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Thousands more support proud Boxing Day hunts
THE thunder of hooves and baying of hounds sounded yesterday as the annual Boxing Day meets proved even more popular in spite of the ban on hunting foxes.
Unseasonably mild weather may have made a scent hard to follow, but hundreds of riders of all ages – and thousands of supporters on foot – showed enthusiasm for the sport remains as strong as ever three years after the law was changed.
More than 1,000 people, including many families with young children, assembled on Beverley Westwood to cheer on at least 100 immaculately turned out horsemen and women of the Holderness Hunt.
It was a proud moment for David Elliott, who rode with the hunt as a boy and became huntsman earlier this year.
"The hounds are in good form and it's nice to see so many people here and so many smiling faces; just the job," he said.
Organisers of hunts across the county said support seemed to have increased on previous years. Nationally more than 300,000 people, including increasing numbers of women and children, turned out to 314 hunts. Most said they would hunt within the law but remained hopeful of eventually seeing the ban on hunting with dogs overturned. Joanna Newitt, secretary of the Middleton Hunt which drew 68 riders to Malton and slightly fewer to its meet in Driffield, said: "In the market place at Malton the support was probably the best we've had for the last two years.
"People like to see the tradition. We are lucky because we are in a pro-hunting area but people don't like to be told by the Government what they should and shouldn't be doing."
Many hunts were also encouraged by the number of new riders who were joining them.
Peter Turland, joint master of the Badsworth and Bramham Moor Hunt which met at Wentbridge, near Pontefract, and Aberford, near Tadcaster, said: "There are a lot of kids out with us, which is great. They are enjoying their ride out with the hounds and that's what it's all about. I can look down now and see dozens of horses charging up towards me.
"That's how it was in the past, how it is now and hopefully how it will be in the future."
Jill Grieve, a spokeswoman for the Countryside Alliance, said the Hunting Act had raised the profile of the sport and encouraged people to attend meets. "Numbers have been consistently good since the ban."
"A lot of people didn't know or care about hunting before but since the Hunting Act has been in the news a lot of people have thought they will go along and see what the fuss is about."
Judith Skilbeck, joint master of the Bilsdale Hunt, which set off from Cowesby Hall, near Thirsk, said hunting was still enjoyable but expected the ban to be repealed in time. "It's nice to be out after Christmas and get some of that turkey off. But it's a bit like prohibition; they got it wrong and these things have a way of great way of righting themselves."
Anti-hunt campaign group the League Against Cruel Sports said it did not object to the Boxing Day hunts if they stayed within the law but they would monitor any illegal activity.
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Weather for Yorkshire
Saturday 26 May 2012
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Temperature: 9 C to 21 C
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Temperature: 9 C to 22 C
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