A belated birthday gift arrived in the post last week. My friends know I am not a chocolates and gloves person, always preferring to give rather than to receive. When this gift arrived, sent to me by a very good friend of many years, I was surprised and delighted. The card said I thought this would be of more interest than chocolates! It was a copy of The Shooting Times and Country Magazine dated November 24-30, 1983, the cost then was just 60p. It was very different then compared to the same magazine today, full of adverts, articles and announcements – no hunting ban then, Parsons and Jack Russells were not KC registered and most interesting were the dozens of dogs of all ages offered for sale, from puppies to fully trained. No training days for people, what a turnaround from then to today where training ones dog has become a sport/activity in itself. There was one exception, which was a letter sent in by a reader singing the praises of a gundog training weekend with Jack Davey (spaniels) and Rubert Hill (all breeds). This made me smile and brought back memories as it was the same training weekend I had attended in 1980 at a lovely hotel at Ottery St Mary in Devon, with the added advantage of having Chris Sutcliff (retrievers) as a trainer. This 2-day course with training talks in the evening was the only training I could find before competing in AV working tests and AV field trials.
I was sent this copy of The Shooting Times as it had a photo of myself and my dog having made breed history in the UK winning the first ever Field Trial award – a 3rd on the 5th November at The Bristol and West Working Gundog Soc. Novice Trial, held at Brinslade in Wiltshire by kind permission of Mr Bruce Gauntlett. So enamoured with the breed that Bruce could not wait to get his first Chesapeake and has been in Chesapeakes ever since. Since then several people have come forward to train and successfully compete with their Chesapeakes in field trials, sadly for many years past no one has shown a competitive interest. I was delighted therefore to read that Irish Chesapeake Club member Mary Murray last Saturday with her 9-year-old Irish bred IR CH Riverrun Everybody’s Friend (IR CH Riverrun Away In A Hach x SH CH/IR CH Riverrun Caution To The Wind) placed 4th in The Wexford Retriever Gundog Club Novice Stake, run under RKC rules. This is the first Chesapeake to place in a field trial in Ireland.
After spending 4 very nice days at Builth Wells in the Stewards office for South Wales Kennel Club I was pleased to be told that next year the Club may again put Chesapeake classes on.
I have spent many years stewarding for South Wales, it is most notable that most of the stewards give up their time year after year to steward at our shows, most of these stewards are quite elderly. Most of the younger people I see stewarding enough times to go onto judges lists and are never seen stewarding again. It is aan asset to steward not a necessity. I look through our own judges list and ask how many of these people I have seen steward.
A long day stewarding again three breeds at Gundog Society Of Wales. We had Chesapeake classes with no CCs, 9 dogs entered, 2 were absent, judge was Mrs Sarah Sevastopulo. BOB, BD & BV Mahon-Hunns, Hunns & Newton’s SH CH Arnac Bay Huron At Bergelle JW; RD & BP Mahon-Hunns, Middleton & Heskin’s Susqudilla Yankee Shadow (imp USA); BB Watts’ CH Oakmarsh Freedom SGWC RATN; RBB Watts’ Oakmarsh Little Acorn JW RATN. Kirsty Watts and her team of Chesapeakes came 4th in the Breeders Competition.
Well done also to James Newton handling Ms Ann Mappin’s Gordon Setter SH CH Bryerdale Quantas (AI) winning Dog RCC.
Janet Morris
07739 592323
penrosechesapeakes@gmail.com