On this very wet and rainy day in November we paid the Cotley a visit at Brimley Cross, south of Hawkchurch. Knowing the area quite well by now, foot sabs got into position ahead of the hunt leaving the meet and watched from a vantage point as a quad was acting suspiciously around Pennsylvania Coppices, the very wood where the kill happened last season.
When the hunt left the meet at 11:20 and headed into the valley to the south, hounds immediately went into cry as they headed west towards Pennsylvania Coppices. Some strategic horn-blowing and use of the gizmo by sabs confused the hounds and split the pack. Two female sabs on a footpath were threatened by a couple of riders who came galloping towards them and warned them that if they used their horn and gizmo again they’d better “f****** watch out”. One of the riders – James Legg – lost his temper and after getting off his horse to open a gate he karate-kicked his horse in the stomach for absolutely no reason! Sabs challenged him but he laughed it off.
Hounds stayed in this valley for several hours but sabs remained in position and intervened to split the pack whenever they got onto anything. By early afternoon, most sab teams had acquired a tail of terriermen or other thugs. One team heard the huntsman blow the horn to summon the terriermen. Foot sabs went to investigate but were intercepted and marched off the land by a bunch of terriermen. To ensure that nothing was going on inside the woods, one sab managed to get in without being seen and trawled the woods in detail for the next hour, while the rest of us kept up with the hunt who had by now moved north-west to Wadbrook Coppice. Hounds entered the woods from the south and riders were positioned strategically on the corners to indicate if a fox had broken cover. Failing to pick up a scent, the hunt eventually left the woods and headed back along the road in direction of Brimley Cross, where some of the riders packed up and went home.
The hunt spent the last hour of the day between Woodhouse and North Park Farm, with hounds speaking every now and then and foot sabs in position at various locations to intercept them. One of our sabs was punched in the back of his head by a hunt follower. A quad rider came over and claimed that it was illegal to blow the hunting horn on private land. When sabs responded by asking whether he’d ever heard of illegal foxhunting he said “now you’re just trying to get me to say something I shouldn’t say!”. The hunt packed up just as it was getting dark and we retreated to a pub to dry off. Although it had been a stressful day, with hounds frequently going into cry and foot sabs getting stuck knee-deep in mud, some excellent teamwork enabled us to be in positionand intervene at just the right times. We will not forget what the Cotley did last season and will be back soon to keep an eye on them!
