- MICHAEL FARRIN, who has died aged 65, was one of the most admired professional huntsmen of the postwar era, serving the Quorn for 30 years.
Michael is survived by his wife Di, whom he married in 1987, and two sons by his first marriage. One of them, Stephen, is a professional huntsman in the United States, with the Amwell Valley hounds in New Jersey.
- PGS (Protected Geographic Status) is about to be added to the status and reputation of the famous MELTON MOWBRAY PORK PIE. PGS will be the order of the day if no other European Union member State objects before 4th October 2008.
There are more than 30 other protected British products - names including Arbroath, Scottish, Cornish, Stilton, Swaledale, Lincolnshire. Others, more distant, include Parma, Champagne et al alongside their well-known supplies.
4 February 2008. Vince Toulson has died at the age of 78 in hospital in Uttoxeter.
He produced some of the top hunters of the day, winning the Horse of the Year Show with Princes Street in 1973.
A former point-to-pointer, Vince and his wife, Daphne (née Marsh) - whom he married in 1958 and who died in 2005 - were a formidable team in the showring for decades, and later became renowned for breeding top-class hunters at their Gartree Stud, Burton Lazars near Melton Mowbray.
31 January, 2008. Quorn senior joint-master Joss Hanbury was admitted to hospital with a severe neck injury after a heavy fall while hunting with the Quorn on Monday, 28 January, near Old Dalby, Melton Mowbray.
- THE BELVOIR CASTLE GAME & COUNTRY SHOW 2007 (2nd YEAR) was held on Saturday and Sunday 6/7th October, daily 10am to 6pm. Full details of this and many other similar Shows at: http://www.craft-show.co.uk/countryshows/
- The East Midlands Food & Drink Festival was held on 7 October 2006 10:00am - 8 October 2006 5:00pm in the Cattle Market, Melton Mowbray and was the third such to be held.
The Festival hoted 200 exhibitors, celebrity chef demonstrations (Clarissa Dickson Wright, Mary Berry, Rachel Green, James Martin, Ali Javaheri), food trails (Saturday only), an exhibition entitled ""3,000 Years of British Food", live music and much more...
Tel: 0870 225 3936 for details
Website : http://eastmidlandsfoodfestival.co.uk
Another is planned for Saturday - Sunday 6/7 October 2007.
- Melton Mowbray & District Twinning Association website archive (30th May 2000 to 25th March 2004)
- THE LEICESTERSHIRE SHOW 2007 was be held on the Airfield, Melton Mowbray on 6th and 7th May 2007.
The Show Office is at Dishley Grange Farm, Derby Road, Loughborough LE11 5SF - TELEPHONE 01509 646786 and the website is www.leicestershireshow.co.uk and attracted some 25,000 visitors.
ONLINE TV
Two existing IPTV channels (Internet Protocol TeleVision) (or digital television via the Internet) specialising in matters equestrian promised to launch their programmes on SKY.
You can currently visit these interactive websites and enjoy video footage and high level technology quite easily:
- HORSE & COUNTRY TV launched on Thursday 1st March 2007 on Sky channel 219 from 4pm until 6pm and thereafter every Thursday (4pm to 6pm), Saturday (6.30pm to 8.30pm) and Sunday (7am to 9am). It goes live on 2nd July 2007 at 12noon on its own Sky digital satellite channel.
- ALL4HORSES TV launched onto SKY during the last week in January 2007 with two prime time slots "designed to fit into most equestrian’s busy life-styles - on Solent TV (EPG number 219) on Tuesdays at ten and Sundays from seven in the evening, with programmes aimed at all levels of riders from beginners to seasoned competitors."
The new conservation watchdog Natural England has outlined four strategies that will be the focus of its work.
A healthy environment; enjoyment of green spaces; sustainable use of resources; and a secure future were key objectives, the agency said.
The new body is the result of English Nature merging with parts of the Countryside Agency and the Rural Development Service.
Rural campaigners fear it will lack the power and funding to make a difference.
Natural England was formed at the beginning of October, and was officially unveiled at a launch event on 11th October.
- Sunday 3rd December Victorian Christmas Fayre (Melton Mowbray Town Centre) & Christmas Tree Festival (St Mary’s Church)
Programme includes:-
- Costumed event with over 100 stalls
- Festive Street Entertainment
- Punch & Judy
- And lots more….
Why not join in and dress in Victorian costume yourself!

"a meeting has been arranged" to coin a phrase
The battle lines are being drawn, the rules of engagement are well-known and when the balloon goes up.......
Cream Gorse covert will be the venue for a three-horse hunting day on 17th February, courtesy of Mrs. J. Crosfield the landowner and "We shall hunt 'til dark, and if they wish, people can change horses twice during the day to keep going," senior joint-master Joss Hanbury is reported as saying.
And on Saturday 19th February the Cattle Market, Melton Mowbray will be the centre for a gathering of the Belvoir, the Cottesmore and the Quorn and hopefully many, many supporters.
Lord Scott of Foscote, a senior judge and hunting enthusiast for 45 years, has said he would not sit on any hunt cases consequent upon the new law because of his well-known objection to the Bill and his hunting associations. His decision was not so much a political stance but a compliance of the conflict of interest rules, he added.
Stars of the sports world were out in force at the BBC East Midlands Sports Awards 2004 on Sunday 5th December. More than 200 guests, including scores of top Midland sporting personalities, were present at the glittering ceremony supported by Sport England and the East Midlands Development Agency.
We are pleased to report that the title Sportswoman of the Year went to Jeanette Brakewell, Olympic silver equestrian, Leicestershire;
- The HUNTING ACT 2004 came into force on 18th February 2005 after which date a person commits an offence (s1) if he hunts a wild mammal with a dog, unless his hunting is exempt - (exempt hunting is defined in the Act).
A person commits an offence if he knowingly permits land which belongs to him to be entered or used in the course of the commission of an offence under section 1 and a person also commits an offence if he knowingly permits a dog which belongs to him to be used in the course of the commission of an offence under section 1.
The full text of the Act can be downloaded from: http://www.inforoute.hmso.gov.uk/acts/acts2004/20040037.htm
PLEASE NOTE THAT ALL ACTS OF PARLIAMENT are subject to Crown Copyright protection.
- Although the High Court pronounced a verdict that the foxhunting ban is in fact lawful (case heard during the week ending 1st August) the Countryside Alliance has said it may yet go as far as the House of Lords or even the European Court of Human Rights in its attempt to have the decision reversed.
Hunt supporters from across High Leicestershire assembled on the former Great Dalby Airfield site on Friday 5th November to burn the Anti-Hunting Bill which was passed by the House of Commons late September and in November became a statutory enactment which banned hunting as from February 2005. The large bonfire was lit by representative huntsmen from the area after speeches by Mr. Michael Clayton (Chairman (ret'd) of the Cottesmore Hunt), Mr. Sam Butler (Chairman of the Countryside Alliance) and Mr. Alan Duncan, MP, to maintain the airing of defiance of the ban.

The Huntsman prepare to light the bonfire with its effigy of Tony Blair
The riders’ distinctive jackets have been official attire since the end of the Crimean War, when returning British officers wore the only suitable garments they possessed on the hunting field

Alan Duncan enjoys the heat of the moment