THE depth of support for hunting in West Somerset was demonstrated on Saturday with a re-enactment in Minehead of a meet which took place exactly 50 years ago to the day.

Minehead Harriers and West Somerset Foxhounds held a joint meet at the Old Ship Aground harbourside pub.

Sixty riders from the two hunts rode with hounds from the Harriers through the town centre before the meet.

More than 200 people then attended the meet, including MP Tom King, West Somerset District Council chairman Cllr Jenny David and former Masters of Foxhounds Association chairman Captain Ronnie Wallace.

Mr King presented cheques for £649 each to the Minehead branch of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution, the Children's Hospice South West and the Devon Air Ambulance Trust.

The money was raised by a ball held for the first time this year as part of the two hunts' annual Dunster Country Fair, on Dunster Castle Lawns.

Saturday's meet also marked the 50th anniversary of one which took place on December 11, 1949, when the pub was known as the Pier Hotel.

On that occasion, it was hosted by licensees Bill and Bessie Davey, whose son and daughter-in-law Ernest and Jean Davey and grandson John Davey were present for the 1999 meet.

Mr King also presented the Davey family with a framed photograph of the 1949 meet, recently rediscovered by present-day licensees Tony and Sue Phillips.

Mr King told guests the occasion showed the importance of hunts such as the Harriers and Foxhounds to the social fabric of West Somerset.

He said it was a concept which people living in a more urban environment often found difficult to come to terms with.

A spokesman for the Harriers said: "It was a fantastic turnout.

"We were so pleased with the support we received from the townspeople, which shows the groundswell of public feeling behind our country way of life."

Our picture shows country fair ball committee chairman Anita Churchill and Mr King with cheque recipients, from the left, Philip Lunt of the air ambulance trust, Ryan Cove from the children's hospice and Minehead Lifeboat Station's Captain Bill McNab.