KENNEDY’S of Puckane was our venue last Saturday for a meet of the North Tipperary Foxhounds. Not surprisingly, Kennedy’s is the local and, as we arrived, the lounge was humming with jockeys of every age all eager for the day ahead. Kennedy’s is a famous haunt for musicians - Christy Moore is a regular, as was the late Shane McGowan.

Foot-followers were in abundance and it was great to meet North Tipp stalwarts, such as Colin Bravery, who came from Sussex 30 years ago, lost his return ticket and never left. Never missing a day with the county pack in Joe Townsend, former master and huntsman of the Hurworth in North Yorkshire. Brought up in the village of Heythrop from a non-hunting family, as a lad he got a scholarship to Gordonstoun, Scotland, where he was a classmate of HRH Prince Charles. The hunting world honoured him last summer, as he was nominated as judge of the Old English classes in Peterborough, a role he shared with Will Brier, now master and huntsman of the Beaufort.