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The music of the pack is it’s We who were born in country places, Far from cities and shifting faces, We have a birthright no man can sell, And a secret joy no man can tell.
The Birthright
As Cry only comes out once every six months or so you would think that there would hardly be a call to 'Hold the Front Page' but this has happened twice in the last two days.
Firstly we have had the good news that the remainder of our Autumn Rides can go ahead – see the details at the bottom of this page and do come and support them if you possibly can. They are hugely popular, a great way to get both horse and rider fit and to see some of the cream of the Wynnstay country and above all are tremendous fund raisers. As you will see from our Chairman's report we have been able to assist the hunt financially with a variety of projects this year and this would not have been possible without your generous support.
The sudden call to arms did however serve to remind that the political situation in the countryside remains extremely fraught and there is absolutely no doubt that the present Government neither understands or cares about the countryside at all. Various court cases with regard to the Hunting Bill are proceeding through various stages of appeal and counter appeal with a few new ones to boot and the only consistency seems to be the astonishing ignorance of some of the magistrates involved. These will no doubt drag on but at least they are providing a forum to expose how utterly ridiculous the Hunting Act is.
Hopefully the green light will shortly be given for hunting to resume but it is obviously going to be a rather fragmented start to the season and our sympathies must go to all kennel and stable staff who have had to cope with the problems of getting hounds and horses fit without the opportunity to let them let off steam. On the optimistic side the country is looking in great shape and farm prices are showing some signs of recovering although typically after one of the wettest summers on record a neighbour was recently remarking that a drop of rain would do no harm.
So let us hope that the worst is behind us and that we can look forward to the Opening Meet with optimism. If one thing is for sure you never realise how much you enjoy something until you are not able to do it. Whether or not hunting resumes shortly do come along and support the various events laid on by WHSC.
The Editor is on the telephone again and asking or rather demanding my contribution to the Autumn edition of 'Cry' and if all goes according to plan it will be my last!
As I sat down to write this I glanced through back copies of Autumn 'Crys' trying to recall what I should say. Alas this year it is sadly different, with Area I's Ride already cancelled and continuing uncertainty over whether or not the other Rides will be able to take place. This is an extremely sad situation for many – not least of all the farming community as it really means, as the old saying goes 'things ain't what they should be' and whilst the foot and mouth restrictions remain in place none of us can go Autumn Hunting or enjoy the Sunday Rides that have become such a feature of this time of year. In the past the Rides have generated up to £10,000 for WHSC funds and are easily our biggest fundraisers. So all I can say is that I'm extremely sorry to everyone involved and to thank all the committees for their co-operation and pray that the situation improves.
Rory Knight Bruce will be our Guest Speaker on Friday 16th November at our 46th. Annual Dinner at Bangor-on-Dee Race Course. Rory is a very keen hunting man and often contributes articles about hunting and the countryside to The Field, Horse & Hound and the Daily Telegraph. He comes from Devon and apart from being Fiona McAlpine's ex brother-in-law I don't think he has any other claim to these parts! Please come and have a good evening out and hopefully we will have ironed out the teething problems with the new caterers – more potatoes and vegetables is the cry! I would also like to thank Justin Beckett of Belton Cheese for very kindly supplying us with such a delicious selection of cheeses for the dinner.
Kennel Wall repairs £1,000 Kennel Hurdles £ 498 Hound Vaccine £ 902 Humane Killer £ 250 Donation towards Terrierman's Pick-up £3,350
This sort of expenditure is really possible due to the Rides but other activities also help to swell the Funds including:-
Hog Roast £ 600 Summer Drinks / Skittles Evening £ 500 Farmer's Hunt Ball £1,300 Quiz Night £ 600 Annual Dinner £ 934
Perhaps we'll have to do even more to make up the shortfall if we loose our remaining Rides, so please keep buying the various tickets that come your way.
It must have been at least eight years ago that Jill Hutchinson Smith stood on our ramp at Adrefelyn early one morning and asked if I would succeed Jeannie Chantler as Chairman of WHSC – if elected! It was too early in the day perhaps to say No and as they say the rest is history. Now Geoff Mayer, our Vice-Chairman, will succeed me (I hope) at the next AGM – if elected!
I have enjoyed my time as Chairman but could not have done the job without so many wonderful people to help me; Karen Slater, Charlotte Percival and now Jo Roberts have all been extremely efficient Secretaries; Peter Lawrence and John Godwin have tirelessly kept the Books straight; David Higham has edited Cry with such imagination that I hardly recognise my own reports and John Davies has been the eternal and generous Father Christmas. I am glad to see that I didn't wear out the Editor or Father Christmas!
The three Area Chairmen, Secretaries and Committees have all continued to produce excellent funds with such willingless – long may it last. Jill Hutchinson Smith and now David Brooks have been very supportive and encouraging Presidents.
There's only one thing that worries me; I hope that Bert will continue to bring Bettisfield Park such successful Hound Puppies – or will they now go to the Mayer's?! Happy Hunting.
AREA I (WREXHAM)
The Bryn Y Pys Show was a great success, Traditionally this show has always run on a Sunday, however Saturday 26 May worked extremely well, the weather was kind to us and we had an excellent turn out. Thank you to all the members of Area 1 who worked so hard to ensure the success on the day in particular the great efforts to secure sponsors for the event. Unfortunatly our ride at Pickhill scheduled for Sunday 23 September had to be cancelled. We would be delighted to welcome new members to Area I Committee, events need support on the day, its great fun and any new ideas would be very welcome!
AREA II (WHITCHURCH)
Torrential rain and a howling gale did not stop tough Wynnstay people from battling through it all to an excellent Hog Roast very kindly hosted by the Hunt Chairman and Mrs Hunt Chairman. We all had a great evening and many thanks to all who worked so hard to make it such fun. Particular thanks must go to Paul Connolly for organising the terrier racing. The evening was a great success despite the weather.
As always, a great vote of thanks to a great Committee.
We were once again very lucky to be offered Lower Carden Hall by Euan and Fiona McAlpine (they are certainly gluttons for punishment!) for a summer art exhibition and party so this was held the last Friday in June. Luckily, Daniel Crane was able to bring his wonderful paintings which are so popular with hunting people. We were very lucky with the weather that night after a bad week and were able to overflow into the garden. Daniel was kind enough to donate a picture of hounds to our raffle - and the deserving winner was - Bert! Again, we must thank the McAlpines for their wonderful hospitality and especially, Fi's hard work in the kitchen, she was brilliant! From this evening and the skittle match held earlier in the year, we were able to hand over £1000 to Central at a recent committee meeting.
Now, we are keeping everything crossed that we will be able to hold our ride (21st October) but of course it all depends on the dreaded FMD. Henry and David have found a completely new course for this year and work has already been done on brook crossings and wickets. Let's hope we can use it! I and I'm sure other secretaries have been taking calls for the last month about our Area rides, they are so popular, it will be a great shame if we can't go ahead.
Looking ahead, we will be holding another Skittle Night at The Bickerton Poacher in February so we hope to see a lot of you there. Details will follow nearer the time.
After a trying season due to terribly wet ground and access difficulties, we finished up with an interesting if poor scenting day in the Cotswold country, where a huge team of mounted car and motorbike followers came to support us. I think the bike followers, who came the night before, had the most fun even though they looked a little jaded at the meet.
Best Dog was Layman walked by Mrs S Martin, 2nd Paragon Mrs Anson and 3rd Gangster Mrs Carter. Best Bitch was Stylish walked by Mrs Curran, 2nd Gadget Mrs Carter and 3rd Lavender Mrs Evans. The Championship was won by Stylish and the best working Hound was won by Sailor who was walked by Mrs Martin.
As frustrating as it is for us we must remember our farmers whose livelihoods are affected. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank our farmers for being so helpful and supportive when it was so wet last season.
RICHARD TYACKE MFH
Thirty two years was a long time to be a joint Hunt Secretary and, before that, P.A. For Neville Hill-Trevor and Roger Hewitt when they were Masters, but I enjoyed it all and will have many memories to to look back on. It all started as being the galloping cook with the Matsons which first brought me to Shropshire and the Wynnstay Hunt. Many thanks to you all.
WYNNSTAY HUNT BRIDGE COMPETITION 2006/7
I have been very weak and agreed to run the competition next year so I hope that we get a similar support from the competitors. We always need new blood so if anybody who has not been involved before is interested in entering next year, would they please get in touch with me by Email at postmaster@rosselli.plus.com or Telephone 01978 710 626. Entry forms will be sent out in the Autumn so don't delay.
Peter Rosselli
FOXHUNTING How to Watch and Listen by HUGH J. ROBARDS M.F.H
Hugh Robards was 1st Whipper-in to Charlie Wilkin with Sir W.W.Wynn’s hounds for three seasons from 1967 to 1970. This is Hugh’s second book, his first being a memoir titled Foxhunting in England Ireland and North America. In this latest work Hugh has set out to inform all those who go hunting about the whys and wherefores of what happens or should happen on a well organised day’s hunting. He attempts to enlighten the newcomer to foxhunting but the narrative gives even the most seasoned follower of hounds something to think about and learn from.
The book is a series of chapters about what each of the major players on a day’s hunting are doing and why. Although written primarily for the American reader who is still able to carry on today watching the art of venery in a way that is, for the present at any rate, not possible over here, so much of what he writes will be of great interest in this country.
Hugh learnt his trade, firstly with the Eridge Hunt and then with Capt. Wallace at the Heythrop before moving to the Wynnstay kennels where Charlie Wilkin turned out many future hunt staff of note but was a hard task master demanding the highest standards at all times; but Hugh was a good pupil and in 1969 he was asked by Lord Daresbury (grandfather of our senior master) to go as his kennel huntsman with the County Limerick hounds in Ireland where he was to remain for twenty seven seasons. Since 1998 Hugh has been joint master and huntsman of the Rolling Rock Hunt in the Ligonier valley in Pennsylvania in the USA. The family of one of his joint masters Mrs Armour Mellon own much of the country.
Richard Matson
What is the Huntsman Doing.
THE HUNTING PLAN. A day’s hunting is, or should be, organised as well as a military manoeuvre. The Field Master will have been in contact with the master to discuss any problems in the area, such as new seeds that have to be avoided or a landowner that has requested the hunt to keep out. The Field Master may well be familiar with the country to be hunted over, but it is always a good thing if he or she can walk the country the day before hunting. With modern day farming methods the countryside is constantly changing.
Well, if you are really interested in hunting you should care. Some people think that the bitches hunt better than the dog hounds; others beg to differ. Nowadays very few packs can afford to hunt a dog pack and a bitch pack. Generally it is only those packs which hunt four days a week that can indulge in the luxury of two packs.
The day’s draw will have been decided the day before hunting, but a great deal depends on the wind as to the order in which he will draw the coverts. Foxes run with the wind and the last thing the huntsman wants is to run through the day’s draw in twenty minutes. If the huntsman draws his most upwind covert first , there is a real danger that the fox, running down the wind will run through many of the other coverts that he had intended to draw later. The field master and huntsman may discuss this at the meet, perhaps deciding to draw the covert first that is furthest down wind, thus lessening the chance of this happening. Great care goes into the planning of the draw.
DRAWING THE COVERT. You have observed the hounds at the meet and on moving off you might want to keep close to the field master so you are in a good position to observe what is going on at the first draw. The whipper-in and points have gone to various vantage points of the covert to view the fox away. (Charlie Wilkin expected anyone going on point to be standing still and silent long before he reached the covert side with hounds). Notice, on approaching the covert, not one hound leaves the huntsman until he tells them to “leu in”, at which time hounds enter the covert and begin searching for the scent of a fox.
If it is a large covert, the huntsman will draw into the wind, thereby giving the pack every opportunity to wind and rouse their fox. He will also ride into the covert, cheering and encouraging his hounds: “Leu try, try in there, leu wind ‘im, push ‘im up old dogs”. That is what it looks like on paper, but most huntsmen make guttural noises that few people can understand! (I think it would be a challenge to ask Hugh Robards, or anyone else for that matter to commit Richard Tyacke’s particular, and surely unique guttural noise to the written word!) Most vocal terms used by the huntsman are corruptions of the hunting language brought to England by the Normans in 1066. “Leu in” is a corruption of “loup-in-there”, which would translate to “wolf-in-there”.
If the covert to be drawn is small, then the huntsman will most probably draw it downwind, This will give the fox some warning and the chance to get up on his legs. The last thing a huntsman wants to do with a big mounted field waiting for a gallop is to “chop” (kill) the fox in covert. You might notice that early in the season the huntsman may make quite a lot of noise, but as the season goes on, especially in a country that has been well hunted, he will not be as noisy; if he makes too much noise, foxes that have been hunted well in the past will be on their feet and gone.
An observant huntsman will watch his hounds all the time they are drawing, looking for signs of a fox being about. He might see an old hound with his nose well down searching every leaf and log. He is doing everything he can to say that a fox is or has been there. The huntsman will see that this hound is frustrated; he wants to throw his tongue but will not in case he is wrong. This is where the huntsman can help. He has watched the hound at work yet come up with nothing; now the huntsman must work with this hound and he too must start searching for the fox. The hound has shown him that there has been one about and now, with the rest of the pack, every nook and cranny of the covert must be investigated. It is detective work which should result in a find.
THE FIND. Try to position yourself so that you can hear what the huntsman is doing. Your hunt is fortunate if it has a Field Master who does not tolerate a lot of chatter, one who believes, as did the ancient Greeks, that talking out hunting is unlucky. If you listen you may hear a hound whimper and the huntsman has noticed that it is a trusted old hound that he can rely on; he will quietly edge his hounds in that direction. All at once there is a huge roar of hound music as the pack rouses the fox.
To be continued......
LIFE AT OLD BEACHIN FARM FARM STUDENTS, VETS, AND VICARS
Over the years we had quite a number of young people from outside farming who came and lived in at the Beachin, to do one year on a farm before going to agricultural college to join a course on either general agriculture, or a more specialised subject.
The one you all knew the best was Jim Humphreys who farmed at Barton Farm, Jim’s Father was the manager of the Liverpool City Branch of the old L.L. and G Insurance Co. and had asked the Manager of the Chester Branch if he knew a suitable farm where his son could learn farming,
Dad insured with the L.L. and G and had been involved in several very amusing claims, from fox hounds going through the soft top on the motor car, being bitten by a bull, (he was looking at the bulls teeth with his hand in the bulls mouth when the bull swung his head to one side and sliced his finger from end to end and he had have it treated in hospital.) and claimed on his personal accident policy. One morning he decided to do a very daring stunt for a big hefty chap; he stood on one foot and put the other one in the wash bowl to wash his foot, lost his balance and put his foot through the bottom of the bowl and made a first class job of cutting his leg from top to bottom, “Don’t try this at home” - and another hefty claim. He even claimed for the goats getting out and eating Fearny Williamson’s roses, Jim's father thought that Jim can’t help but learn something from a man like that and even a bit about farming on the way.
Jim came to the Beachin when he left Birkenhead School. Whose motto is “BLEST ARE THE PURE IN HEART.” I know how to say it in Latin but my knowledge of the subject didn’t get much further than Caesar had some jam for tea, and a few rude versions of the Latin verbs, something to do with amo amass I met a lass and she was tall and slender, amass amat I laid her flat? I can’t remember the last line!!! And I never could spell.
Not long after he arrived we had a calf die and George the Vet was doing a post mortem on same, in the traditional manner on it’s back in the barrow for ease of removal afterwards, Jim was very keen to learn and was asking endless questions, George was a man of few words with a very dry sense of humour, all you ever got was aye she may have, or she could be, and when he had finished Jim asked if he knew what the calf had died of, he said “aye it died from a rush of dung to the heart,”
On another occasion he brought a bottle of pink drench for a cow and pretended to take a drink of it then passed it to Jim to try. He took a good swig at it and it was the most bitter thing you could taste, and George laughed his head off. They soon got to know each other and ended up the best of friends.
We used to buy a pedigree Friesian Bull calf to rear up for a stock bull; we had one from one of the great Wynnstay Gents Sir William Lowther. When they were ten months old you had to have them passed by a vet on behalf of the Ministry of Ag. to make sure they were fit and healthy for the job and would improve the breeding of the herd.
At the same time it was usual to put a ring in his nose and dehorn him if he still had horns. George arrived one day to carry out an inspection on a young bull and while the anaesthetic was taking effect on the young bulls nose, he took out a pair of scissors to cut the hair from round his horns before he started to dehorn him, and proceeded to give a commentary like the old barber giving a man a hair cut: “The weather’s quite good for the time of year sir, will you be going to the match today, do you think they will win today, they are playing better at the moment, will that be all right sir, that will be half a crown and would sir like anything for the week end?” If you can remember what that means your cracking on a bit.
Jim left to go to Askham Bryan College in Yorkshire to do the N.C.A. course and afterwards went to work for Mr. J Tudor at Yockleston for one winter and spent most of the time on his own so he wrote to the Beachin to see if there was a job going, came back and stayed till he got married twenty odd years later.
The Rev Whatmough came to Coddington after his wife had died and being on his own on high days and holidays, Easter, Whit, Rush Bearing and Harvest Festival, the visiting clergy and their wives would come to the Beachin for supper in the dining room along with the Church Warden.
We had many a good tale to tell after such visits, The new Vicar of Waverton, a young Welsh man and his wife came one evening, and he was telling us what a mess the garden was in at the vicarage, all overgrown with nettles and being brought up in Wales he was quite good with a scythe, but he said you can’t win; if you cut the nettles yourself you are too damn mean to pay anybody, and if you pay some one to cut them you too damn idle to do it your self. So he had the bright idea of getting up at the crack of dawn to cut them when no one was about, and was going well when a voice rang out from a farm worker going to milk, “ what’s up Vicar can’t thar sleep”.
On another occasion an old friend and his wife had come from Urmston where the Rector had been before coming to Coddington, and had stayed the night at the Beachin. When the rector came next morning to take them to Chester station for their return, the exhaust pipe was hanging off his little Standard 8, we ended up pulling it off for him and he insisted on taking it with him to have it fixed after he had dropped them off. After a struggle we managed to get it in the backseat with the end out of the window and the old vicar who was visiting was in the front said “I’m glad you put it in the back with the wife, and I’m pleased to say that it has nothing to do with me.”
Through the Rector we made a lot of new friends who used to come and stay with us when they visited him. Mr. Day whose son Phil came to the Beachin to learn farming, and remained friends all his life, another was a friend of Mr Day, called Monrow who used to come and stay with us to do a bit of fishing in the ponds. One of the jobs he liked to do was supervise the old surface milk cooler. We brought the milk from the shippon on a tankard truck in a ten gallon churn, then lifted it up into the tank at the top with a milking can and when the tank was full you had to regulate the tap to control the flow down the cooler, and open it up a bit as it got lower. One afternoon the rector called and asked Monrow if there was anywhere he could relieve himself, Monrow said we usually go to the grid in the inside yard under the drift house, but he had no idea where to go for holy water.
Jim was always playing tricks on people and one April fool’s day he had filled a tankard with water and hidden it in the granary, and while Peter was taking one churn full to the cheese dairy in the house brought it out into the shippon, and watched Pete push it all the way across the yard, Pete saw the funny side and waited to get his own back in some way.
Life on the farm was good in those days with a good gang of work men always having a good laugh doing jobs in the winter like spreading muck out of cobs on top of the butts and racing one another to see who could get to the end of the field first and cutting hedges with a hand hook, where you all worked as a team. A far cry from the way farming has been forced into today with no farm workers on a of lot farms only family help and little returns to pay anyone. Roll on better times, bring back good returns for produce, and bring back the fun let’s all have a laugh. I will leave you with this thought as a wise one told us in Young Farmer's days:-
A good education does not entitle you to a better job; it gives you better quality of life. If you are uneducated you can spread shit and whistle but if you have a M.A. from Oxford you can spread shit and whistle Beethoven.
A GREAT SPORTING DAY IN SIR W. WILLIAMS-WYNN'S COUNTRY
Saturday Feb 21 will appear in red letters in our diaries. A great crowd flocked to Pickhill Hall, where the cross country relay race was staged before hunting with Sir Watkin Williams Wynn's hounds. Capts. Tim Ritson and John Ormrod supplied the inspiration and with their willing helpers prepared a course of about two miles with a dozen or more natural obstacles. Each team consisted of one catchweight, one lady and one heavyweight and they rode in that order. Apart from eight Wynnstay teams there were representatives entered from the Flint and Denbigh, Cheshire, Cheshire Forest and North Staffs Hunts. Fourteen teams crossed the starting line including one led by Sir Watkin.
Capt and Mrs John Ormrod entertained everyone before we crossed the flooded Dee to hunt in the vale and among many visitors we were pleased to welcome the Master of the Cheshire Mr Richard Tomkinson. A brace and a half of foxes in Mrs Leche's Gorse heard the approaching cavalcade and departed, but Wilkin, with lightning rapidity, got his hounds on to the right one, and they settled to run hard to Grafton, then by Mates Gorse to the Tilston road and away up to the brook. Leaving Larges on the left they raced by the Meadows to the Purser lane and away to Broughton. Swinging right handed short of Broughton Gorse they crossed the Worthenbury road and ran into the wet pastures below Shocklach. Hounds ran on parallel with the Dee down to Castletown, recrossing the road at Caldecott Hall and going on to Mrs. Leche's, where the fox got into a hole in a field. This was a fine hunting run of 70 minutes over a grand piece of the vale. The first 45 min was very fast and caused numerous empty saddles.
Lack of horse power sent many people home but a small field enjoyed a brief circular hunt around Overton Hall and Oat Hill, where a fox was killed, before a fast evening hunt began from Whitewood. Running the length of the Scar to Gams Wood, hounds came back over Kidnall Hill to cross Overton Hall and the old point to point course. Going on over Chorlton's strongly fenced enclosures they marked the fox to ground in a hedgerow short of Cherry Hill to end as hard a day as anyone could wish for.
WILLOW HORSE AND HOUND, March 6, 1970
Once more I am indebted to John Wright for another fascinating transcription from his researches. I have retained the original spelling from the Diary – it may be that the author took a stab at some of the place names or, indeed that the spelling has changed over the years.
EXTRACTS FROM A WYNNSTAY DIARY IN VICTORIAN TIMES – 1897
Sir W W Wynn's Hounds met near Baschurch on Tuesday. Yesters, Yeaton and Grafton and all the covers on the Lordship down to Montford, Euston and Shrawardine were drawn. Adcote Gorse and covers were all blank, foxes being rarities in these parts.
CAN YOU HELP GAG THE COLONEL?
David Brooks is proud to announce that he has bought a new horse. Unfortunately its brakes are in need of slight improvement. He was once the proud possessor of a very big ringed Gag Snaffle which he lent to someone – probably last season. His advanced age means that he has forgotten to whom he lent this invaluable item.
CALLING ALL OLD MEMBERS OF THE PONY CLUB
Next year it will be the 50th Anniversary of Pony Club Camp at Bangor on Dee and Vanessa Brodie is coordinating an evening on Thursday the 7th August 2008 at Camp on the Racecourse. If any ex-members would like further details please contact her on 01948 830 396.
Sarah Matson is looking for a pair of size 5 black leather hunting boots – please contact her on 01948 663 239
FREE TO GOOD HOME – One of those white boxes that can be fixed to the front of your trailer to keep tack dry, clean and safe. Contact Anna Turner 01948 663 527
THE HUNT SUPPORTERS CLUB
Patron: Sir Watkin Williams-Wynn, Bt. President: Colonel David Brooks Vice Presidents: A.R. Hewitt Esq.; J Chantler Esq.; P. Robinson Esq.; Mrs G. Lea, J.P.; Mrs J. Taylor; J.C. Barnett Esq. Mrs J. Chantler.
Chairman: Mrs G Hanmer 01948 710 634 Hon. Secretary: Mrs C Roberts 01244 571 781 Treasurer: John Godwin: 01948 860 221
Editor of Cry: David Higham, Rose Farm, Coddington, Tattenhall, Chester CH3 9EN 01829 782 420 davidhigham@btinternet.com
Chairman: Mrs B Jones 01978 780 870 Secretary: Catherine Byrne, 2 Ffordd Garmonydd, Little Acton, Wrexham LL12 8JD 01978 351 027
Chairman: G Mayer Esq. 01948 880 418 Secretary: Mrs S Martin, Lyneal Wood Farm, Lyneal, Ellesmere, Shropshire SY12 0LE 01939 233 227
Chairman: Mr H Tomlinson 01829 782 365 Secretary: Mrs Pat Adams, Greenfield Farm, Bradley Common, Whitchurch, Shropshire 01948 860 394
Dear Molly Maybe she's hunted for years Rides and old cob with rather long ears To fit in her breeches is rather a squash Its not that she's grown .........they've just shrunk in the wash She cuts every corner, knows every track Only has eyes for that fine hunting pack
There's the amateur huntsman quite a varminty chap As he surveys the world 'neath the peak of his cap His passion is hunting and all it entails They say he learned his trade from Scotland to Wales With his eyes for the country and his ear to the ground He'll be first to the pub if someone's buying a round
1 The Club shall be called “The WYNNSTAY HUNT SUPPORTERS” and its objects shall be to extend and promote fellowship, interest in and support for Hunting and all the sporting events associated with it, particularly in the country hunted by Sir W. W. Wynn's Hunt.
2 The ultimate control of the Club in every respect shall be vested at all times in the Committee, who shall have power to devise and put into execution all such lawful activities as they deem necessary in the interests of the Hunt and Members of the Club.
3 Membership of the Club is open to all who have an interest in Hunting, on payment of £20.00 for life Membership.
4 Election to membership is subject to the approval of the Hunt Supporters Club Committee who also have power to expel members.
5 Members of the Club shall be entitled:
a) To wear the Badge of the Club on all occasions as they think fit, particularly when out hunting. (b) To make use of the facilities which may be provided for those wearing the badge. (c) To participate in all the activities of the Club.
Note Badges are the property of the Club and must be returned if membership ceases.
6 The affairs of the Club will be controlled by a Committee consisting of a Chairman, Hon. Secretary and Hon. Treasurer, and the Chairman and three members of each of the Area Committees as detailed below:-
Area I. Wales less the Maelor.
Area II. Shropshire and the Maelor and all country due South of a line running East from the North corner of Shropshire.
Area III. Cheshire and all country North of a line running East from the North corner of Shropshire.
7 Five members of the Committee present and voting shall form a quorum.
8 Each Area shall have a Chairman and Committee which shall be elected at their Area Annual General Meeting, held as soon as possible after the Club Annual General Meeting.
9 The Club Annual General Meeting will be held in October of each year. At this Meeting the Officers will be elected. The Chairman will not be eligible for re election as Chairman after two years in Office. He or she may serve a second term as Chairman, but not until he or she has been out of Office for at least two years.
10 At the Annual General Meeting at the end of the Chairman's first year in Office a Vice Chairman shall be elected who will normally succeed as Chairman at the end of the retiring Chairman's second year.
11 The Chairman shall have the power to co opt and may invite other than Members of the Committee to attend Meetings, in particular the Vice Chairman, the Editor of 'Cry' and two representatives of the Young Hunt Supporters' Club. Normally, the Chairman, Secretary, Treasurer and co opted Members of the Committee will not have the power to vote. The Chairman has the casting vote.
12 The duties of the Area Committee will be :
(1) To ensure as many people as possible who are interested in hunting are enrolled as members.
(3) To keep an up to date register of all members in their Area. To ensure that this is done, every Collector of members will from time to time send the 'tear off' portion of the member's enrolment form to the Hon. Treasurer of the Club with the subscription money. He will then send this 'tear off' portion to the Hon. Secretary who will inform the Area Secretary of the names and addresses of the members enrolled in their Area. The Book of Rules will be the Member's receipt for his or her subscription.
13 A list of future Club events will be issued from time to time.
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