Hounds met at the Two Bridges Hotel on Wednesday 16th February for the annual meet and their last day's hunting before the ban comes into force.
A huge meet showed the level of support and hounds moved off on a bright and beautiful day with a light north wind. The first draw up the Cowsic from Holmingbeam to Beardown Man proved spectacular but blank. West Dart Head also failed to hold a fox but a brave pilot was soon away from the bog below Brown's House. Hounds were drawing wide and deep and rallied across the bog to the whip's holloa. Setting off at a pace across Broad Down they swung right-handed towards Braddon Lake and back to Hollowcombe Bottom with Portrait showing the way. Here they turned down the valley and twisted left towards Archerton but again turned right to the gorse north of the Powdermills where the pack was split by the arousal of a second fox. The master took on eight and a half couple to mark his fox to ground in the fields beside the ruined Powdermills. The whip took his half of the pack to have a much better run over Longaford Tor, Lydford Tor to kill their fox in good style by Blackbrook Head on Black Dunghill. Who had the original fox could be argued for many years. As hounds marked their fox one member of the field who taken a tumble in a bog decided that before he risked his neck any further he had better propose to his girlfriend who was riding alongside. She accepted.
Hounds drew on in the gorse above the Powdermills and found again pushing the fox across the Cherrybrook round the gorse on that bank and back again to where they found him. He was seen crossing the wire towards Archerton but was marked to ground a short while later.
Spader's and Wistman's Wood were drawn blank but a fox was found and pushed smartly on from White Tor gorse. Hounds hunted him across Cherrybrook Newtake over Littaford Tor and down to Crockerntor. Here he crossed the West Dart and ran up the steep bank to Beardown Forest. Here they hunted steadily round the woods before eventually taking a stale line northwards but they could only walk on the line as the wind picked up.
A sad and eerie event occurred at the end of the last run well a well known horse, Lol, died of a heart attack. It was a beautiful place at the end of a beautiful day and his passing seemed curiously symbolic of times we are living through. Our sympathies go to all his connections.