Our past, present - and future

The opening meet of the Fitzwilliam at Milton demonstrates the stability and lengthy history of this illustrious pack of hounds

- ANDREW SALLIS

HOUNDS have been kennelled at Milton Park for so many centuries, first by the abbots of Peterborough from the reign of Richard II, then by the Fitzwilliam family, that it is hard to imagine them not being there. And so, every year at 10.45am on the first Wednesday in November they leave kennels to hack across sheep-tendered parkland to the Hall for the opening meet.

With their annual body clock, this ancient pack of hounds would probably turn up unmanned, even if the huntsman lay in; not that that would ever happen.

Shaun Parish, the Fitzwilliam (Milton) huntsman since 2020, runs a meticulous kennel with quiet charm. Before generously hosting drinks in his house, Shaun proudly showed me the hounds and around the unique kennels. The upstairs valeting room was exactly as I remembered it from the first time I visited as a young boy in the mid1980s. Even the hunting murals still look vibrant.

"Look in here," said Shaun, opening the room next door.

"This room had been full of rubbish for generations and we've given it a makeover." In what would have been the lodgings for a kennel boy over a hound lodge, with the help of Peter Fox and other supporters, Shaun has created a lovely space decorated with Fitzwilliam memorabilia, photos and kennel tools from a bygone era, all lovingly restored.

We didn't think much to the dingy "cupboard" where the boy would have had his bed and waged that he spent more time asleep in the main room, warmed by the castiron stove, still in situ, and the hounds' heat coming through the floorboards.

Since the Hunting Act, the Fitzwilliam have had their falconer, John Mease, out on every day to comply with a lega exemption. John arrived to finalise plans with Shaun.