"G. R U." ON THE NORTH STAFFORDSHIRE HUNT. 223 



runs from Stafford to Crewe. The best part of the country is on the western side 

 of the line, round Doddington Park in Chesliiro and Woore in Shropshire; for the 

 North Staffordsliire country embraces a small portion of Salop and a small slice 

 of south Cheshire. Trentham is almost exactly the centre of the country, three 

 miles south of Newcastle and Stoke, both of which places can supply hunting- 

 rields as well as they can pottery, as also can IJnrslem, a few miles further north. 

 Stafford, however, is the favourite resort for hunting men, as it is on the borders 

 of the North Staffordshire and the Albrighton countries. Indeed, it is difficult to 

 tell where the line of division runs, as certain coverts — Seighford for one — wdiicli 

 used to belong to the Albrighton, have been relinquished to the North Stafford- 

 shire, though Sandon, the nearest large covert to the north of Stafford, has always 

 belonged to the North Staffordshire. Going eastwards from Sandon we come to 

 Chartley, probably the largest woodland in the country, then to Loxley Park, and 

 on to Uttoxeter, which may be termed the divisional town between the North 

 Staffordshire and the ^leynell. The Vale of Churnet may be taken as the eastern 

 boundary, better marked on the map as the Ciiurnet Valley Railway. Turning 

 to the west, we have Crewe on the extreme north, and come south to Doddington 

 and Woore, and this, as I have already said, is by far the best side of the country 

 for fox-hunting purposes. It is what hunting men term the Cheshire type of 

 country, not a very extraordinary fact when we consider that a large part of it is 

 in Cheshire, consisting chiefly of dairy farms, small enclosures, level gi'ound, deep 

 soil, and fair hedge-and-ditch fences, the hedge often being set on a low bank. 

 The increase in the Pottery industries has taken away a large slice of the central 

 portion of the country, and factories have usurped the place of coverts. This may 

 appear to be disastrous to sport, but in reality it is not so ; for where there are so 

 many industries and factories there must be wealth, and without a strong sub- 

 scription list it is impossible to maintain a hunting establishment according to 

 modem requirements. This reminds me to say that the minimum subscription is 

 ten pounds. 



'• But it is not the existence of wealth, as shown by the subscription list, 

 which proves the love of sport in a hunting country as much as the proper 

 distribution of wealth. Men have often wondered to me that in a country 

 commonly call'jd 'The Potteries,' fox-hunting should exist, and have been 

 surprised when I told them that they make horses as well as china in North 

 Staffordshire. Mr. Ralph Sneyd knew this, and established the stud paddocks at 

 Keele, near Newcastle, where at the present time he keeps three stallions — 

 namely, Beaulieu, Black Bryony, and Dog Rose, at half fees for tenant-farmers in 

 the North-Staffordshire country. The Duke of Sutherland gives the services of 

 liis stallion, St. Clair, free to tenant-farmers ; and Mr. W. Carless, who holds the 

 best practice as a veterinary surgeon in Staffordshire, keeps his stallion Savoy at 

 half fees for tenant-farmers. With this encouragement for horse-breeding, it is 

 little wonder that the farmers regard hunting with favour. I have always 

 thought, and I was glad to hear during this Christmas week my opinion confirmed 

 by some of the best judges in Staffordshire, that horse-breeding, great lottery as 

 it undoubtedly is, still is the best remedy for agi-icultural depression ; so that 

 hunting men will give the farmers more encouragement in this direction is the 

 hope of 



"G. F. U." 



The season of 1898-99 appears to have been on the 

 whole an average season, with a fair record of sport and of 



