Season 2008 - 2009
The meets/events appear in the order of most recent at the top. Follow links
in each summary report to find more details and/or more pictures.
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! Report and more pictures here.
Report and photos to follow.
Report and photos to follow.
Bereleigh, East Meon. Sunday 1st February
The cold at Bereleigh certainly put off a number of our regulars at Bereleigh, which was a shame because Bill and Philipa Tywhitt-Drake gave us a great meet as usual, and we had four good hunts. Quarry Nick Hudson, confused the Master, easily done, by going "off piste", or as the Master puts it, he went off "pissed" at the end of the first hunt, with four hares getting up in front of the hounds in the field where the error occurred. Extraordinarily, Nick then ran the next three hunts perfectly, even though the notes didn't match the ground, which was marked as stubble but had been ploughed up in the meantime. The Master claims the field wasn't ploughed until after Nick started running, but I think that's unfair! Report and more pictures here.
Rickarton, Aberdeenshire. Sunday 25th January
More pictures and report to follow shortly
Rickarton, Aberdeenshire. Saturday 24th January (Kincardineshire Foxhounds)
More pictures and report to follow shortly
Dunecht, Aberdeenshire. Friday 23rd January
More pictures and report to follow shortly.
Scotland Farm, Liss. Sunday 18th January
New meets are always great, but the stunning views across Hampshire to West Sussex and great hospitality from Hilary Robinson certainly made this day a bit special. The field had a grandstand view of the first hunt, which is guaranteed to make our Master/Huntsman a bit nervous, given that the hounds enthusiasm and energy verge on the semtex level as they hack towards the start of the first hunt! As well as having a new hunt on Scotland Farm, we enjoyed a new hunt on Lyss Place, thanks to Hans Snook and Helen Demmy, and a hunt on Derek Amesbury's Wheatham Farm. It was good to see all our hosts at the meet.
Report and more pictures here.
The frozen ground had stayed with us since New Year's Day, causing us to miss a Sunday. Carolyn and James Fair kindly invited us to meet on foot up at Keyham Farm, so that we could have a “party meet” for Mark, and then hunt over the Silk’s land at Priors Dean. Rosie Mileham kindly made a birthday cake, with a little help from her sister Freya, and Joint Master Alice Geaves presented Mark with a montage of pictures from his time with the bloodies, on behalf of all the members of the hunt. Nick Hudson had to run slowly so that Emily and fell runner Peter, could keep up – at least that’s Nick’s version!
More pictures here.
On New Year’s Days the Master felt that, while Dancing on Ice has proved very entertaining on the television, Hunting on Ice might not have the same elegance, although he was tempted to try one of those brightly coloured sequined outfits – until his medication kicked in and he felt better. Nonetheless, Mel Fitzpatrick and Mel Parker obviously thought we were whimps and they were Mel Gibson, so they turned up on horses! Anyway Charlie and Sarah Bullen put on a splendid meet up at the “big hoose” and we had great fun hunting on foot – or quad bike in the Master's case – as Dominique, Peter and Carmine risked life and limb trying to outwit the hounds on Mark and Robert Stents’ frozen farms. More pictures here.
We didn’t hunt on Boxing Day this year, but went to the ever popular Warren Farm to enjoy Stephen and Val Batten’s hospitality on the 28th. Anthony Silk is so kind having the bloodhounds so often, and being able to include Mr Mitham’s farm on the Rotherfield Estate and Mr Carter’s ground at Pennyhill, made it a cracking day’s hunting. The going was good and this enabled us to take on a few hedges on Anthony’s ground, as well as jumping the hunt’s portable jumps. Sarah Ross and John Cowper-Coles joined the Master for a ground kissing session over one hedge on the hill, and John even got a ride in a helicopter out of it! I think we’ll miss that hedge next year! Our Quarry was Nick Hudson and he had plenty of hill work in front of him. Report and more pictures here.
Report and more pictures here.
Upper Farm, Bradley. Sunday 14th December
New Quarries Peter Larkin and Dominique Tillen had quite a challenge ahead of them when we met at Messrs M and J Gibbons' Upper Farm. This was to be quite a tight bit of country to run three hunts in, if hounds were not to end up overrunning one line and ruining the next. However Peter and Dominique rose to the challenge brilliantly, even using a compass to keep them going in the right direction!
Report and more pictures here.
There was a good turnout for the meet at Chilton Down, including our hosts Mr and Mrs Marriot. The weather was bright and sunny after a hard frost, conditions that don't usually provide a great scent. The going was good in the sun, but hard in the shadows where the sun never reached. Quarry Nick Hoare set off on the first hunt, doing a loop by The northern end of The Avenue before going away by Spiers Lane to cross the road and up to Godsfield Wood. Hounds turned away from the wood to catch their Quarry on Juniper Hill.
Report and more pictures here.
Last season Nick Hoare was our Quarry at Stocks Farm and got soaked, this season Nick Hudson ran for us, once again in very wet conditions, so - Wet Nicks, Wet Knicks, Wet Knickers. You see a clever play on words, God I'm wasted on you lot, do try and keep up! We were so lucky to be hunting after so much rain, but thanks to the generosity of John Dalton and Mervyn Povey, not only did we hunt, we had a cracking day, jumping our socks off. Nick Hudson complained to me that there was a "typo" in my report of last week's report of Rings Green Farm when I described him as uneatable - he claimed I had left out a "b". Well after his performance at Stocks Farm in the mud and cold rain, maybe he is un"b"eatable. For the second time this season, Nick ran 4 hunts and I heard the Master describe them as "brilliant." The Master said, "Nick not only runs the hunts as they are planned, but he also manages to put in enough turns to make the hounds work. But if you report any of that I will deny I said it. I don't want him to become big headed!" Stephen Kelk led a good sized Field again and they were not short of opportunities to leave the ground. Even his daughter Sarah was seen flying over a good hedge on the second hunt. Clearly madness runs in the family! Once again we are very short of photographs for this meet, so if you would like to send some in, I would be very grateful. More pictures here.
Sadly, rain first thing in the morning seemed to have put off a number of riders for the meet at Rings Green Farm. However, the rain cleared and we enjoyed some superb hunts over the beautiful country of Priors Dean and part of the Rotherfield Estate. It was great to see Rosie and Freya Mileham out with us again, while their mother Penny is still recovering from her last visit to priors Dean. The hunt jumps were put out for the Field to jump but this just seemed to stir some members of the Field into attempting greater things. Stephen Kelk led Sarah Ross (meet host with husband Nick), John Cowper-Coles, Louise Hudson and Tatiana Thistlethwayte over a small hedge with a respectable drop on the other side. But for three of these adrenalin junkies, this was still not enough of a challenge. So Stephen then took on a reasonable sized hedge, with a good ditch and bank on the landing side, with John and Sarah following closely behind. The Senior Master was not amused to be shown up in this way and to rub salt in the wound, Stephen was riding Impy!(Jeremy's horse) When asked why he wasn't jumping such obstacles on Impy, he started muttering something about a "gammy leg" and "...shrapnel on the move." And when I asked him if we should have a paramedic on standby if we are going to have such brave riders out with us, he replied, "these people need a ruddy phsychiatrist, not a paramedic!" A word of advice, when talking to Jeremy, don't mention the "hedge" word! We only have one picture from this day, so if anyone has any more, we would be glad to receive them.
As usual, Mark and Robert Stent made us very welcome at Park Farm, while our senior Master enjoyed more than his fair share of Nicky Stent's baking! This is quite a tight bit of country to try and get three hunts in, but thanks to some very accurate running by Hector Fair, it was a very successful day. The following day, Jeremy went back to the farm to collect the hunt jumps with Mark's help and they were astonished to find the farm crawling with pheasants. Mark said, "I've never seen so many pheasants on the farm!" So I think we can safely say that hunting the clean boot is very compatible with shooting! Perhaps bloodhounds even attract pheasants!!
Report and more pictures here.
Itchen Down Farm, Itchen Abbas, Sunday 2nd November 2008
Brenda Hulme
kindly laid on a good meet for us even though her partner Dick was away on the London to Brighton run in a vintage car. We are very lucky to hunt there early in the season, given that John Collins runs a very good shoot there and we are most grateful to him for his cooperation. We had a brace of Hoares to hunt, Nick and Richard, with Gillian Hoare taking pictures, and perfect weather. All the ingrediants for a good day and as the Quarries found out on the first hunt, this was no day for hanging around.
Report and more pictures here.
Adrian Sole and Hector Fair were our Quarries when we Richard Mitham kindly permitted us to meet there so that we could hunt on his farm on the Rotherfield Estate. Our first hunt started north of the road near Old Place Farm and hounds flew parallel to the road, past Heards Farm, to cross the road below the bottom of Holtham Lane. Here they turned uphill to run behind Goleigh Farm, with hounds catching their Quarry at the triangulation stone. This was a very fast hunt and the riders remarked what a lovely bit of country it was to ride over.
Report and more pictures here.
Mike and Fran Baker welcomed a record Field to the Opening Meet at Cedar House on Sunday 19th October, and the weather was just perfect. Thanks to the generosity of the Ellis family, Richard and Rosemary Keyser and Anthony and Julie Silk we had some great country to hunt over. But this was to be a special day, as for the first time ever, we were to have our first "blind" hunt in Hampshire. A blind hunt is where the huntsman knows where the hunt starts, but no more than that. The Quarry has a map of the area cleared for hunting, and it is entirely up to him where he goes. When this pack was in Scotland and known as the Borders Bloodhounds, blind hunts were not unusual, but this is the first time we had suitable country to do it in Hampshire.
Report and more pictures here.
West Stoke Farm, Stoke Charity. Sunday 12th October 2008
It's always nice to find a new place to hunt and we were very grateful to the Rowsell family for letting us have a morning on their lovely farm. Will Day and Adam Shadbolt had an away day as trail layers for the New Forest Hounds, to act as our Quarries, and they found it hard to believe they didn't need to drag anything! They were joined by Terry Stears, while his wife Bonita joined the Field. It was a warm day and there was some doubt if there would be much scent - but there was. Despite the heat, our Quarries gave us some good hunts, including some jinking about to try and fool the hounds. Bit the hounds pressed them hard all morning and gave us a great ride and some good hound work to watch.
More pictures by Gill White here
Park Farm, Avington. Sunday 5th October 2008
James Whale was having his first day as an SDB Quarry and if the rain wasn't making life difficult enough, he didn't have the help of an experienced Quarry to help him decipher the Master's directions! The first hunt was going well until hounds appeared to be going "off piste!" Because they looked right, and we were on the ever accommodating Stent's land, the Master let the hounds run on. He soon saw the Quarry running in the opposite direction some 50 yards parallel to the hounds, confirming the Quarry had gone wrong, and was now correcting himself! The second hunt started better, but hounds struggled where the Quarry crossed any cultivated ground. Then all of a sudden, once again they appeared to be going wrong, running down a footpath. However this turned out to be another deviation from route by the Quarry! The last hunt went perfectly, so the Quarry was spared a public flogging! It was a shame it was so wet, as this put off a number of people who were booked in. Jeremy blames his Joint Master; "I organise the hunting, he is supposed to organise the weather!"
More pictures by Nicky Stent here
Priors Dean, Sunday 28th September 2008
Priors Dean is always popular meet not least because of the kindness and generosity shown by Anthony and Julie Silk. Ray Bulman was our Quarry and he had quite a tough day ahead of him, with hills and heat. A mistake by the Quarry in the first field, got the first hunt off to a very difficult start and a mistake towards the end of the second hunt ended up with the hounds hunting a group of ramblers. Fortunately the hounds didn't eat any of the ramblers when they caught them, at least, I assume they didn't as I couldn't see any empty boots. However the last hunt went well despite a fall by Freya Mileham off Tictac, but she was soon remounted and smiling at the end of the hunt, so I assume any bruises gained were soon forgotten.
More pictures by Fran Baker and Nick Hudson here.
Shepherds Down, Droxford. Sunday 21st September 2008
It's always nice to find some new ground to hunt over and it was very kind of Mr Rowsell, Mr Horne and Mr Hill to accommodate us. It was a very warm day and it did little to settle our huntsman when he saw the Quarries, Chris Lee and Pete Kent run smack into a man walking a dog in the middle of the first field. The dog walker then proceeded to walk back to the start of the hunt, making it a very confusing line for the hounds to start on. Nonetheless, hounds raced away from the start and after a short check where the Quarries and dogwalker met, hounds put themselves right and flew on to the end of the hunt. This day proved to be a good cure for a hangover, but I'm much to nice to spill the beans on the guitly party! Oh yes I am!!
More pictures by Gill White here.
Church Farm, South Harting. Saturday 13th September 2008
It was great to be back at Church Farm this year as Madelaine and Alistair Nugent always make us feel so welcome. The ground dried up nicely for the day and Chris Lee and Nick Hoare were our main Quarries for the day. While the hounds were having some schooling in an adjacent stubble field, the Quarries were supposed to have started running, but they were too busy enjoying the sun and gossiping to realise hounds were on their way! So hounds had to be stopped on the first hunt while the Quarries tried to make up for lost time. Never mind, they couldn't go wrong on the second hunt......could they???!!! Yes. They started on the wrong path through the wood and had to improvise to get back to the route! So youngsters Aaron and Timothy Hoare, and Douglas Mileham were enlisted to keep the geriatrics on course! And it worked with an excellent hunt over Mr and Mrs Fitzalan's land at Foxcombe. It will take a long time for the Quarries to forget this day, especially if the huntsman has anything to do with it!!More pictures by Marie Cook here.
The first training meet of the 2008 - 2009 season was a great succes and mercifully we were spared the recent spate of heavy rain. Nick Hudson was Quarry for the day and two short hunts had been arranged to help the young hounds get off to a good start. The first hunt was on new ground, kindly permitted by Mrs Helen Palmer, giving the hounds a good hunt from Claypit Lane, down to Froxfield Stud and back up to Claypit Lane on the other side of Hall Place. The second hunt was on Mr John Nicholson's land by Alexanders Lane at Hermitage Farm. All eleven and a half couples took an active part in the morning's proceedings and hounds went home wanting more - the best way to finish a training meet with young hounds.
More pictures by Camilla Swiderska and Cynthia Baird here.
There was a bit of a last minute panic when Don Grant's new mower blew up after one circuit of preparing the Kennel Field; but John Ellis kindly stepped in at short notice to ensure our visitors wouldn't have to wade through knee length grass! Over 60 cars and a good crowd of people came to show their support and interest in the hounds, and the award for the "Best Question of the Day" goes to young Ivor Ross, who asked, "Jeremy, what are those dangly things on the doghounds?" Needless to say, Jeremy was too shy to answer and referred young Ivor to his mother, who then promptly embarrassed Jeremy further by giving a detailed explanation!
More pictures by Brian Wilson here
Rural Ride Saturday 28th June by Mark Stent MBH
We had a good day for the Rural Ride and us non riders, we could hardly be called foot followers as we drove round most of Hampshire in cars, finally saw six riders off at quarter past ten. Mel Parker leading, we joined them at the road crossings, though once or twice we did wonder where they had got to! However we did all meet up a quarter of a mile below Cheesefoot Head and I think everyone, including the horses, were quite glad to stop for a late lunch. We had some marvelous views on the way from Gander Down and Longwood Warren, though we could hardly see the Isle of White. We were all back at the start, Park Farm, by about half past three.
More pictures here
The first fund raising event run by our new Hunt Club Chairman, Gill Marks could not have gone better. The weather was perfect and the venue, courtesy of Crewe Investments and Anthony and Julie Silk, was stunning. Alan and Sarah Read ran a highly professional evening's entertainment for young and old, top gun and novice, alike. We certainly saw a new side to our amateur whipper-in, Kim Thayer, when she hit 9 clays out of 10. We call her Killer Kim now! Sister Carol put on a much more demure performance and it was a bit worrying to see the good Doctor Penny Mileham wielding a gun. Is the government planning to introduce euthanasia on the National Health? Mike Baker seemed to be hitting the first clay quite well with his first barrel, but didn't even fire the second barrel. Was he practicing conservation by bagging one quarry and letting the next go? No he'd just forgotten he wasn't using his single trigger gun! And our distinguished Senior Master.....how did he do? Let's just say barn doors are still pretty safe when he's wielding a 12 bore!
More pictures here
