1899] A RADBURNE DAY. 295 



but could make nothing of it beyond the covert, where they found him. After 

 drawing Longford Car blank they went home. 



Tuesday, Bramshall. Another sharp frost overnight left the ground in bad 

 condition, which was answerable for a fall or two, but luckily without any serious 

 consequences. As a matter of course, thanks to Mr, Blount's fostering care, 

 hounds found three or four foxes in Carry Coppice, and ran one nicely out on the 

 lower side. They turned right-handed up the hill again, across the Uttoxeter 

 road, and hunted prettily towards Woodcock Heath. But before he got there 

 the fox was marked to ground in a pit-hole. They found again in the Alder 

 Car, on the farm of Mr, Smith, whose father was such a good man to hounds, 

 and ran across the Uttoxeter Road, and then turned left-handed over the road 

 leading to the level crossing over the railway at Bramshall, into the long planta- 

 tion near the railway. From this covert a few couples slipped on with a decided 

 lead of the pack and ran at a good pace between the railway and the Uttoxeter 

 road into Loxley Park Wood. A labourer viewed the fox crossing over the 

 main road from the wood into the little spinny on the opposite side of the main 

 road, but there was some delay in forwarding the information, which caused a 

 check. The huntsman cast forward beyond the spinny, but, not hitting off the 

 line, cast back, and, dropping on to his fox, brought him to hand just outside 

 the covert, where he had been headed. They found again in Philips' Gorse 

 (where Mr. Lovett, the sporting tenant of the farm, never gi'udges a share of 

 his poultry to the fox), and ran across to Carry Coppice, and thence into Loxley 

 Park Wood. From there the fox must have got a long start, for only a hound 

 or two could own the line, which, oddly enough, was exactly the same one which 

 our Alder Car fox had taken, only the reverse way, for a few fields. Then they 

 checked on a fallow, and there was a halloa forward, but unluckily its where- 

 abouts could not be accurately defined, and there was an end of it. After 

 drawing Kingston Wood blank, the hounds went home. 



A nice, warm morning, and a huge field of horse-folk, carriage-folk, and foot 

 people at Radburne on Thursday, A hound or two spoke in the Rough, but 

 there was a rumour of a vixen, or something not quite orthodox, and nothing 

 came of it. The Squire's Gorse, Brickyard Wood, and Potlucks were blank, but 

 Sandpit Wood held a fox, who went away across the G.N, Railway, Hounds 

 flashed over the line on the start, and the field did their best to drive them on, 

 so there was some delay to begin with. When the pack had a chance to settle 

 to work they hunted slowly to Bearwardcote osier-bed, where they may have 

 changed, as a brace of fresh foxes went away at once. The one they ran crossed 

 the tm-npike road, and, swinging left-handed, hounds ran him at a good pace just 

 past the asylum, which they left on their right. For a minute or two it looked 

 as if we were in for a good thing, but just past the asylum they checked, and it 

 was evident that there were two foxes in front of them. A left-handed cast 

 back to where we started from proved successful, and, leaving Potlucks on their 

 right, they ran up to Silverhill, through Pildock AVood, slowly and hesitatingly, 

 nearly up to Langley Common, where an innocent-looking fence, with a small 

 ditch on the taking-oJT side and a much bigger one on the other one, caused 

 some diversion. Just beyond this the fox was marked to ground, but, as some- 

 times happens, he had thought better of it, and had gone on, as hounds testified 

 by running prettily, with Dalbury Lees just on the left, to within a field of 

 Burrows. Here the fox turned sharp back across the Derby road, over the two 

 well-known bottoms which were crossed handily by culverts, and then swung 

 left-handed. For a few fields hounds chattered along merrily, as they had done 

 once or twice before in the course of the run, and a few strong fences caused 



