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Carlisle @ Penrith Area Presentation Evening.

Saturday 12th March 2016

Penrith Cricket Club 7.30.

Buffet and Sweet. Tickets £8 from 01228 712025.

Maddison Entertainment.

A Doggerel penned in the eighties about a hound and his owner  written anonymously.

Well the hound in question was called Black Gold, the owner was our former chair Kenneth Roy Laidler (full title) and the author —— ME!

This is a story of a hound named Kip

Who used to have trouble getting the trip

In Running ,his name was Black Gold

And so a stormy tale doth unfold.

 

Early in the season they’re off and running

All bar one – the son of a gun-

Maybe it’s because he likes being a loner-

But look ! -it’s just been  passed by it’s owner.

 

He had to be taught to cross some becks

So he was held by a string tied to his neck

Terry, looked, and said with a frown.

‘With a bit of luck, perhaps he might drown’

 

But ,at last he got going and thought he ‘d licked it.

Slipped in ‘t pups , finished last int’  restricted.

 

Now he took up the challenge at Cunswick Fell

and for half the race he ran very well,

But by nine o’clock he still hadn’t shown

And had gone off the Nab all alone.

 

Walkie talkie in hand, his owner took flight

Away down the finish and out of sight.

Snap,crackle,and pop,the peace was shattered,

‘ He’s behind a yat I think he’s knackered’

 

Then he was invited to channel 4

And was lined up with a half dozen more,

But he dug in his heels, He wouldn’t go,

Would you run for nowt in a T.V show.

 

Next stop was Whicham, for Batty’s trail,

Clipped him out from head to tail.

Led onto the finish!  A chance of fame!

Ran off! and went round again.

 

Then went to Sawrey for a  puppy maiden

It was so wet the hounds were wading

All over the field a cheer was heard,

The big black dog had finished third

On the owners face was a look of glee

He’d had a pound at fives without three.

 

.

His last chance for the winter’s beer

Was a non-winners trail at Grasmere

But we all knew he was not that fast

Because he finished next to last.

 

Now we come to the end of our tale

And this hound is not for sale

His owner persevered to the end,

For the sake of man’s best friend

Really, I think he deserves a medal;

‘Cos he did get three tickets at  – Longsleddale..

.

 

The Ambassadors of hound trailing was the name given to the members who went to the first ever Irish International trail meeting at Cloyne, a round trip of a 1000 miles , Carlisle to Stranraer, Larne, and Cork.

English hounds take the honours at Cloyne was the headline in the ‘news’.

English hounds take the honours at Ireland’s first -ever International drag hunt Which was held at Cloyne in County Cork.

In the main event, the Guinness senior hound trail four of the six places , went to the hound trailing association.

The winner was Mr M Porter’s bitch Shamrock, who returned the remarkably fast time of 26 minutes 44 seconds for the tough ten mile course. She had several seconds lead over Meg, the entry of Mr J Lenihan, Kerry Pike. Another Cork hound Pincers, Mr J Mahoney’s , Northern Hunt finished fifth.

The winners time was one of the fastest recorded at a draghunt in Ireland and is all the more commendable in view of the toughness of the course, English hounds ,as a rule, are not accustomed to Irish ditches and hedges and the course carefully chosen by the Cloyne and Carrigshane Harrier Club included a plentiful supply of ditches. On that score alone it was thought that the advantage would lie with the Irish hounds, but the English hounds surprised everyone, except their owners , with their amazing turn of speed.

In the second event , the Harp Lager Maidens, English hounds again dominated winning the event and taking third ,fourth, fifth, and sixth places.

The staging of the event was mainly due to the efforts of Mr Albie Murphy, secretary of Cork City and County Harriers association.

Yesterday’s event attracted a large crowd.  Mr Frank Quinlan was judge and was assisted by Mr Jim Casson.

Seniors 1 Shamrock 2 Meg 3 Jackpot 4 Snowdrop 5 Pincers 6 Ballerina. 36 ran Time 26 44

Maidens 1 Tyneside 2 Sporter 3 Happy Collector 4 Signal Queen 5 Castella  6 Cool Comely.60 ran Time 27. 14

Observation from a neutral: The hedges had holes cut in them to assist the hounds, on reflection , as one supporter remarked after the English success , ‘ We wont be cutting holes next time .

And as for the winner , ably assisted by Jimmy Glaister, Bill Porter, Bill Jackson and ‘Boy’ Jackson, went to Ireland under their own steam a couple of days earlier.

In their own words , ‘ to get accustomed to the surroundings’ which in plain English meant, we’ve had a ‘gallop’ up the finish.

HTA 200 club draw February 2016

£75 No 95 Vikki Bolton . Windermere.

£25 No 25 Brian Graham Bassenthwaite.

This weekend we celebrate the 90th birthday of the ‘rat catcher’ as he was affectionately called as his job was pest control officer for south Lakeland, Ken Bunting , Grasmere born and bred, lived in the same house all his life. life member of the HTA and permanent fixture for the RAOB ( order of buffaloes) will this weekend reach a milestone – 90 years young and still looking after his allotment , scouting the fell for the Grasmere trails. He might be hard of hearing but with a shock of white hair looks years younger–the secret, who knows?
For years he promoted Grasmere sports and was the official timekeeper with a splendid stopwatch which only he could decipher.
His love of gardening culminates in bag of green beans on my doorstep each autumn.
His other passion is trailing . a life member, an executive member,35 years on the area Committee.
Hounds with the moniker ‘Birk’ ,owned by messrs Bunting and Brownrigg were common in the seventies and he has also had a long association with Pat and Jane Laidler, and Denis Peare.
Uncle Ken as Jane refers has been a postman, and was in the Royal Navy , the question was asked did his job have anything to do with the flags of the navy, why ? ‘Bunting”ouch’!
90 year old and still walking up the path towards the ‘pig snout’ to watch the hounds, mobile phone in pocket. We resorted to using a radio and it was a common sound on the Grasmere trail field to here ‘ come in Ken, are you receiving , no reply , why? he couldn’t hear it and it is no different with the phone . As Ken says this phone is useless , cant hear a ‘bloody thing’ as it rang deep down in his mac pocket.
In his younger days along with his schoolmates, the late Tommy Graves and Ike Dixon; he played football for Grasmere, the pitch being the Grasmere sports field.
His sister Joy keeps a watchful eye on Ken , making sure he doesn’t drink to much Guinness and has a regular meal.
He still gets about in his beloved car but would rather have a lift , the car being a regular on the 591 roadside as he hails a passing ‘taxi’ to either the trails or the meetings.
That is just a small summary of ‘Bunts’ life which will be celebrated at the ‘Buffs’ club Grasmere on Sunday Afternoon.
Happy Birthday Ken from all hound trailers , friends and family and – only ten more to the telegram.

Kendal trails points winners 2015.
Seniors Open /Local R/ W Dawson’s Razzle Dazzle.
Juniors Open N/L Brown’s M Watson’s Persian Bay.
Local J/V Simpson’s Venus.
Open Restricted N Wilson’s Highness / R/W Dawson’s Mrs Mcgregor.

At last weeks AGM, there was a slight murmur of derision when I suggested that I didn’t think hound trailers would deliberately run their hounds in trails which they were either not entered or qualified.
So , I delved into the past to see what went on in years gone by and this is an extract from the ‘Whitehaven’ from 1964.
” There was a rare old row at Millom last Saturday when Mr Newall’s Brigadier, backed down to favourite, failed to appear at the start. Punters immediately clamoured for a return of their bets, but the bookmakers were reluctant to put their hands into their bags, for they claimed that the hound was under starter’s orders.
The Ulverston area held an inquiry on June 19th.
The recent incident at Millom which resulted in Mr T Newall’s Hensingham hound Brigadier, being suspended by the Ulverston area Committee for failing to line up at the start, has served a useful purpose in pinpointing the failing of rule 65 which lays down that hounds come under starter’s orders 15 minutes before the start of the trail.
At their meeting on last Friday the Ulverston area accepted the explanation from put forward by Mr Newall and his trainer Mr McCarron, to the effect that Brigadier had been taken to a wrong starting point, the trainer being unaware that the slip had been changed from the previous year. Consequently the ban on Brigadier was lifted , but the Committee could take no action with regard to the bets placed on Brigadier which had been backed off the boards.
Sherlock has been reviewing the case but after 52 years the trail has gone cold, not enough oil!

January 2016 HTA 200 club draw.
1 £ 75 no 35 Laura Steele.
2 £ 25 no 18 Bill Birkett.

The AGM of the Hound Trailing Association took part on Sunday 31st January 2016. John Barry Laidler was re-elected as Chair to serve for another three years.
After a minutes silence to remember past members the chair invited 111 members to the meeting and after the minutes and accountants report on the balance sheet, the trophies were presented ,by the new honorary member Norma Reay, to the various winners.
The only rule change that was up for discussion was dismissed when it didn’t adhere to rule 29.2.
In any other business the issue of swearing was addressed and also the lack of advertising and the lack of support for the youth forum on the future of hound trailing.
All these issues will be discussed at the next committee meeting.

looking forward to the season ahead as the Area Committees get together in February for their first meetings of the year.
And on the agenda is the venues for the major meetings of the season, the sooner we know where they are the more publicity and hound people and the visiting public can make early arrangements.
To be confirmed are :
May Day Trails Monday May 2nd
Dog produce Cockermouth / Workington Sat 11th June
International Trail Saturday 25th June
Bitch Produce Ulverston Area Saturday July 2nd.
Association Trails Saturday August 6th.

New innovation for the coming season.
Where possible the itinerary of the bookmakers will be published on the website.

A change this week due to the fact that on Thursday I met a man and his wife . a Mr and Mrs Murphy, who live in Swarthmoor, formerly from the Ambleside and Hawkeshead area.
It transpired that we were related through our Grandparents, who came from little Langdale. Also Norman had been ,in his younger days, a keen follower of hound trailing and he remembers the days of ‘Perivale’ and Black Diamond, Sunset and ‘Bouncer’ or George’ Brantwood’ Brownlee to be correct. Also the long forgotten days of the ‘White Heather Club’ who met once a year at Hawkeshead Show in the Sun Inn and got ‘well oiled’.
The members included local farmer George Brass, Jimmy Beatty.Jackie Laidler, Laal Gus, Big Jim, Oliver Webb Colin from Manchester, a major from down south uncle Tom Cobbley and all.
Quite a number sat around the table largely because the drink was free.
And it was on record that the winner of the trail one year slept under the table before running, completely oblivious to the proceedings , its name – ‘Double Life’.
Norman told the tale of watching a certain hound being exercised around Hawkeshead , apparently waiting for an opportunity to ‘nip’ down the finish, Allegedly.
Norman now lives in ‘Swattie’ two doors from Wendy Martin’s Mum, Betty.
Mentioning Hawkeshead Show brought back memories one of which was under the heading of ‘ a funny thing happened on the way to the show’.
Travelling at high speed , about 20 mph, along the road between Clappersgate and Outgate , in ‘Sarah’ an ancient Bedford van, dad driving ,Gus navigating, Jim grumbling, Billy Braithwaite, an assortment of young ‘uns bunking off school.
When! there was a bang , followed by a scraping sound, followed by the driver saying ‘look ! there is a wheel rolling down the road, ‘Where the bloody hell as that come from’!
Then a shout from the rear of the ‘bus’ the bloody back wheel has dropped off’ Which was now gathering momentum and heading on it’s own towards Hawkeshead.
Then a sing along ‘Three wheels on my wagon and I’m just rolling along’. Happy Days- ‘Fire Away ‘ finished fourth , well that is 8/4d towards a new back axle- got a lift home with Jim Beattie , who would have given Stirling Moss a run for his money, mind you, this was after an all day session.
And as for Jim and Gus , on being asked on arriving home, ‘What won the trails? answered’ its Tuesday’!
Actually the Senior winner was ‘ Brantwood ‘ I wonder who owned that? (see above)

Seniors
1 Jenny’s Rose 2 Lady Bethan 3 Huntsman’s Jenny 22 Ran 9 min 41.
Pups 1 Jenny’s Aura 2 Queen 3 General James 12 Ran Time 9.24.
Short Trail 1 Rooster 2 Where’s Wallie 3 Black Eyed Pea. 12 Ran 4 .26.

Oulton. Fireman Sam/ Thorn Fire. pups Liz.

A G M -Sunday 31st January, Hundith Hill Hotel Cockermouth 2.00pm.

C/W presentation – Saturday 6th Feb Hundith Hill Hotel.Cockermouth.
Music Double Jeopardy. three course meal tickets £15
Neil Brown 07834 873397.

Westmorland area presentation . Buffet and Dance.
Saturday Feb 13th Windermere Social club.
Tickets £7 from Pat 015394 44635 or Baz 015394 45200.
Music by Woodsmen.

Carlisle /Penrith presentation – Saturday 12th March at Penrith
Cricket Club.
music by Maddison. Tickets £8 from Amy 01228 712025

Ulverston Area Presentation.
Saturday 5th March
Jutland club Flookburgh.
Tickets £6 from Allison 015395 32195.

Whitehaven Area Presentation.
27th February 27th at 4pm.
Little Arms Wath Brow.
Race Day – Pie and Peas. Free admission.
Race sponsors wanted also you can be a jockey ,an owner or a horse for £2.

For a change, instead of reminiscing , we are going to look forward to the coming season starting with the new puppy registrations.
First we welcome our new members ; Ian Dockeray from Maryport with his new acquisition Sea Brows Lad , a late bred pup from the Westgate kennel ,we wish him well.
Now it has been said that owning and training a hound can send you to drink ,well! , after numerous years in the ‘game’, It has finally caught up with Mal and Ann Reay, Singapore Sling , Harvey Wallbanger,and a Black Russian, I suppose its better than Bitter and Lager.
Arizona proved a winning pick last season so Steve and Leslie are trying Again with the American theme with Boston, Nevada and Memphis and a couple of extra owners try to get into a winning team, namely Caroline and Pat.
Where would we be with the Napiers , eight FP’s appear in this years registrations,as Les Reid has teamed up with Denis, Nicola is looking for a new ‘head lad’, Les has a ‘Dan’ a ‘Mick’ and a ‘Liz’.
There are plenty up Eskdale ,Miterdale Copper and Rusty and Steel,and Come HomeJack back to the Crowes, Ray (Pepperpot) Matterson making a welcome return with ‘Ronnie’s Rascal.
Tom and Liz with Out Of Gable and Whistling Beauty.
Another trainer making a comeback is David Todhunter with
‘Telstar’, could be ‘flying high’.
The Kendal kennel of Robert Reid and Emma Blenkarn have three Sparrowmires , ‘Gracie, Jess and Peggy’ also in Kendal Reg Smith teams up with partner Jill and a ‘Liverpool supporter’ with Accolade and Adventure and the Dawsons stick with the music theme with Buble and Queen, John Graham holds his cards close to his chest with ‘Blackjack’ and carries on the Roman theme with ‘Maximus’. Mick and Dot go back to the’wild’ prefix with ‘Gypsy’. Howgill Annabella lives in Burneside for Ian Ana Ann Bell.
Les Black (no Pat) continues on the Canny way with ‘Mover’and Joe and ‘Nessa’ raked the ashes to find ‘Phoenix and at Selside Wendy’s found another ‘M’ Misha. , talking about ‘M’s there is Christine’s Manna from Borrowdale (not heaven).
We have two Huntsmans’ and one Jenny’s– Lad, Loyal and Aura.
Now there is one called ‘Kit Kat’ apparently named after the owner was accused of nicking the Chairmans biscuit only to be found some weeks later under the driver’s seat.
After apologising profusely the Chair was reminded that it would be remembered in name ,hence ‘Kit Kat’.
Captain Jack ( Harkness or Sparrow ) runs for Tanya and a slight wind from Brian in the shape of a ‘Breeze’ and a ‘Wanted ‘ poster all based in Aspatria.
There is a boxer from Cockermouth in the shape of ‘Cotto’ for ‘Fletch’ and Ricky.
Lisa sticks with the ‘Cool’ handle, enough is enough.
I see that Eclipse has a certain Mr Hunter on board together with ‘Lynchy’ and Darren .
And also in Dearham we have a Silver Dawn and Dusk, a McMaster,Baxter,Chambers,Wilson,Skelton but no Joe.Also Bill aka Scrunt pins his hopes on another Sunset.
The Holmes family from Ellonby stick with prefix ‘S’ Stand By ,Spring Rose ‘Sultan’and Sweet Harmony.
After singer and band we have Jazz Lyric for Pat and Jane and over in nr Overwater we have Roger and Hally for the Irvings and family, and a change of venue with ‘mealsgate Missile’
Alan O’Fee is staying with Barncroft , this time ‘Gold’
The Birkett, Swanson, McClellan partnership have General James and James also teams up with Steve, Joe and Neil with ‘Tough Look’ probably named after Joe?
Aptly named is Yorkshire Lad ,settled in Settle for Mick.
Steve Riley ‘Walkson’and Donald and Family ‘Kenmore’
Larty Carty,( look it up on urban dictionary) runs for Jonty ,Evie and Jack..
Popeye is in Bassenthwaite for Brian and Shirley and Gordon Tinnion keeps Quiet (if only) with a ‘Badger ‘,a Beaver and an otter, he has run out of birds. He also teams up with Caroline And Dennis with ‘Hunter’s Sparkle, and pops up again with two Satterthwaites and Martin Burrow with Thorn Dollar.
Peter and Chris ( kipper) have ‘Step up’ and ‘Speed on’
And on the mark and another ‘Summer’ is ‘Dancer’ from Cumwhitton.
Margaret Rose ,Alan Blacklock’s charge from KIrkbride together with her sister ‘Meadow Elsa’ running for the vice -Chair and daughter Joe from Carlisle.
Whitehaven Chair, Chris McGhee,together with daughters runs Mylana and Sue (late bred) has a Westgate Luther and Autumn.
The ‘Gypsy’ boys have reverted back to Kinniside with Beauty, Bess, Nell and Spot, that is Tony , Ian and Geoff. And last but not least , C’est la vie for Duncan, Amy and family or in English ‘That’s Life’
Oh and Miss Islay, not born until December, so we will have to be patient.