Support Team

Anne is a holiday/cruise/travel groupie and will go anywhere with anyone who is prepared to pay for her, (usually Philip) as she is a lady of leisure and therefore is a kept woman (usually in a cupboard). She is not prepared to mount an elephant although a cuddle could be in order, and will therefore be cheering madly from the sidelines. She is not offering to help with the knitting as the scarves would look more like string vests. Anne's misinterpretation of the meaning of “18-Wheeler” is why she didn’t hesitate to say “Yes” to the trip. Unfortunately, however, being an Essex girl she is still trying to find Nepal on the map!!! Phil looks damned healthy in this photo, don't you think?

Mumsy’s recent sporting activities have been limited to a too close encounter with a Macedonian mountainside, paragliding in Turkey, riding elephants in India and climbing South Africa's 3rd highest mountain followed by making the descent in the dark! Mumsy definitely does not do sewing, house cleaning or hoovering (she needs a Norbert!) but cooks a mean paella and makes an even meaner zabaglione. Her principal aims in life at the moment are to see the Pukka Chukkas roar to success in Nepal and to have her very own Jeeves to do all the tedious tasks in life. Mind you, the Mad Scientist would say he does that already! Mumsy spends much of her time helping governments around the world spend their money more wisely (she failed abysmally with the Chief!).

Its pretty obvious from the photo, which was taken during The Pukka Chukkas first official training session, that Maggs' strong point is not likely to be her prowess at elephant polo (or, for that matter, any other type of polo!). Fortunately her talents lie elsewhere, particularly mass catering - even when she is meant to be cooking for 4, there is usually enough food on the table for a couple of dozen at least! Salads are not her strong point however, and frozen lettuce really isn't something that can be recommended. Maggs has a memory like an elephant (or she would have, if elephants had memory's like a sieve) but she can knit faster than a knitting machine (only 18 months for a jumper - outstanding) and she is Constance's knitting coach for the "scarf project". Her interests include cooking (she is a fab cook, lettuce excluded), fast cars - her F1 test drive at Brands is still being talked about as it is felt unlikely that anybody will complete a circuit that slowly ever again - and travel. She is sterling supporter of the team and we wish she was coming with us to Nepal.

Fortunately, The Pukka Chukkas reserves have two people who have actually ridden horses - unfortunately they are unavailable for selection in 2008 and so sadly will only be able to support us from a distance. The Chief's country cousins are almost certainly not the offspring of some profligate common ancestor, but they show a remarkably similar love for fine food and wine as the Chief & Constance. Orange, pictured here in Kathmandu, has a recipe for Nepalese momo's which is truly unique......

Treacle is extremely old, and the Guiness Book of Records currently has him vying with Methuselah for top spot. He also spends a lot of time designing and modelling fancy dress and this photo shows him demonstrating his “winter wonderland” collection. Other than being a major contributor to The Pukka Chukkas charities, he is also a great friend of the Chief’s, and for that reason we have not shown him photographed modelling his “Valentine collection”. Being an extremely corporate person, Treacle can often be found debating in the Boardroom.

In his younger days, the Mad Scientist was a cyclist but that came to an abrupt end the day the handlebars came apart as he hurtled around a roundabout. His main sporting activities this year will be supporting the Pukka Chukkas from afar, toasting them with a glass of vino or two in his and Mumsy’s new outdoor spa. The Mad Scientist has done all sorts of interesting work for the military and is so old that he remembers working on analogue computers (if you know what they are, you’re old as well!). Here, the ever cautious Mad Scientist is about to throw caution (and himself) to the winds in a paragliding escapade with the Chief, Constance and Mumsy – a family outing with a difference!