THE SECRET MONITOR - PARTNERS IN CRIME

 THIS POST IS FROM THE SECRET MONITOR

Who's enabling the cruelty of stag hunting?

Damaging stories from inside hunting, shooting, and the badger cull have been circulating for years.

Everything from breaking the law to assaults or harassment of monitors and the public and a police force seemingly happy to 'look the other way'.

But there is always someone watching, always someone listening. The Secret Monitor.

In the sixth post of an occasional series, the Secret Monitor is in the west of England.

Partners in Cruelty

Stag hunting is characterised by its inherent cruelty, as deer are terrorised and chased to exhaustion. Relief only comes when they are eventually killed. Behind the scenes is a complex industry, with various 'main players' that run the hunts, and suppliers who provide the support needed to keep this outdated, unwanted bloodsport alive.

Farms, pubs, and agricultural businesses are the main culprits, offering their land as a meeting point for hunts and supplying resources. These businesses knowingly become partners in an illegal and barbaric practice, normalising the bloodsport and contributing to the suffering and death of countless deer.

By permitting hunts like the Quantock Stag Hounds, The Devon and Somerset Stag Hounds and the Tiverton Stag Hounds to meet on their land, or by providing refreshments and facilities for both the hunt and its supporters, these businesses form an integral part of the bloodsport industry.

So, who are the major players in Stag Hunting?

The Gibbons clan and Rydon Farm and Staple Farm, West Quantoxhead

The Gibbons are a family deeply entrenched within the Quantock Stag Hounds, with all of their children regularly riding out with them when they’re hunting stags (even, I hear, when the hunt are trespassing).

For how much longer though? The Secret Monitor can exclusively reveal that Chris Gibbons, a gun-toting master at the QSH, will be taking a forced 'break from hunting for a while’ after resigning his mastership following the recent violent attack on North Dorset Hunt Sabs. That's a huge deal. It seems that the QSH happily tolerates violence and aggression right up to the moment it's splashed across the internet. (I’ll be looking at the potential ramifications of this breaking news in my next post.)

The Quantock Stag Hounds attackers and their cameraman, including firearm-carrying huntmaster Chris Gibbons (right) and Helen Hopson daughter of Sue Pile, Master of Porlock area (right). Photo via North Dorset Hunt Sabs

Gibbons’ libidinous wife Beth cut her teeth at the New Forest Buckhounds where her father was the huntsman. The NFB folded following a four-year campaign by monitors who secured a vast collection of footage which depicted horrendous cruelty, including a child holding a buck’s head underwater until he was drowned. Maybe now would be a good time to break out the old footage of a young Beth being berated by her father to hold the buck they were killing as Beth grizzles and cries ‘You know what happened last time’. This is how it works though: children are normalised to killing and cruelty then turn into adults who go stag hunting.

The Greenalls and the Exmoor Forest Inn, Simonsbath, Minehead.

Situated in the Exmoor National Park, the Exmoor Forest Inn forms part of the Simonsbath Estate and has a long historical connection with stag hunting. The Barle River which carves its way through The Chains and down into the village of Simonsbath passing just a stone’s throw from the Inn has been the last refuge before death for many hunted stags. Few who have seen the images will ever forget the face of one of those deer, ‘The Barle Stag’, who was chased and eventually killed by the Devon and Somerset Staghounds in 1994.

The Barle Stag. Image K. Hill

The Inn is owned by three Greenall brothers, Edward, Freddie and Alexander. Edward Greenall is an emergency doctor for the NHS, and enjoys hunting with the infamous South Herefordshire Hunt, the Ledbury Hunt, and the Devon and Somerset Stag Hounds. With no confusion around the illegality of the practices in which he participates, he often adorns his pro-hunt insta posts with the hashtag ‘#fighttheban’.

What Greenall doesn’t realise is that his ‘pals’ at the Devon and Somerset Stag Hounds can’t stand him! The Secret Monitor has been assured that behind his back Ed is the butt of many of their jokes - but not to his face: the last thing any backstabbing stag hunter wants is to lose their prime hunting ground in Simonsbath!

The Exmoor Forest Inn proudly provides a section on its website under Activities entitled ‘Equestrian Sports’ where the Greenalls direct their customers to three bloodsport groups that can be found in the local area. Just a quick question for the Exmoor Forest Inn owners: why not be honest and pop a few pictures up of the mangled bodies of deer once the stag hounds have finished with them? I think we know the answer to that...

The Inn also wants its share of the 'killing birds for fun' market. Its website says it can 'accommodate whole teams of guns in considerable comfort, with private dining and exclusive use options available and an excellent wine list" and says that "from 2023, we will also have an extremely comfortable shooting lodge (sleeping up to 18 guests) available in a very private location on the estate".

Yes, 'What exactly are national parks protecting?' is indeed a valid question.

The QSH regularly leave the Quantocks to ride on the Simonsbath Estate which is owned by Ed’s dad, the Rt. Hon. Dr Gilbert Greenall. He is a senior advisor to both the British Government and the United Nations on humanitarian emergencies and on the welfare of civilians during and after conflict. He also serves as Vice Lord Lieutenant of Worcestershire. Deer hunting is an abomination. For a highly educated, well-respected humanitarian to allow convicted criminals to torment and kill deer on their land is frankly disgraceful. And to facilitate them when they then go further and violently assault and rob law-abiding citizens carrying out their civic duty? Indefensible.

It is baffling to understand why the Greenalls would associate with and host convicted criminals and thugs. The endorsement of the family gives the QSH and their cohorts the delusionary belief that their conduct is acceptable. Heads up– we normal working folk are here to let you all know it isn’t!