Suffolk trail hunt supporters gather for Hadleigh open day

Oli Beckerlegge greatly enjoys trail hunting - but he thinks that as a sport it is badly misunderstood.

Now his favourite pursuit is under threat. The Labour Party made a manifesto pledge to end trail hunting in the run-up to its election victory this year.  

Trail hunting involves laying a scent trail across the countryside which a pack of hounds and horse riders will follow - instead of following real animals.

It was created in the wake of a ban on fox hunting introduced in 2004 to enable hunts to continue while staying within the law.

Critics of the sport such as the League Against Cruel Sports claim that while drag hunting - which uses non-animal scent - very rarely results in animals being chased, trail hunting's record is much more problematic.

A rider at the Essex and Suffolk Hunt (Image: Nicola Riley)

Its critics claim that all too frequently animals are chased and sometimes killed by hounds and that hunts can skate along the edges of the current law.

But the British Hound Sports Association (BHSA) said the hunts adhered to a strict code of conduct and is warning that any ban on trail hunting would have a devastating impact on the countryside.

It is holding a National Trail Hunting Day tomorrow (Saturday, September 14), and is inviting the public and the media to come along and see what it does. Meets will be held at various sites across the country.

In Suffolk, the Essex and Suffolk Hunt will be meeting at Manor Farm, Semer, near Hadleigh, to show what the hunt is about.

It hopes that through transparency and education it can demonstrate that Labour has an "outdated" view of what happens.

Oli, who became joint master of the Essex and Suffolk Hunt in May, wants the event to change hearts and minds.

Twenty years on from the fox hunting ban, his hunt is still followed by anti-hunt protesters and animal cruelty monitors at every meet who search for breaches of the law. It is therefore subject to an exceptional amount of scrutiny, he said. 

"There have been 12,000 trail hunting days since the ban - since 2005 when it was banned - and we still get people - objectors - every single time we go out," he said. 

"I think there's a huge issue with class warfare and people think it's still a load of Hoorah Henrys blasting across the countryside."

But Oli, aged 37, said the perception is wide of the mark. "I manage a farm. I'm very much a normal guy who's very lucky to be able to help a hunt."

He doesn't own his own horse - and has to borrow one to participate in the hunt.

He moved down to Suffolk from his family home in Yorkshire to take up a job with Essex and Suffolk Hunt about 18 years ago.

Oli Beckerlegge back in 2011 when he worked at the Essex and Suffolk Hunt kennels in Lower Layham, near Hadleigh (Image: Simon Parker)He was there for six or seven years before moving to other employment. He now manages a farm contracting business near Bury St Edmunds.

He sees hunts as having the same importance to his community as a market has to a farmer. 

"It's a community spirit," he said. "You can go to to market and talk to anyone. I am a farmer from Yorkshire who has been here for 18 years. This is my home. I have been accepted. It's all because of hunting."

Oli has ridden horses all his life. "I enjoy riding horses for a purpose. Without having the trail hunting bond it does dissipate and the community dissipates. I love watching hounds work."

The trail hunt goes out with about 30 hounds - or 15 "couples" as the hunt community terms it.

Oli sees it as a way of life and hopes that the event tomorrow will alter perceptions.

"I am feeling frustrated and feeling like we are not being heard or listened to. It's something I have grown up being involved in. I'm the youngest of four children. I have hunted since I was born. I'm 37 years old and I would love when I have children for them to be involved in it," he said.

The BHSA - which has accredited 247 packs across England and Wales - said these provide jobs, protect the future of rare hounds, offer a fallen livestock service to farmers and maintain hundreds of miles of hedgerows, as well as planting new ones.

BHSA also said trail hunting "has a good track record of compliance with the Hunting Act 2004".

BHSA managing director Olly Hughes said: “Trail hunting is a legal, legitimate and well-regulated countryside activity that is conducted under a strict code of conduct and should not be subject to new legislation.

"Many thousands of people up and down the country enjoy trail hunting, in full compliance with the letter and the spirit of the law.

"If a ban on trail hunting were to be introduced it would have a devastating impact on rural communities, leading to the closure of kennels and the loss of the many jobs linked to trail hunting in often isolated areas where employment is scarce.

"A ban would tear apart the sense of community that trail hunts create.”

He added: “We are completely transparent about trail hunting and we invite people to come along to a trail hunt in their local area on 14 September and see for themselves.”

The Essex and Suffolk Hunt has invited the public to see what it does - inviting local MPs and the media to see a meet up close.

"It's the lack of insight from my point of view that it seems to be a very kneejerk reaction of: 'This is what we are doing,'" said Oli Beckerlegge. "We are trying to get people to understand from our point of view and have some education."  

Protests groups are expected to attend the event. Suffolk Action for Wildlife and North London Hunt Saboteurs have confirmed they will be there.

Anna Bye, chair of Suffolk Action for Wildlife, said: "We think trail hunting is a smoke screen for fox hunting and we want to see it banned."