A TRADITION stretching back centuries is about to end.
The Colne Valley Beagles, like packs across the country, are using hounds on their series of Christmas hunt meetings for the last time.
The Beagles met at the Bull's Head pub in Blackmoorfoot on Saturday to use their pack of hounds to hunt hares in South Crosland.
But next year, the hares will be off limits for the hounds, following the Hunting Bill being forced through Parliament despite objections from the House of Lords.
This means that in February 2005 using hounds to hunt hares, deer or foxes will be illegal.
Stewart Shaw, master of the Colne Valley Beagles, said it was a major blow.
He said: "Life is difficult at the moment. They have made this law and we have to work with it somehow, or get it changed.
"We have no idea how our meets will work next year, but we shall endeavour to be legal. It is very, very sad."
Mr Shaw said the ban has been put in place by people who do not understand hunting.
He said: "We don't catch many hares and those we get are the sick, lame or lazy. If anything, it keeps a healthy population.
"It is a way of life which is unfashionable now. According to the law, we could shoot a lot of hares and drag them along for the hounds and that would be legal. But we can't hunt them with the dogs. There's no sense in it."
Mr Shaw claimed hunt meetings have come under increased scrutiny from the authorities since the Hunting Bill was passed.
He said: "People are inquiring about how we are operating now and it's not even illegal yet.
"The lengths the authorities will go to make an example of us is completely out of proportion with what we are doing."
The Beagles members have vowed to keep their meetings going, by laying artificial trails for hounds to follow.
Judith Milner, who is on the hunt's committee, said: "We aren't people who love killing, we just like watching the animals work.
"We have got to keep the hounds exercised. You can't make them into pets, they are working animals. They live in a pack and it would be difficult to seperate them.
"We will also be keeping the social side going."
Meryl Walmersley, secretary of the Beagles, said: "We are not going anywhere. We have too much to lose."
