2024 Champ Show, Autumn Garden Party & Open Show

Three days of Shows, Working Events & Fun Activities & Games

with Camping,  Carting, Health Testing, Shopping, Breed, Rescue & Health Information and Socialising with Bernese plus much more.

Our first staging of this bumper 3 day week-end format went ahead as planned, despite the attempts by the weather to disrupt matters both on the first day of events and during the build up week.

Each of the days has its own report page via these links.

Autumn Open Show – Saturday 24th August

Autumn Garden Party – Sunday 25th August

Championship Show 2024 – Monday 26th August

Any report of this overall event, which followed a week of challenges thrown at the committee and their completely invaluable helpers, just has to start with …

A REALLY MASSIVE THANK YOU

to all the non committee helpers, without whom this event would not be possible each time and it is impossible to thank them enough or overstate just how much the event relies on our brilliant volunteers. Yes, some of these people are directly linked to committee members but that doesn’t mean we should expect them to sacrifice their week or even days for everyone’s benefit and not thank them.

When we arrive at the site, over a week before the events start, there are no rings, no tents, no marquees and the grass is up to knee length in places, just a meadow type field. Over the next week the field turns into our venue as grass is cut, marquees, tents and shelters are carried into place and erected, catering equipment is put into place, tables and chairs carried out, toilets and showers cleaned, gazebos and agility and carting equipment put in place, shops and stalls erected, rings marked out and taped up etc etc all by committee and non committee volunteers, giving up their time to help out our main event of the year.

Please understand there are so many people to include in this list we have dreaded compiling it for fear of missing someone out and embarrassing apologies if we have, but we would really like to thank the following for everything they did towards and during the three days of events. This could include setting up marquees, rings, furniture, event shelters, gazebos, equipment, unloading trailers, etc etc in the build up week, mowing grass, catering delivery or preparation, fighting the effects of weather, ongoing repairs, stewarding or helping with the really intense period of stripping everything back down and carrying it into storage, essentially reversing all of the above after the end of the show on Monday evening.

We would really, really like to thank in absolutely no order whatsoever,

Mike Moore, Jon Moore, Kath Moore
Ash, Katy & Sam Jones
Malcolm & Barbara Peter
Elaine Spalding
Caroline Lindsay
Carol Dunhill
Sandra Hallam
Annie New
Di Crawshaw
Chris Handley
David Walton
Racquel Walker
Sam Avery
Cliff Mills
Richard Wort
David Kirk
Becky & Jeremy Price
Colin Buck
Debbie O’Toole
Jeanette Green
Phil English
All the carters not specifically mentioned, not only for giving us an opening parade to each of the days,  but all sorts of general assistance such as helping to maintain cover of the catering during the days and evenings.

With absolutely no disrespect to anyone above we would especially like to single out the following for even more massive thanks. Without them the event would probably be very different, as they helped for all or most of the set up week and/or during the events and taking down period, working hard for long parts of the days and working out lots of problems and issues, such as the first morning power failure. These people were given special individual mention by Club President Steve Green in his opening comments to the event and they were readily given an enthusiastic round of applause.

Simon & Beverley Gould
Andy Hallam
Owen Copeland
David Robertson
Jon & Colin Hughes

Thank you so much to every single one of these people and to the (must be at least one!) person who we have inevitably missed off the list so our apologies on top of our thanks go to them!

.

ON TOP OF ALL THE WORK the weather increasingly seems to challenge us each time causing loss of days and setbacks either through wind or rain or both, not to mention how cold or hot it has been at times. The move a week earlier into August did not help at all with cold nights and we experienced the wettest club event day we have had in many a year. Through all of this your committee, who are also all volunteers, and the absolutely brilliant helpers just spend all week just getting on with ‘whatever needs doing next’ so that hundreds of people can have a great week-end with their dogs.

So, if you enjoyed your time at the Open Show, The Garden Party or the Championship Show or just being a part of the events by being on site, please just spare a thought for those who gave up over a week to get hot and sweaty, cold and wet and suffer aches and pains to make it all happen.

Having said all that, of course we also have to thank everyone who visited and supported our events whether as a exhibitor in one or both of the shows or enjoying the fun and frolics of the Garden Party and whether as a day visitor or camping for a long week-end. The number of people present at the Garden Party definitely help the feel of the day and the ensuing atmosphere of the event is a vital part of the overall experience.

Each of the days has its own report page via the links below.

Autumn Open Show – Saturday 24th August

Autumn Garden Party – Sunday 25th August

Championship Show 2024 – Monday 26th August

.