Upton Park was another new meet for us this season and we are very grateful to Mr Morgan-Giles for letting us hunt over his beautiful estate. It was also good to see Mr and Mrs Morgan-Giles and their family with us at the meet and following for a while. We are also grateful to Farm Manager Tim Walters for helping the Master plan the day's sport. It was good to see Nick Burne MBH and Jan Gration MBH (Burne Bloodhounds) out with us. The first hunt started in glorious parkland and the Field were also able to enjoy some jumps along the way. Although from now on Laura will be known as the Karate Kid, for the way she went through the last jump! Nick Hoare and Mark little were our Quarries for the day and they only just made the end of the first hunt before the hounds caught up with them. "They cheated" cried the Master, who had been hoping to catch them on the run, after Nick said on the radio that the hounds had no chance of catching them, even though they had only a 15 minute start on a 4.6km run. Apparently the Master claims they cut the last corner by half a mile. We will have to study the replay!
The first hunt started down the Avenue at Upton Park running by the "big house." Field Master Mel Fitzpatrick was luck to find her horse in "jumping mode" as she led the Field over this beautiful parkland. Leaving the park, hounds ran up to the Monument where they checked on a lot of human foil by Colden Lane. Crossing the lane, hounds cast themselves over the cultivated ground to pick up the line to run by the Oxdrove Way towards Nettlebeds Farm. The Field were well behind as hounds turned north and then east to catch their Quarry by the road.
The second hunt started on the Old Alresford road, with hounds running east of Barton Copse up to Finchley Wood. Hounds swung west here to go by Thorngrove Copse out onto some dry cultivated ground. Hounds were well "in tune" as they crossed this difficult scenting ground and were soon on to some better scenting rape. As hounds swung south west, they ran over the line of around 30 ramblers without deflection and were soon with their Quarry just outside Old Alresford.
The final hunt started almost where the first hunt ended with the hounds making a large sweep of the arable land between Colden Lane and the Old Alresford road. The hounds got a bit split when hounds overran one tight turn and some hounds were quicker to regain the line than others. The leads hounds had crossed the last field and as the tail enders hunted up behind them a hare got up right in the middle of them. Not a single hound went after it. However, it was interesting to see that this hare must have sat very tight as the Quarries and first load of hounds went by, but got up when the second group of hounds and Master came by.
Photographs by Ann Brewer and Sharon Thayer (Click to enlarge)
