Colne Valley Beagles and other things of interest.: 2017

Tuesday, 26 December 2017

HCVB AT NETHERLEY AND THE BOXING DAY MEET

Holme & Colne Valley Beagles meet on Saturday, 23 December 2017 at Netherley.

Hounds coming to the meet.

Will the fog lift?

Aah! Be careful young man as there is lot of '#Me too' about these days.
(What is #Me too you ask? - LINK )

Looks a bit like a word from the wise. Current HCVB huntsman and an ex-HVB huntsman and master.

Retired Pennine foxhound until recently owned by our late Treasurer.

Deciding if it is fit to turn out due to fog.

Decision made - it is and they're off.

Doesn't look too good though.

But it cleared.

Levitiating Whipper-in.

Big John. He is usually sucking a very fragrant pipe that can be smelled for miles around.

As I reminded him, this gentleman once featured on an upmarket website as a model for posh country clothing - as the archetypal English country gentleman. You can see why. He's a natural! (Actually he is munching though his energy bar here).

Some have the sense to dive through the wider space but others will slide through lower down.

Trying to open a gate while hounds patiently wait.

You can tell him what you want but he probably won't take any notice.

HCVB Boxing Day meet at the Fleece.

It was driving snow, sleet and fine frozen rain a lot of the time I was there which wasn't for very long.

Hounds arriving at the pub - snowing, well sleet.

Some smart gear there with 'snow white' breeches - Masters. (I can see a nickname developing here. A previous Master suffered the sobriquet - Snowdrop)

There were far more still in the pub than outside.

The city gent there is a former HVB Master and huntsman.

Hounds anxious to be going.

Ready for anything!

Hounds still anxious to be away.

I plodded up to the moor with other hardy souls in the settling sleety snow. It was driving head-on most of the time and my camera is not waterproof so I took no more pictures. Nor were my new this season Regatta boots waterproof as claimed, for they soon filled up with an uncomfortable cold sloppy wetness. A bad buy despite being otherwise comfortable. Tomorrow I am off in search of another make that hopefully will be waterproof. My so-called waterproof mittens were wet through too.

Despite a change to drier weather approaching I decided I had had enough discomfort for one day. So after I had eaten my lunch of fried pepperoni and mushroom in a toasted bread bun I retired to the warmth and comfort of home and left the others to do their thing high up there in the white wet wilderness.

Tuesday, 19 December 2017

BIT OF BEAGLING

Been out with the beagles again. The first part is -

The Holme & Colne Valley Beagles and the Eton College Beagles at Cook's Study.

Cook's Study on Saturday, 16th December 2017 was well above the snow line. Yes we finally had a bit in this area but nothing like others may have had. Cook's Study is high level moorland where peat is traditionally cut for fuel by householders in the Graveship of Home as administered by the Constable of Holme. I mentioned this once in a post a while back. No one really knows the origin of the name Cook's Study. The views from there are superb. Many years ago as a young chap I went on a hike with two older friends, and we passed along that way and stopped off on the side of the road to eat our sandwiches. A most officious gamekeeper turned up, I have a feeling the moor wasn't fenced at that point, and harangued us for sitting on his moor edge to eat.

So a taste of the view in one direction, looking towards Holme Moss -

Holme Moss transmitter mast is on the horizon and to the right is Black Hill, which we think is high at 1,909 feet above sea level (582 mtrs), but which completely failed to impress my American relatives. The mast built in 1951, was at third BBC TV transmitting station to be built and stands 748 feet (228 mtrs). Holme Moss and Black Hill may not be high to the Yanks but a few planes have come to grief on those Pennine hills and bits are still lying around here and there.

The Meet - HCVB Huntsman, an Eton chap and an HCVB Master. I say Eton chap as I don't know his official title.

HCVB Master defining the rules of hunting within the law and what can and cannot be done and welcome to the Eton etc.

Moving off. A combined pack of Eton and HCVB hounds with a cyclist trying to get through the pack.

So onto the moor.

I wonder what the average age is now. On the right is a well known local figure and ex-Holme Valley Beagles huntsman, actively so when I started hunting with them as my first taste of beagling.

Maybe this snow stimulates nostalgia for his Antarctic experiences.

The lady on the right lives in the Lake District and is, amongst other things, a professional drystone waller. She also makes beautiful small models in the local stone that are much in demand and can be found in shops in Ambleside etc.