Hunt Profile: Cotswold Vale Farmers’ Hunt

The Cotswold Vale Farmers’ Hunt are a small hunt who were established in 1947 and who hunt in Gloucestershire (and only just over the border into Herefordshire). They hunt an area around the Forest of Dean and Gloucester with their kennels based not far from Tewkesbury, between the A38 and M5. They generally hunt on Tuesdays and Saturdays throughout the season (August to April).

Until the most recent seasons when we’ve had the company of huntsman Simon French (who moved over to the Croome and West Warwickshire as whipper-in at the end of the 2016 – 2017 season) Jason Mahon was huntsman, Alan Morgan prior to that.

In 2011, Alan Morgan pleaded ‘guilty’ to making racially abusive comments towards a hunt saboteur. Whipper-in at the time, John Hodges, attacked a sab from Three Counties during an assault where he grabbed her by the hair and rode off, dragging her along. Sabs from Bristol, Bath and South Wales have also sustained attacks by the hunt. A few seasons earlier, a sab had an iron bar smashed over her head…

Also in 2011, a hound from the hunt was sadly killed by a lorry on the A38, south of Tewkesbury, during an illegal chase of a fox. Sabs present saw the pack of hounds chasing a fox when one of them ran straight into the road and was killed outright by a lorry that had no chance to stop. It was only the sabs’ presence that prevented further fatalities as they were able to stop more hounds running into the road – the hunt, grateful intially, soon realised that the police were on their way and began accusing sabs of being to blame for the hound’s death. Terriermen had thrown the body into a ditch in order to try and hide it…

Back in 2006, the hunt were no different and a statement made by the HSA back then claimed: ‘A 999 call had to be made for emergency medical help today after hunt saboteurs were viciously attacked by both hunt staff and supporters of the Cotswold Vale Farmers hunt. Two saboteurs were taken to hospital, one with suspected broken ribs and severe concussion, the other with a suspected broken cheekbone and concussion. The hunt, which met at Sandhurst near Gloucester (Gloucestershire) had been been illegally hunting all day and saboteurs were present to collect evidence and also to intervene if necessary to prevent a kill. Police are currently taking statements in order to investigate the assaults’. A camera was also broken during the attack…

Saboteurs are not the only ones who have been assaulted by the hunt and, while we cannot publish details of incidents affecting others locally without their permission, we can say that members of the hunt have attacked locals who did not want the hunt trespassing on their land. 3C sabs intervened and managed to calm the situation down, but severe damage was already done.

Despite their violent history, the hunt have managed to tone the aggression down to an extent. Assaults on sabs are still inevitable during the seasons and cameras are still a focus of their aggression, but their reputation has certainly changed. Moving on to the most recent seasons, the hunt are now more well-known for chasing deer more than foxes (although foxes are obviously not safe around them, especially near the hunt’s terriermen – one of which is John Hodges’ son, Nick).

During a cubhunting meet in 2014, hounds gave chase to this fox, but were rated off the scent by the sab present…

In 2014 hounds picked up on the scent of 2 roe deer, whippers-in only just managing to call them off the deer…

The following video shows a lone hound, several fields from where the hunt were last seen, on a main road, during a hunt meet (near the A38). Regardless of who is huntsman during any given season, we expect to spend a lot of our time protecting hounds when the hunt are unable to control them…

What else could be expected, though, of a hunt who acted like this on the opening meet of the season in 2015.

Drunk-driving hunt staff, hacking home along busy roads and hounds paying more attention to the scent of a deer when a fox had just run past, hunt staff stupid enough to signal the presence of the fox despite sab presence!

Nothing, however, prepared us for the shambles that was the CVFH under Simon French as huntsman. We’re extremely surprised that the Croome and West Warwickshire have employed him as whipper-in, a role in which one is expected to keep control of the hounds, stop them from rioting (i.e. giving chase when they’re not supposed to) and wandering on to roads. We’ve had the pleasure of working with members of North Shropshire Hunt Sabs and Welsh Borders Hunt Sabs over the seasons and they have also published videos of the behaviour of the hunt and hunt staff…(mostly having to stop hounds being injured on roads when no hunt staff were present!)

We believe that the CVFH may be one of the only hunts in our area that do not tamper with badger setts (in terms of blocking them prior to hunt meets). We do, however, believe that they use bagged foxes and will also dig-out badger setts if foxes seek shelter within them. Boxing Day 2016 was one such day with a sab coming across the terriermen messing about at an active badger sett which the hunt had just hunted a fox towards… the sett was also targetted during the last 4 years of the badger cull in Gloucestershire.

Huntmaster Ed Burrows was recently at the Royal Three Counties Show in Malvern (June 2017) so watch this space for a video of his talk! In March 2017, having been master for some time, he claimed that he was “new to the mastership” when a landowner complained that she had not been told that the hunt would be coming across her land. Especially given that much of the land the hunt cross is within the Gloucestershire badger culling zone and various areas have had outbreaks of bTB landowners should definitely be contacted for permission before the hunt go prancing off on any land they fancy!