194 THE COMPLETE FOXHUNTER 



that Darlington is in many ways a unique town, and 

 quite unlike any other town in the north of England. 

 It has a residential and an industrial district, but the 

 residential part of it is very large, and contains not only 

 the ordinary good houses which are usually found on 

 the outskirts of a large town, but many noble mansions 

 in huge parks as well. The roads are mostly tree lined, 

 in boulevard fashion, and everything is on a spacious 

 scale, the town — almost to its centre — being full of fine 

 forest trees. The industrial end is so far from the 

 centre of the town that one may be in Darlington for a 

 week without ever finding out that there is such a place, 

 and the road to Croft is through pleasant scenery, as 

 are all the approaches (but one) to the town which one 

 uses in hunting. 



Croft has a single drawback, and that is that the 

 Hurworth and Lord Zetland's hounds hunt on the same 

 days. Lord Zetland's are out on Monday, Tuesday, 

 Thursday, and Saturday, while the Hurworth hunt on 

 the three last-named days. But as it happens, Lord 

 Zetland's hounds are generally within a mile or two of 

 Croft on Thursday, and a long way off on Saturday, 

 when the Hurworth are nearer. On Tuesday Lord 

 Zetland's are in their best country on the north side of 

 the Tees, but in four weeks out of five within fairly easy 

 riding distance of Croft. Then on Monday the same 

 pack can be reached with a little trouble, while on 

 Friday there is choice between the Bedale and the 

 South Durham, the Bedale Friday country extending 

 to within three or four miles of Croft. 



Darlington being so near Croft the hunting procur- 

 able is much the same, except that the South Durham 

 are nearer, and the Bedale further away. There are 

 good hotels and excellent stabling — as there are also at 



