Monday, December 27, 2004
CASTOR MEET - FITZWILLIAM
A SCENE that could soon be consigned to the history books will be played out today at the traditional Bank Holiday hunt.
Horses and hounds from the Fitzwilliam Hunt will gather in Stilton to enjoy a pursuit that faces extinction under new laws.
More than 40 horses and riders from the Fitzwilliam congregated at the Prince of Wales Feathers pub, in Peterborough Road, Castor, on Christmas Eve ahead of today's meet.
They then rode to nearby woods and fields off Loves Hill to enjoy the bloodsport which opponents call barbaric.
Jane Thorpe-Codman, of Nassington, near Peterborough, was among the onlookers supporting the hunt.
She said: "The hunt is part of rural Christmas tradition for many people. Everyone looks forward to it as is it a social occasion as well as a pursuit."
The Government originally said it would ban the pursuit in February next year, but legal challenges could delay the ban by a year or more.
Horses and hounds from the Fitzwilliam Hunt will gather in Stilton to enjoy a pursuit that faces extinction under new laws.
More than 40 horses and riders from the Fitzwilliam congregated at the Prince of Wales Feathers pub, in Peterborough Road, Castor, on Christmas Eve ahead of today's meet.
They then rode to nearby woods and fields off Loves Hill to enjoy the bloodsport which opponents call barbaric.
Jane Thorpe-Codman, of Nassington, near Peterborough, was among the onlookers supporting the hunt.
She said: "The hunt is part of rural Christmas tradition for many people. Everyone looks forward to it as is it a social occasion as well as a pursuit."
The Government originally said it would ban the pursuit in February next year, but legal challenges could delay the ban by a year or more.
