Defiant Ledbury Hunters Refuse to Sound the Last Post ; COUNTRYSIDE: Traditional Supporters Turn out for First Day of the New Season and Say They Will Prevail in Battle with Anti- Bloodsports Lobby

Viner, Brian, The Independent (London, England)

THE HEAVENS opened on the first day of the fox-hunting season yesterday, but the persistent rain did not remotely dampen the spirits of the Ledbury Hunt. Nor, more importantly, did the prospect of this being the last season before a parliamentary ban consigns fox hunting, if not to oblivion, then certainly to illegality.

"Look around you," said the joint master, Donald Haden. "We have more support than we've ever had." There were, unarguably, a lot of people there, as well as a great deal of corduroy.

Protesters, by contrast, were conspicuously thin on the ground. I wondered about a chap with unwashed hair and several nose-rings, but he seemed to be rather …

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Publication information: Article title: Defiant Ledbury Hunters Refuse to Sound the Last Post ; COUNTRYSIDE: Traditional Supporters Turn out for First Day of the New Season and Say They Will Prevail in Battle with Anti- Bloodsports Lobby. Contributors: Viner, Brian - Author. Newspaper title: The Independent (London, England). Publication date: November 2, 2002. Page number: 10. © 2009 The Independent - London. Provided by ProQuest LLC. All Rights Reserved.

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