On 28th October 2017, the North Cotswold Hunt held a newcomers’ meet near to Wormington. They certainly showed newcomers what the hunt was all about, picking up on a fox within the first few draws and chasing him through Ryefield Farm (yep, the same farm that has an unresolved case of bTB and which allowed the hunt to meet on their land back in September) and on to Wormington Grange. Further along, a badger sett was found blocked at an area where a fox was seen breaking cover (another also running from the same area) who had, most likely, been trying to ‘go to ground’ and escape the hounds, but had to run on further due to the blockages. They then moved on to Little Mocho Coppice, just south of Childswickham, where we found an artificial earth in the top corner earlier on during cubhunting. Hounds were hunted on by hunt staff despite knowing that foxes were on camera, riders stalked sabs in order to keep tabs on them and relay locations back to the hunt staff and parking / driving skills of supporters were atrocious as usual. So a pretty spot-on impression of what to expect from the hunt for the remainder of the season…