Our theme for 2015 was "Education! Education! Education!" which provided an abundance of opportunities for some testing and amusing clues at an almost infinite number of possible locations, and once again, the opportunity to dress up!

Once again we made full use of the Harpers Hunt Facebook page to stimulate interest, reveal information about what would be required, and give an opportunity to earn Points before even turning up. But, as if in keeping with the theme, only a handful had been paying attention!!!

Points were awarded for dressing appropriately for the theme, and as you can see from the photos, several teams took advantage of the opportunity to earn valuable points this way. There was also the possibility of earning points by singing the theme tune from an education-related film or TV series, which came as a shock to some...

We had our first-ever Team in an Electric car, although they failed to finish - not because they ran out of electricity but because their dog became travel-sick by the half-way point. I'm delighted to say, as the new owner of a couple of old MG's, we had a good turn-out of examples of the marque. We also had our first ever Team to bring on a substitute when Team Moss's Jaguar came a cropper in a pothole. Being locals they were able to go home and collect their VW Amarok and complete the Hunt - AMAZING!!!

Having gone from the original one-day format to two days/Heats in 2014, we added a third date in 2015 to provide even more opportunities to take part. The three Heats took place on September 6th, 20th and October 4th, and we were blessed with glorious weather for all three days! Although we were apparently fully booked with 12 Teams on each Heat, on the actual day(s) there were a few last minute drop-outs, so instead of the hoped-for full grid of 36 we had a total of 26, of which 21 actually completed the Hunt.

The Results

21st Team Oreton - Triumph 2000 - 100 Points

20th Team Baker - Triumph Toledo - 121 Points

19th Team Huck - MG Midget - 134 Points

18th Team Jannaway - Triumph Spitfire - 148 Points

17th Team Farr - MGF - 148 Points

16th Team Grant - Triumph Vitesse - 150 Points

15th Team Elles - VW Caddy - 154 Points

14th Team Merritt - MGF - 156 Points

13th Team Hedges - Rover 3500 - 167 Points

12th Team Crompton - Hillman Imp - 190 Points

11th Team Ewbank - MG TF - 194 Points

10th Team Saunders - MGF V6 - 196 Points

9th Team Milton - Volvo P1800 - 199 Points

8th Team Tester - Toyota MR2 Mark2 - 205 Points

7th Team Loveys - MGF - 209 Points

6th Team Cummings - Citroën Berlingo - 215 Points

5th Team Moss - Jaguar XJR / VW Amarok - 274 Points

4th Team Richardson - VW Touareg -  301 Points

3rd Team McMahon (T) - Land-Rover Defender - 327 Points

2nd Team Hartley - VW Beetle Cabriolet - 329 Points

The Winners - Team McMahon (M) - Ford Focus ST Estate - 364 Points

Those that failed to finish

Team Kemp - Jensen Interceptor

Team Howard - Toyota MR2 Mark1

Team Underhay - Lotus Elan

Team Brown - BMW i3

Team Foster - Hillman Imp Californian

The best bit of this years Hunt was finally seeing an overdue and overwhelming victory for Mike McMahon and his team. Mike has been our biggest supporter, along with his family and friends who normally make up three Teams or more, and he taken part in every Hunt since 2010. Mike and his mates are always highly competitive, but more importantly, they bring a great sense of fun to the day too. More than once, they have paid the Hunt its greatest compliment by declaring it the highlight of their year, and I have to say it just wouldn't be the same without them!

Thank you all for giving us your Sunday, and hope you want to do it again in 2016!

John, Andrea, Tom and Ben Harper