I followed the Hunt on foot, walking for over three hours, coming up after them and seeing the field streaming over the distant hills, brought closer and into sharp focus by my binoculars.

Finally, tired I came over the side of the Wolds with the Lincolnshire plains spread before me.

In the near distance, amid the subtle winter greys, greens and browns lay the steeple of Tealby church, beautiful and proclaiming under a blemished blue grey sky.