Deep divide over vote on use of National Trust land for trail hunting

Animal rights campaigners claim strong support in the Midlands village that hosts a museum dedicated to the bloodsportThe fractious politics of hunting was far from the minds of Julian Smith and Becky Whitehead during a pleasant afternoon exploring Leicestershire's only National Trust house - a 118-year-old cottage nestled in countryside just out of earshot of the M1.Nevertheless their views were clear, before a landmark vote next month that could prohibit trust land from being used for trail hunting - where riders follow hounds in pursuit of a fox-based scent. "We would be very anti-hunting, to be honest, and very much in favour of the existing government ban on foxhunting," said Smith, a trust member who had travelled from Nottinghamshire to visit old houses and walk in the Peak District. Continue reading...