The winning Southern team
URC INTER AREA FINALS 2024
Reuben Cotbett, the individual winner and best newcomer
In second place Bucks area
Teams in the awards
1st place and winners of the Anglia Cup, Southern Area with 322 pts
2nd place and winners of the Bernard Hall Memorial Trophy Bucks Area with 280 pts
3rd place Midland Area with 276 pts
4th place following a run-off Hants & SW Area with 273 pts
3rd place Midlands area
The Awards
The Anglia Cup, first place, Southern Area
The Bernard Hall Memorial Trophy, runners-up, Bucks Area
The Atherbram Cup (highest individual), Reuben Corbett
The Shooting Times Trophy (individual runner-up), Rob Smallman
The Froud Trophy (highest placed newcomer), Reuben Corbett
The Casleton Trophy (for the highest placed member of the host Area), Steve Prosser.
4th place the Hants & SW team
On Sunday, 30th June Border Counties & Cotswold Area hosted the Inter Area Finals on the beautiful grounds of Shepherds Fold Farm at Snowshill near Broadway by kind permission of Terry and Maureen Booth.
The day was dry with enough cloud cover to make ideal conditions for running dogs. There were teams from all 9 Areas competing. Competitors, judges, helpers and spectators were provided with tea, coffee and bacon rolls on arrival by our caterer, Paul Ford, his sister Mary, her husband Dickie, together with helpers Julie and Ali.
There were 6 tests and the judges were Jayne Coley, Phil Bruton, Helen Goodwin, Lisa Harris, Reuben Mort and Nigel Probert. We were grateful that these 6 very experienced judges gave up their day to judge for us.
Test 1, judged by Jayne, was a double mark in a field of long grass with the shorter mark picked first.
Test 2, judged by Phil, was in a wood and comprised a mini drive and blinds over a ditch. The team picked the blinds followed by a dummy from the drive.
Test 3, judged by Reuben, also in woodland was a double blind with the added distraction of a rabbit meandering across in front of the dog prior to sending.
Test 4, judged by Lisa, involved a swim and comprised a mark in the lake, but the competitors had to pick one of 3 blinds first.
Test 5, judged by Helen, was a walked up in parkland where the grass was long. There were 3 memory marks thrown as the team walked, followed by 3 marks in front. The marks were picked followed by the memory marks.
Test 6, judged by Nigel, again on parkland in long grass was 3 areas of blinds and each competitor was asked to pick 2 blinds from different areas.
We were extremely lucky to have a great team of helpers, Steve, Marcus, Sue, Katie, Dave, Annie, Alex, Bill, Steve, Nicky, Zoey, Pete, Betsy, Sue, Karen, Luke, Dave, Kay, Lauren, Mark, Jon, and Debbie as thrower, placers and guns on these tests who did a fabulous job. This enabled each team to have a committee member as a steward to guide them around the tests and as a result the tests were completed by 12.30pm.
The Teams in the awards and the judges
We were then treated to a super lunch cooked by Paul Ford and his team of helpers followed by a delicious selection of homemade cakes – thank you Julie, Michelle and Lauren.
The scores having been added up there was a run-off for the 4th placed team between Hants and SW and BC&C which our host, Terry Booth, came to watch and he then presented the awards.
Individual second place Rob Smallman
The committee of BC&C presented Mr and Mrs Booth with a tree and a bouquet of flowers as a token of their appreciation. Gerge Hodgson Field Sports Photography took photographs of the day and these were available via committee member Alice Hocking and BC&C’s social media page. The event was very generously sponsored by BASC, Skinner’s Pet Foods, Muntjac Trading, Twice Brewed Twines, Sporting Saint and Acme whistles who donated a silver sleeved whistle. This was raffled, raised £254 and was won by helper and BC&C member Dave Miller.
PLEASE NOTE; The 2025 Area Finals will be held on Sunday 6th July at Windsor Great Park hosted by Bucks.