98 FOX-HUNTING IN THE SHIRES 



Mr. Osbaldeston's time from Waterloo to Cranoe or 

 Slawston, yet to the Rugby hunting visitor or resident 

 it is a great advantage, since it takes him easily to 

 some such convenient spot as Welford station or 

 Lubenham, which command alike most of the Monday 

 country of Mr. Fernie's Hunt, and the Wednesday 

 and Friday or Saturday territory of the Pytchley. 

 Of the hunting and the nature of these countries I 

 have already written, and there is no need to dwell 

 on them again here. 



The fact is that unless you are willing to box or are 

 prepared for an inordinate amount of road work, 

 Rugby is not a six days a week centre. Wednesday, 

 Thursday and Friday are the days when hounds are 

 sure to be within riding distance. In each case the 

 country is of the best. On Monday sometimes, and 

 Tuesday almost always, you will require the assistance 

 of the railway, and Saturday generally needs a horse- 

 box or demands a long trot. There is, in fact, for a 

 man who desires to do nothing else but hunt, too 

 much wear and tear about Rugby to make it a suitable 

 centre. Yet it is a delightful neighbourhood for a 

 sportsman to settle in, and no one who is at home in 

 a hunting country dislikes a day or so off in the week. 

 For the business man, as we have seen, it is very 

 convenient, and the fact that you cannot easily do 

 six days a week from Rugby is no real drawback to 

 the place, for the men who hunt every day are the 

 exception rather than the rule. It is also obvious 

 that for six days a week Melton, Oakham, or Market 

 Harborough and their neighbouring villages are un- 

 questionably the most convenient. Nevertheless, 

 although it may be true that we do not hunt every 

 day, it is desirable to know what is possible on each 

 succeeding day of the week. A busy man may find 



