It’s not often we’re able to visit a hunt during the week, but we couldn’t miss the South Tetcott’s meet today. Joint master David Lawrence, who has a sick enthusiasm for terrier work and is reputed to have a colourful personal life, was the host at his home, Moorlands near Patchacott.
The hunt were unpleasantly surprised to see us and began a song and dance about their plans to spend the day following a trail, although they couldn’t get their story straight, with some insisting the trail was to be laid throughout the day and others telling us it had all been done in the early hours of the morning. After a long time boozing at the meet the hunt headed off towards Patchacott, Mount Pleasant and the area’s disused railway, then beginning a long progression north along the wooded valley east of Patchacott. Huntsman Jamie Parish spent much of the time on foot due to the boggy conditions.
In the woods between Loveland Cross and Beaworthy Mill hounds picked up a scent and headed back south in cry, with the huntsman blowing ‘gone away’, the signal that a fox had broken from the covert. Sabs were well positioned on the road out of Patchacott in case a fox crossed or hounds ran out into traffic. The huntsman arrived and made a somewhat panicked but half-hearted attempt to spin a tall tale about a non-existent trail layer who had just crossed the road towing a sock. Our foot team was in the area long before the hunt arrived and as always there was no such trail layer. The ground was wet enough today to make it obvious where all the quads had driven, and if there had been a trail at any stage we’d have been able to follow it with our eyes.
Once hounds were gathered the northward journey was resumed and the hunt headed up the road via Polehayes, briefly entering the valley between Higher Whiddon and Whiddon Moor. True to form, Parish, who is already attracting criticism from his new pack for leaving riders behind, galloped east from Lower Whiddon with his hounds and one whip in tow. The mounted field, who are the hunt’s paying customers, took about twenty minutes to reach the same point. Over the next hour we watched little groups of them wandering the landscape trying to find some action while the huntsman messed around on the marshy plain north towards Hollow Moor and Four Shilling Moor. It felt like we spent more time near the huntsman today than his own riders did, with our vehicle positioned to meet him whenever he emerged onto the roads. Meanwhile even seasoned car followers were often left sat at crossroads miles away from any hunting.
At 15.30 the reunified pack of huntsman, hounds, riders and quads emerged from the track to Leasefield Farm and began making their way back towards the meet. As remaining riders peeled off to go home Parish was seen re-entering the valley between Higher Whiddon and Beaworthy Mill where hounds had gone into cry earlier. One foot team followed him as he gathered loose hounds on foot, while other sabs entered a valley where a fox had just been spotted running into a covert with terrier men nearby.
At this point up on the road our driver was assaulted by three terrier men who tried to steal his camera. As often happens when a hunt has a frustrating time, they take it out on us at the end of the day, when many of the riders have left. Darkness had fallen by the time hounds were boxed up.
