NEFRA held their 29th Annual General Meeting of the Northern England Flatcoated Retriever Association held on Sunday 17th March 2024 at The Fenton Manor Sports Complex, City Road, Fenton, Stoke -on -Trent, ST4 2RR.

At the AGM the following awards were announced:

Winning the President’s Cup

1. Mrs V Bowen Clandrift Bring Me Sunshine JW
2. Mrs K & Mr D Joyce Stranfaer One Fell Swoop
3. Mrs V Davis & Mrs J Egginton Go With The Flow Dynamic Faithful (IMP NLD)

Winning the Ceilidh Cup

Winning the Nellspeace Plate

Treasurer (3 years)
Mr D Taylor continues as Treasurer for a further three year term.

Hon. Working Secretary (3 years)
Following her co-option to the post last year Mrs. C. Simons continues as Working Secretary for two more years to complete her three year term.

Committee Vacancies (5 posts)
Mrs. H Buckley, Mr C. Hewison, Mr G Richards, Mrs V. Burroughs continue for a further 3 year term and Mrs A Hayley continues for a two year term.

PLEASE NOTE THAT 2024 SUBSCRIPTIONS WERE DUE ON 1ST OF JANUARY 2024 AND IF PAYING BY CHEQUE THEY SHOULD BE SENT TO OUR HON. TREASURER:

MR D TAYLOR,
Cooks Lane House,
Cooks Lane, Bradnop, Leek.
Staffs. ST13 7HA

PLEASE NOTE SUBSCRIPTIONS WERE INCREASED IN 2021
(£15 joint, £10 single and £7 seniors)

PLEASE CHECK STANDING ORDERS AND AMEND THEM IF NECESSARY.
MEMBERS SUBSCRIPTIONS NOT RECEIVED BY 30TH APRIL 2024 WILL HAVE THEIR MEMBERSHIP TERMINATED.

NEFRA was invited to train at Mike Pilling’s land up yesterday at Eagland Hill near Preston. It was our first training session of 2024 and the perfect start to the year. We had seasoned trainers Garry Ellison and Steve Burns along giving guidance and encouragement to all.

Luckily the weather was kind to us and the rain kept off so apart from the chilly wind and it being somewhat soggy underfoot the training conditions were great. The beginners were given a thorough introduction to gundog training by Garry, focusing on the basics while the novice group had a session that concentrated on running the dog out in a straight line.

Feedback from both groups was that the training was great fun, after initial nerves had been conquered, and very informative.

We had fun awards to give out for the Trainers’ Choice in each group; easter eggs won by Vicky Crossley with Riva from the Beginners group and Caroline Hewison with her puppy, Linnhe from the Novice group.

Huge thanks to Mike, Garry and Steve

Schedule here

Handbook

Link to the KC website

Nefra hosted a Kennel Club Gundog Working Certificate on dummies on the 10th February. Our assessors for the day were Mrs Caroline Hewison and Mr Phil Smithies.

We had 8 dogs entered and 5 passed. They were put their paces with steadiness, blinds, heel work and retrieves. A list of awarded dogs are below;

Sonya Jenkinson with flatcoat Skybrook Rock Me

Stephanie Hurstfield with flatcoat Thurwitt Chiquitita

Steve Burns with Labrador Tallamelie Sparkly Ring at Jollybrow

Cath Burns with Labrador Tallamelie Bridesmaid at Jollybrow

Helen Fox with flatcoat Satinbaze Cracksman for Blacktoft JW.

It would help our treasurer a lot if you could ensure your bank standing order matches the following rates:

• Single – £10
• Joint – £15
• Overseas Single – £14
• Overseas Joint – £20
• Senior Citizens / Gamekeepers / Juniors – £6

For full membership details, please follow this lnk

SUNDAY, 5th NOVEMBER 2023

Venue: Biddulph Leisure Centre, Thames Drive, Stoke-on-Trent, ST8 9HL
Judge (Dogs): Mrs Gemma Jacobs (Gemswin)
Judge (Bitches) Mrs Jane Jones (Benvellyn)
Referee Mrs Victoria Goldberg (Madison)

Sponsored by Eukanuba
(held under Kennel Club Limited Rules and Regulations)

BEST IN SHOW Anderson’s SH CH FELDKIRK DIOR OF KAZVAL
RESERVE BEST IN SHOW Smitherman’s SH CH SEAHEART CECILIA JW
BEST PUPPY IN SHOW Curtis’ TALLISTAR MIDNIGHT ASH
BEST VETERAN Egginton & Davis’ GO WITH THE FLOW DYNAMIC FAITHFUL (IMP NED)
BEST LIVER IN SHOW Colson’s WINDYHOLLOWS FLAMING KATY
BEST WORKING IN SHOW Fox’s SATINBAZE CRACKSMAN FOR BLACKTOFT JW SGWC (AI)

Dog Judge’s Critique

Bitch Judge’s Critique

Referee’s Critique

Results

Ringtail House, 5a Ringtail Place, Ormskirk, Burscough, L40 8LA

Comments from Our Dogs Breed Notes 20/10/23

Paula Goulette reports “We had 19 people attend and it went very well judging by our feedback forms.  A very interesting breed talk from Louise Jones and Sandra Stevenson followed by MCE for those eligible* (10 out of 12 people passing).  Those who passed exam went over eight dogs after lunch with our four mentors, Louise Jones, Sandra Stevenson, Karen Joyce and Helen Fox.  Those who hadn’t taken the MCE but wished to stay after lunch had an informal hands on with Hayley Walker”.

Karen Joyce added “We had loads of committee help, there were 8 dogs for the afternoon mentoring session ranging from 5 months to 11 years of age, the majority of people attending were not flatcoat owners which made the wonderful feedback even more special and finally being NEFRA there was loads of cake!!

*To take the Multiple Choice Exam (MCE) candidates must have met all the requirements of the JEP** level 1

** for details of all levels of JEP requirements please visit https://www.thekennelclub.org.uk/events-and-activities/dog-showing/judging-dog-shows/ 

Sunday 17^th September 2023 – Preston, Lancashire

The training day at Grimsargh, near Preston today was a great success. We had two groups, one for beginners and one for intermediate with trainers Mike Pilling and Steve Burns.

The beginners started with obedience work and then progressed to longer retrieves and incorporating stop whistles and left and right castings. The intermediate group made good use of the large open spaces, jumps and sloping landscapes, and completed their day with a walk up exercise. We would like to thank Geoff Saints for having us and providing such an excellent venue, and our trainers and helpers for giving up their day. The feedback from everyone who attended was overwhelmingly positive.

This autumn NEFRA were delighted to have been offered the prestigious venue of Haddon Hall (near Bakewell) for our working test on the 1st October 2023. This was with kind permission of our Patron Lord Edward Manners.

A big thank you also goes out to groundskeeper Gareth for accommodating us. 

We would like to express another thank you to the 4 judges for for the event, Sue Hales-Lowe, Steve Burns, Guy Radford and Pat Bell. Finally, to the army of people that helped organize the day, catering staff in the restaurant, car park attendants, dummy throwers and committee members.

Results

Puppy

1st – Swantonwood Black Bramble – Handled by Reece Merry
2nd – Ollerset Duchess – Handled by Gary Ellison

Novice Dog / Novice Handler

A well done to all entired in this class, but unfortunately no dogs earned a placement in this class.

Novice

1st – Selloana Callisto Nymph – Handled by Anne Kitching
(Awarded Judges Choice – Best Novice)
2nd – Casblaidd Cuchulain at Sallymount – Handled by Alan Brighton
3rd – Kenynten Styx – Handled by David Foster

Open

1st – Maddistream Black Powder Of Wolfthistle – Handled by Andrew Sweeney
(Awarded Judges Choice – Best Open Dog)
2nd – Maddistream Raj Red – Handled by Malcolm Awty
3rd – Wolfthistle Mr Miracle – Handled by Andrew Sweeney

Nefra held a training day for puppies, beginners and early novice today near Blackburn by kind permission of Lee Hamilton, the gameskeeper for the ground. 

We had 2 trainers for the day, Gary Ellison and Lisa Mappin. Lisa taking the beginners groups and Gary taking the novice group. 

The weather was predicted to be heavy downpours however this held off and was sunny through the session. 

The puppies did confidence building around a small stream which they all did a great job with. Something like this is always good for beginners and puppies learning to retrieve around the water, which is always great fun. 

The novice group retrieved from water and over the water with dummies behind on land and on the water. 

Thanks to the trainers for giving up their day for us and thank you to the keeper for allowing us to use the land. We all had a fantastic day!

NEFRA sent a team to the Minor Breeds Working Test on Sunday 25th June at Upper Shadymoor Farm, Stapleton Hosted by the Chesapeake Retrievers. Super hospitality, and a lovely venue with absolutely everything you could need for a working test.

Along with the flatcoats there were teams from the Curly Coat Retrievers, the Chesapeake Bay Retrievers and the Irish Water Spaniels with three dogs in each team & a reserve.

There were 4 tests, which included 2 team tests and 2 individual tests.

• 1st place and winners of the Shooting Gazette trophy.
  Irish Water Spaniels
• 2nd place
  Flatcoated Retrievers with 2 points between 1st and second.

• 3rd place
  Chesapeake Bay Retrievers

• 4th place
  Curly Coated Retrievers

Thanks to Mr & Mrs Fox as land owners and judges Rose Lewis & Yvonne Storr.

Many thanks to the Chesapeake Retrievers for hosting.