Remarkable story behind runaway success of Bretton
Last updated 11:05, Friday, 15 February 2008
BRETTON, the hound which at one time was given hours to live, defied the odds to win the HTA’s veterans championship.
Julia and Graham Burkinshaw’s seven-year-old grabbed fourth place in the final trail of the last meeting of 2007 to snatch the title.
But Bretton has done remarkably well still to be competing, never mind winning championships as Julia explained.
“We think she’s a bit special because of what she’s been through. When she had a litter of pups she was very ill and we had to carry her into the vets for treatment every day.
“At one point the vet didn’t think she would make it through the night, but she did and made a complete recovery.
“Unfortunately she also damaged her leg at a Keswick trail and it looked as though she had smashed it on a rock. She managed to finish but with one hind leg in the air.
“Again that hasn’t stopped her because she now runs with a carbon fitting in her leg,” she says.
In 2006, Bretton had finished runner-up to Whitmore in the veterans championship, and for a long time it looked as though she might occupy the same position this time around.
“She’s a ticketing hound, not a winning hound, which is why she does well in the points championships but she does like Grasmere and has won twice there.
“The way things were going it looked as though Carole Jackson’s Clarity was going to win. Unfortunately for Carole, Clarity was injured and didn’t run very well in the last few trails.
“It meant we still had a chance at Millstone Moor in the last trail of the season. Bretton is a fell dog, and hadn’t done better than fourth at Millstone Moor but she ran up to her level.
“She managed to get fourth place and, because the unlucky Clarity was out of the tickets, we won the title.
“It was the first time we’ve won anything like that and I would like to say a big thank-you to Brian and Johnny Graham who were a tremendous help to Graham and I during the season,” she says.
Bretton’s mother Merry had also been runner-up in the veterans championship, behind Sooty in 1999, so it was third time lucky for the Burkinshaws.
They are now based in Cockermouth and as well as Bretton, have her two sons Millbeck and Boreas, who were both out of the veteran winner when she had that near fatal litter in 2005. Hindsight was the sire.
“Both are big hounds so they have been given time but we’re hoping that they might start getting into it next season as second year seniors.
“As for Bretton we’ll see how she is. If she’s anything like her mother, Merry, she’ll show us when she doesn’t want to run anymore,” says Julia.
Bretton missed her puppy year because of foot and mouth but scored her first win in 2002 in the open restricted grade. There were three wins in the same grade the following season.
Her first championship success came in 2004 when she scored two victories and collected five other tickets. In 2005 she had one senior win and three other tickets.
In 2006 she was runner-up in the veterans championship, which included two wins and she also won one open restricted trail.
The Burkinshaws hail from Derbyshire and it was the lure of hound trailing which got them to up-sticks and move to Overwater so that they could be more involved.
“We used to come up and stay in the Lakes and that’s where we saw our first trail. We became friends with Victor Brownlee, who gave us our first hound, but we were still travelling up from Derbyshire.
“We once travelled up for a three minute trial at Longsleddale but eventually, about 11 years ago, we decided to move up permanently. We just love the sport,” she says.
The 36th annual meeting of the HTA is being held at Hundith Hill Hotel, Lorton on Sunday, February 3.
Members will hear that over the 12 months there was a net loss of £1,156 – compared to a loss of £677 the previous year.
This can be largely put down to the foot and mouth outbreak in the south which led to the cancellation of two major trails – the August event at Redmain and the October meeting in the Keswick area which were expected to be well supported.
Income from subscriptions/membership, trail fees and kennel insurance all fell – by a total of £1,321 while the cost of trophies, rosettes and prizes rose significantly by nearly £700.
On the plus side, however, donations were up by £807.
Cleator Moor Charity Support Group will be holding a race night in the Knight of St Columba Club, Cleator Moor on Friday, February 1. Admission is only £1 and that also includes a pie.
