There was a respectable field of 18 riders and great crowd of foot followers for our second Opening Meet at Cedar House, Froxfield, courtesy of our hosts Mike and Fran Baker. Warm sunshine and wasps are not something one usually has to cope with at an Opening Meet! We were very lucky to have some great country to hunt over thanks to the Ellis family and the shoot there. It was good to have Jane Ellis riding with us and the Master was pleased that her fear that her horse might buck her off were not realised. It doesn't do to return farmers' relatives on stretchers! We are also grateful to the West Tisted Manor Estate for letting us use their ground at Froxfield, Mr Anthony Silk for letting us hunt down at Priors Dean, where we always have great sport, and Mr and Mrs Stephen Batten on whose land we finished the day.. Our Quarries for the day were Quarry veteran Chris Lee and newcomer Charlie Quarry (no that really is his name!).

The first hunt started at Soalwood Lane running South, our Quarries had to run quite a tight line to cross the road on to the stubble by Broadway Copse. There our Quarries were able to run a more freestyle route to test the hounds and the huntsman. They ran West as far as the line of trees marking the old fence line and then turned South down this line. Just short of the field boundary, the hounds turned West and on to Wheeler's Farm, where they checked. Cast back, the hounds hit the line off again, running East all the way to the double gates, where they caught their Quarries. The Quarries revealed that they had run to Wheeler's Farm and then retraced their steps in an attempt to fool the hounds. Without success!

The second hunt started in Soalwood Lane, this time going North running over two grass fields to cross the road by Week Green Farm on to the first of three fields that had recently been cut for silage. Hounds were running well as they crossed the bridleway, but checked as they came on to the ground in the process of being cleared of silage. John Ellis kindly stopped his machinery as the Master helped the hounds on a bit here over the recently worked ground, but they picked up pace again as they crossed the green lane. From here they ran really well, ignoring four roe deer, to catch their Quarry up at Barnet Side Farm. There were a lot of sweaty horses, with equally sweaty riders blowing hard as they caught up with the hounds, where around half the field decided they had had enough and went home from here.

We hacked on down to Priors Dean for two more hunts that were originally planned as one hunt, but had to be split in two because of the heat. Starting at the top of the hill hounds ran down behind Church Farm to cross the road onto the stubble East of Valley Cottages. Running along the hill side behind the Manor House, they caught the Quarries just short of Hawkley Hanger. The second half of the hunt started at the top of the Hawkley road hill, over the bridleway, over the road behind the Church, turning West of Valley Cottages and then South at the top of the hill on your grass and on to Warren Farm where they caught their Quarry. And so ended a brilliant Opening Meet. Poor Charlie Quarry really had a baptism of fire by being introduced to the sport by Chris, as not only is Chris a very fit, fast runner, he also made Charlie crawl through some very thick hedges that even a fox would have had a job getting through!

Photographs by Ann Brewer, Fran Baker and Dick King (Click to enlarge)