WEEK AT MARKET HARBOROUGH ^'j 



courses open to him. One of these has already been 

 sketched. The second is to join the Woodland 

 Pytchley, which is seldom far from the town on Monday, 

 and in the spring and autumn enlarges its fields very 

 much from Harborough. In the depth of the winter 

 the visitor will find small fields with the Woodland 

 Pytchley, but a charming stretch of country, stiff 

 though well gated, within his reach. It is necessary 

 to take out a quick, handy, stout horse, for the 

 country is hilly, the woods may be deep, and it is 

 hardly necessary to remark that the pleasure of the 

 day is dependent on being able to see the hounds 

 working. The woodland pack has been famous for 

 its hounds for the past five-and-twenty years. Al- 

 though the open country of the North Pytchley, parti- 

 cularly the valley between Stoke Albany and the 

 Welland river, is as charming a hunting ground as 

 could be seen, yet for many reasons it is not altogether 

 an easy one to cross. It is worth the ride to the 

 fixture to see Dingley Warren drawn, so picturesque 

 is its situation, and it is not unlikely to lead to a 

 pleasant gallop. Foxes do not very often cross into 

 Mr. Fernie's country, and thus a pleasant bit of 

 country round Great Bowden and out towards Sutton 

 seldom hears the cry of hounds, unless Mr. Stokes's 

 Harriers happen to cross it. But the Woodland 

 Hounds do sometimes go that way, and those who 

 saw it will not soon forget the run of 1901 from 

 Dingley to Sheepthorns, when once the railway was 

 passed and the wired tract of country cleared, that 

 marred the earlier stages of the run. 



Nor does this exhaust the resources of Monday, for 

 occasionally the Pytchley are quite within reach, and 

 indeed a short train journey towards Northampton 

 will almost always enable you to see that hunt if you 



