Considering the inclement weather forecast and worry about Covid-19 it was a pleasant surprise to see twenty hounds and their owners arrive on this chilly, windy morning for our March 'meet'.

The tracks across the Forest were expectedly very muddy following all the recent rains, so choosing a dry route was not feasible.

Hellen and Stuart were familiar with this walk venue, so capably took charge of the leadership with everyone following confidently behind.

Young Saffron was only six and a half months old, so we took the option of only attempting a short walk with her before making our way back to the car park. She seemed a bit miffed not to be allowed to remain with the rest of the group, but we followed the Club's advice regarding exercise at her age and sometimes one has to be cruel to be kind.

Because we returned early, all reporting of the rest of the walk was necessarily second hand.

It appears that the going became increasingly muddy with large areas of standing water. This was evident from condition of the hounds when they arrived back at the car park. Sue Sampson's girl, Winnie, was the most impressive and looked like she had been dipped in melted chocolate.

Members slowly arrived back at the car park in dribs and drabs.

Most were mud splashed, but the seemed pleased to have been out together with the hounds, save for Dennis, who seemed a bit gloomy and complained about the muddy state of the trackways but Sheila suggested his attitude was more to do with him playing golf badly the previous day. Poor thing!