Garthorpe racecourse

Garthorpe racecourse is situated 5 miles east of Melton Mowbray in Leicestershire on the B676 in Belvoir Hunt country at OS map grid reference SK 840 213. For those with satellite navigation, its postcode is LE14 2SJ. It is widely recognised as the finest point-to-point course in the UK, and also hosts other events such as the Belvoir Hunt team chase and hunter trials. Hunt-related events at Garthorpe are held by invitation of the Belvoir Hunt.

Who does what

The racecourse is managed by The Melton Hunt Club on behalf of landowner Buckminster Estates. MHC maintains the permanent infrastructure — track, fences and stewards' enclosure — while the committees who run each race-day are responsible for any temporary features such as signage and roped-off areas.
There are currently five race-days each year. The three hunts whose countries abut in Melton — the Belvoir, Cottesmore and Quorn — are each invited to organise one race-day. An adjacent hunt, currently the Meynell and South Staffordshire, is also invited to do so. The MHC itself also organises its own race-day.
The organisation of each day is largely the responsibility of the individual point-to-point committees. Each committee will set its own entry prices, delineate car parking areas, assign positions for trade stands and so on.

Trade stands

Suitable trade stands are welcome, but operators must apply in advance so that stand positions can be assigned and marked out before the race-day. Prospective stand operators should contact the appropriate point-to-point secretary:

Organiser	Contact
Belvoir	via website
Cottesmore	via website
Melton Hunt Club	via this website
Meynell and South Staffordshire	via website
Quorn	Liz Murfitt - 01509 853792

Because Garthorpe may be a unfamiliar environment for vendors who are normally market traders, a guide is available here (and in the Home page Downloads area) specifically for food or drink vendors and children's amusements operators. Prospective stallholders are strongly advised to read it as failure to comply may result on the day in their not being allowed to trade.

Satellite map

The satellite map shows Garthorpe racecourse in relation to Garthorpe village and the B676.. It can be zoomed in and out by dragging the slider (keeping the left mouse-button depressed) up or down the vertical rack on the map's left-hand side, or by clicking on the '+' (zoom in) and '—' (zoom out) buttons at the ends of the slider rack. The map can be panned up, down, left and right in several ways:

• by clicking on one of the four arrow buttons
• by dragging the map
• by dragging the mini-map
• by dragging the square in the mini-map's centre

If you want to pan a large distance (e.g. from Garthorpe to Sleaford), you will find it much quicker to pan using the mini-map's central square.
Passing your mouse cursor over a marker will cause a 'balloon' to open with more details of that point of interest.
If you click on a marker, a mini-window will open (it will replace any balloon) with a close-up of the area around the marker. The close-up may be a road map or a more detailed satellite map, depending on the type of marker. This mini-window can be panned by dragging and can be zoomed using '+' and '-' buttons similar to the large map, and can alternatively show a street map instead of the satellite map. To remove the mini-window, click on the 'X' in its top right-hand corner (it will also vanish if you move your mouse over another marker or click on a markerless area of the map).
To avoid clutter on the map in places where markers would otherwise jostle to be visible or alternatively would obscure too much of the map, some markers are only displayed when the map has been zoomed in or zoomed out sufficiently. For the time being, however, only one marker — Garthorpe racecourse itself — is displayable.
Lastly, please be patient as the map loads — there is a great deal going on behind the scenes to provide you with a unique way to see the Garthorpe racecourse and explore the surrounding country