Shooting Times & Country – 07 August 2019

D.TOMLINSON

TheGame Fairwas oncea must-visitfixture but itsappeal is sadly

slipping — it desperately needs revitalising, says David Tomlinson

theKennelClubring.Frustratingly,

thisclashedwiththegundogmass

demonstrationintheworkingdog

ring.Asit wasI missedboth,as

insteadI listenedtoa livelydiscussion

onshootingintheCarterJonasGame

FairTheatre.Thelatterdidhavethe

greatadvantageofbeingindoorsas

it wasanunpleasantlywetmorning.

Theraindideventuallygive

up,soI mademywayacrosstothe

extensivegundogarea,pausingfirst

towatchtheEuroChallengeinthe

international gundog arena.

MYVISITTOTHE

firstdayofthisyear’s

GameFairat Hatfield

Houseis bestsummedup

bythefactthat,soonafterarriving

atthefair,I wasgivingserious

considerationtobuyinga pairof

wellingtonsandanumbrella.

It hadbeensohottheprevious

day— withtherecord-breaking38.7°C

(101.7°F)innearbyCambridge— thatI

hadbeenlulledintothinkingthatall

I neededformydayat thefairwasa

hatandsunscreen.I hadn’treckoned

ontheheavythunderstormsand

slipperymudthatfollowed the

swelteringheat.

ThisyearI hadenjoyedtheluxury

ofviewinga digitalversionofthe

officialshowguidesomedaysbefore,

soI hadcarefullynotedwhereI was

goingtogoandwhatI washoping

tosee.I hadbeentoldhowbrilliant

a handlerRoyEllershawis withhis

springersandClumbers,soI planned

to go and watch his demonstration in

Thisyeartherewerefiveteams

takingonthehomeside— Belgium,

Germany,Italy,theNetherlandsand

Switzerland— andtheyallseemed

tobehavingplentyoffun,though

it’snotthegreatestspectatorsport.

I’mstillmystifiedwhytheGameFair

can’tinnovatea littletolivenupthe

proceedings.Whynotuseremote

dummylaunchers,for example?

Watersplash

ThetroublewithHatfieldParkfor

gundogeventssuchasthisis that

it lackswater,sotheorganisershad

sunka ratherunattractiveplastic-

linedwatersplashinthemiddleof

thearena.It waslargeand,soI was

assured,quitedeepandthedogs

I watchedallappearedtobehappy

tosplashinandoutofit.Butit hardly

seemedappropriateforwhatshould

bea prestigiousinternationalevent.

I lefttheEuroChallengefor

theSportingDogPavilion,which

according to the show guide off ered

Gundogs

More fun for this fair

Therewerefewdogsand

handlerstakingpartin

the have-a-go events

“Theheatofthe

daybeforehadput

peopleoffbutit

wassadtosee

scurrieswithno

dogs scurrying”

44 • SHOOTING TIMES & COUNTRY MAGAZINE