Bumping into the 'Berkeley Hunt' near Frampton

I went to the Gloucester to Sharpness canal near Frampton-on-Severn on my way to shop in Gloucester. The thick mist was forecast to lift and when I left home the sun had broken through. But by the time I had driven the eight miles to Frampton the mists were still quite thick although intermittently it would clear a little.

I was walking near the canal when some other people came past me. They asked if I was following the Hunt, but I admitted to not knowing anything about it. They were regular followers of the 'Berkeley Hunt', one of the oldest continuous practicing hunts in Britain based at Berkeley Castle a few miles south of Frampton. They also used to ride behind the hounds but had now retired to follow on foot, or at least by car.

They said the hunt was following the line of the River Severn from the castle all the way to Arlingham, a former fording point of the river. We then started to hear shouts and calls, and they explained what was going on. Yellow jacketed riders were the organisers including the Master and his assistants. 

When they finally arrived near us along the flood bank of the river they came down into the meadows between the river and the canal. I started to follow them with my camera but the mists were keeping the light levels low and what sun there was shone directly into the lens.

Eventually they came very close to where we were, and I felt fortunate that by chance I had chosen that very spot for my walk. The hounds lead the way with one yellow jacketed rider guiding them as they followed the scent. I would hate it if they were actually following a fox, but since the laws where changed they are meant to only follow a scent laid artificially. 

I was interested to see the horse close up and the riders decided to choose that field to have fun, jumping the small ditches or pills taking the water from the low lying fields down into the river. This whole area floods regularly and there was evidence of flooding having occurred very recently.

I was made welcome by the spectators who were very friendly so I got a glimpse of the way the Hunt works. One of the riders was the daughter-in-law of the owner of Berkeley Castle, who won a Bronze medal at the Olympics in the team Eventing competition, and had a wonderful looking horse.  I don't think I will be joining in though.

I have posted some of the pictures I took today on this Flickr gallery