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Crowds line streets for hunts
Saturday 27th December 2008, 12:15PM GMT.
Huge crowds lined the streets in towns and villages across Shropshire and Mid Wales for the traditional Boxing Day hunts – with a number of events experiencing the biggest turnout in years.
Visitors, families and children were among those enjoying the spectacle of horsemen in full attire and dozens of hounds preparing to set off as the festive hunt season got under way.
Ludlow Hunt’s Boxing Day meet proved to be “bigger than ever” as hundreds of supporters arrived at the town’s historic castle. Collecting for hunt staff was long-time supporter Jean Griffiths, of Cleobury Mortimer.
Mrs Griffiths, who has supported Ludlow Hunt for more than five decades, said: “The support that we get is fantastic. This year the meet has been bigger than ever. Since the ban we have had more support than ever from the general public.
“It is quite a tradition that must never be lost but you can see by the support that it is not going to be lost.”
Crowds gathered for other hunt meetings in the county, including the Albrighton Hunt which met at St Mary’s Street in Newport with people lining the streets to wave the huntsmen off. Supporters also turned out in force for the North Shropshire Hunt which left from the Bear Hotel at Hodnet, and the David Davies Hunt at Llanidloes.
Record numbers took part in the Tanatside event, watched by between 2,000 and 3,000 spectators as they travelled into Welshpool town centre.
Meetings also departed from two villages near Shrewsbury and Morville.
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It should never have been stopped in the first place. Just politicians jumping on a bandwagon.
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So good to see these huge crowds supporting the new post-ban hunting, just as enthusiastically as they they did pre-ban.
I’m so glad that they don’t let the socio-envious minority spoil their simple traditional splendour.
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Staying with in the law.If not where are the prosecutions??. There is not any becouse the hunters etc are telling the truth.
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bring back bear bating ,workhouses and public hanging whle your legalising fox hunting as well then!!sadly this just confirms to the civilised world that the pro hunters are just a backward bunch of yokels without the inteligence to move into this century. its banned accept it.
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Well done the Hunters. Hopefully Animal rights people are concentrating on eating FREE RANGE POULTRY over the festive season.
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Oh yea amazing…I have always said it, if chavs and dole bums took up fox hunting it wouldn’t be viewed through rose tinted glasses now would it – shouldn’t be allowed, its barbaric. Lucy you talk about tradition, Slavery and Hanging were once tradition, shall we bring them back too?
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bring back the workhouse? it is still there on kingsland only it has a different use, it is now shrewsbury school
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good on them , damn the urban elite and their communist law makers, get out and hunt the things to extinction i say
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K .Its banned whats youre problem with law abiding citizens?.
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welcome back tory boy where have you been, all we want is h peasebody and we have a quorum! in spite of diddy david cameron and gorgeous george, i do not think the tories are extinct, yet!
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Andrew, the arrogant lot that you support will be feeling very “up tight” at you saying that they are law abiding and telling the truth etc. When I hear their ridiculous comments to justify their existence, they are usually telling us how adept they are at skating around the legal niceties of hunting and taking great pride in the fact. They will not appreciate being described as intelligent and upholding the law.
The only reason there are not many prosecutions is that the Police are frightened of upsetting to many people in the country set and also their aversion to doing anything that smacks of them doing their job properly.
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K re#4 and Realist re#6: Homosexuality was made illegal. Do you have a problem with the fact it has now been made legal? Not all Laws are good ones. Try these:
Aliens Immigration Act
Aliens (Coloured Seamen) Restrictions
Britain passed legislation that prohibited Jews from working in the civil service when Hitler was still in short trousers as our “democracy” thought it was a good thing at the time. However with the passage of time our attitudes have changed against these shocking laws and with passage of time, maybe the Hunting Act will be viewed the same.
Or do you still believe that Jews should not work in the civil service and coloured seamen should not be let off their vessels when in a UK port?
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Good balanced arguement Lucy..!! Ive no issue either way with Fox Hunting, however, I travelled up the A49 on Boxing Day, there was a hunt in the area, all the idiots in there 4×4′s parked on the side of the road!! dangerous idiots !!
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Hunters: why not hunt other hunters (who obviously enjoy such sport) and leave Mr Fox alone.
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Let us crush all 4x4s on public roads.
Keep England tidy!
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Can’t believe that you hunters want to continue with such a pointless method of pest control. Oh, yes I forgot it’s not really pest control you have in mind is it? You actually enjoy it cos it’s good sport and the dogs love it too as do the spectators. Get over yourselves, please. What you do is a pointless and barbaric procedure which basically stinks. If you enjoy the ride and the social side of hunting so much then continue to do that but without the bloodshed (i.e legally). No one is trying to stop you enjoying yourselves, just protecting the wildlife (& domestic pets) that happen in your way. And by the way why does it always have to come down to an urban – countryside divide. Urban dwellers are well able to form opinions on rural issues, in just the same way, I am sure, that many ruralites have a say on urban ones, such as congestion, supermarket food or knife crime. Simply living within the confines of an urban area does not prohibit one from viewing the morality of hunting in a dim light.
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Comment #15.
Are you suggesting crushing ALL 4×4 vehicles that use the public highway? Or are you singling out those vehicles with permanent 4WD? If so, would you know – on sight – what cars have permanent 4WD?
There are many cars on the road that have 4WD systems, but 99% of the time are 2WD and only enter 4WD mode when required by prevailing surface conditions.
I’d crush all Citroen Xsara Picassos. Worthless, rectal polyps on the ass of car design, and driven by either the 40mph everywhere brigade, or aggressively to the point of dangerousness by dads who have – via lack of birth control – finally realised that their days of driving enjoyment have ended.
There you go! Hunting MPV’s and people carriers. A far more satisfying use for hounds.
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MBS: re#15. I fully respect the right of people to drive what they want and if Mr Polar Bear has to get his paws wet – then so be it. Nevertheless, I am concerned that many “4×4” SUV drivers have no idea what they are driving and have a false sense of security leading them to raise their driving speed to a mis-guided level of acceptable risk.
In fact a SUV is less safe that than a conventional car with the equivalent 4wd/AWD. Some have these “automatically engage 4wd when you need it” systems known as Electronic Limited Slip Differenials. However drivers do not realise that ELSD do not engage 4wd at speed or when corning (for obvious handling reasons). They will also disengage under heavy demand such as snow or ice, to prevent over heating and damage to the unit.
If fact these systems are not actually 4wd systems but are Traction Control Systems who’s only practical function is a quick get away from the traffic lights!
I don’t mind people spending money on these systems as long as they understand how they work and the fact that what they have is a front wheel drive with a device diverting torque to the rear wheels when the front spin – nothing stepping off the throttle won’t do if you don’t mind being ½ a second behind an Audi Quattro (a Ur Quattro that is).
Ironically a Suzuki Jimmy could probably beat if an Audi Q7 “off the lights” in the wet if you understood how it worked and hence knew how to drive it. It’s my party trick when Porsches etc pull into the wrong lane at lights thinking they will nip in front off me in my titchy jeep!
Its not what’s under the bonnet, its what’s behind the wheel.
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If we are to believe the comments published in the Shropshire Star that hunting is more popular than ever, why is it necessary to consider repealing the Hunting Act? It can only mean one thing – blood lust! Otherwise, hunters and their sadistic followers would be satisfied chasing an artificial scent.Sad.
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