Boxing Day Hunt

The Golden Valley Hunt traditionally gathers at the Clock Tower in Hay on Boxing Day before they ride out. There were about fifty of them today, with the pack of hounds moving in and out of the crowd that were there to see them off. I always go down with Islay - not because I support hunting, but because I support traditions and I like the spectacle.
The Master of the Hunt gave his usual speech before they set off - this year he made the point that they would be complying with the law - but that they were still campaigning for the law to be changed so that they could legally kill foxes with the hounds again.
Karl Showler came up the hill pushing a wheelbarrow - ready to clear up after the horses and get some good manure for his garden.
I saw Brian and Molly with Belle, who had a new collar and lead for Christmas - a very girly pink, which looked a bit out of place on such a burly dog. Brian said how sad it was that so many people couldn't be here this year - I wasn't sure what he meant at first, but then he mentioned Mrs Showler, and Mrs Lawrence, and Coop up at the Chapel House - all people who have died this year. Most recently, there was a fatal head-on collision just outside Hay, on Saturday. A young man was killed.
I took Islay up the Offa's Dyke path after the hunt set off, about half past eleven, and I could hear the hunting horn and the hounds in the distance. We did a big circuit round, and ended up in the field next to Black Lion Green. Two men and a little boy were there, playing with a remote controlled helicopter, presumably a Christmas present.