The Pytchley with Woodland Hunt is an organisation formerly based near the

Northamptonshire Northamptonshire (; abbreviated Northants.) is a county in the East Midlands of England. In 2015, it had a population of 723,000. The county is administered by two unitary authorities: North Northamptonshire and West Northamptonshire. It is ...

village of

Pytchley Pytchley is a village and civil parish in Northamptonshire, England, three miles south-west of Kettering and near the A14 road. At the time of the 2011 census, the parish's population was 489 people. The village has a Church of England Primar ...

, but since 1966 has had kennels close to

Brixworth Brixworth is a large village and civil parish in West Northamptonshire, England. The 2001 census recorded a parish population of 5,162, increasing to 5,228 at the 2011 census. The village's All Saints' Church is of Anglo-Saxon origin. Loca ...

. The Pytchley country used to include areas of the

Rockingham Forest Rockingham Forest is a former royal hunting forest in the county of Northamptonshire, England. It is an area of some lying between the River Welland and River Nene and the towns of Stamford and Kettering. It has a rich and varied landscape, wit ...

but was split to form the

Woodland Pytchley Hunt The Woodland Pytchley Hunt is a foxhound pack based in Northamptonshire. The Pytchley Hunt country used to include areas of the Rockingham Forest but was split to form the Woodland Pytchley Hunt. Country The Woodland Pytchley hunt country stretch ...

. Today, it covers an area of western and central Northamptonshire characterised by rolling hills, hedgerows and small areas of woodland.

History

1635 – a pack at

Althorp Althorp (popularly pronounced ) is a Grade I listed stately home and estate in the civil parish of Althorp, in West Northamptonshire, England of about . By road it is about northwest of the county town of Northampton and about northwest of c ...

was well established. 1750 – the Pytchley Club was formed. 1790 – A set of eight hunting prints depicting the great Pytchley hunt, published by the engraver

Francis Jukes Francis Jukes (1745–1812) was a prolific engraver and publisher, chiefly known for his topographical and shipping prints, the majority in aquatint. He worked alongside the great illustrators of the late eighteenth century. He contributed numerou ...

after

Charles Loraine Smith Charles Loraine Smith or Charles Loraine (1 April 1751 – 24 August 1835) was a sportsman, artist and politician. He inherited his family seat in Enderby, Leicestershire while still a boy. He was a keen horseman and his paintings of animals are ...

. This set is the only visual record of the hunt led by the celebrated huntsmen Dick Knight. At that time there existed a great rivalry between the Quornites and the Pytchley followers. The prints follow the various mishaps and eventual triumph of Dick Knight. Knight used three horses during the course of the run in order to achieve his victory. 1819–1873 – the Althorp and Pytchley countries were hunted by one pack with a second pack established at

Brigstock Brigstock is a village and civil parish in the English county of Northamptonshire. Administratively it is part of North Northamptonshire. From 2001 to 2011, the parish population increased from 1,329 to 1,357. Toponymy The villages name origi ...

and until 1920 the master of the Pytchley was in charge. LordAnnaly MasterOf PytchleyHunt ByLynwoodPalmer

Early 1900s – The Padua scarlet was officially adopted by hunt staff and masters under Lord Annaly (1857–1922), Master 1902–1914. 1931 – Lord Spencer, Colonel J. Lowther, Mr Samuel Lloyd and Captain Stopford-Sackville drew up an agreement to separate the Woodland Pytchley from the Pytchley. 1966 – The kennels moved from the heart of Brixworth village to the present site. The former kennels in the centre of Brixworth were located on kennel Terrace. 2005 – Traditional fox hunting is prohibited by the Hunting Act 2004.

After the Hunting Act

Although "hunting wild mammals with a dog" was made unlawful in

England and Wales England and Wales () is one of the three legal jurisdictions of the United Kingdom. It covers the constituent countries England and Wales and was formed by the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. The substantive law of the jurisdiction is Eng ...

by the

Hunting Act 2004 The Hunting Act 2004 (c 37) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which bans the hunting of most wild mammals (notably foxes, deer, hares and mink) with dogs in England and Wales, subject to some strictly limited exemptions; the ...

, which came into effect in 2005, a number of exemptions stated in Schedule 1 of the 2004 Act permit some previously unusual forms of hunting wild mammals with dogs to continue, such as "hunting... for the purpose of enabling a bird of prey to hunt the wild mammal".Stephen Moss
The banned rode on: Eighteen months ago hunting was banned. Or was it?
from ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' dated 7 November 2006, at guardian.co.uk, accessed 29 April 2013

External links

References

{{reflist, 30em History of Northamptonshire Sport in Northamptonshire Fox hunts in the United Kingdom Fox hunts in England