Cottesmore and Belvoir Hunts meet on Boxing Day and TV presenters Chris Packham and Megan McCubbin visit Rutland to join Northants Hunt Saboteurs
A hunt was under scrutiny from TV presenters days after crowds gathered to celebrate the controversial countryside tradition at Boxing Day meets.
Hundreds of people gathered at the Cottesmore Hunt’s Boxing Day meet, which this year was held at Stapleford Park near Melton Mowbray.
There were almost 50 riders, including children on ponies, and a pack of hounds at the annual meet, which has been taking place for more than 357 years.
Hunt secretary Clare Bell said the group was thrilled with the turn out and the setting of Stapleford Park was super.
She added: “I think it’s really important for the community and for people to get out and see each other.
“It’s a tradition and I think it would be a great shame if traditions disappeared.”
For Rutland volunteers held a collection on the day and raised more than £1,300 which will go towards funding advisers who help people with long-term illnesses.
The event was also met with opposition from a group of saboteurs who held a demonstration at the parkland entrance.
The Northants Hunt Saboteurs have been monitoring the Cottesmore Hunt for six years, documenting what goes on and sharing their views on social media.
A spokesperson for the saboteur group said: “We will continue to be present at meets and document what goes on as best as possible and in a peaceful and legal manner.”
On Saturday (December 28) the saboteurs were joined by TV presenter Chris Packham and his stepdaughter Megan McCubbin, who is also a wildlife broadcaster, to monitor the hunt across the Rutland and Lincolnshire countryside.
Their livestream of the hunt monitoring exercise reached hundreds of thousands of people on the social media platform X, formerly Twitter, and Instagram.
The saboteur said: “It’s what we are always aiming to do.
“We want the press to pick things up and document what we do so it reaches as wide of an audience as possible.”
Hunting foxes with dogs or by using traps and snares was made illegal in England and Wales in 2004 under the Hunting Act.
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.
Saboteurs and wildlife activists like Chris are among those who are calling for trail hunting to also be banned.
The Belvoir Hunt also met on Boxing Day and drew crowds of people to Belvoir Castle’s Engine Yard near Grantham.
In a post on social media, a spokesperson for the Belvoir Hunt said: “Our Boxing Day meet was cheerful, friendly and festive with hundreds of supporters joining us at Belvoir.
“A chance to meet friends from across our rural community, it is the unexpected catch-ups that often mean the most and make this a favourite occasion for many of us.
“Thank you to everyone who came to meet our hounds and offer us their support, the Belvoir Estate, our farmers and landowners and our wider rural community.”
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