Blencathra Foxhounds’ traditional Boxing Day gathering in Keswick could be cancelled this year after a leading huntsman was convicted of encouraging illegal fox hunting.
Mark Hankinson, director of the Masters of the Foxhounds Association, told his members that trail hunting could be used a “smokescreen” for hunting foxes, which was outlawed in England and Wales by the 2004 Hunting Act.
Last month Hankinson was fined £3,500 at Westminster Magistrates’ Court after saboteurs leaked footage of his webinar to police and the media.
Now anti-hunt protesters in Cumbria are planning to write to Keswick Town Council, demanding they write in turn to the local Foxhounds group asking them not to come to the Market Square on Boxing Day.
If the council votes to do so, it could mean the end of a tradition dating back over 200 years.
Tony Locke, a member of Cumbria Hunt Watch, said: “Supporters argue that it is a tradition that needs to be upheld, but the fact is hunting is illegal and it’s time we stopped glorifying it.
“The council can’t ban them, but the Foxhounds themselves have always said that, if asked, they will stop coming to Keswick on Boxing Day.”
The latest move comes after members of the National Trust voted to ban trail hunting on National Trust land last week. Trail hunting licences for Cumbria-based hunts, including the Blencathra Foxhounds, have already been suspended on land owned by the Lake District National Park.
Allan Todd, a former Green Party councillor in Keswick and a supporter of the anti-hunt protesters, said: “Up until now our appeals to the council have fallen on deaf ears, but we’ll be writing to them again and this time the weight of evidence surely means they have to act.”
Members of the Blencathra Foxhounds meet outside the King’s Arms pub in the Market Place on Boxing Day morning before setting off on the John Peel hunt, named after the 19th century Caldbeck huntsman whose exploits are immortalised in song.
The annual event sees the hounds proceed through the town, before following an aniseed trail across the fells. In recent years, the event has seen clashes between hunting enthusiasts and protesters.
The town council has voted down proposals to write to the Foxhounds on two previous occasions, although the last time the matter was decided by a single casting vote.
Keswick mayor Alan Dunn said: “I can’t comment on the latest letter, because we haven’t received it yet. But I would be reluctant to lose another traditional custom.
“The Blencathra Foxhounds is a legal organisation, the Boxing Day meet in Keswick is purely ceremonial, and people at the hospital love to see the hounds as they go by.”
Cllr Dunn added that Blencathra itself was outside of the town council’s remit.
Representatives of the Blencathra Foxhounds have been contacted for comment.
