Coursing coverage from a different era
RIGHTLY seen as barbaric nowadays, rabbit and hare coursing was once a staple pastime in Barnsley.
A quick delve into the Barnsley Chronicle archives shows that it was routinely rounded up in the sports section of the paper from the turn of the 20th century and into the 1920s.
The blood sport was seen as a sporting bedfellow alongside the much more civilised knur and spell.
It got the same amount of column inches as the likes of boxing, pigeon racing and bowls. The events were regularly held on the former Queen’s Ground, now where the Metrodome is, and matches for the price of up to £50 would take place.
By the 1920s, letters of objection were featuring in the same pages but it was not completely banned by 2005.
Its popularity had begun to fade due to the emergence of greyhound racing, which still offered the gambling thrill, without animals actually getting hurt.
A revamped bid by the government to crackdown on illegal activity was launched earlier this year and promised tougher punishment for those caught.