The Wynnstay Hunt on bloodbusiness.info

One of the country's most notorious hunts and the businesses that support and promote it

Based near Wrexham, the Wynnstay Hunt is one of the UK's most lawbreaking hunts, regularly chasing and killing foxes. Many of its members and supporters have faced legal action, and the hunt is renowned for the violence of its staff and supporters towards monitors and sabs.

Yet this notorious hunt is going out hunting several times a week.

In this article Protect the Wild highlights recent incidents that make this hunt one of the worst in the country, then lists some of the businesses that enable the Wynnstay by hosting the hunt or promoting it. All these businesses feature on our bloodbusiness website (a database of businesses that support hunting with hounds and/or the shooting of birds and mammals).

Hunting foxes and blocking badger setts

Protect the Wild's annual report, A Case for a Proper Ban on Hunting, revealed that the Wynnstay was caught hunting at least 22 foxes and killing at least three more foxes during the 2023/24 ‘season’. These figures will be a minimum.

Its criminality is so well-known that the hunt has been given a top three spot on Chris Packham and the Hunt Saboteurs Association's top 20 worst hunting crimes. Packham and the HSA have released a reel with footage of hunt members interfering with badger setts. They explained:

"Blocking badger setts comes as second nature for the Wynnstay Hunt. 'Earth stopping' before hunting day ensures that the fox has nowhere to hide. Members of this hunt have been caught again and again by sabs."

Timeline of court appearances

The list of Wynnstay court appearances over just the last two years is astonishing. Men linked to the Wynnstay have appeared in court charged under the Hunting Act, the Protection of Badgers Act, and for harassment and hate crimes.

Court appearances are as follows:

• November 2024: Wynnstay terrierman Ryan Brennan pleaded guilty to interfering with a badger sett in Shropshire in January 2024. Blocking badger setts is illegal. Brennan was given a ten-month sentence, suspended for one year.

• July 2024: Security guard Anthony Williams, who worked for the hunt, pleaded guilty in court of racially abusing a hunt saboteur, which is a hate crime. He was one of the Wynnstay’s hired thugs during the incident on 6 January 2024.

• December 2023: Ex-huntsman Chris Woodward was found guilty of hunting an animal with dogs. The hunter said that the fox chase was “accidental”, but the prosecutor stated: “It was a thrill, an opportunity, and you allowed them to pursue the fox.”

• August 2023: Woodward pleaded guilty to interfering with a badger sett near Malpas, north Wales. The guilty plea came after the Hunt Saboteurs Association (HSA) released footage in February of that year, showing two men escaping on a quad bike after they were confronted by sabs.

• July 2023: Woodward pleaded guilty to causing intentional harassment, alarm or distress, an offence under the Public Order Act. The hunter rode his horse at a Cheshire (Borderland) Monitors volunteer, threatening to kill him, during a fox hunting meet on 7 January 2023.

• June 2023: Ian Jones (whose Clean Ian cleaning business features in our list of companies supporting the Wynnstay - see below) was handed an 18-month conditional discharge after harassing a Cheshire Borderland Monitors member. Jones continually got in the monitor’s face, obstructing her and performing the Nazi salute repeatedly. He was charged by police of using “threatening or abusive words or behaviour that would cause harassment, alarm or distress to his victim”.

• December 2022: Woodward narrowly escaped being convicted under the Hunting Act. He was found not guilty of illegal hunting, but only after the Crown Prosecution Service dropped a monitor’s video from the evidence bundle at the last minute. At the same time, Woodward was on trial for another incident of illegal hunting after North Wales Police officers also witnessed Woodward chasing a fox on a different date. But he was found not guilty of this charge, too.

• October 2022: Jamie Barnes and Ben Davies were convicted for digging out a badger sett the day before the Wynnstay Hunt were planning to meet. The court was told the hunt had asked Barnes to “get a rogue fox” ahead of its meet.

Businesses supporting the Wynnstay

The Wynnstay's reputation has hit rock-bottom, and Cheshire Borderland Monitors has stated that the hunt is “haemorrhaging support and land to hunt on”, but businesses are still supporting it. They provide the Wynnstay with land to hunt on, venues to fundraise in, and platforms to be promoted on. These businesses include hotels, pubs, magazines, photographers, estate owners and farmers, and all the ones listed below are listed on our bloodbusiness website.

We haven't yet listed every venue that enables the Wynnstay, of course, but more information is sent to us every week. Landowners in particular should note that they can be charged under Section 3 of the Hunting Act, which states: “A person commits an offence if he knowingly permits land which belongs to him to be entered or used in the course of the commission of an offence under Section 1 [hunting a wild mammal with dogs]."

Adrefelyn Farm (Clwyd): A producer of beef, the farm is used for Wynnstay meets.

Brynkinalt Estate (Clwyd): In September 2024 the estate hosted a photoshoot for Rake Magazine – for a feature on the Wynnstay Hunt!

Bryn Y Pys Estate (Denbighshire): The Rosselis, owners of the estate, support the Wynnstay Hunt and (we are told) often host them on their land.

Carden Park Hotel (Cheshire): According to the business, "Carden Park’s 1000 acre estate is the ultimate expression of escapism." The Wynnstay booked the Carden for a hunt fundraiser in November 2024.

Claypits Farm (Clwyd): This dairy farm allows the hunt to meet on its land.

Cloy Bank Farm (Clwyd): A dairy farm with equestrian facilities, monitors found the Wynnstay meeting on the premises in November 2024.

Gerwyn Fechan (Denbigh): This area of land near Wrexham is owned by Stanley Machin, and is regularly hunted by the Wynnstay. Machin also owns land at the Cloy Bank Farm (see above).

Manor Farm (Cheshire): Part of the Daresbury Estates, Manor Farm is owned by Peter Greenall (Lord Daresbury). The farm is a regular meet of the Wynnstay. At its opening meet in October 2024 (image above), Cheshire Borderland Monitors reported that after leaving the farm the hunt chased a fox and a hound was hit on the road by a car.

Peter Tavy Inn (Devon): The Peter Tavy Inn “is a charming 15th century pub in the pretty village of Peter Tavy on the western flanks of Dartmoor”. Like so many pubs in this part of the world, they extend a welcome to walkers, cyclists – and hunts. The pub hosted a joint supper for the Spooners and West Dartmoor Hunt and the Wynnstay Hunt in March 2024.

Rhug Estate (Denbighs): An organic meat farm with a cafe and online shop, the 12,000 acre farm is owned by Lord Newborough. He hosted the Wynnstay on Rhug in February 2024. During the meet, sabs reported damage to their vehicles, as well as illegal hunting.

Sansaw Estate (Shrops): “With 120 tenanted cottages, an award-winning business park and progressive dairy, all set within 1,800 hectares of managed Shropshire countryside, Sansaw offers a holistic vision for rural living and working.” Sansaw’s managing director James Thomson often rides with Wynnstay, and the estate hosts the North Shropshire Hunt.

Stanwardine Hall (Shropshire): Operating as a dairy farm, Stanwardine Hall is a regular meet of Wynnstay. Monitors and sabs have found the hunt blatantly hunting here.

Wolvesacre Hall (Shrops): The Hall has been used as a meet for the Wynnstay, including in September 2024.

Despite the clear evidence of lawbreaking, a number of photographers promote the Wynnstay including:

Helen Baly Photography (Shrops): A portrait and wedding photographer, Baly is practically the Wynnstay’s ‘official photographer’ and was even featured in a recent Wynnstay magazine.

Nigel Gidney Photography (Dorset): Former Marine Nigel Gidney is “a Dorset-based photographer specialising in rural sports and country life.” He loves to take photos of different hunts, including the Wynnstay.

N P Shaw Photography (Derbys): Shaw's website features photos of the Wynnstay, as well as other notorious hunts.

Peter Nixon Photo (Online): Nixon has been Horse and Hound’s retained photographer since 2013. A page on his website titled ‘Hunting’ has galleries of a huge number of hunts including the Blackmore and Sparkford Vale, Kimblewick, Ledbury, United Pack, and Wynnstay.

Other businesses supporting the Wynnstay include:

Bangor-on-Dee Racecourse (Clwyd): The relationship between the racecourse and the Wynnstay is longstanding and reflected in the name of a restaurant at the course and the numerous shows and events the Wynnstay holds there.

Clean Ian (Herefordshire): "Give your home a fresh look. Touch, see, smell and feel the difference”, says the website of Ian ‘Clean Ian’ Jones. Jones is a staple follower of many hunts. He was charged in June 2023 by Cheshire Police with “threatening or abusive words or behaviour that would cause harassment, alarm or distress” for giving repeated Nazi-style ‘seig heil’ salutes to a female member of the Cheshire Borderland Monitors

From the Horsebox (Online): A podcast series on Apple (which we won’t be linking to) coming out of Wrexham and the heart of Wynnstay Hunt country. The podcast features a ‘bonus’ episode on something called ‘Strictly Wynnstay’.

Rake Magazine (London): Rake says that it is “the modern voice of classic elegance and the champion of discreet luxury, providing the world’s finest luxury menswear and daily editorial.” It also states that it has "exclusive collaborations with the most brilliant artisans and brands in the world.” Why it would dirty itself with a photoshoot (for an editorial?) of one of the Country’s most unpleasant hunts is anyone’s guess…

Thank you to the monitors, sabs, and members of the public!

None of us would know about these connections were it not for the courageous monitors, sabs, and members of the public, who doggedly report on the Wynnstay. Protect the Wild is extremely grateful for their work and for the information they publish and send us. Without them, these patterns of lawbreaking and support would remain hidden.

We have had many hundreds of suggestions for listings since we launched bloodbusiness.info in July, but we are only just getting started! We have already listed well over 700 businesses and are now able to put together articles looking at specific hunts like this.

The bloodbusiness website could make for depressing reading, but that’s not how we see it. As well as highlighting which businesses are keeping hunts and the shooting industry going, it also empowers all of us to think carefully about how and where we spend our money. As we say, it is designed to help us all make informed choices about our spending.

If you would like to suggest a business for listing on our site, please let us know about it using the form here.

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