Results 2022

Puppy/Novice Test 15 May 2022

The Burns and Becks Gundog Club held its first competitive event for two years on the Winster Estate on Sunday 15th May. With new Working Test Secretary Peter McCurrie aided by committee members Nigel Barton and Martin Wilson, advised and guided by Andy Jardine, a smooth and successful event was organised. Several other committee members and members helped as dummy throwers, game carriers and stewards and thanks are due to them and the generosity of the Winster Estate.

We were also grateful to our judges Lynn Mitchell, Steve Burns, Brenda Lawson and Henry Carter who worked hard to give every dog and handler the best chance of succeeding. Both the puppy and novice tests benefited from the open lakeland estate with reeds, bracken and rocky outcrops an ideal venue.

Welcome visitors from the South held sway on this occasion and experience was clearly a major factor in deciding the results:

Puppy test:
1st Place – Jennie Hankey with Ravencote Daisy
2nd Place –  Heather Bradley with Curlew Coe
3rd Place – Roz Mcilroy with Westerkames Fargo
4th Place – Elly Jones with Afinmore Arghmhor
COM – Tim Boardman with Wyaston Monet

Novice Walk Up:
1st Place – Heather Bradley with Gunnerspeg Amos
2nd Place – Keith Broomfield with Golderslie Meadow Platt
4th Place – Dick Knight with Transcrags Scarlet

June 2022 Open Walkup Test Winster

In the second working test of the year the Burns and Becks Gundog Club held an Open Walk Up on 19th June 2022 at Winster, in the South Lakes near Windermere, by kind permission of the Winster Estate.

In cool but dry conditions 25 dogs walked up on field trial lines in a mixture of light bracken and boggy tussock grass and it was clear from the first round of two retrieves that nothing was going to be easy. However the dogs were up to the challenge and some excellent work was seen from a strong field.

A further retrieve in the second round in more challenging deeper bracken, with blinds interspersed with marks, began to stretch the dogs, though 19 were taken through to the third round for two more retrieves. Two further single retrieve rounds reduced the field to nine dogs in the final round, as the sun came out and things began to warm up. Poor scenting and tricky handling in thick cover were overcome by the top dogs who were eventually recognised in the awards:

1st Place – Paul Dukes with FTCH Brocklebank Boorbon of Ravencote
2nd Place –  Paul Dixon with Morayglen Hawk of Thornship
3rd Place –  Claire Salter with Jofless Keane
4th Place – Arthur Telfair with Claybrow Tranquil Lass
COM – Paul Dukes with Chadsmydd Kenxtwen Misty Mirror
COM – Tim Boardman with Boretree Solo

Our Judges were Heather Bradley, Keith Broomfield, Carole Clarke and Matthew Rowlinson, and we thanked them for the good humoured and positive way in which they ran the test.

Special thanks also go to Peter McCurrie, our new Working Test Secretary, Richard Howson our Treasurer who chose the ground, organised the throwers and threw prodigiously himself with Martin Wilson and John Lupton. Andy Jardine ran the line effortlessly to produce an excellent, flowing event.

Burns and Becks Open Trial 2022

In a year when we were still recovering, and occasionally still contracting Covid, and suffering from the effects of scarcity of game bird supply through bird flu, and grain prices, it was something of an achievement to even be able to run our second Open Trial.

However, despite further worries about widespread bird flu, the day was a great success and we were grateful to our host Graham Holden and his keeper Tom Lawrenson for putting on the day.

A full card welcomed Open dogs from all over the UK, including the Midlands and Scotland and one competitor from Denmark, and it was to prove a difficult trial for most of them, with three key moments during the morning deciding the result.

Just three fields of fodder beet were walked in the trial, and a ready supply of partridges, pheasants and the occasional passing duck was encountered.

In the first field, during the first round, a pheasant was shot off the right hand end of the line and landed in thick bushes across a ditch in the edge of a wood. Two dogs were tried and failed to make the area, and the left hand dogs were brought over. With some very positive handling, John Halsted’s Buccleuch Bridgeknowes of Chatsworth, owned by the Duchess of Devonshire, forced its way through the cover to pick the bird and gingerly work back through the cover and complete the technical eyewipe.

In just a 12 dog stake, such eyewipes progress the trial rapidly and a second event accounted for four more dogs at the end of the field. A partridge was shot and landed just over a ditch and over a bank. Four dogs were tried, all making the area, and one picked a live bird from the ditch. However, close examination by the judges showed that the bird had not been shot and it was discounted.

A search of the fall by the judges proved fruitless but a warm dead bird was picked up some 30 yards from the fall and the judges had a decision to make. Was this the bird, in which case all four dogs would be eliminated, or not? Having seen two of the dogs work a line towards the bird earlier, after a long discussion, the judges decided it was the bird and some more disappointed handlers were out.

In the final round, just three dogs remained in line when a partridge was shot about 75 yards upwind in slightly deeper fodder beet. The first dog flushed a live bird on its way to the fall, but held the scent and could not be persuaded to go further back and make the area of the fall.

The second dog also failed to make the fall, despite being also given ample time by the judges and it was left to John Halsted with a bit of handling to make the fall and pick the final bird. He had technically eyewiped two more dogs and was the only dog left standing, to the relief of all concerned.

It was a testing trial but a worthy winner emerged and gained his B qualification for the Retriever Championship.

Result:

• 1st place – John Halsted’s Lab Dog Buccleuch Bridgeknowes of Chatsworth, owned by the Duchess of Devonshire

The club expressed its thanks for all who had made the trial possible, including guns, game carriers, dog stewards, pickers up, caterer and of course Kirsty Howson, Field Trial Secretary.

BB Novice Trial 2022

Following the success of the Open Trial the previous week, the Club held its sixth field trial on 28th October in the form of a 14 dog AV novice. Judges Mike Rolland and Allan Downie travelled down from Scotland to join Matthew Rowlinson and Peter Thompson.

The previous night and early morning brought heavy rain and wild winds and competitors had to brave atrocious driving conditions on the M6 to reach Hyfly at Pilling where the trial was held.

However conditions improved rapidly and by the time the trial began the wind had abated and the sun was increasingly drying out the fodder beet in which the trial was held.

The first two rounds showed a high standard of dog work, duck flushing from time to time from a nearby pond, occasional partridges and pheasants providing a regular stream of retrieves. Almost all dogs completed the first round of two retrieves, including demanding birds landing in cover on banks of bramble and bracken at the sides and ends of fields. Picking duck from the pond proved more difficult and one or two dogs were lost, and others followed as the second round involved cross retrieving. More dogs were lost when first dog down on runners and by the end of the third round of two retrieves, just three dogs remained and the judges were able to close their books.

Result:

• 1st place Tom West’s Lab Dog Jocksburn Gifted Ghillie To Westhala (also Gun’s Choice)
• 2nd place Chris Kettle’s Lab Dog Ristbrow Bertie
• 3rd place Paul Owens’ Lab Dog Fyrish Monkey Nut @Koromas

The Club expressed its thanks to all those who had enabled the trial to take place, including hosts the Holden family and gamekeeper Tom Lawrenson, the judges, guns, game carriers, picker up, caterer and dog stewards. It had once again been a good team effort on behalf of club and committee members and brought to an end the club events for the year.