Report and pics by Meyrick Brown

In common with an estimated 250,000 gathered in market towns and villages across the UK, several hundred supporters of the South Pembrokeshire Hunt, including a lady from the south of France, turned out as usual for the traditional Boxing Day meet at the popular riverside Cresselly Arms at Cresswell Quay, with more than 60 mounted riders following the pack.

This annual spectacle is an opportunity for hunts to thank all those who support them, from the farmers and landowners over whose land they ride, to their subscribers and the public, whose enthusiasm for hunting still shows no signs of waning.

The South Pembrokeshire Hunt, which dates from the 18th century, has hunted the southern part of the county bounded by the sea on the south and west, by the deep inlet of Milford Haven and the Cleddau estuary and by the A40 on the north, and on the east just beyond the county boundary with Carmarthenshire.

For a large part of the past two centuries hounds have been kennelled at the Cresselly home of the Allen family. It is recorded that John Bartlett Allen had a pack there in 1789. But for a few breaks, notably between 1888 and 1893, when the Mastership passed to Colonel Lort Phillips of Lawrenny, and between 1929 and 1933, when Lord Merthyr and his daughter The Hon Anne Lewis, were in command, hounds have remained at Cresselly, and are still there today.