DAVID’S VIEWPOINTTOO MUCHFOR ONE DAYThere’sa lottoseebutthe
entertainmentwaspatchyFormanyyearsI usedtogotoall
threedaysoftheGameFair,which
isessentialif youwanttoseeand
doeverything.ThisyearI onlymanaged
a singleday,sothere’s no doubt that
I misseda lot.
I waslookingforwardtothe
opportunityofhearingDrMarkAvery
trytojustifytheactionsofWildJustice
andthegenerallicencefiascointhe
GameFairTheatre,butthoughhewas
scheduledtoappearhisinvitationwas
withdrawn.I wasn’tsurprised,asit would
havebeena bitlikeaskingJeremyCorbyn
tobeguestspeakerata Conservative
fundraisingsupper.
I’mnotsurewhenhorsesandhounds
made their first appearance at theGameFairbutbothwereabsentwhen
I startedattendinginthe1970s.Today
theyareanessentialpartofthemain
arena’sentertainment.I particularly
enjoythehoundparadesbutforsheer
entertainmentthescurrydrivingisgreat
stuff.Drivingponiesata gallop takes real
skillandsomebravery.
Thisyearthemainarenafeatureda
dailyeventsimplycalledGundogs,which
followedthescurrydriving.Sadly,after
theexcitementofthegallopingponies
thegundogswerea littleboring.Theidea
wasforthedogsandhandlerstoreplicate
a drivenday’sshooting,withthespaniels
pushingthebirdsforwardandthe
retrieverspicking-up.It wasa goodidea
butinpracticedidn’treallywork.There
werenoGuns,justa coupleofchapsfiring
startingpistolsandthrowingdummies.
Themostentertainingmomentcame
whenthespanielswereallowedtohavea
retrieveandtheoneClumbersawoffan
intrudingWelshspringerashetriedto
collect three dummies for himself.Thoughit wasgoodtoseesuch
a varietyofgundogsinthemainarena,
I couldn’thelpbutfeelthatthiswas
anopportunitymissed.Inthepast
themainarenahashosteddisplaysof
gundoghandling,butthisyearHoward
Kirby(HPRs),WillClulee(spaniels)and
RickyMoloney(retrievers)didtheir
handlingdisplaysintheinternational
gundogarena.They deserved to be in
the main ring.Email:[email protected]“theuniquechancetoseeover 20
differentbreeds”.Sadly,notallof
themturnedupontheFridayand
I lookedinvainforthespringers,
whichwerereputedtohavereturned
aftersomeyears’absence.However,
thedogsandtheirownersthatwere
there— rangingfromBrittanysto
ClumbersandevenFrenchspaniels —
wereallverywelcoming.
Whethertheywelcomedas
manyvisitorsastheyhopedforwas
anothermatter,asthepavilionwas
a longwalkfromthecentreofwhat
wasotherwisea compactfair.I was,
however,assuredthatwhenit rained
thepavilionsoonfilledup.
Asa majorfeatureoftheGameFair,
there were plenty of have-a-go gundog
events.However,disappointingly,on
theFridaytherewererelativelyfew
dogsandhandlerstaking part.Have-a-goevents
Nodoubtthescorchingheatofthe
daybeforehadputmanypeopleoff,
butevensoit wassadtoseescurries
withnodogsscurrying.Reportingon
the 2011 BlenheimGameFairI noted
thatthe“have-a-goeventswerewell
patronisedwithlongqueuesforeach
competition”.Thisyearthequeues
wereconspicuousbytheirabsence.
WhenI arrivedhomefromHatfield
I checkedmyemailsandfounda
fascinatingresponsetomyGameFair
preview(Freshfora fairfight, 24July)
from reader Michael Ransom.GundogsThe scurry driving excited the crowdsSHOOTING TIMES & COUNTRY MAGAZINE • 45“Asyoupointout,thegundog
activitiesfollowa standardformat
andonlyreallyappealtothose
alreadyinthesport.Theyallrequire
thatyouhaveyourowndogto
compete.Thissetmethinking:allthe
otherhave-a-goactivitiesprovideyou
withthekit,beit gun,rodorbow,so
whynotofferthesametopotential
gundoghandlersandowners?If
youcouldexperiencethejoyof
workinga gundogtoretrieve(under
thesupervisionofanexperienced
handler)wouldthisnotencourage
morepeopleintothegundogworld?”
That’sa greatidea.It wouldneed
a gundogclubtoprovidethedogsand
supervisehandlers,butit wouldbea
terrific fun.Noteverydog,ofcourse,
willworkfora strangerbutthereare
manythatwill.I can’tthinkofa better
wayofintroducingthepleasureof
gundoghandlingtopeoplewho have
neverexperiencedit before.
There’snodoubtthattheGame
Fairdesperatelyneedstobemuch
bolderandinnovativewiththe
gundogeventsinthefuture.Formany
yearsthefairhasbeena must-visit
eventforgundogenthusiastsbut
bothitspopularityanditsappealare
slipping.Theorganisersneedtoask
whyandtodosomething radical to
revitalise it.Theplasticpondinthe
gundogarenawasnot
appropriatefora
prestigious
event