Benenden
November 11th, 2001

Over 25 riders turned out for the second "meet" of the season, at Benenden Village Hall, kindly organised by Roger and Mo Manning. We met an hour later than usual, sadly still without hounds, to allow people to attend Remembrance Sunday services. Before setting off, Roger asked everyone to observe a one minute silence to remember those that had lost their lives in the two world wars, and a thought for the 3.5 million horses and mules that died during the First World War. He then asked us to confirm whether we preferred port or cherry brandy, as with his usual attention to detail he had arranged for us to stop at the end of the first "line" at the Woodcock Inn, where the landlord, Frank would be waiting to greet us with a reviving tot.

We then set off for an enjoyable ride through the country on a wonderful autumn day, with warm sunshine and not a breath of wind. Because of the mild autumn, a large number of trees in the area were still in full leaf. The first obstacle proved to be a fairly deep ditch in a wood but everyone arrived safely at the Woodcock, where Frank supplied cherry brandy and port and some delicious food. The field realised that Roger was a regular patron as the landlord had built a special pen so that Roger could tether his horse, enjoy an evening at the pub, and then wend his way home across country.

Before setting of on the next line, Roger warned the field that he had laid out some hurdles, ending with a hedge with a "small" drop. As we galloped across the field it soon became clear, however, that those taking on the hedge were dropping out of sight! Although they appeared to be launching into space, those that tackled the hedge all landed safely, and we went on to Roger and Mo's house, where Roger changed onto his second horse, Thomas. He then led us on probably the best "line" of the day, jumping his cross country course and then across the field boundaries and onto Caroline Richardson's land for some excellent jumping back to Benenden, ending with the best hedge of the day. Roger then led the field in thanking Caroline, who had been out with us for the whole day, for allowing us onto her land before we hacked back to the Village Hall for an excellent tea, the first full tea laid on by Angela Boniface, our new "tea lady". Robbie Miles had to be forcibly removed from the cheese sandwiches before he ate the lot and several riders endeavored to justify eating the delicious chocolate slices by starting a rumour that some of the ingredients were "low fat"!