France I had been waiting for. Biscuit, you will recall went out in May to the pack near Le Mans for her rendezvous with her BAN doghound. She came into season, was successfully mated, and is now looking decidedly in-pup; the expected litter due at the start of September.
The dog we took her to is a really good looking hound from the Rallye la Roche owned by Mons Henri Touchard, who I met several years ago at one of the Brevets I went to. The dog is one of his best in the pack and Henri seems to be as excited about the litter as we are, as he wants to come and see them next summer.
Obviously, with the deed done, the trip to fetch Biscuit home had to be planned, so the week before Peterborough was the best time, leaving here one day and returning the next. So outward was Portsmouth to Caen, and driving down to Le Mans, and staying at our friend’s Gite overnight, with a trip up to Calais for the Euro-tunnel.
...really, that little machine wants a good thrashing...
Everything was going well at Caen, until we came to the Periferique (ring road around Caen) then the sat-nav - we had used in May to go to Le Mans - sent us North instead of South. To cut a long story short, it led us a merry song and dance and really that little machine wants a good thrashing because the straightforward two hour trip took us over five hours.
We ended up in the centre of Le Mans where we got directions, then fortunately, because of his concern at our late arrival, Henri called my mobile, gave us help to reach a junction out of town and came to meet us, or I think we would still be going round Le Mans even now!
It was with relief we duly arrived, reunited with our hound, and after a small glass of refreshment, passing of gifts, and getting back her passport and documents, it was back on the road for another marathon journey to Percy.
The trip to Calais was good and uneventful, except unknown to us it was Bastille Day in France and so a Bank Holiday for the country, and my planned visit to the supermarche' to stock up on some much needed essentials was scuppered.
Once at Calais we proceeded to Pet Passport, and the vet had forgotten to put the time of treatment on her passport, but fortunately I knew what time it had been and was able to fill this in. If it had not been a Bank Holiday, we would have had to have gone to a vet to get it done. So beware of this - anyone traveling with a pet for the first time.
Once on the train we were able to relax. Biscuit, I have to say is an amazing passenger: not a whimper, not even a nasty smell - she just sat in her little portable dog box on the back seat of the car and mulled over her French holiday; she seemed quite oblivious to the long distance she had traveled. We now await the hopefully successful conclusion to the event, fingers crossed.
We had a reasonable moderate time in the show ring at Peterborough's Festival of Hunting. Matthew showed the doghounds, and came away with two seconds and two thirds. But I had no luck with the bitches, save a third in the Veteran class with Dazzle who I have written about in the past.
To be fair, our show bitches came into season. We are not allowed to bring them to the Show, so our scratch entries did not titillate the judges. But it was a good social day, and for the first time we had our own area in an inside ring.
Indeed, the Beagles, Harriers, Old English Foxhounds and the Bassets, were all in this huge building which reminded me of a Crufts Show. The lighting needed improvement but considering it was blowing a howling gale outside, we were lucky to be under cover.
But I fear the trade stands lost out on valuable trade, as speaking to a few of them they did not get the visits from the Foxhunting brigade which is obviously crucial to their takings.
With only a day to recover, we were packed up and off again; this time for a three-day stint at the Game Fair at Belvoir. If I mention camping again with Bassets will someone please give me a good shake: I suppose after last year, lessons should have been learnt!
The show itself is fine. Lots of visitors to the static pens, loads of interest and admiration for "proper" looking Bassets. And then we go and put them in a stable in the middle of a huge show, pitch tent nearby - and await a sleepless night. The generator noise to keep floodlights on was the worst, coming from total pitch dark surroundings and having light and constant noise - even with a sufficient amount of alcohol and ear plugs, did not block it out.
The next night was even worse as the parties were in full swing: sleep became a distant dream. We paraded twice on the Sunday, which actually was great fun, and got away from Belvoir in good time before the majority of the crowds left.
They were exceptionally lucky with the weather, as that night it started to rain and it's been unsettled ever since. But of course it's harvest time again, so what do we expect for the middle of summer..?
We have been on hound exercise which is going Ok, but with no young entry this year the older hounds are feeling decidedly cheesed off already. They must learn to be patient. Enjoy the rest of the summer all of you - we will soon be hunting again.
Edna Philp