46 FOX-HUNTING IN THE SHIRES 



taken down in the winter, but, alas, sometimes only 

 has its presence marked by a warning post. From 

 this however it must not be supposed that the Belvoir 

 has more wire than its neighbours, for such is not 

 the case. 



The traditional opening fixture is Croxton Park, 

 under the ruined walls of a house built as a fishing box 

 for the fourth Duchess of Rutland. The first draw 

 from this fixture, the day I first saw the pack, was 

 Bescaby Oaks, a fair sized wood reached by a muddy 

 lane, but with broad sound rides intersecting it. Aided 

 by the music of the pack, it is not a difficult covert to 

 start from. Sproxton Thorns is within sight, a small 

 square covert in which nevertheless a fox can some- 

 times manage to hang for a time. Waltham Village is 

 another fixture which, being but a very short distance 

 from Croxton Park, means much the same coverts. 

 Some time in the day hounds will draw Freeby Wood, 

 a small covert of forty acres or so, which is noted for 

 being the starting-point of many a good gallop. Not 

 far away is Goadby Gorse, which, by the way, is a 

 wood or copse of small size, perhaps of eighteen to 

 twenty acres. Round about Waltham there is some 

 plough, and the country is severe. Coston Covert is 

 one of the best in the hunt. A quarter of an hour, or 

 it may be twenty minutes away lies Woodwell Head 

 in the Cottesmore country, a beautiful line to ride if 

 you have a start. Round Coston the fences are not 

 small, but you may as well ride at them in one place 

 as another. As a rule, they are equally jumpable 

 along the greater part of their length. Then there is 

 of course Melton Spinney, easily noted by its trees on 

 a hill, with the brook running below. This we might 

 say was not difficult to jump, if so many people did 

 not find it so. 



