Sad deaths of Stafford Sampson and Peter Mansell

Point-to-pointing has lost two ever-present members of its community with the deaths of Stafford Sampson and Pete Mansell.

An auctioneer by trade, Sampson was known in point-to-point circles for his voice as much as his appearance, for he acted as announcer at meetings in the Devon & Cornwall and Wessex areas. However, in business he was an auctioneer of farm machinery and known as the face of Stags, the West Country firm which has offices across the region. He joined the company in 1975 to assist in setting up sales, but soon picked up the auctioneer’s gavel and proved he was a natural in the role.

He went on to act as auctioneer at many charity functions, announced at the Mid Devon Show and acted as clerk of the course at Chipley Park. He also owned point-to-pointers.

Although Sampson had been fighting cancer for some time and had taken to a mobility scooter to attend point-to-points, he still picked up the microphone when asked and carried out announcing duties for the final time at Umberleigh’s Torrington Farmers’ meeting, which brought the curtain down on the 2021/22 season. He died at the age of 76, leaving his wife Delia, son Stuart who trains pointers at the family home in Culmstock, daughter Jennifer and four grandchildren.

A memorial service will take place at All Saints, Culmstock, at 12.30 on Saturday (September 24).

Stafford Sampson, pictured announcing at Umberleigh, June 2022  **photo Carl Evans

Pete Mansell carried out the role of point-to-point press officer in the West Midlands and then West Mercian areas. He lived adjacent to Cheltenham racecourse and is believed to have suffered a heart attack late last week before passing away at the weekend. He was 75.

An ever-present in all weathers, Mansell attended every meeting in his area and was invariably seen further afield when there were no local fixtures, pen and notebook in hand, binoculars around his neck, and occasionally armed with a small camera, too. He carried out the usual duties of a press officer, supplying news articles about the sport to newspaper and media outlets in the region, but in recent years had also taken on the job of managing and updating the area website.

Mansell worked for GCHQ, the UK’s intelligence, security and cyber agency, but taking early retirement gave him more time to jump on his trail motorbike and follow the Ledbury Hunt.  He also compiled and wrote an updated history of the Lady Dudley Cup and was working on a similar project looking at the Heythrop Hunt’s Lord Ashton of Hyde’s Cup, which was founded in 1953 and is now run at Cocklebarrow.

Graham Fisher, who supplied Mansell with photographs for the West Mercian website, said: “Pete was a quiet man who knew the sport in the West Midlands and then West Mercian Area as well as anyone. He just got on with the job and we worked well together. He is pretty much irreplaceable.”

Mansell, who was married to Julie, was widowed in March last year. He is survived by sons Jeffrey and Steve, daughter Jenny, and by a granddaughter, Sol, who was born in January.

Peter Mansell, press officer and an ever-present at point-to-points  

Funeral arrangements to be announced.