“Yours truly,
“THREE EX-MASTERS AND TWO EX-WHIPS OF THE E.C.H.”
This was answered by the Master, E. V. Rhys, in a letter in which he stated that after a long discussion it had been decided not to hunt owing
(i) To the expense of food, etc.;
(ii) To the Cippenham works and their possible effect on the E.C.H.
During the Michaelmas Half 1919 J. F. de Sales La Terrière took the matter in hand, and he may now have the satisfaction of knowing that it was entirely due to him that the E.C.H. has again been set on its legs. He confronted the Head Master on several occasions and eventually secured his permission to collect the hounds. Circulars had been sent to all the farmers, and practically no unfavourable replies had been received. The Head Master made three stipulations: that the Hunt must not be subsidized from outside, that no Lower Boys should run, and that hunting should close on March 20th.
Experience has subsequently proved that the Slough Motor Dépôt has not by any means spoiled the hunting country of the E.C.H. True it has had the effect of putting an end to hunting in the Salt Hill country, but many old Masters have expressed their opinion that they would never willingly have hunted there at all owing to the danger of the railway to hounds.
La Terrière had to surmount many difficulties in his work of getting the hounds back. He has told the story in his own words in the Journal Book:
“As we were in a muzzled area, I went down to the Police Station to find out if there were any restrictions about hunting. They were decidedly vague about the whole affair, but advised me to write to the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries to find out if a permit was necessary or not. This I did, and on receiving no answer from them I got leave to go up to Town and stir them up a bit. When I got there I was told that I could collect the hounds from unmuzzled areas, but as we were in a special area we were on no account to hunt them.
“This at first seemed to be the final stroke of bad luck against the hunt, and at that time there was apparently no chance of restarting them in the Easter Half, owing to the fact that there would be no person left who knew anything about the country. But nothing daunted I decided to collect the pack here, because, if the muzzling order came off in January, as was expected, they would be ready for hunting.