'We are hunting people'

James Andrews, who is moving from the South and West Wilts to become master and huntsman of the Cotswold on 1 May, is the fourth generation of his family to hunt a pack of hounds

- Tessa Waugh

IN some families, hunting runs so deep that it is passed down without fail through the generations. James Andrews is the fourth generation of his family to hunt a pack of hounds of some variety or another. His father, grandfather and great-grandfather were all masters of hounds; his brother, Rupert, is master of the Devon and Somerset Staghounds, and James has hunted hounds for much of his adult life.

At the end of this season, he will complete 13 seasons as master and huntsman of the South and West Wilts (SWW). He is nearing his mid-fifties and an outsider might see this as the time to bring his hunting career to a close. But James has no plans to stop and is off to hunt the Cotswold next season.

There is something mildly bionic about the man who, unlike many fellow amateur huntsmen, has continued to work alongside his duties as MFH. At the SWW, he commuted to the family firm in Carmarthenshire three days a week and hunted five days a fortnight. A gruelling schedule, but he will continue to do so next season.

The question, “When did you start thinking you would like to hunt a pack of hounds?” is met with mild impatience.

“It’s something we have always done, so it was a matter of fact,” he says stoutly. “We are hunting people.”

Saying that, James broke the mould by deviating away from beagling. He grew up hunting with his father with the Glyn Celyn Beagles and hunted them as well, but it was on Exmoor that he had his grounding in foxhunting.