Essex hunts to merge
THE Essex Foxhounds and the neighbouring Essex Farmers and Union are to merge into one hunt, the Essex with the Farmers and Union, as of the start of the new hunting season on 1 May.
Simon Marriage, a master of the Essex for 17 seasons, will be chairman of the new hunt, replacing the Essex’s
Tim Trembath and the Essex Farmers and Union’s Mervyn Clark. Current Essex masters Andrew Smith and Christopher Padfield will be joined in the new mastership by Mrs Bird Collins. Essex huntsman Robert Ogden remains in position.
Tim Trembath, retiring chairman of the Essex, said: “It will undoubtedly strengthen hunting in the increasingly busy area of the south-east. Our combined country will stretch from the Essex/Suffolk border in the north to the coast in the south, and will give alternatives during the shooting season and poor weather conditions. This is a natural progression from the close co-operation enjoyed by the two hunts over the past two seasons.”
The Essex Farmers and Union kennels have been let out and will provide the new hunt with income.