We were blessed with very good weather. Our Judges were Hilary Smith and Helen Cripps.
We ran two tests first, one with each judge; we then collected back in the yard and divided up for another two tests. There was a short lunch break with a fifth test afterwards.
Details of the tests were as follows:-
Test 1 was judged by Hilary. This was a seen and a long blind, with the blind collected first. The blind was through a gateway and up a slight incline, and the seen was on short grass through an area of long grass.
Test 2 was Water judged by Helen. Intermediates had a seen over a track, over water, over an island, over a ditch, and onto an area of short grass, with a shot. Veterans had a seen on the island. Note, we were careful that the veterans did this test after all the intermediates had completed, to avoid the intermediates crossing the island after dummies had been on it.
Test 3 was judged by Hilary, and was a blind in an area of long grass with a shot. Intermediates had to choose their route; either over a jump or across water, and perhaps crossing an island; this was the straight line! Veterans had a blind on the island, i.e. no jump. Note again, veterans did this after all intermediates had completed.
Test 4 was a 'drive' judged by Helen. Two dogs were in line. There were three guns fired in turn. All the guns were very accurate and there were a number of birds on the ground. The judge specified which dog had which retrieve. The dogs changed places and the drive was repeated. The birds were well spread out. Basically, a left and right retrieve, but a number of the competitors had difficulty with this exercise, picking the wrong bird!
There was a half an hour lunch break, and then:-
Test 5 was a 2 dog walk-up judged by both judges. The guns walked in line; the gun on the left of the line shot a bird which landed out of sight over the brow, and the gun on the right shot a rabbit which was unseen but in the hedge some distance ahead.
We were very lucky to have a lot of helpers, all volunteers, which made the drive possible. We are very grateful to our guns Adrian Phillips, Craig Gardner, John Harris and Bob Sweet. Also to our stewards Mary Valentine and Hilary Handley, and to our caterer Jill Gardner. Aileen Jones provided general help running the day, not least with the scoring. We are also grateful to our two very kind and considerate judges who gave up their day to be with us. As always we thank Skinners for their sponsorship.
The awards were announced after tea and cakes, and the day finished around 3pm.
Intermediate Awards
| Position | Name | Dog Breed/Sex | Dog Name |
|---|
| 1st |
Mr G Lambert |
Lab B |
Leaworthy Jenny of Wickmoor |
| 2nd |
Miss M Cox |
Lab B |
Kenxiam Indian Sunset of Wickmoor |
| 3rd |
Miss M Cox |
Lab B |
Cynhinfa Kelly of Wickmoor |
| 4th |
Mrs F Spencer |
Lab B |
Crystalstream Black Velvet |
| CoM |
Mrs V Emms |
Lab B |
Buffskin Zelda of Alvonoak |
Veteran: There were no awards made.
