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Manor
Farm, Wateringbury
Hounds met at Manor Farm by kind invitation of Mr and Mrs M English and a large crowd had gathered at the lawn meet to enjoy the mulled wine and food provided by our hosts. Hounds were laid on at the back of the farm, where they hunted across the corn, over the river through the wood and into the orchards. They crossed the Nettlestead Road and, circling the orchards, they ran to the top of the hill and over the grass field, past the old entrance gate and downhill to take their quarry at the pond in front of Brigadier McGann's house. The Brigadier (on the right below) is famous as the last serving officer to lead a mounted charge with lances, in 1923 in Persia. He kindly entertained the hounds and masters in his front garden while the field stayed back and were equally well catered for across the road.
The second hunt started in the woods of Mereworth Castle. The hounds crossed the main track and in the depth of the wood totally lost the line. After a while the pack was collected together and laid on into the valley where they hunted all the way down to Mereworth Castle. Crossing over the valley they hunted on down to the top lake where they took the quarry, who had swum over onto the island. As we waited for the quarry to run the next hunt, we were entertained by Brian Stern's horse's attempts to roll and a strange man who drove rapidly up and now the nearby road honking his horn and hurling abuse. Hounds were taken through Mereworth Village and laid on to the bridleway at the back of Yotes Court. They hunted past the polytunnels crossing the road they hunted up into Hurst Wood (where Shane took a tumble jumping a post and rail in the deep mud) and on down into Swanton Valley. After another three road crossings, with the hounds hunting strawberry fields and orchards, we checked by the farm house, Dover Hill, where the quarry had had to call in at the house to ask them to move a lorry which was totally blocking the road. They crossed the West Peckham Road through more strawberry fields to catch their quarry below the stables just short of the main A26 road. The fourth hunt started the south side of the A26 below Goose Green, hounds hunted round the corn fields. Sweeping round towards Crowhurst Farm they crossed the Goose Green road to take their quarry at the back of Peckham Place Farm. For the fifth hunt, hounds were taken to Seven Mile Lane where they were laid onto the immaculately rolled but still wet fields below Moat Wood. They hunted up the hill, past the keeper in his landrover. Here they struggled to hold the line through the maize but once onto the grass they hunted back towards the meet through the orchards to take their quarry just by the road. It was a long day covering 18 miles, put together following a lot of hard work by Master Linda and her husband David Thompson and Master Nigel Dean. It had started very hot, leaving a large number of people wondering why they had put on that extra layer! Fortunately it cooled down as the day went on. Quarry for the day were Pierce, who was quarry captain (but will not be out with us again, as the Jousting season has started), accompanied by Adrian and Nick Amos. |
