Celebrating hunting

A new website, as well as a new book, and a talk at Melton Mowbray all celebrate hunting in England

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Country Life
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published
in News

Some former MFHs grow their hair and go to Glastonbury, others start websites, according to James Barclay. Mr Barclay, whose stints as an amateur huntsman include 12 seasons with the Fitzwilliam, has created what he hopes will be an online hub for hunting people all over the world. ‘It's not just for hardened foxhunters,' he says. ‘It will contain history as well as up-to-date news and articles from abroad and I hope will be of interest to those who'd simply like to know more.' From September 20 until Christmas, a year's subscription will cost £12.99-it will be £15 thereafter (www.fortheloveofhuntingengland.com).

Another former MFH has written a book. Alastair Jackson, who hunted the South Dorset, among other packs, and was director of the MFHA, has collaborated with former Horse & Hound editor Michael Clayton to produce A Short History of Foxhunting (Merlin Unwin, £14.99). With sketches by Mr Jackson, the pocket-sized volume charts the history of foxhunting from William the Conqueror's time to today's ‘ludicrous legislation'.

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The two authors are giving a talk on September 26 at 7pm at Melton Mowbray Cattle Market, Leicestershire. Tickets cost £8 (01584 877456; www.merlinunwin.co.uk). Finally, the fox itself, without which there would be no hunting, is celebrated in a festival of music and poetry in Cattistock, Dorset on October 4-6.

There will be a performance of the oratorio The Fox That Walked on Water, composed by Cattistock resident Nicholas Morris, plus horn-blowing contests, folk music and a quiz. Tickets for the Fox Festival are available from Merrily Harpur (01300 320064; www.cattistockfestival.org).

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Country Life

Country Life is unlike any other magazine: the only glossy weekly on the newsstand and the only magazine that has been guest-edited by HRH The King not once, but twice. It is a celebration of modern rural life and all its diverse joys and pleasures — that was first published in Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee year. Our eclectic mixture of witty and informative content — from the most up-to-date property news and commentary and a coveted glimpse inside some of the UK's best houses and gardens, to gardening, the arts and interior design, written by experts in their field — still cannot be found in print or online, anywhere else.

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