To describe The Greyhound and the Hare as ‘a book about coursing’ would be like describing the Mona Lisa as ‘a painting of an Italian woman’. It is so so much more than that writes Floyd Amphlett.
Lovingly compiled by my dear friend Charles Blanning, supported by the National Coursing Club is THE record of the history of hare coursing in Britain. At face value, that might not seem entirely relevant to anyone whose interest extends no further than the owners bar at their local track or to any track enthusiast who hasn’t stood on a rain lashed field and watched the ultimate canine duel of guts, speed and endurance.
But even to someone who has only occasionally dipped their toes in the ocean that is British coursing, having attended only one Waterloo Cup and a smattering of club meetings, you cannot help feel overwhelmed with the history and relevance of the book. The figures are astonishing tracing back to the first coursing club at Swaffham in 1776. The formation of the National Coursing Club in 1858. The fact that at one stage there were 1,168 coursing clubs operating in Britain with the result of the Waterloo Cup, watched by a bigger crowd than the FA Cup Final receiving page one coverage on the The Times newspaper.
There is a brief delve into the origins of early track racing, an industry that could never have been conceived without hare coursing. Irish, Australian and American track racing all have their origins of the breed firmly on the English coursing fields. There are some amazing photographs and detailed research into the origins of track racing in the UK that was entirely new to me. (I only discovered in the blurb that the Star’s former coursing correspondent, the said Charlie Blanning, is an award winning student from Christ’s College, Cambridge!)
This is a £60 book that stands alone as a piece of artwork, let alone the many thousands of hours that have gone into its compilation. It would grace the sturdiest coffee table in any palace or stately home. It really is magnificent; I could spend hours just looking at the photographs.
There have only been 1,000 printed, and worldwide, every single copy will be treasured.
Congratulations to all associated with it.
