The season's count

Staghunting with hounds still occurs in Exmoor, and the Devon & Somerset Staghounds live in a large complex near the village of Exford, a perfect cream tea stopover.
Before refeshments, I swung by the kennels in my hire car, and after an initial wave of howls and barks, the hounds returned to silence as I knocked on various doors around the building.
No-one was in - I'll try again on my next visit.

Poor cow

One of the highlights of my last visit to Exmoor was visiting Will, who looks after the hounds of the Minehead Harriers based in Wootton Courtenay.
Will was generous with his time and knowledge.
I was surprised by how the economics of the hunt works - basically what are fundamentally voluntary donations from riders at each 'meet' finance the whole caboodle, augmented by the payments farmers make to the hunt for providing the much needed 'flesh round' services. It's impressive.Right by his house, Will spent the morning expertly butchering discarded livestock from local farms to feed the hounds. The premises were given to the hunt by the fabulous-sounding 'Miss Lillo Lumb', but beyond the idyllic exterior is a grim but neccessary service absolutely integral to the fabric of Exmoor farming.
At one point a local horse breeder dropped by to deliver the carcasses of twin foals who had died in birth. He was full of sadness, one was a beautiful colour that he had been breeding towards for years.

See here for an interesting oral history archive about Exmoor hunting

Themes : hunting Exmoor livestock