William Powell are holding their annual Clearance Sale at their showroom in Banbury next weekend.

With up to 75% off 100’s of discontinued items, how could you afford not to pay them a visit!

Ample Free Parking Outside. Can’t get to the sale? Visit: www.williampowell.com

And even when a vote is eventually held, senior Conservatives are resigned to the Commons opting to maintain the ban.

Ministers privately accept that there is not a Commons majority in favour of repeal, since almost all Labour MPs, most Liberal Democrats and some Tories want the ban to remain.

The Prime Minister is also said to be unwilling to focus attention on the hunting issue at a time when most voters are more concerned with economic issues.

A poll today suggested just nealy half of people believe a vote to repeal the Hunting Act should not be a top animal welfare priority for the coalition Government.

The lack of progress on the hunting issue is likely to dismay pro-hunting Conservatives backing Boxing Day hunts today, who include at least one Government minister.

Hunting with dogs was outlawed by 2005 in one of the most controversial acts of the last government.

The Coalition has promised MPs a free vote on the ban as soon as parliamentary time is available.

The Commons timetable for early 2012 is light, with few pieces of major legislation before MPs. However, insiders say there are no plans for a vote for the next two years or even longer.

One pro-hunting Cabinet minister close to the Prime Minister told the Daily Telegraph he wanted a vote “as soon as we have a realistic chance of winning it.”

However, he added that there was little hope of such victory during this Parliament.

“We have to be realistic about the chances of winning a vote when you don’t have a Conservative majority and not all Conservative MPs support a repeal of the ban.”

Many traditional Conservative MPs oppose the ban but a group of Tories first elected last year is fighting to keep it.

The “Blue Foxes” group includes several women first elected last year as part of Mr Cameron’s drive to update his party’s image.

A senior Government source said the hunt vote has been “put on the backburner” for the foreseeable future.

The source said: “The Lib Dems are very clear where they stand on the whole thing, so there’s not much point in pushingthe issue. The next Parliamentary session is already full. There is not likely to be a vote before 2014 at the earliest.”

Despite the legal ban, hundreds of local hunts are expected to meet today, the busiest day of the hunting year.

The Countryside Alliance claims that more than a million people will attend over 300 hunts today. Campaigners say enforcing the hunt ban wastes police time, and suggest that many police forces now routinely turn a blind eye to breaches of the law.

Pro-hunting ministers are keen to avoid disappointing pro-hunt campaigners expecting an early vote on repeal.

Jim Paice, a Conservative minister at the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, has publicly backed today’s hunts.

“The current law simply doesn’t work,” he said. “I personally am in favour of hunting with dogs – and the Coalition Agreement clearly states that we will have a free vote on whether to repeal the Act when there is time in the Parliamentary calendar to do so.”

As befitted the 50th anniversary event the finale couldn’t have been more dramatic. Incessant and heavy rain completely changed the ground conditions and within the few hours between the morning and afternoons show jumping the going went from good to sticky. William said; “The conditions were against him and going into the arena I was feeling quite sick – Neuf Des Coeurs had three down and I had to go in there saying ‘believe in him’ but realistically thinking what were the chances of a clear round. I am so lucky to have him.” It was an impressive four-star debut for the New Zealand-bred Thoroughbred owned by Catherine Witt and procured just 18 months ago. “He is still green but is one of my big hopes for next year.”

A clear round from Andrew Nicholson and Nereo had put the pressure on the top placed four riders. Mary King and her homebred mare, Kings Temptress, owned by Derek Baden had one down while Andrew on second placed Avebury took out three poles to drop down the order to a final eighth place while the dream win for Caroline Powell (NZL) and Lenamore disappeared when the 15.3hh, 18-year-old had two poles down, but only dropped them one place to a final fourth.

Andrew and Deborah Sellars Spanish bred Nereo – by the Thoroughbred Fines out of a half bred mare by the Hanoverian Golfi – had to settle for the runner up slot. “Both my horses have done well and Nereo did a good job but William’s horse jumped immaculately,” said Andrew who thinks that this year’s Burghley was ‘one of the best’. “It’s been a great Burghley – I think cross-country day was a good day for the sport and there is always such a great crowd here – just look at them – despite the rain they stay to the bitter end.”

Burghley Horse Trials

Mary had done enough to take third place with Kings Temptress, by Primitive Rising, who won the award for the highest placed British-bred mare and Mary the prize as her breeder. “I am very proud of her,” said Mary who also finished 21st with Apache Sauce. “I had two experienced horses here and am chuffed to bits with them.”

It was also a dream result for New Zealand Burghley debutant Jonathan Paget (27) and Clifton Lush. Another clear round elevated them to a final fifth place – the pair was 35th after dressage – and they finished on their dressage score. The young New Zealander also finished in 12th place with Clifton Promise.

Leicestershire based Clea Phillips had another good Burghley result with Lead The Way who once again finished in sixth place and the pair was the third best British combination in a truly international competition. Lauren Shannon (24) also from Leicestershire proved that last year’s 12th place with Zero Flight – for which she won best first timer – was no fluke. One of the afternoon’s five clear show jumping rounds propelled them 11 places up the leader board after cross-country to a final ninth place and the prize for the best Under-25.

American Boyd Martin concluded his emotional Burghley journey with Neville Bardos with a final seventh place for the miracle horse that was pulled from a fatal fire just three months ago. British rider Tom McEwen might have been disappointed to take out three poles wwith Dry Old Party but his final 19th place meant the 20-year-old won the prize for the highest placed British first-timer as well as the HSBC training bursary for what was an impressive Burghley and four-star debut by the youngest rider on the start list.

Selena Masson

www.tweed-media.com

www.gunsonpegs.com

Winifred Coombe- Tennant and Gerald Balfour brother of  Arthur Balfour (Prime Minister from 1902-1905) agreed to selflessly fulfill this plan in the traditional manner. Convenient disguise for an affair as Winifred was married to her 60 year old husband at the time.

Augustus Henry Coombe- Tennant was born in 1913 a staunchly upper-middle class sort of Messiah. After Eton and Cambridge he joined the Welsh Guards and later on MI6 where he worked with Kim Philby.

Though his destiny perhaps didn’t map out as was hoped he did convert to Catholicism in later life and ended his earthly days as a monk at Downside Abbey.

It is a Frank Hall Hunt coat I have for sale, with the original tag inscribed Maj.A H Coombe-Tennant 1957. This was a couple of years before his conversion to catholicism. Who knows what stories this coat could tell. The buttons are inscribed JCBSC or HBSC the scrolling is very hard to read and is not a button I recognise.

This coat is for Sale for £400  from www.fieldandcountryantiques.co.uk

Measurements are as follows;

Chest 38ins

Shoulder 17 1/2ins

Sleeve 25ins

Length 36ins

Through ongoing negotiations with local police, visitors with Firearms Certificates (FAC) can trial rifles listed on their FAC on the Century Range under the guidance of appointed range instructors and exhibitors. Shotguns and air rifles will also be available to trial at the National Clay Shooting Centre and the Winans Range but will not require the same certification.

Unlike some shows that cater for all fieldsports, Bisley Live will focus exclusively on the needs of the shooting fraternity. Across the 3,000-acre Bisley camp, there will be more than 200 exhibitors showcasing the very latest guns, ammunition, clothing and every imaginable accessory. Retailers and manufacturers will have the option to exclusively hire lanes on the 300-yard rifle range or one of the clay shooting pods so that they can fully demonstrate the capabilities of their guns to visitors. No other game fair in the world offers this exciting facility.

There will also be numerous other features to entertain the thousands of visitors – a charity fashion show, gun dog demonstrations and talks with renowned deerstalkers will be taking place throughout the three-day event.

One of Britain’s best shots, sporting journalist Mike Yardley, is sitting on the advisory committee to help with planning the event. “The concept of Bisley Live is seemingly obvious – it’s amazing that it has not been done before,” he said, adding: “To create something like this specifically for sporting shooters is something that should have been done long ago. I am sure the inaugural event will attract enormous interest with many exhibitors and visitors. Even with prevailing economic conditions, to add a ‘try before you buy’ element into the equation is likely to make it all the more successful.”

For more information, visit: www.bisleylive.com or tel: 01892 519462. For regular updates on Bisley Live – follow us on Facebook and Twitter @Bisley_Live.

The aim of the Purdey Awards is to encourage entries from outstanding and imaginative shoot conservation projects designed to improve habitats for wild and/or reared game birds, and which can demonstrate how, over time, the entrant’s work has also benefited other species of wildlife, and enhanced the biodiversity of the shoot and surrounding land.
Entries are invited from individuals, syndicates, estates, farm shoots and wildfowling clubs from anywhere within the United Kingdom. All must adhere to the Code of Good Shooting Practice, but not be run purely as a commercial enterprise. Shoots letting a proportion of days to help defray costs are welcome.

Former entrants to the Purdey Awards, who were told their entry was submitted too early in their conservation project to judge results, but who can now demonstrate positive progress, are always welcome to re-enter. Former winners and shortlisted entrants may also re-enter, provided at least three years have elapsed since their previous entry, and that they can now show either a new project or clear onward progress and results.

An annual prize fund of £10,000 is shared between Gold, Silver and Bronze Award winners, plus Special Awards for outstanding examples of individual effort and/or dedication. There is no charge for entering. The shortlist is decided by the judging panel in June. Judges site visits take place in August and September.

Richard Purdey, who has organised the Awards since 1999, said:

“Entering is not difficult, and doing so is always useful as a self audit of progress on your shoot and conservation work – so it’s never time wasted. Anyone who feels they have something worth showing us I encourage to have a go.

As judges”, added Mr Purdey, “it is an honour for us every year to travel round the country meeting those who put so much into their shoots and conservation work, and to give our winners the recognition and reward they so richly deserve. Not least as the Awards enable us to sow the seeds of greater understanding by a wider public that if it weren’t for shooting there’d be precious little conservation”.

But Douglas Batchelor’s comments sparked outrage from hunt supporters. The League’s chief executive wrote a “blog” essay pondering whether David Cameron’s “Big Society” idea, where volunteers take on jobs previously done by the state, could mean an increased and official role for hunt monitors. Click here for more Those monitors, and others from different animal welfare organisations like the International Fund for Animal Welfare, have kept the issue of hunting in the public eye in the West. More than half the monitoring of hunts in Britain takes place in the region, and monitors regularly present video evidence to police and prosecutors with claims of illegal hunting.

Mr Batchelor said he wanted to see a similar situation to the enforcement of cruelty legislation on domestic animals, where the RSPCA regularly brings prosecutions against pet owners or farmers, particularly since cash-strapped police were already cutting back on enforcement of wildlife crime. “Those charged with managing police budgets can understandably be attracted by the notion that the work and costs associated with enforcement of wildlife crime legislation could in effect be delegated to voluntary sector organisations such as the League, the RSPB and the RSPCA,” he said.

“Superficially it sounds like the perfect ‘Big Society’ concept allowing the police to concentrate on what they are more familiar with and better trained for, and leaving the voluntary organisations to enforce welfare law. “There will be many in the hunting and shooting fraternity who will be horrified at the prospect of voluntary organisations taking on responsibility for policing their activities. Already we have seen questions in court about the methods used to gather evidence and the admissibility of that evidence in court. We have seen witnesses challenged on the basis they previously campaigned against the cruelty of hunting. “If local policing in response to local concerns is to be the way forward, the police are going to have to devote more, not less, resources to dealing with determined law breakers in the hunting community.

At the moment there is worrying evidence that far too many hunts are involved in deliberately illegal activities.” But the Countryside Alliance gave Mr Batchelor’s musings short shrift. Spokesman Tim Bonner said: “LACS is living in an alternative universe if it thinks that its rag-bag selection of animal rights activists are safe to monitor anything other than their own blood pressure. “The Government has made quite clear its concern about snooping and the surveillance state. Lurking in bushes filming people as they go about their legal activities is at best odd and at worst a form of harassment. “Hunts have effectively tested the law and policed themselves since the Act came into force in 2005 with such success that there have been only a tiny number of successful prosecutions. “The last thing stretched police budgets need is further police time and money wasted investigating the spurious allegations of the anti-hunt brigade.”