Bristol Hunt Saboteurs

YESTERDAY we headed to Wiltshire along with Bath Hunt Sabs and Southampton Sabs to kennel watch the Tedworth Hunt, who we haven’t sabbed since the start of the season.

The hound van and horse boxes lead us to their meet at Wilcot Manor, just north of Pewsey. We waited around, hearing of locals disapproval of the hunt, before following them out. The hunt headed north, trying to put as much distance as they could between us and them but we kept up meaning they didn’t have chance to properly draw any of the woods or coverts near to the meet.

Along with South Wales Hunt Saboteurs & Bath Hunt Saboteurs, we had a manic day stopping countryside killers in their tracks.

We were given a meet for posh hare killers The RAC Beagles this morning so headed off to give them hell. En route, we passed a pheasant shoot, and seeing we had four vehicles full of sabs, we took to the fields and confronted the shooters. Within minutes the entire group of blood-junkies were putting away their guns and heading home. Fucking amazing.

On Saturday we teamed up with Southampton Sabs & Bath Hunt Saboteurs and acted on a tip off that told us the Severn Vale Beagles were going to be meeting in Littleton-Upon-Severn. Seeing as we hadn’t visited them in a while, we thought it would be rude not to drop by.

We found the elusive hare killers already in the field having left their meet just before we arrived. We leapt into action and soon had them in our sights.

**Sabs on tour!**

We travelled to the Midlands today, joining numerous other groups in paying a visit to the notoriously violent fox killers of the Atherstone Hunt at their meet at the Odd House Inn, Snarestone, Leicestershire.

After an hour of waiting around at the meet and despite the full field, support and the bluff and bluster of all the boys they could muster, they decided that they didn’t want to come out to play, calling the day off ‘due to fog’.

We paid a visit to the Ledbury Hunt today, who met at the Robin Hood Inn, Castlemorton.

Shortly after 12 o’clock the hunt left the meet, with a large number of field and car followers in tow. Sabs announced our arrival by briefly taking the pack from the huntsman who had put them into a thicket in an attempt to put up a fox. After a quick spin in our vehicles to get ahead of them we came across them working through a wood and on our approach the huntsman took the hounds and shot off.

Sabs kept on the hunt and again caught up with huntsman, Mark Melladay, who had now changed from his redcoat into black in an attempt to avoid detection. Sabs stayed close as he encouraged the hounds through thick gorse on Castlemorton Common (a trail through there, really?!), before taking off with them at speed as they got on a scent and went into cry. We quickly caught up in our vehicles and followed the huntsman and hounds along the road, no longer in cry.

After some doubling back and forth, sabs located the huntsman off his horse with hounds in a wood, never a good sign. Sabs went in to investigate and when the huntsman realised he had company, left the wood with the hounds and headed back to his horse.

Upon reaching the edge of the wood it became clear what was going on, with a number of masked terrierboys hanging around a large badger sett where a fox had taken refuge. Being caught up to no good, they immediately tried to get sabs away from the area, launching an unprovoked attack on them. Undeterred, sabs carried on with the huntsman, with others checking back at the sett shortly afterwards and finding the terrierboys filling in holes they had been digging, before leaving the area.

For the rest of the day it was cat and mouse with the huntsman and hounds, who was never keen to stick around in any one place for long with sabs always on his tail. After a few attempts to lose us, it wasn’t long before he was again drawing through the gorse and scrub on the Common, using his voice to encourage hounds through and to put a fox up. Sabs stuck close by and after drawing a few blanks, the huntsman gathered the pack in fading light before heading back to box up.

All in all a good day! If the Ledbury Hunt and their terrierboys think violence will stop us from protecting hunted wildlife, they can think again! We’ll be seeing you…

~~Wardens from the Malvern Hills Conservators (the organisation which manages the Malvern Hills and the Commons around it) were also in the area today. This appeared to make the hunt less keen to spend time on the Common and hills as they did at this same meet last year, when they hunted a fox right up onto the hills.

Despite being in the area, none of the wardens were present when the dig out of the badger sett or attack on sabs took place, nor did they appear to intervene when the huntsman was blatantly drawing scrub on the common to put up a fox.

A facebook page has recently been set up to expose the Ledbury Hunts’ actions on the Malvern Hills and to encourage the Conservators to ban them from hunting on it. https://www.facebook.com/Fox-hunt-off-Malvern-Hills-219215458521269/?fref=ts

Off back to the Cotswold Vale Farmers Hunt this morning, along with sabs from South Wales, Bath & Three Counties.

They met at Aston Crews on the Gloucestershire/Herefordshire border and we soon found them not far away with riders on point and hounds picking up in a wood. We shot off to catch up with them and the huntsman took his hounds and ran, which set the tone for the rest of the day.

The huntsman was quickly drawing through another covert with sabs close by, so we decided to take the hounds with the use of a hunting horn. This tested the hunts temper somewhat and it wasn’t long before hunt supporters were (unsuccessfully) trying to throw their weight around.

Despite the hunt covering a lot of ground, hilly terrain and poor weather conditions, in our various groups we ensured that sabs were always with the hunt, often second guessed their movements meaning we were ahead of them.

Towards the end of the day we came across the hounds marking to ground in a badger sett, where a fox they had been chasing was taking refuge. Sabs were straight in there rating hounds and when the huntsman realised he had company he gathered the hounds and took off. We waited around for a while as a quad was also hanging about, but other sabs were in place to rate hounds when they were in cry close by immediately after.

With visibility becoming increasingly poor and no luck with these foxes, the hunt were packing up just before 3.30. A very successful day and a bunch of damp but happy sabs.

On Saturday we sabbed the Llangeinor Hunt. The last time we visited them it ended with a sab being hospitalised by hunt thugs. Too much time had passed since then so today we headed to Wales, met up with South Wales Hunt Saboteurs & Severn Vale Sabs and caught the hunt leaving their meet in Blackmill.

The hunt were clearly shocked to have Sabs with them and the huntsman was overheard on the phone saying “I am not happy, I cannot deal with all these activists”. He looked completely bewildered and was clearly trying to scramble for a new plan in order to stop us following him to his easily accessible chosen route.

We haven’t paid a visit to the Curre & Llangibby hunt for quite some time so thought it was only fair that they get some sab attention. We headed over the bridge with our friends from Bath Hunt Saboteurs & South Wales Hunt Saboteurs to find the hunt leaving their meet which was in the village of Itton.

Soon enough hounds were in cry, and as we got closer to the hunt, a group of lads including the hunts terriermen decided to join us, putting cameras in our faces and threatening us. Unphased, we stuck with the hunt and it wasn’t long before we saw a fox breaking from the wood the hunt were working through. Riders were going loopy trying to alert the huntsman that they’d seen a fox but he had multiple sab cameras pointing at him and did the right thing and along with the terriermen called the hounds off and the fox got away.

 
We met up with sabs from Bath, South Wales & 3C today and headed over the bridge to Garway where the Ross Harriers were just finishing their breakfast before a days hunting. Perfect timing!

We were in good numbers which meant the hunt were always in our sight. A few early attempts at hunting were called off by huntsman, Owain, when he realised a large number of cameras were pointing in his directi…on (one of which from a member of the press we had out with us).