The key name in the history of the Curre Hunt is that of Sir Edward Curre, who in 1896 founded the pack since known by his name, and who during his 34 years as Master made a name for hound breeding that will live for ever. Sir Edward began by buying about 26 couple of hounds from Mr C E Lewis of the old Chepstow Hunt and building his kennels at Itton, Monmouthshire, where they are to this day. The Curre country covers some 200 square miles between Chepstow and Usk and is bordered on the south by the Severn Estuary with the River Wye to the east. The country is a mixture of dense woods and farmland, it is rough and hilly in parts with a small amount of moorland.

The farmers in the area look to the Curre Hunt to control the fox whom they consider to be a pest, and it is with their goodwill that we hunt their land. In the past a variety of controversial methods were used to despatch the fox, but hunting with hounds not only destroys the weaker foxes, it disperses the stronger ones, and at the end of the hunting day the fox is either humanely despatched or left totally unharmed. Hunting starts in early September and goes on until mid March, hunting a total of 63 days and accounting for approximately 30 brace of foxes each season. The hunt has a total of 70 members and subscribers of whom only 6 are farmers, but there is currently no farmland within the Curre country where hounds are not welcome.

Hunting the Curre country has many restrictions. There are a great many wooded areas, a few privately owned, but most managed by the Forestry Commission. To hunt these woods the Curre has to have a licence from the Forestry Commission and to get this licence a detailed list has to be drawn up each season, showing every forest that might be entered, on every hunting day. Even with the licence there are still restrictions, all picnic areas and car parks are classed as Restriction Zones and hounds are not allowed within a 400 yd radius of these places. There are further restrictions on digging foxes that run to earth on Forestry land and this causes great concern to adjoining farmers. A Forestry warden is sent to accompany the hunt on many days to make sure they comply with all the rules.

The hunt directly employs 1 huntsman, 1 kennelman/whipper in and 1 groom, and indirectly generates employment for many more, it runs an Incinerator Scheme which provides a fallen stock service for all farmers in the country, this service is also used by a local vet and Chepstow Racecourse Co.

The social calendar starts in early September with a Harvest Supper held at a local farm, this is attended by many farmers and hunt members, and is a great P.R. event to start the season off. The Curre Horse Show and Hunter Trials are held in October, and a Cheese and Wine evening is held at the Hunt Secretary's house in November, a Grand Christmas Draw is held at the local pub in December to finish off the year. In February the Hunt Ball is held at one of the larger hotels in the district and is well supported by local business men and members of adjacent hunts. Late March or early April brings the Curre Hunt Point to Point, a very popular event and in May the Curre Hunt Terrier and Lurcher Show is held at the Kennels. The Curre hunt Supporters Club provide catering facilities for the Chepstow Horse Trials in June and the Puppy Show is held at the Kennels in July followed by a grand tea. The hounds are invited to attend Chepstow Agricultural Show in August and this is a very popular event with many children and adults entering the ring to meet hounds. The Curre Hunt also run a hospitality tent at the show and this is always well attended by the general public. These events are interspersed with a couple of coffee mornings and at least two skittle matches against local farmers clubs and a Hunt Supporters Supper at another local hotel

The Curre Hunt has very few problems with saboteurs, a small group, mainly teenagers attend a few meets, they shout abuse and play tapes of horn blowing but are generally more of a nuisance than a threat. Anti Hunt Organisations would have us believe that the majority of the people are against fox hunting. The Countryside Alliance Rally in London was attended by 300,000 people but their own protest a few weeks later attracted some 3,000 supporters, this surely speaks for itself.

Should hunting be classed as a criminal offence? In this Democratic society of ours are we to believe that freedom of speech and the right to do what we want in our own time and at our own expense is breaking the law? If so there are not enough courts and prisons in the land to deal with the offenders. It is time for common sense to come to the fore before we end up with no rights at all. Do people realise that if hunting is banned, apart from job losses, most of the hounds would have to be destroyed, the idea that drag hunting could take the place of fox hunting is a myth, we hunt on the farmers land to destroy the fox and we would not be welcome for any other reason. Hunting is a basic instinct, it is part of our composition, not a choice - so why should we repel this instinct, it is also part of our heritage and should not be allowed to disappear.

17th February 2000

Gill Phillips is the wife of the Curre Hunt terrier man Danny Phillips

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Date uploaded to site 30 May 2000