Adrian Simpson obituary

Simon Hart, former Chairman of the Countryside Alliance and former Conservative MP for Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire, pays tribute to the late Adrian Simpson who played an integral role in the Countryside Alliance’s Campaign for Hunting

There won’t be many people in the world of hunting or racing who didn’t know Adrian Simpson or benefit from his unique knowledge and advice - dished out with boundless energy and a refreshing directness.

I first met him in 1988 in my first season hunting the South Pembrokeshire. We weren’t far into September and in the midst of a busy morning near the village of West Williamston when I noticed someone I hadn’t seen before taking a particular interest and who clearly knew his stuff. I asked around afterwards and was told that the mystery spectator was the “terrier man to the Pembrokeshire” and thus someone we should treat with the deepest caution. That was far too tantalising for me to resist and it was the start of a lifelong friendship; out hunting, in pursuit of woodcock, in my various political guises and as a professional colleague at the Countryside Alliance. It was here that I found myself frequently explaining to a sceptical top brass that Adrian really was a unique talent who should be embraced rather than marginalised. Thank goodness they agreed, albeit with the occasional raised eyebrow.

Adrian never did anything by halves. A useful rugby player in his youth, he also hunted his own pack of beagles around his home county of Carmarthenshire, seemingly unfussed by what his deadly pack of little hounds decided to pursue. He was probably the most knowledgeable fisherman (despite never knowingly owning a rod..) on the rivers around west Wales, especially the Gwili near his home of Cynwyl Elfed. There was nothing he didn’t know about salmon and sewin. This thirst for knowledge never left him – and he wasn’t satisfied with simply recording a good day, he wanted to know every detail, which hounds or terriers had excelled or exactly which pool his great friends Simon and Tom Fayers had taken a fish. He co-founded the Welsh Game Fair, an event that he was determined should be affordable and relevant for rank and file countrymen across Wales and beyond, yet it was nothing to see the likes of Jeremy Paxman (who fished on the nearby Towy) mixing with the local expertise alongside the crowded terrier ring as the judging reached its climax.

In 1997 the politics of hunting reached the first of its many crescendos, triggering the famous marches from all quarters of the UK converging on a bemused London for the great Rally of July the 10^th of that year. Not wanting to be left out, Adrian and I were determined to send our own contingent from west Wales, just a token team of 20 or so we said, to fly the flag. It was classic Simpson that just a few days later over 250 people set off from St Clears in Carmarthenshire, being joined by pretty well every person (including the national media) that Adrian had ever met. Literally everyone dropped what they were doing, claimed a few days holiday and headed east. It was that magnetism that made the Countryside Alliance stand at the Royal Welsh the most compelling reason for making the journey to this annual flagship gathering for farmers and country people. In the shade of the trees by Adrian’s caravan gallons of coffee and whisky were consumed, cigarettes smoked and stories embellished.    

Later on this passion was turned to the pursuit of woodcock and duck, mainly at Beverley Thomas’ farm at Boulston and also anywhere else he could find a thick hedge or boggy corner. He maintained probably the best flight ponds in the County and was beyond generous to a stream of young shooters who came his way, and who left with a wealth of detailed knowledge of the venery required to pursue wild game effectively.

For a few years he shared a sheep farming operation with Bev, but his real passion was his ever-widening string of point-to-pointers, often cunningly sourced and prepared to maximise his betting possibilities. “I never bet much” he would say, whilst peeling off another £500 from an impressively chunky wad.

As with terriers and hounds, Adrian had an “eye” for a decent horse, the best of which included the prolific point-to-point winners Moral Hazard, Highway Jewel and Captain McGinley, and the latter two both scored at the Cheltenham hunter chase evening. When Beverley stopped training, it fell to Welsh trainer Bradley Gibbs to continue Adrian’s consistent success across south and west Wales and into England too.

For many years Adrian was the “go-to” authority on the Hunting Act, aiding lawyers and hunt staff who were often on the receiving end of some of the more spurious attempts to discredit them. Nothing got past him and numerous cases fell apart due to something he noticed which invalidated the prosecution’s case. Because he knew about hunting, what seemed like an open and shut case of illegal hunting often had a much more complex explanation. The money and stress saved for those involved was incalculable.  

Adrian took everything and everyone seriously, especially his now teenage granddaughter Grace. It was nothing to hear them nattering away like old friends on the most varied of contemporary topics. It was for those closest to him that he defied medical expectation over the last few years, treating his cancer with casual disdain and indifference, carrying on his role of adviser, critic, enthusiast, friend, father and entertainer to the very end.