May 24, 2013
The Fell Foxes of Dove Crag
Dove Crag in the rugged Lake District of Cumbria, England
A sheep trod wove its way up the steep fell side, gaining height with an ease unmatched by any route a human could devise. Following it and climbing all the time I skirted small outcrops of rock, crossed a stream full of melt-snow water at the best point to do so, and finally arrived on the ridge. Stopping to catch my breath, for although the route to a sheep would have been easy this human was very unfit, I gazed at the view in front of me. My horizon was filled with snow covered peaks under a bright blue sky. Warm sunlight bathed the ridge and gave a small crag to my left a sharpness normally unseen.
The Coniston foxhounds had disappeared to god knows where, and had been gone for some time. I’d watched them climb the fell side I now stood on. It had been a beautiful sight as they climbed, in a line, like as someone put it “a hound trail.” Their music had carried down the valley, growing fainter as they crested the ridge and then as they dropped into the next valley it disappeared altogether, leaving an eerie silence.
VA Hound Show Weekend Features NSL Book Fair, Hunt Country Stable Tour
Visitors in town for the Virginia Foxhound Show will be able to attend the third annual Book Fair at the National Sporting Library and Museum in Middleburg, Virginia on Saturday, May 25, 2013 from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. A part of the annual Hunt Country Stable Tour, the Book Fair is open to the public, free of charge. Authors Rita Mae Brown, Charles de Kunffy, Jan Neuharth, and Dorothy Ours will speak and sign books. The Hunt Country Stable Tour centered in Upperville is another excellent diversion for out-of-town visitors. The stable tour runs on both Saturday and Sunday (May 25–26) and offers an inside view of many of the very best and most beautiful farms and training facilities in the region. This year’s tour features Ardarra Farm, Hickory House Farm, Salem Stable, Windsor Farm, and Peace & Plenty at Bollingbrook among more than a dozen stops. Many of the farms on the tour will provide demonstrations of equestrian activities ranging from show jumping to foxhunting to Civil War re-enactments. Visitors will be welcomed with coffee and donuts from 7:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. at the Middleburg Training Track on Saturday only, to watch local racehorses workout. Tickets for the tour at $30.00 for adults are available during tour hours from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. each day at the Trinity Episcopal Church in Upperville. Proceeds benefit the church’s charities and non-profit programs. Maps, directions, and descriptions for all the tour stops are provided for self-touring. For complete information, call 540-592-3711 or visit www.trinityupperville.org/hunt-country-stable-tour. Posted May 24, 2013
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