THIS IS FINDON VILLAGE —  created by Valerie Martin, contains scenes from her home village of Findon, West Sussex, U.K.

THE LAST MEET ON NEPCOTE GREEN

Copyright Valerie Martin 2009

When I moved to Findon in 1993 it was long after the days when the gentlemen enjoyed the stirrup cup outside of the Gun Inn and villagers consumed jars of beer prior to fox-hunting activities.    In the early 1990s, the majority of village inhabitants were not aware when a hunt was going to take place, nor appeared in the slightest interested.   

Permission was given by the Findon Parish Council for the Crawley and Horsham Hunt to meet on Nepcote Green on Boxing Day in 1996. Anti-hunt protesters collected some 240 signatures from 1,500 residents to support their cause. The Meet was promptly switched at the last minute to a more secluded venue at Ashurst.

A year later, on Saturday, 8th March 1997, a second attempt was made for a Meet at Nepcote Green. The venue was keep quiet and even the locals were noticeable by their absence. The crowd consisted almost entirely of anti-hunt protesters; some threateningly disguised in facemasks, others wore combat gear and balaclavas.

The first horse box laboured up the lane beside the Green, only to be brought to a standstill by angry objectors hanging on to the driver’s cab and brandishing placards. The foxhounds bayed dolefully from inside the lorry. Police anti-riot vans arrived and disgorged some twenty police officers.

Eventually, there was a sum total of eleven huntsmen plus two children on ponies ready for the "chase". They impassively withstood a barrage of heckling and abuse by megaphone and mocking toots from a hunting horn echoed across Nepcote Green. They appeared oblivious to the offensive chanting of the protesters but it must have hit home.

At 11 a.m. there was a potentially dangerous moment when the Hunt attempted to release some 15 couples of foxhounds. The hounds were stacked on two levels in the lorry and protesters surged forward up the ramp of the vehicle, only to be held back by the force of the police.  Seconds later the hounds streamed out and the riders hastened their charges and quickly outstripped the objectors.   They disappeared up the lane into the countryside in the general direction of Cissbury Ring for their day's fun.

1997 was the last time the Hunt met on Nepcote Green. Details of Meets were from then on no longer advertised but undertaken elsewhere with utmost secrecy.

 

THIS IS FINDON VILLAGE — www.findonvillage.com is a continually growing record created by Valerie Martin exclusively for documenting life around Findon.