Bedgebury Forest
6th January 2002

Hounds met at Bedgbury School riding stables for one of our traditional children's meets. Unfortunately this meet had not been advertised owing to the continuing uncertainties about the start date for hunting, and there was a much smaller field than usual. After a week of frost the going in the woods was perfect, but a lot of people had also been unable to work their horses and had given this meet a miss.

The hounds were taken down past the pinetum and laid on just off the main track. They hunted in a large loop down toward Windmill Down turning back towards Starve Goose Bank. Crossing the bridleway they turned back towards Frith Wood. At this point the lead hounds hunted on taking their quarry, Chris and David, at Louisa Lake while the main body of the pack were stuck in the impenetrable undergrowth. They were soon brought on and, as this was only their fourth meet, they hunted extremely well through the hard brambles. This hunt had taken the quarry an hour and a half to run and the hounds hunted it in three quarters of an hour.

From Louisa Lake Adrian, our next quarry, heading to the south end of the forest. The hounds hunted on well through the trees leaving the field toiling in their wake. They checked at the timber yard where the quarry had got stuck in really thick undergrowth and were laid on in better woodland just beyond where they hunted on doing a loop back to Louisa Lake, catching Adrian just as he arrived.

The last hunt of the day was cut short as horses and hounds had had enough work. Hounds were laid on beyond the lake and hunted through the trees to the edge of the forest, struggling through the brambles. They left the woodland crossing the grassfield at Tanyard Farm and doing a large loop back into the forest past the foresters cottages. Leaving Whiteline Farm on their right they went through Hedging Ford Wood, catching their quarry below Sugar Loaf Hill.

It had been a long day and it was nearly dark by the time we got back to the boxes with tired horses, hounds riders and runners.