On Saturday we shut down two fox hunts with our friends Plymouth & West Devon Hunt Sabs. Our convoy first headed to Woolfardisworthy (or Woolsery) to pay a visit to the Stevenstone Hunt. This lot have been without a huntsman and on the verge of collapse for the last few months. In desperation the’ve installed a new and completely inexperienced huntswoman, Jessica Harrison, whose mother Judith Webster is a “holistic, natural, homeopathic vet”. It’s always pretty concerning to hear of vets who support bloodsports! Jessica is someone we’ve previously encountered riding with the Lamerton and other hunts in the west Devon area.
The meet was at 10am at Hurley Meadow Farm and was clearly intended as a training exercise for the new huntswoman. However, as sabs were there, there was no hunting of any kind. We spent the morning following the hounds, huntswoman and riders around the roads, public footpaths and bridleways that surrounded the meet. Hunt supporters made some half-baked attempts at blocking our vehicles from following and gleefully filmed themselves whenever they succeeded in doing so, but ultimately there was no getting away from our vehicles and foot teams. As the morning went on, some hunt followers couldn’t contain their frustration and the predictable pushing and shoving ensued, not just from the old boys but also some kids with balaclavas. Support vehicle also tried to force their way past whilst dangerously close to riders and quad bikes tried to force foot sabs off the road
The hunt returned to the meet at around 12.30. We stayed around to make sure they didn’t try to head out again. The local kids plus a few of the same gang who damaged our vehicle at the Eggesford opening meet continued to throw their toy tractors out of the pram by harassing us and the entire neighbourhood with their quad bikes. They followed us out of the area, driving dangerously along the busy A39, swerving into oncoming traffic, swinging traffic cones around, and causing a serious hazard for all road users. This is extremely dangerous behaviour and could result in serious injury or death. Two cars full of the same young scrotes followed us for a while, throwing water bottles from their vehicles while driving at high speed. After doing this for nearly an hour and realising they weren’t achieving anything, they reevaluated their life choices and left.
We were already on our way to our backup meet for the South Tetcott at Hornacott, west of the Tamar and not too far from their kennels. We found hunt master David Bowden on the road near Hornacott Chapel, looking less than pleased to see us. He immediately got on the phone to notify others of our presence. Sabs made their way quickly into the valley to find huntsman Tim Ingram gathering his hounds and making his way back up to the road. Perhaps he wasn’t keen to risk a repeat of the other week, where he lost his hounds to sabs for a good hour at the end of the day. The hunt then begrudgingly trudged their way back to the meet at around 2pm and we stayed to watch them box up.
The final incident of the day came as a bit of a surprise. A young girl that rides with the hunt was instructed to block a public road with her horse so our vehicle couldn’t pass. Rather pointless, as the hunt were already boxing up… However, we are surprised they allowed this child to ride a horse altogether, let alone unaccompanied on a public road. Another dangerous example of how hunts use actual children in their attempts to deter us, but this is not unusual. The girl was rather whip-happy, not only with her poor horse but also when it came to our vehicles. She rode past our Land Rover and attempted but failed to smash our wing mirror with her whip. Not long after, she smashed the wing mirror of the Plymouth & West Devon group’s vehicle.
As with any incident of violence or criminal damage, we’ll take it as an invitation to visit the South Tetcott again shortly!
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