Horse & Hound February 6th 1981
Hugh Gingell on Cox's Orange
Horse & Hound. February 6th, 1981
If it ever needed to be proved that point-to-pointing and showing hunters are inexorably tied up with hunting, one has only to look at the Gingell family in Cambridgeshire.
Mr and Mrs Hugh Gingell were the popular recipients of the point-to-point annual dinner committee's special award in September for their services to point-to-pointing, in particular through their running of the course at Cottenham.
But their involvement goes far deeper than that. One of the country's leading show hunter judges (and just as eminent a pony judge) Mrs Gingell is not only still a top show rider herself but, in particular, is Master and huntsman of the Cambridgeshire Harriers, a post she has held since the last war, and devoted owner of the 28 couple of hounds.
The future of Cottenham has been assured, thanks to the Gingell's generous wish that it should be kept as a point-to-point course in perpetuity - and that in spite of the fact that it is on prime agricultural land, which has not been ploughed in living memory.
As a point-to-point course it has few peers, with ideal ground, good viewing and facilities and well-built, inviting fences, the latter built under Mr Gingell's instruction by his staff.
Though Cottenham dates from the early 1880s, it was only bought by the Gingell's in 1962, shortly before the death of its previous owner, veterinary surgeon Mr. J Runciman. Many notable horse and riders have graced it over the years.
The strongest earliest influence was Cambridge University, the course making an ideal stamping ground for sporting undergraduates.