‘A very positive vibe'

The Braes of Derwent is a hunt with a long history, an air of confidence and an inclusive atmosphere

- FRANK HOUGHTON BROWN

STRADDLING the border between County Durham and Northumberland, this diverse hunting country slips unnoticed beneath the radar. The Zetland to the south and the Tynedale to the north have always taken the limelight as their more fashionable neighbours.

The Braes country was hunted by a number of other hunts from the mid-18th century. The Prudhoe and Derwent were one of these, as were The Castleside, whose huntsman Joseph Kirk is generally supposed to be the original upon whom RS Surtees’ fictional huntsman James Pigg was based.

This is the mother country of that famous hunting author Robert Smith Surtees, who lived at Hamsterley Hall, only a few miles from Castleside. His fictional village of Handley Cross is supposed to be based upon Shotley Bridge, the village where the Braes used to be kennelled.

The Braes of Derwent were officially founded in 1854 by the Cowen family, ancestors of Joe and Philip Cowen who have been at the helm of the Fernie in Leicestershire since 1972.

Colonel Cowen introduced a bloodhound-cross to the pack during his mastership to increase the volume of cry in the big wooded valleys, but as coal mining increased, many of the older coverts disappeared and the bloodhound-bred hounds would dwell on the line and were hence gradually discarded.

When Colonel Cowen died in 1895 the country remained unhunted for a season, the hounds were dispersed and it seemed like the hunt would cease to exist. It was following this interregnum that one of hunting’s most long-standing and distinguished masterships was born.