Horse & Hound – 01 August 2019

Picture

by

Peter

Nixon

GOODNIGHT

‘A break from

hearth and home’

Minusbuggy,babyandinappropriateespadrillewedges,

TessaWaughhasa blastatPeterborough,watchinghounds,

people and picking up some vintage hunting booty

W

E ventureddownsouth

thisweekfortheLycetts

FestivalofHunting.It’s

thetypeofescapadethat

Adamcharminglycalls

“givingthewifeanairing”,a breakfromhearth

andhome,andthistimewehadAlec(our

eldest)withus.

Mercifully,Alecwon’trememberhisfirst

houndshowbecausehewasonlythreemonths

old.Backthen,I waslikea gimmerwithits

firstlamb—prettyclueless.I turnedupatthe

YorkshireShowwearinga creamdressand

espadrillewedges.I nearlyburstintotears

whenI loggedthemuddygroundandthe

absenceofplacestofeeda baby.Therewasa

buggytoputupandpush.Noonetohelp.

Lateron,Adamdivulgedhehadseen

RichardTyacke,formermasterandhuntsman

oftheWynnstay,attheringside.

“Where’sTessa?”heasked.

“She’sgotthebabywithher,”

Adamexplained.

“Shewon’tdothatagain,”replied

Richard, recalling a similar scenario with

‘I couldn’tbanishthe

melancholythought

thiseventmaynotbe

around forever’

hiswife,Alice,thepreviousyear.

It wasn’tallbad.Someoneusheredmeand

mybabyintothequietsanctuaryofa disabled

loo,whereI wrenchedthestupiddressupto

myarmpitsandgotonwiththejobathand.

S

OME 11 yearson,Alecis comparatively

low-maintenanceand“Peterborough”,

asit tendstobecalled,is sucha good

dayout.

Evenif youdon’tknowoneendofa hound

fromanother,thereis realjoyinwatchingthe

pageantunfurl—thehuntstaffintheirlivery,

mastersoffoxhoundsinthebowlerhats—

much of it unchanged in a hundred years.

If houndjudgingisn’tyourthing,the

people-watchingis brilliantandsois the

shopping.Alecneededa hackingjacketandwe

foundanancientonetailormadebackinthe

dayfora youngchampionofthechase.

“That’sseensomehunting,”remarkedmy

mother,whohadofferedtobuythecoat.

“BernardWeatherillmadetheowneronein

everysize,”saidtheladyatthevintageshop.

A newpairofmade-to-measureleather

bootsfromDaviescostjustoverthe£1,000

mark,butcustomerswereplacingorders

throughouttheday.I collectedmyrefurbished

hatfromHonrionthewayout.It looks

beautiful,butit feltlikea vicebeforePaul(the

Honriowner)gotthesteameronit.Headvises

wearingit inbeforetheseasongetsunderway,

soif youseeme“downCo-op”ina hunting

cap,you’llknowwhat’sgoingon.

Icouldn’tbanishthemelancholythought

thiseventmaynotbearoundforever.WillAlec

beabletobringhischildrenherein 30 years?

Timeschangequicklyandwemusthangon

tohunting—this thing we love — with all our

might.H&H