Blewbury 16th January
With the wind getting ever stronger the Working Section of the Beagle Club drove up to the top of the downs above Blewbury, Oxfordshire on 16th January 2011.
We were able to use the gallops and arable land by kind permission of Mrs. Eve Johnson-Houghton. There was a record turnout of over 40 hounds and their owners, endeavouring to stand upright in the wind and praying that the gathering clouds wouldn’t open. We were very lucky that Dan Cairns was able to bring his quad bike to lay the lines as we had to split the beagles in to 3 groups. Having the quad enabled us to lay enough lines to let every hound run plenty of times and it also meant that the owners didn’t have to stand around for too long.
In a brave move for the first line the Field Master, David McSheehy decided to run all the beagles together. For this meet we had 9 hounds that held working certificates so there were plenty of experienced dogs to show all the newcomers how to run the lines. To help the ‘workers’ we also had half a dozen novices that are showing great promise and we look forward to seeing them later in the season at the trials.
For the rest of the morning the lines were run in groups. With the wind being so strong the first group that took the line struggled to follow it but the second group had an even harder time. The scent was pushed quite a distance and often the hounds didn’t pick up the line until they hit the final part and then proceeded to run a perfect heel line.
Merlin Johnson was running well with his new partner in crime, Poppy, who for a ‘first timer’ ran very well. Another first timer pairing was Izzy and Pepper Keyte who seemed to enjoy their day out and the younger Pepper started to get the hang it quite early on.
We only had one beagle, Skittle Biddulph, who got a little distracted on an earlier line and had to be fetched back from his little adventure but then he became a reformed character for the rest of the day. It was good to see Sukie Fernie back and leading her group in as did our ‘working’ bitches Folly Cairns and Tia Bidey.
There was a long walk back up the gallops but luckily the wind helped by pushing us back up the hill and the grass cleaned the dog’s paws beautifully. Many of the draggers retired to the George and Dragon in Upton to have a fortifying tipple before wending their way home.