Hounds At Their Best

With an infectious enthusiasm, the Glamorgan hounds show their mettle with accuracy and plenty of music

- Beanie Sturgis

WERE you to head westbound on the M4, across the amazing feat of engineering that is the Prince of Wales Bridge, or, as most us know it, the New Bridge, and trundle on for a little bit, you will come to one of the friendliest yet most professional hunts you could ever wish to find.

The Glamorgan country sits to the east of Cardiff and goes along to Porthcawl with the unofficial boundary of the M4 to the north and the obvious one of the Bristol Channel to the south.

It is a lovely, undulating area with a plenty of grass, various bits of forestry and lots of nooks and crannies. Some areas reminded me of being the other side of the water, with little banks topped by wind-blown trees and scoops where the sheep have sought shelter. After all, Devon is only 13 miles away as the crow flies.

It is the kind of place that would intrigue you if you were motorway hunting (you know, that thing of imagining you are hunting all the bits of country as you drive past on a soulless and invariably snarled-up motorway; surely everyone has clocked that awesome line of walls beside the M5 in Cumbria). I digress.

This was a special meet to go to as it was hosted by Mike and Alison Gibbon at Picket Farm, Llandow, and crossing much of neighbour Martyn Edwards’ ground. Both of these gentlemen are retiring from the mastership at the end of the season after a 14-year term, as is their amateur huntsman, the larger-than-life character that is Jacky Thomas.

Being a master really is an all-consuming role of time, money, energy and patience, with epic amounts of work going into every day’s hunting. Martyn wants to spend more time supporting his son Mark, who is a very successful showjumper and has had a great season, winning the national 1.40m championships as well as the winter grand prix at Addington on the home-bred Montreuxs Tale, while Mike feels the time is right.