Chigborough Farm & Fisheries (Essex)

“A 130 acre rural oasis on the outskirts of the picturesque, historical market town of Maldon in Essex. An hour from London…We offer lakeside holiday cottage, glamping and camping accommodation.” They also appear to offer their ‘oasis’ to hunts as in October 2024 the (evidently bad-tempered) Eastern Counties Minkhounds (ECMH) held their last meet of the year there.  The ECMH have a history rooted in otter hunting, like most mink packs, and the ECMH are a reincarnation of the Eastern Counties Otterhounds which formed in 1910 and covered East Anglia, as well as parts of Hertfordshire. In July 2024 the Hunt Saboteurs Association wrote on their website that “The original Eastern Counties Mink Hounds folded a few years ago in the face of sab pressure, and this newly reformed version is an outlier compared to other hunts, resembling a fancy dress club and using a labrador and a beagle to flush to guns.” Hunting mink (and otters) with dogs was made illegal by the passing of the Hunting Act 2004. As the attached image shows, the hunt were none too pleased to have their riverside-bashing, wildlife-disrupting ‘fun’ disturbed…