182 COURSING 



ALTCAR COURSING CLUB 



Although it would seem that at the beginning of the 

 present century some of the southern and eastern counties 

 stood first in the coursing world, it has long been a recognised 

 fact that Lancashire holds the pride of place, and at the 

 present time we find the two most important clubs of the 

 kingdom Altcar and Ridgvvay with their coursing grounds 

 only twenty miles apart, and both situated near the coast-line 

 of Southern Lancashire. The former club * was established in 

 the year 1825 by Viscount Molyneux, on his father's property 

 near Liverpool,' and from that date to the present time the 

 association has continually gained in importance, whilst 'its 

 influence upon coursing has been an ever-increasing quantity.' 

 The last sentence describes in a few words the position of the 

 Altcar Club with regard to the rest of the coursing world, and 

 although the words quoted are Mr. Harold Brocklebank's (the 

 Honourable Secretary of the Altcar Club) and not mine, I 

 can testify that they exactly bear out the general feeling with 

 regard to Altcar which is held by coursing men who are not 

 fortunate enough to be members of the premier association. 



Writing of Altcar historically, I must dip into Mr. Brockle- 

 bank's interesting volume on the doings of his club, and, 

 following the sentence about Viscount Molyneux, I must note 

 his remarks that : 



At the first meeting of the club the members acted as umpires 

 for each other, but last season (probably 1827) when a cup was run 

 for, a regular tryer was employed. The members dine together on 

 the first day of the meeting at the Waterloo Hotel, Liverpool, when 

 the matches for the cup and other sports are arranged. The hares 

 are abundant, and the noble Earl of Sefton appears gratified when the 

 sport is good. There are two meetings each season, the first in the 

 early part of November and the last in the early part of February. 

 The club consists of twenty members, and four honorary members. 



It will be seen from the above that in some particulars 

 there has been little change, for the members still dine 



