Bert Gripton.

[sounder79 80]

I dont know what this cork white terrier thing is about ? There was white terriers in cork long before gripton sent over. Nearly all black and white more than lemon and white.  Leggy split haired mongrel street dogs thats all they were. 

[Bryan 1,362]

On 26/12/2017 at 20:42, Kaiser Sozé said:

Only one Bert gripton terrier was ever bred into those dogs Neil...a bitch named Meg in '62..

But wasn't she behind the Blindman and the General? 

[Kaiser Sozé 282]

On 12/29/2017 at 11:18, Bryan said:

But wasn't she behind the Blindman and the General? 

She was 3 generations back from the Blindman and 4 generations from the General. My point is I've heard people go on about these dogs down from Bert Gripton stuff. One terrier from his stuff was bred into the lines way back in '62. A decent bitch for sure, but this stuff was built on local terriers and hunt terriers throughout Munster mainly and sometimes further up the country...

Edited December 30, 2017 by Kaiser Sozé

[Squirrel_Basher 17,100]

You couldnt make this shit up ffs .Bert Gripton ,for all his prowess as a hunt terrierman was a dog dealer .Saw something that took his eye and bred from it ,to it .He never claimed to have a line which was just as well as he bred to anything showy enough to catch the eye of punters .Separate the man from shows and you couldn' wish for a better day out .Get him at a show and work took second place ,double standards which unfortunately people overlooked because of his reputation as a hunt terrierman. He never set out to leave anything behind ,just sold what people wanted to buy .How do I know ,well that would be telling wouldn' it and mystery has slaways seemed  a big part of the game lol.

[Barrie 1,325]

On ‎28‎/‎12‎/‎2017 at 18:39, donnyc said:

Some shite written here 

As is all too often the case, opinions are frequently trotted out on these forums as if they were fact. And whilst I’ve no desire to “pee on anyone’s parade”, or to speak ill of the dead, it’s important that when this happens those who have actual first-hand knowledge and are still fortunate enough to be able to still tell the tale, should at the very least attempt to put the record straight. Otherwise history will be rewritten…. and sadly in some instances rewritten very badly.

I was fortunate enough to be a close friend of Bert’s from the early 1970’s up until his death in June 1995. Along with my late cousin “Bo” and my then girlfriend Chris, we travelled the length and breadth of the country in Bert’s big red (James Baker) van. We’d hunt otters in the summer, foxes in the winter, dig most Sundays (summer and winter), drive woods for keepers with a few hounds Bert used to keep for that purpose and fit in the occasional terrier show too. The three of us were with Bert when he first met the American gentleman in the video, Buddy Gayer (sp), it was at the Pennine Hunt Terrier Show and for some strange reason I remember it as clear as if it was yesterday.

With regards to the Terrier Man video, that program was first aired on BBC2 29th January 1982 and I still have the original VHS tape copy here. Drabble did a similar but much shorter interview with my late father on “rag whippets” in 1979.

I’ve just put down my first edition copies of Drabble’s Pedigree Unknown published 1964 (I’d be 19 at that time) and The Black Country published 1952. I’m fiercely proud of the fact that I was born and brought up in the Black Country and was fortunate enough to grow up alongside and spend time in the company of those very special Black Country men who because of their own unique set of talents featured in both. I would commend both as excellent reading.

I have several memories during my mid-teens, of returning home during school holidays with ferrets and nets to find Phil Drabble waiting at my parent’s home for my father to return from work, while he was researching and gathering material for Pedigree Unknown. I also recollect explaining to him on the one occasion how we would take the top and bottom out of a small baked bean tin, fit a lady’s nylon stocking onto the can with elastic bands, tie a knot in the bottom and push the tins into the rat’s holes before we bolted them with our ferrets. As the rats hit the nets, you simply held the knot, gave the stocking a twist and you finished up with a “sausage of live rats”…. It was something he seemed very unfamiliar with!

Rightly or wrongly, following the publication of Pedigree Unknown, my father and his close circle of friends formed an unfavourable opinion of Phil Drabble as a result of an article in the Field magazine (they were difficult – but straight talking men to say the least !) and he was advised against using any photos of their dogs in future. He respected their wishes, they only appeared in that first edition, but for anyone who has a first edition, I still have that original set of weighing scales here today.

Whether Phil was a friend or otherwise to dog men in general, well we are all entitled to our opinions on that. Personally I always found him to be a perfect gentleman, but I would make two further points. Firstly compare a copy of the original Pedigree Unknown and compare it to subsequent versions. As public opinions change you may also notice a change in content and emphasis. For me and the things I hold dearest, the more recent versions are of little interest, yet I never tire of reading the original.

Secondly, I was more than a little active on a variety of fronts at the time there were moves afoot to protect the badger and remove it from the quarry list. Phil was pretty high profile TV Naturalist at that time and very active on the badger protection front. I well remember being sat in front of the TV when he quoted some staggeringly low figures for the number of active breeding setts in the country…. yet they bore very little resemblance to the permission I had, let alone the country as a whole.

To conclude, there is one more myth which keeps getting trotted out on this forum which I’d like to dispel and it relates to the photo of Bert, holding his terrier Thatch, with an otter pad in hand. It has been suggested on several occasions that it is the pad of the last legally killed otter and that’s certainly NOT the case at all. I was lucky enough to be there on that day and the pad was taken from a 21lb dog otter caught by the Border Counties Otterhounds on the River Seven at Llandinam. Both Thatch and Bert worked their hearts out that day, in difficult circumstances and in front of a huge field. Bert was presented with that pad by the late great R.P Williams Master/Huntsman BCOH in appreciation of their contribution to the day’s hunting. The BCOH put in many days hunting after that and it was definitely not the last otter they caught.

For those with a particular interest in Bert, who as Neil so rightly points out “earned his reputation at the coal face” rather than in some of the other less honourable, or worthy ways so commonplace today. There are a number of previous threads including….. http://www.thehuntinglife.com/forums/topic/120571-bert-gripton/

Yours in Sport (And With Apologies for Banging On) - Barrie

Edited December 29, 2017 by Barrie

[Rabbit Hunter 6,613]

Thanks for such an in depth response Barrie, it's nice to hear from someone who actually 'lived it' rather than passed on something they heard.

Whatever happened to Bert's grandson then, did he carry on in his Grandfather's footsteps?

[Squirrel_Basher 17,100]

Very nicely worded Barrie and from the heart I'm sure .Trouble is it's very one sided as is often the case with close friends and id expect nothing less ..Can't see the wood for the trees is a saying banded about but comes to mind .

[Barrie 1,325]

5 minutes ago, Rabbit Hunter said:

Thanks for such an in depth response Barrie, it's nice to hear from someone who actually 'lived it' rather than passed on something they heard.

Whatever happened to Bert's grandson then, did he carry on in his Grandfather's footsteps?

I have it in my mind that Jamie went into keepering for a while..... then he moved out of the area and I lost contact with him after his father died.

But he was a "spunky" little kid and we had some chuckles with him and at his expense too (I guess when you have freckles and ginger hair it's to be expected LOL).   

[nick703 447]

16 minutes ago, Barrie said:

I have it in my mind that Jamie went into keepering for a while..... then he moved out of the area and I lost contact with him after his father died.

But he was a "spunky" little kid and we had some chuckles with him and at his expense too (I guess when you have freckles and ginger hair it's to be expected LOL).   

Did you no the twins Barrie ? ( close friends of Bert), they've got some cracking old photos of him an his terriers.

[Barrie 1,325]

3 minutes ago, foxdropper said:

Very nicely worded Barrie and from the heart I'm sure .Trouble is it's very one sided as is often the case with close friends and id expect nothing less ..Can't see the wood for the trees is a saying banded about but comes to mind .

Foxdropper

Unlike so many others, I don't come on here to be contentious or to argue, I have far better things to do with my time.

I'd like to think that in most things I say and do, I always try to be honest and base my comments on my own experiences rather than those of others. Clearly you have some doubts about that and you obviously don't know me very well, if at all.

As I said previously, everyone is entitled to their own opinion and it's right that it should be that way, but if we're to fall back on old cliché's I'd suggest "A little knowledge is a dangerous thing" is probably more appropriate.

What I can say with some confidence is that Bert's name and reputation as a "Terrierman" (warts and all) will be remembered long after you and I are long buried and forgotten...... and that won't be by accident.

Yours in Sport - Barrie

[Barrie 1,325]

10 minutes ago, nick703 said:

Did you no the twins Barrie ? ( close friends of Bert), they've got some cracking old photos of him an his terriers.

Yes.... I do indeed :-)

[Phil Lloyd 10,738]

Goodonya Barrie...

 As a veteran hunter myself, I really do admire loyalty to one's old pals ...

Obviously, few of us are perfect,...we have all probably done and said,.. a plethora of silly things,...

But,..all things considered,..if a man is a genuine kinda fellah... I am always loath to bad mouth him.

It is so easy to indulge in gossip and rely upon hearsay,...the facts are,... the facts rarely lie......

[dillydog 8,463]

 

[trigger2 3,143]

interesting reading this lads. good thread. i aint a terrier man but its always good to hear/read a little about past and present hunters from all parts of the dog game

[donnyc 1,203]

Long time ago I know but did see Bert at a couple of shows but never got into conversation with him..Did have a day out with Barry Jones and watched Bert dig to a red ticked smooth dog  the once but leave it at that ..Believe it was in the wheatland Country or nearbye  that terrible reddish stuff..Not long after He arrived at my pack with a youngish lad  no one knew him ,I did say try keeping up with me. Hounds really flew on one fox that just got in in front of hounds  and my instructions were  to bolt it ..shallowish spot but very rangy ..I went to my truck and the young lad came over to watch  Bert stayed in his van ..I picked a bay mix bitch to put some pressure on it to bolt and after ten minutes it bolted..The young lad said the bitch wasnt any good as she was bitten well   I left it at that ..I know the earth and hounds had really pushed him hard and in a big rangy spot  with a bayer at it doubt it would have shifted ..One can only use what one thinks is most suitable  for the job in hand...I really enjoyed my days at Stallings lane with a proper old school terrierman ..Very very diluted to virtually zilch is the Mick Dogs blood in my present terriers..Wandering around the old quarry behind his house many many hours spent there