MEMBERS

Many of you will remember the publication of the book ‘From Yellow to Golden’ written by SGRS member Malcolm Morecroft. Well, he has now written a follow on book called ‘The Golden Era’ which is now available for sale.

As with the first book, Malcolm donates some of the proceeds to Medical Detection Dogs, so when you buy a copy of this latest book you will also be supporting MDD.

Either book is priced at £12 for a paperback copy or £22 for a hardback copy. The price includes UK postage.   To order a copy, please click here for  the Order Form

This is a synopsis of the new book, The Golden Era, produced by Mary Jarrett.

‘The Golden Era’  

This eagerly awaited second book on the history of the golden retriever is a must-read for all enthusiasts of the breed. It will also take lovers of the Scottish Highlands, of country life and of social history on a fascinating feel-good journey, most of which spans the half century into the 1920’s.

The reader is introduced briefly to powerful characters who appeared in ‘From Yellow to Golden’, but primarily this new book tells of others who pushed forward the development of the breed and whose achievements form a further invaluable part of golden retriever history.

We are indebted to the author and his wife, Christine, not forgetting their own golden girl, Angel, for the many hours of personal research and travel undertaken to put together this detailed yet immensely enjoyable archive.

The ‘Tailpiece’ – appropriately so-called in more ways than one! – brings readers right up to the present day by means of the author’s own observations, reminding us that the work of people connected with these highly intelligent , versatile working dogs and  loyal companions  goes on apace.

With its beautiful dust jacket, The Golden Era’ would make an excellent gift or worthwhile addition to a library shelf. Available in hard or paperback, the pages of this little book sing with the author’s love and respect for his subject and turn a factual record into something much more.

This is a journey not to be missed, aided by evocative illustrations and a delightful doff of the cap towards a humour which would be readily appreciated by many of those whose stories grace its pages.

Photo by Hilly Hoar

Southern U.K. Inter club Gundog Team Match
Held on Sunday 2nd July 2017
At Windsor Great Park by Gracious invitation of H.M. the Queen
And hosted by Arun and Downland Gundog Society.

The SGRS team were:
ND/NH. Irene Bird with Tarinomagh Atar
Novice. Jean Baveystock with Polihale Bucks Fizz at Baveybuilt
Open.    Toni Sanders with Holway Pippa of Tarinomagh

The day was very hot, little breeze with strong sunshine so the scent was poor.
Six very interesting tests had been set up for us.
Our hosts gave us a magnificent packed lunch each.

We started under Roger Wade with 3 marks in a young fir plantation . The furthest one for the Open dog fell just over the brow of the hill. Pippa earned a 20.

Colin Pelham judged  a blind down a track for the N/H, a seen to the right for the Novice and a difficult blind past where the N/H dummy had been for the Open. Pippa made it look very easy too.

We went onto the water judged by Mary-Jane Opie.  The N/H had a seen in the water while the Novice dog had an unseen almost in the same place. Open blind dummy was at an angle across the water. The three Goldies really enjoyed that one!  Soaking the Judge with energetic shaking!

The Walkup Test judged by Helena Sully was in a large field of very difficult dry cover and of course poor scent. Pippa again did well.

We then made our way thankfully back into the shady woods for a pickup exercise judged by Kieran Smith. We had to nominate the dummy to be picked by each dog. It was quite difficult to keep your dog in sight.

Our final test was under John Stubbs.  This proved the hardest, not just for our team!
Three blind dummies were placed in a grassy area with three distinctive trees & shots fired. What we couldn’t see was a track directly in front and the dogs had to cross this into the grass.
Irene went first, with a 20!  Fizz and Pippa didn’t do so well!

We finished the day with tea & cakes. It was certainly a day to remember, all our dogs did their best for us and Irene certainly learnt a great deal from the experience. It is always a privilege to represent SGRS but this time we were not in the awards.

The Match was won by URC Southern, who will be hosting the event in 2018.

Jean Baveystock
Team Captain