Sunday 24th August 2003
The last open day was held three or four years ago and had been a huge success. The residents of Elham had been asking for some time when we would next open the gates and this was the result. The idea was for the event to be kept a simple as possible with a few stalls and displays. In the end volunteers did a magnificent job organising a produce stall, hunt merchandise stall selling cards and prints, refreshments, guess the name of the puppy and a 'Where's Charlie? Treasure Hunt'. Our CA rep set up a stall and there were the usual quizzes and campaign displays. A huge thank you to those who put in so much hard work to such good effect.
Two hundred or more came through the gates. While half were subscribers or Supporters' Club members the rest were local residents from the villages in the heart of our country - people who believe that hunting should and will have a future even though they may only ever come to the Boxing Day Meet.
The real stars were, of course, the hounds.
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Setting up shop
The hunt horsesattracted their share of interest
Two local falconers brought a selection of working birds
