It will be a fond “tally-ho” to the Pendle Forest and Craven Hunt harrier hounds this summer when they move to new kennels near Gargrave.

The hunt is giving up its tenancy of the current kennels on the Gisburne Park Estate, where the hounds have been kept and trained for 62 years.

New purpose-built accommodation for the 30 couples of harriers – 19 of which are national champions – is being built at the Coniston Hotel, at Coniston Cold, and will be completed by mid-summer.

“The hounds are, in fact, coming home,” said Tom Bannister, managing director of the Coniston Hotel and one of the masters of the hunt.

“The Pendle Forest and Craven Hunt used to be two separate hunts, with the Pendle hounds kept at Gisburn and the Craven hunt hounds kept at Gargrave, so really they’re on their way back.”

The two hunts amalgamated in 1947 and meet twice a week during the season.

Locals travelling the road past the kennels between Gisburn and Bolton-by-Bowland will still have a few months to watch huntsman Richard Lloyd exercising his hounds daily with the assistance of kennel girl Ruth Sheperton.

Often seen on his bike during the summer, Mr Lloyd takes the pack along the road. When a car approaches, the whole pack obediently moves to the side to allow the vehicle to pass.

Similarly, anyone who has seen him take the hounds for a dip in the Ribble at Mill Bridge will have witnessed a spectacle of unparalleled obedience, with no hound entering the water until Mr Lloyd issues the command.

“I’ll be taking them down to the river again when the weather warms up a bit,” he said. “It’s a bit cold at the moment for the puppies. When we go over to Coniston Hall I’ll be taking them down to the lake for a swim.”

Mr Bannister said the public would be able to visit the new kennels at the Coniston Hotel to see the hounds once they moved.

The last hunt of the season set off from the kennels at Gisburn on Saturday.