Jevington Place Farm
December 9th, 2001

With the pack still confined to kennels, although everyone is still hopeful that we will be off and running with full hunting before Christmas, over 20 riders met at Jevington Place Farm, by kind invitation of Steve and Fizz Carr.

The day dawned sunny, crisp and, crucially, with hardly a breath of wind, and after some warming drinks, we set off up over the Downs. The plan was to follow a route that we would not normally be able to hunt with the pack, taking a line along the cliffs tops between Crowlink and Birling Gap, a stretch known as the Seven Sisters. Whilst it consists of wonderful open downland, with stunning views and some excellent hunt fences, the footpaths run along the cliff tops and the risk of losing the pack over the cliff if they picked up the wrong line would be to great.

Sticking to the bridlepaths, we went up and through Friston Forest, setting a smart pace, before cutting back from Snap Hill to join the Jevington Road just beyond Butchershole Bottom. After crossing the main Seaford - Eastbourne road the group moved on towards Crowlink and the National Trust ground. Here the field split, as Richard Gorringe, who farms the land along the cliff tops, had kindly given us permission to jump the hunt fences. However, as Brian Stern in particular found to his cost, the ground was quite slippery on top and we were jumping into the sun. After he had picked up some downland turf on his coat as a souvenir of the day, the rest of the field became more cautious!

We hacked on over the cliff tops, enjoying the breath taking views and the almost complete lack of wind, with some riders occasionally peeling off to tackle the hunt fences. We rode on down to Birling Gap, and followed the road round toward Beachy Head, before cutting up through Cornish Farm. Here the pace hotted up slightly, for two main reasons - the sweeping valleys of soft downland turf up through Crapham Bottom simply invited a good gallop, and one mother, Caroline, was under a three line whip from her children to be back by 3pm to take them off to see Harry Potter. Once they had had such a good long gallop, the horses all seemed to get their spirits up and sense that we had turned for home, and few could be persuaded to walk.

At the top of the gallop, near to Beachy Head, we rejoined the Southdown's Way, which cuts through the middle of the Eastbourne Downs Golf Club. Golfers later reported seeing something reminicent of an old fashioned cavalry charge passing through. We then moved on along the top of the Downs, past Foxholes Brow finishing with a last gallop, with those on fit thoroughbreds reaching the top first.

After delivering Caroline safely back at 3pm, the rest of the field adjourned to Jevington Place for a delicious tea put together by Fizz Carr and Angela Boniface, where Master Roger Manning yet again took up guard over Fizz's home made pork pie, something he had been denied since last February when Foot and Mouth prevented the pack visiting Jevington to end the season as planned!