BERT GRIPTON

[edgar.walker 0]

bullshit he wrote a few my dad was good mate's with him he once gave me an orniment of a tiger i was heart broken when my little sister broke it i still aint forgiven her and that was over 20 years ago lol i'll see if my old man has still got his book i remember bert giving him a sighned copy of the first 1 he wrote

 

You sure he wrote a few....

I will stand corrected!!

 

Bert Gripton was my uncle. He always had a bar of chocolate in his pocket for me. he bought us our first full size football. Yes he was featured in several Phil Drabble books but he did write at least one himself. His Jack russell i remember most was old battle scarred Tess. edgar.walker@sky.com

[J Darcy 5,871]

Well would you like to enlighten us on the book mate? The title would be a good help. I am a bit of a collector of related books and i have never heard of it.

Can you supply a title.....Many thanks...JD

[bedrock 16]

Same here mate I would be very interested to know any more info on the title.

[Phil Lloyd 10,738]

Bert Gripton never wrote a book,...BUT,..he fecking should of...

 

I still have a large bundle of his personal letters to me,..and his passion for the genuine working terrier shines through....

 

Back in the 's,..when the written word appertaining to the Lurcher and terrier enthusiast was still in it's embryonic stages,.guys such as Bert,...and a few others ..(rather closer to home),...GENUINELY believed that writing books and such was simply not on,..and completely out of the question for the likes of us serfs

 

Some jealous authors,.educated,.and in the know,..made quite sure that the common man was never encouraged to have a go,.and to put down the experiences and events of their lives in print...

We honestly never realised that writing books was an achievable dream...

 

SO,..no books from Bert.....

 

A shame,.and a criminal waste...

 

All the best,.CHALKWARREN....

 

 

 

[steveS.Yorks 161]

I only met Bert once,a real character and knowledgeble bloke,rip.

 

Maybe this is a little known fact,Bant Walker [like him or not]did a hell of a lot of terrier work in his time,his first real digging dogs were bought from Bert by his dad,small rough Russells,years after Bant told a good mate after having all types of terrriers from a good few different strains that the dogs he had from Bert were as good as anything he had ever seen.

 

He once dug around a hundred foxes with them + some b&w in a season with these dogs in my area,not bad for a 16 yr old lad on foot.

 

Thought that might be of interest.

[Barrie 1,325]

I've no wish to disappoint anyone, or to offend. But Chalkywarren and others are 100% correct in their assertations that Bert never did get around to writing a book (beyond the hand written manuscript referred to elsewhere in this thread) and like others I wish that wasn’t the case.

 

But it’s a sad fact of life that Bert never did write a book, and that in some cases lesser men have, and will be remembered for having done so. However it says much about the man and what he was, that he is still remembered and respected today for what he did, rather than for what he wrote and no one can ever take that away from him.

 

In truth, Bert was quite critical of many of those who did write at that time, he maintained that much of that which was being written would do terrierwork more harm than good. Having had to refute some of that stuff to various Government Inquiries over the more recent years, all I can say is that Bert displayed considerably more common sense and foresight than some who would have laid claim to being better educated.

 

Just to put the record straight. I have in my possession, and have reproduced parts of it below, a copy of a will written by Bert and witnessed by my wife and myself dated 12th February 1990. Bert at that time bequeathed that “Any literature written about me must give fifty percent of the profits to the BCMH” and can confirm that this referred to the manuscript. As well as being terrierman to the Border Counties at that time and for some 18 years surrounding it, I was also their Treasurer during most of that time and can confirm that no such financial transaction ever took place, or has since.

 

Bert's Will - Date

 

Bert's Will - Extract.

 

For those who knew Bert and who may also have whiled away more than a few happy hours in his company and his home, I’ve turned up a few old pictures. I hope they serve to bring back some happy memories, just as they did for us.

 

When writing anything about Bert it would be remiss of me not to mention Chris Leadbetter and the manner in which he cared for Bert during his latter years. Chris made sure he was lacking for nothing and after Bert's death helped organise a collection amongst the terrierworld to ensure that Bert had a suitable gravestone in keeping with his stature which would mark his last resting place.

 

Yours in Sport and with the Fondest of Recollections – Barrie

 

Mid 70’s - Otterhunting with the Border Counties Otterhounds

Left to Right the wife Chris (then girlfriend), cousin “Bo” and Bert

 

Mid 70’s – Bert’s Terrier “Thatch”, I never saw an otter that she couldn’t bolt !

 

Mid 70’s – Chris & Thatch, on one of her many “rest holidays” with us.

 

Mid

’s in Bert’s Cottage – A Glass cased otter.

 

Mid

’s in Bert’s Cottage – The old book case and a few memorabilia.

 

Mid

’s – Bert at home with Tiger, son of Tim, grandson of Thatch

 

On the fireplace shelf is the copper hunting horn used to blow "Gone To Ground" at Bert's funeral.

Edited January 18, 2010 by Barrie

[Wolfie 106]

Top pics barrie thanks for shareing

[blackpack 70]

the best thread on the hunting life, great pictures and old stories. Thanks for sharing.

[gonetoearth 5,144]

barrie your a gent thanks for sharing

those photos and your memorys

[antsa 40]

great thread,Barry, thank you for sharing,wish you could carry on for another 250 pages...?

Edited January 18, 2010 by antsa

[Guest warren]

A wonderfull, interesting read with some great photos, thank you. Regards warren

[goldfinch2007 2,332]

the best post on here,nice to remember this legend of the terrier world

[roady 0]

an outstanding read,many thanks barrie

[bedrock 16]

Thank you barrie

AWSOME TREAD.

[J Darcy 5,871]

Respect to you barrie for giving your time to add some great information and photos to the thread. It appears that someone was telling lies about the book.

 

It is a crying shame that a proper book was never done on the man, especially during the hay days where otterhunting and badger digging was legal. It would have made some read!! JD