Bereleigh is always a popular meeting place for a number of sporting events, not least because of the generousity of Mr & Mrs Tyrwhitt-Drake. Once again there was a good turnout of 25 riders and a good crowd of foot followers. Quarries for the day were Nick and Richard Hoare, and Jeff Lynn. For some reason they would not accept the Master's assurances that the hunts were all on level ground. We were extraordinarly lucky with the weather as it was wet and windy either side of our meet. If you like jumping, then this is the place to be; and even Quarry Jeff Lynn (top right) was in jumping mode, fortunately Nick wasn't - we don't have a team of fence builders following on the day!

The first hunt started from the meet, with hounds running out into Mascoombe Bottom. Running up the steep valley, the hounds were pressed by a number of riders, whose horses were in complete control! However, as hounds crossed onto Park Hill and then doubled back towards Bereleigh House, the hounds put a lot of space them and the Field. Rumour has it the Master had two refusals at the last jump, before eventually getting over it in a somewhat ungainly fashion. Judge for yourself on the right.

The second hunt started opposite Park Farm, with hounds racing up and over the hill before turning north to run parallel to the bridleway leading to Lower Bordean Farm. Hounds hunted well over the winter crops and plough, while the Field enjoyed a number of optional jumps. Just short of the A272, hounds turned and crossed the road to run up by Mare Pond. Running round Tigwell Copse, hounds caught their Quarry near Warhill Cottage. This was a hunt of over 3 miles long and the Quarries had a number of hills to cope with.

However, if the Quarries thought they had it tough on the second hunt, they had even more hills to cope with on an even longer final hunt! Starting by Tigwell Farm, hounds ran to Orchard Plantation, before turning back by Bereleigh House and almost up to Park Cottages. Hounds were at fault here and over-ran into the wrong field, except for Sultry 03 who kept her nose down and got a good lead over the rest of the pack as she ran down to the Park Farm track. The pack caught up with her as she got onto some human foil on Park Hill. Sorting themselves out, hounds ran on over the hill and back down by Vineyard Hole, to catch their very tired Quarries by the road. The Field took some time to catch up as some of them struggled a bit with the last fence - giving Sharon a glut of "interesting" photos! See bottom section of Sharon's photos and give marks out of 10.

There were a lot of smiling faces at the end of the day, despite a few empty saddles along the route! And the Quarries?????????????????? Paramedics to Vineyard Hole please!

Photographs by Ann Brewer and Sharon Thayer (Click to enlarge)