Cottesmore, Belvoir and Fitzwilliam Milton Hunts to gather over Christmas period at Boxing Day meets

Hunt supporters and saboteurs will gather at meets during the Christmas period.

Crowds are expected to gather at the Stapleford Park countryside estate for the Cottesmore Hunt’s Boxing Day meet.

The annual meet, which has been taking place for more than 357 years, will begin at 11am at Stapleford Park. There is plenty of parking for spectators.

There will be people on horses and a pack of hounds as well as a team of volunteers collecting money for the charity For Rutland.

Money raised goes towards funding advisors who help people with long-term illnesses and last year donations totalled to more than £1,000.

The Belvoir Hunt will meet at 11am at Belvoir Castle’s Engine Yard near Grantham and The Fitzwilliam Milton Hunt will hold its annual meet in Stilton High Street at 12pm.

According to the Countryside Alliance the meets ‘demonstrate the important part hunts continue to play within local communities’.

The legal method of hunting with hounds involves a fox-scented trail being laid by a horse rider, which the hounds follow through the countryside. Hunting foxes with dogs or by using illegal traps and snares is a criminal offence.

The Boxing Day meets also attract large groups of people who oppose the tradition.

Saboteur groups often follow hunts around the countryside, documenting what goes on and sharing their views on social media.

Earlier we reported that police have received more reports of violence at hunt meets than of wildlife offences.

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