Mid-Norfolk Gundog Club held an Open AV Retriever Team Test on Sunday 23 April 2023 at the East Anglian Game & Country Fair by kind permission of the Duke and Duchess of Grafton. Our judges were Glynis Hillier and Andy Mutimer and we were kept informed of proceedings along with some great banter by Keith Bedford who provided the commentary.
After the scores on the doors were totted up, double checked and triple checked, a run off took place between two of the team captains before the final results could be confirmed.
The winners were announced as:
1st “Not a Hope in Hellesdon” (MNGC) comprising
Pinfeathers Excalibur - handler/owner Callum Raywood
Pinfeathers Calypso - handler/owner Nick Barker
Arminghall Teal - handler/owner Simon Wells
2nd Great Yarmouth & District Wildfowlers
Isle of Man Gaila - handler/owner Gill Grummitt
Beech Macaroon - handler/owner Peter Childs
Tagabea Pippin of Riverrush - handler/owner Adam Holmes
3rd Utility Gundog Society (Eastern Counties Branch)
Affric Charm - handler/owner Liz Ingram
Stauntonvale Margay of Rushrigg - handler/owner Sam Morley-Riches
Southgreen Vincent - handler/owner Christine Thurlbourn
A prize was also awarded to the Handler with the Highest Individual Score and this was awarded to Gill Grummitt and Isle of Man Gaila who did not drop a point all day - well done Gill.
There was some fantastic dog work on some testing retrieves especially with the real geese on the river providing some real distractions for the dogs.
Thank you to our sponsors Skinner's dog food for their dog food vouchers for all members of the placed winning teams and to Sporting Saint - Gundog Training Equipment for their prizes too. We are always grateful for their continued support of our GWT’s.
A big thank you to our other supporters of our GWT’s for the weekend who were Wagdale, Taverham Veterinary Practice, Knott's Yard Veterinary Practice, Florentina Events (and for the excellent brownies too!), Sindermill Country Store, Weatherill Brothers Ltd and Kronch UK.
And last, but never least a big thank you to the helpers on the second day. Many thanks again to Glynis, Andy and Keith for giving up their time for the weekend and to Andy and Keith for making sure Glynis only had a small tipple at lunchtime in the members tent! 😁
To Reg Rayner who set up the tests on both days and prepared the arena area the previous days (we are always in your debt Reg), Roger Bannock, Mark Evans, Jonathan Seaman, Matthew Tigue for helping Reg with dummy throwing, marks and general to-ing and fro-ing throughout the day and herding the competitors around, and also to the competitors for their banter and camaraderie throughout the long day. I hope the tea and cakes at the end of the day made it all worthwhile.
