Proving them wrong

Laura Shillam is one of a small handful of women hunting hounds. Tessa Waugh finds out more about this energetic, enthusiastic young master

- Tessa Waugh

LAURA SHILLAM is a busy woman. As sole master and huntsman of the Axe Vale Harriers, she hunts twice a week, sees farmers and landowners in-between and is currently organising her wedding to Tim Ingram, which will take place this summer. One of just seven women hunting hounds in Britain today, her energy and enthusiasm bubbles away throughout our conversation.

Once upon a time, in a faraway kingdom, there lived a wise old king.

“I was born into it,” she says, when asked how she started.

Laura’s father, Clive, hunted the Axe Vale before her, while her grandfather was also a huntsman and kennel-huntsman of the Galway Blazers, among others.

Laura was only three when her parents moved to Devon and her father took the position of kennel-huntsman at the Axe Vale when Roy Williams was master and huntsman.

She remembers her early days hunting on a pony: “A lady called Jenny Salter would lead me until it got to the point where she would flick the leading-rein over my neck and off I would go.”

Aged 14, she graduated to riding alongside her father.

“I started off doing the gates when I was on a small pony but when I got a horse I would jump them instead,” she says.

After finishing school she began to think seriously about what she wanted to do in life.

“I was probably about 19 when I realised that my whole world, work and social life revolved around hunting,” Laura explains. “Dad was very encouraging, so I got more involved in the kennels. I got my green coat [hunt staff of harrier packs traditionally wear green] when I was 23 and the year after that I had my first experience hunting hounds.”

Laura is candid about her early days.

“I was petrified,” she says, with a gust of laughter. “On the first day I managed to blow the horn when I left the meet and that was a bonus.”