Island Life Magazine Ltd August/September 2006 | Page 44

Equestrian
100 years of the IW
Foot Beagles...
The traditional countryside sport
of foot beagling celebrates its
100th anniversary on the Island in
January, and remains as strong as
ever according to Chairman Peter
Marsden.
Peter, an ex-Royal Navy Rear
Admiral who has spent 50 years
beagling all over the country, says
that following the new Government
legislation banning the hunting of
hares, the Isle of Wight Foot Beagles
have switched to hunting rabbits.
This, he says, is popular with
farmers because of the crop damage
caused by rabbits. Whilst the
farmers don’t contribute to the cost

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of keeping the Beagle pack (which
runs to around £15,000 a year), they
do allow the hunt to take place on
their land and provide refreshments
to the hunters.
The cost of keeping the Beagles
is raised from members (people
who regularly turn out on Saturday
and midweek hunts), fund-raising
events and one or two trusts who
have given grants to maintain the
Isle of Wight Foot Beagles.
“Our task as a committee is to
raise this money every year in order
to maintain the kennel huntsman
and the beagles on the Island” said
Peter.

Sponsored by Brickfields and Froghill

He dismisses the idea of hunting
as a pastime for “toffs” and says
it attracts a wide cross-section
of people. In fact, anyone who is
keen to go out with the hunt on a
Saturday is welcome to do so. It’s
also possible to sponsor a hound for
£5 a year, which gives access to see
it, and go out hunting with it.
Huntsman Jason Bellamy, whose
job is to run after the hounds, can
be on his feet for 4-5 hours at a time,
which means he keeps extremely
fit! And whilst the hounds are too
boisterous to be kept as domestic
pets, each one has a name - and
Jason knows them all.

At the summer open day, the cup
for Most Improved Hound of the
Year went to Ulrika Henderson,
and a gift token and flowers were
presented to Huntsman Jason
Bellamy’s wife Naomi.

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