The walk was led by Guy & Sarah Bridge who relate that:

26 Hounds lined up in the sunshine in Ashton Keynes before setting off on six mile amble around a just few of the 170 or so lakes in the area. The whole village were aware of our presence thanks to the amazing commentary kindly provided by the now famous duo of “Hamilton and Norman”. Setting off up Fore Street in the sunshine a number of villagers looked on in amazement as the pack wandered by – for those we passed by the village shop, collecting the Sunday papers will never be quite the same again!

It has been reported to us since that Angel – the biggest dog in the village (a Great Dane no less) was cowed by the sight of the pack and hid behind her owner until the coast was clear and one of our oldest inhabitants was thrilled by the sight and thought the hunt had returned to the village.

The walk was punctuated by drinking and wading halts at a number of convenient lakeside spots and lunch was taken in relative comfort under the trees at the side of a private driveway. The terrain was easy underfoot as the recent rain had not resulted in too much mud but despite this, a good number of the contingent managed to find sufficient muck to be well splattered by the end of the walk.

Everyone behaved impeccably with no escapees other than the odd forage for bunnies in the hedge bottoms.

It should be mentioned that there is one little girl and her father who should be very grateful for our presence that day – a bolting pony carrying a terrified youngster on a lakeside path could have resulted in a nasty situation if not for the presence of mind of one of our number who bravely grabbed the bridle and brought the animal under control, much to the relief of the father who was peddling along on a bicycle desperately trying to catch up with a spooked and out of control animal carrying his young daughter.

Our return to the village resulted in old ladies coming out of their cottages to witness the spectacle and following a super walk – we all went to the pub for sandwiches and other recuperative substances!