The hound trailing community was mourning the loss of one of its stalwarts when they met at the Cold Fell trails.
Tommy Newall, had been vice chair of Whitehaven Area for many years, then chairman of Whitehaven Area when he took over from late Harry Kirby, as well as being an active member of the executive committee and a life member of the Hound Trailing Association.
He passed away suddenly on Tuesday at the age of 83, after being involved in hound trailing most of his life.
Tommy had part-owned a hound called Wonder in the early days which apparently won Grasmere Sports, something which he used to remind his close friend Roy Laidler of on many an occasion.
He had worked for the local council and used to fit hound trailing in between.
Tommy was one of those people who wasn’t frightened to speak up and say what he thought. As vice chairman and later chairman of Whitehaven Area he wasn’t one to mince his words if he thought people had broken the rules.
He was also known throughout the sport for his unique way of shouting ‘trail’ and was one of the main stars of a documentary that was made all about hound trailing back in the day.
Tommy was last seen at the International Trail in June where he took up a position sitting just off the finish and enjoyed a beer while watching the trails and catching up with all his old friends.
He was a great ambassador for hound trailing and will be sadly missed by everyone who knew him.
As a mark of respect the hound trailing community held a minute’s silence at the trails at Cold Fell just before the senior hounds were slipped. Everyone sends their condolences to his family and friends.
Those who knew Tommy were of the view that he wouldn’t have wanted hound trailing to be stopped because of him so following the minute’s silence the trails got underway with an atmosphere of reflection with people remembering tales of when they came in to contact with him.
The senior hounds got things under way with 22 runners and Huntsman’s Rebel was odds-on favourite having won twice in the last week. The little hound is certainly coming back into form.
Up against her were Miterdale Duchess who is still ticketing but the first place seems to be eluding her at the moment; Strawberry Mick who won on Saturday at Redmain and the local hound Duchess Ava.
As they came back onto the finish there were two hounds with a slight lead and it was Denise Bland’s Huntsman’s Rebel and Stephen Riley and Isla Hetherington’s Cautious.
As they neared the line there was only a couple of lengths between the hounds but it was Huntsman’s Rebel who took the win, her fifth for the current season and she now moves up to joint third place in the Championship.
Current table leader Winterfell wasn’t running as owners Barry Laidler and Caroline Clough will be saving it to run over home territory at Dubbs Lane tonight.
Miterdale Duchess managed to get fifth place with the weekend winner Strawberry Mick taking sixth place for the Reid brothers.
Next up was the open pups with a good slip of 24 hounds. All the top hounds were running with Rodney Raider starting out as favourite.
As they crossed the fell in the distance it was a good race with the much-improved Embrace making the running. As they came onto the finish there were four of five hounds in with a chance but it was Artist for Bill and Pat Mellon and Robert and Tina Airey from Penrith who came through to take the win.
Embrace finished in second place with the usual strong finish of Silver Dream lacking a little with her only managing third place. Favourite Rodney Raider wasn’t in the first six places and seems to have just dropped off form slightly in the last week or so.
The Open Maidens were up next with another good turnout of 26 hounds. It was an open race with no one hound standing out and as they came on to the finish it was Caroline Hill’s Bobby Moon who came with a slight lead.
He was being caught by the fast finishing Black Edition, owned by Lisa Whitfield, but Bobby Moon just held on for the win.
The last race of the night was the Open Restricted race with a smaller field of just 10 hounds and it was Alan Blacklock’s fast finishing Busy Again who repeated her win at the weekend.
She beat home David Clifford’s Eden Rayna and Jonty Moore’s Crazy who finished in third place. The win for Busy Again moves her up in the Open Restricted points table to fourth place.
Action moved to Dubbs Lane, near Windermere last night with a three-card programme.
Cold Fell – July 19
- Hounds – 1. Huntsman’s Rebel; 2. Cautious; 3. Foxparke Beep Beep; 4. Summer Spirit; 5. Miterdale Duchess; 6. Strawberry Mick. 22 ran, time 31.35.
- Pups – 1. Artist; 2. Embrace; 3. Silver Dream; 4. Glamorous Ava; 5. Money Talks; 6. Mel.
- 24 ran, Time 21.06.
- Open Maidens – 1. Bobby Moon; 2. Black Edition; 3. Foxparke Fair Lady; 4. Twilight Mist; 5. Chapel Stile; 6. Showbiz. 26 ran, time 21.15.
- Open Restricted – 1. Busy Again; 2. Eden Rayna; 3. Crazy; 4. Jenny’s Oracle; 5. Tommy’s Dream; 6. Blue Diamond. 10 ran, time 19.31.
