Spring seemed to be making an early appearance at Meon Springs with a beautiful, sunny, warm day. Nick and Richard Hoare bravely volunteered to be our Quarries, despite knowing this was our bit of "fell" country! The mounted Field enjoyed sipping Chris Geaves slow gin in the sunshine, while watching Nick and Richard doing their mountain goat impressions on the hills above us! Minky Kelk joined Nick and Richard for the second and third hunts, imagining she would avoid the pain of the serious hills on the first hunt. But she hadn't bargained for the brambles on the third hunt through Hen Wood. Surely if Nick and Richard had been "Gentlemen," they would have carried Minky through the brambles! It was good to see John Cowper-Coles back out with us after his shoulder injury in December. After two good hunts over Nick and Jamie Butler's Whitewool Farm, we had a nice hunt starting in the open on Bill Tyrwhit-Drake's Garston Farm, and then running through Hen Wood with a magnificent cry.

The first hunt started where the Monarch's Way crosses the Coombe Road and the Quarries had given the foot followers a wonderful view, as the line they took saw hounds climb up and down the hillside, before they crossed the South Downs Way and climbed the hill again to finish by the Old Winchester Hill Lane at the northern end of Whitewool Hanger.

The second hunt was a short one, taking hounds back down the hill, over the river and back, ending by the chalk pit.

The third hunt was a long one and once again gave the foot followers a good view. Hounds ran from Coombe Cross, over Garston Farm up to Yew Down, before coming back downhill by Middle Down and disappearing into Hen Wood. There was a great cry in the woods, with hounds catching their bleeding Quarries (no I'm not swearing, they really were bleeding) half a mile before the end of the hunt. Hounds were held up for five minutes, before being released to catch their Quarry by the Meon Springs road.