A successful new amalgamation

Harriers have long been part of the fabric of rural life in Norfolk, and two packs have joined forces to ensure that this continues

- GEMMA REDRUP

Waveney & Norfolk Harriers, Northgate Hall, Norfolk

WHEN the North Norfolk Harriers were disbanded in 2022 due to pressure from hunt saboteurs, their future looked bleak, with their rare West Country harriers sent to various packs across the UK. However, the Waveney Harriers stepped in to rescue this desperate situation, and the outcome has, thankfully, been a happy and successful one.

Now the Waveney & Norfolk Harriers, the amalgamation of the two packs meant that most of the North Norfolk's hounds were returned home.

The Waveney Harriers are the custodians of a beautiful pack of studbook harriers, which are slightly smaller than the West Country harriers they have taken on board.

The Waveney have been busy teaching the North Norfolk hounds their way of trailing across their country and it is fair to say it is going well, with Blossom, one of the North Norfolk Harriers' bitches, taking supreme at the 2023 Festival of Hunting. This serves to help highlight how well the hounds are responding to the amalgamation.

The Waveney country lies in Norfolk and Suffolk, and takes its name from the River Waveney that runs through the north of its country, around Beccles and Bungay. It stretches from Loddon in the north to Halesworth in the south, and is bounded by the North Sea on the east.

The North Norfolk is the only pack of West Country harriers in East Anglia, where the country extends north of the Norwich/Fakenham road, to the broads and the sea.

The studbook hounds and West Country hounds are both kept at the Waveney kennels in Beccles, but are kept separately, with Chris McDaniel responsible for walking out and hunting the West Country hounds, while Luke Newton is in charge of kennels, feeding the hounds and hunting the 24 couple of studbook hounds.