The hunting museum, a Mecca for hunting folk in the Melton Carnegie Museum at Melton Mowbray, was relaunched this week by Baroness Mallalieu, president of the trustees and of the Countryside Alliance. The gallery (0116- 305 3860; www.leics.gov.uk/meltonmuseum) has been completely refurbished by Leicestershire County Council, aided by a donation of £5,000 from the trustees. Items on display include historic cine-film of hunting scenes in Leicestershire and superb examples of the works of the county’s major sporting artist, John Ferneley (above), plus a comprehensive library of hunting books and archives of diaries. The original museum opened 10 years ago, made possible with a donation of £100,000 from hunting people, plus £500,000 from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF).

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Four years ago, a £969,000 HLF grant enabled the size of the museum to be doubled, with a gallery devoted to rural issues. ‘We are thrilled that so much progress has been made, and we hope the refurbished gallery will receive many more visits from hunting people from all over the world eager to study the history of their sport,’ says chairman of the trustees Michael Clayton.