Sussex Oak
Blackham, 21st April

It was a gloriously warm sunny day with little wind, and the world and his wife were out walking in the countryside. Adrian, Robbie and David were the quarry.

Hounds were taken down through Blackham Village and across the railway line as the field looked longingly over to the right and remembered how we used to jump the hedges around Willets Farm, which has now been totally wrecked and turned into a golf course.

They were laid on in a grass field below Top Hill Wood, hunting through the wood, which was an absolute mass of bluebells (much to Brian Stern's horror). The smell of the hounds treading on the bluebells was amazing but the quarry complained bitterly that running on a bluebell slope is extremely slippery and dangerous.

Hunting down the valley and up to the bridleway, the hounds jumped over the hunt jump onto the easel and paints of an artist who was painting the view across the valley. The artist, on seeing the hounds approaching the jump, had run off up the bridleway at top speed and was hotly pursued by three hounds. The majority of the pack crossed the bridleway and hunted round the set-aside headlands of the corn field before dropping down and passing Hobb's Hill Farm.

Here the field were able to enjoy the hedges, with no fallers. As we descended the hill we could see several walkers walking along the line the quarry had taken, and were now about two minutes in front of the hounds. The quarry had run into the stream so the hounds could have a drink, but hounds had difficulty getting out of the steep banks. Once a place was found for them to get out, they were soon back on the line, now four minutes behind the walkers and twenty minutes behind our quarry. They hunted along the valley and turned without hesitation through a hole in the hedge, ignoring the walkers just in front of them. They made there way up the hill, and eventually came across their quarry at Frienden Farm, where they were allowed to have a swim in the duck pond. Everyone was overheated at the end of this hunt.

For the second hunt the hounds were taken to Cold Harbour Farm, and laid on into the woodland. They hunted round and behind Walter's Green Farm, crossing the road by Blacklands Wood. They then hunted into the rape in full flower and hunting the tram lines round they crossed over the road into the wood, leaving the field struggling to keep up in their wake. At this point young Anne Champney, whose pony was having a really exciting day, overtook everybody and jumped the ravine without stirrups, joining the huntsman for the rest of the hunt. Once in front the pony settled down. Following the hounds footprints, the field wended their way through the very wet woods, coming out on the point to point course, where the hounds had caught their quarry above Bassett's Mill.

For the the third hunt the hounds were taken opposite Bassett's Farm, where they set off towards the sandstone rocks. En route, in the middle of a silage field, they passed a family, who had set up lunch with tables, chairs, tablecloths, bottles of wine and loads of food and were thoroughly enjoying the sport. They offered the huntsman a drink, but as the hounds were flying there was no time to stop.

They hunted along the valley, before crossing into Birchcope Shaw which, although it is only a hundred yards wide, seemed to be full of walkers and joggers and the owner, who was rushing up and down helping the runners to find their way through. The horses struggled as usual over the stream, while the hounds hunted on along through the trees. However, where they came to the fork of footpaths, they lost the line and accounted for two sets of walkers. They soon regained the line up the bank and out onto Booker's Farm, hunting amazingly across fields of failed wheat, which were extremely dry. They took their line around the edge of the point to point course, which was extremely hard, to take their quarry once again behind Bassett's Mill. Home was blown and the hounds were hacked back to the meet.

Tea was taken in the Sussex Oak pub, where Nigel produced one of Lindsey Godwin's pies which he had bought at the hunt ball for a vast sum, thus making it one of the most expensive teas ever enjoyed by the field, and very good it was to!