Well we did it.
A new weekend of shows for East Anglia was the plan and that’s exactly what happened on the 13th & 14th of October 2018. Storm Declan did it’s best to blow us off the map, however we battened down the fixtures and plowed on. From arrival on Thursday through to Saturday we were treated to high winds with some gusts of up to 80mph, Sunday the wind dropped but the rain arrived with a vengeance. It truly was an initiation test for us as organisers due to the weather conditions and we thank you all for your understanding when our catering plans had to change.
A huge thank you to all those who answered my plea for judges earlier this year when we had hoped to run the show in June, thank you for your patience whilst a different venue and a new date were finalized. Our venue is a 30 acre site with room for unlimited camping, ample room for exercising dogs and because it is privately owned is ours for sole use.
The venue was booked from Thursday to Monday to allow campers to arrive from Thursday and leave on Monday therefore alleviating the rush to travel home on Sunday. We hope everyone that came loved it as much as we did.
I would like to thank Jacky Roddick who was unfaltering in her support to the show but especially to me. Jacky was my mentor for the weekend and without her knowledge and practical skills, I would probably have still been putting up rings on Saturday, as it was with the help of Jacky and Audrey Johnson they were up in record time. Thanks go to all our show team who worked hard leading up to, during and after the show. There are so many jobs that need doing and everyone pitched in and worked tirelessly right to the end.
Our small team worked tirelessly to provide a show that we as competitors would like to attend. We had large rings with plenty of space around them. Tracy Ansell suggested we be “forward thinking” in our approach to stays and rather than a stay ring have a straight line. This appeared to work well and stays seemed a lot calmer with as far as I am aware no incidents.
Thanks go to our Chief Stay Stewards; Vince Winyard and Kathy Killick for manning our new style stay ring. To our judges, stewards, scent decoys, stay stewards for giving your time in what turned out to be the most testing of weather conditions, we truly appreciated it. Thank you to Richard Nicholls, my sister Lucy and her partner Kay for carrying out the role of parking stewards over the two days. Thanks to those who manned the gate, no mean feat as the gate always had to be manned when not locked. Kate Williams led the “clearing up team” dismantling rings and ensuring that the field was cleared in record time on Sunday. Lucy and Kay you were absolute stars, whatever was asked of you was done. You were there from Thursday until the van was unloaded on Monday, we couldn’t have done it without you both especially as you do not compete and came to help because you are my family.
To you the competitors we hope you loved the venue, the show and that you will be back next year. Well done to all our winners, we hope you loved the prizes donated by the Howl Emporium and Allsorts for Dogs plus the lovely biscuits from Bamboozle Bakery. Thank you for leaving the venue clean and tidy.
We were made aware that there was a rumor that we were moving our dates to July in 2019 and going to the Plantation Park Venue in Bloefield. We are NOT, we will be returning to this venue from Thursday 10th of October until Monday 14th October. The shows will take place on Saturday 12th October and Sunday 13th October 2019.
If anyone would like to offer to judge for us, please get in touch. We offer a weekend of free camping, excellent food and a happy relaxed atmosphere. Can’t guarantee the weather though!
Christine Bowles