OBITUARIES
JOE SHORE
THE equestrian and countryside world was saddened by Mr Shore’s death, on 20 July, aged 87.
Mr Shore’s vast knowledge of subjects, including his greatest loves – hunting, showjumping, breeding terriers and pigeon racing – earned him widespread respect.
Joseph Edmund Shore was born and raised at Henshaw Green Farm, Plumley, Cheshire, where his parents Sam and Lilah managed a mixed farm.
He became a member of the Cheshire Hunt North branch of the Pony Club, and in the days when a pony did everything from showjump to gymkhana games, he swept the board on many occasions, his best pony Musty (148cm) winning many affiliated classes.
Following in his father and grandfather’s footsteps, Mr Shore enjoyed many red-letter days out hunting, and he soon added point-to-pointing to his CV.
Mr Shore and his wife Marion moved to Comberbach in 1963, and this well-known yard soon became a hive of activity and was perhaps best known for hunting and showjumping.
While oldest son Nigel chose a different career path, the Shores’ younger children Lynne and Keith were highly successful riders, taking many ponies and horses through to Horse of the Year Show, and Keith is still a force to be reckoned with.
Mr Shore also had a vast knowledge of racing pigeons, and he flew birds for over 50 seasons. Some of his best stock were exported to as far as Japan, and actually paid for some of Lynne and Keith’s best-known ponies.
Mr Shore also raced greyhounds for many years, and the yearly intake of Cheshire hunt puppies to walk joined the homebred terriers and greyhounds.
He was passionate about hunting, and rarely missed a day out with the Cheshire in his car.
Reminiscing not so long ago, Mr Shore recalled seeing lots of masters, and seven huntsmen, come and go. He also noted lots of changes in the countryside and most recently wondered how we ever managed without mobile phones.
Even in a car, his skill of second-guessing the huntsman and hounds earned him the nickname of “lead hound”.
If you wanted to be where the action was, you needed to keep an eye on Mr Shore, but blink and you missed him. They say time and tide wait for no man, and when hounds were running, neither did Joe Shore.
He was a well-known and much respected character who shared his vast knowledge with anyone who asked his advice, and his familiar figure at the meets and ringside will sadly be missed.
He leaves Nigel, Lynne and Keith, grandchildren Christopher, Vicky and James and greatgrandchild Darcy.
BERYL OAKES
THE stalwart of Pony Club mounted games and the Shetland Pony Grand National for decades died peacefully at her home in Devon on 19 July, aged 88.
Mrs Oakes was also familiar to generations of children and their parents as one of the organisers of the traditional Christmas finale at Olympia.
Born in Newcastle-upon-Tyne in 1931, Mrs Oakes was working for the Post Office near her Hertfordshire home by the mid-1960s, along with her second husband Les.
She was an enthusiastic follower of the nearby Enfield Chace Hunt, and her interest in the Pony Club was born when her daughters Natalie and Nicola started competing in gymkhanas.
She became a devoted helper to the legendary Joan Middleton (“Miss Midd”) in organising the Pony Club Prince Philip Cup mounted games, travelling all around the UK with equipment to officiate at qualifying rounds, then the final at the Horse of the Year show at Wembley.
In 1972, the Enfield Chace’s master Raymond-Brooks-Ward revived the pre-Christmas Olympia show. Could Miss Midd and Mrs Oakes organise an equestrian pantomime using the Pony Club?
So began a show connection that ran until 2016, involving the squeezing of dozens of children into caravans, along with casting, costumes, catering and many other issues. Mrs Oakes would solve them with firmness and good humour in equal measures.
She also helped with the Shetland Pony Grand National, judging qualifiers and the Olympia final, and performing the same role at Royal Windsor Horse Show. Recognition for her work came in 1992 when she succeeded Miss Midd as president of the Enfield Chace branch of the Pony Club.
Olympia show director Simon Brooks-Ward, who had known
Mrs Oakes all his life, said: “She was an Olympia stalwart who will be missed by generations of finale children, by the show office she visited regularly, and all the stewards and officials who knew and loved her for what she was, and what she meant to the show. A light has left the Grand Hall.”
Mrs Oakes is survived by Natalie and Nicola, five grandchildren and two greatgrandchildren.
The funeral is private, but a celebration of Mrs Oakes life will be held when regulations allow.