Ashburnham Gundog Group 
Welcome to the new page for our training group. Here I will be able to post up any news and achievements such as puppy assessments and KC Good Citizen awards as well as changes to training sessions or holidays etc.
The group meets each Wednesday and Saturday morning at 9.50 for 10am and we train for 2 hours. with refreshment afterwards! On Wednesday I teach a novice standard class pushing them toward intermediate and onwards. On Saturday we have four teachers and we operate a “round robin” routine.
Anyone interested please contact through this site.
We have a waiting list for those wishing to join.
List of those who have attained their KC Puppy Assessments:-
Julie Hammond with “Darcie” Ann Green with “Folly”
Tom Ulmann with “Musket” Laura Martin with “Bindi”
Brian West with “Elsa” Anne Kelly with “Zuka”
Hend Finlay with “Kenza” Sue Neal with “Romi”
Lisa Munn with “Charlie” Chloe Surrage with “Esme”
Sonia Donavan with “Holly” Ken Marshall with “Biscuit”
Donna Smith with “Hudson”
more to come:-
KC Good Citizen Bronze Tests now booked for Saturday September 2nd! 2006
Guest trainers are organised for July and September
May 6th 2006
Today we have 4 more puppy assessment passes and so to mark the occasion we managed to take a picture of all the people still with us who have passed successfully, most of whom are now going on to do the “Bronze”. Congratulations to all.
from left: Julie/Darcie, Darryl/Barley, Ann/Gem, Kevin/Sapphire, Jack/Max, Kitty/Wilma, Sandra/Jessie, Chloe/Esme, Donna/Hudson, Sass/Oliver, Karl/Kyte, Bob/Fergus.
May & June 2006
We have 3 more puppy assessment passes.
Mike with Maggie
Hazel with Freia
Chloe with Beshlie
Well done all three (pictures to come)
Mike with Maggie
Hazel with Freia
LATEST NEWS
At the SEGS “Fun Day” on Saturday July 1st Sue Smyth with her black Labrador Bandit won the pre-novice and the Victor Ludorum ! Many many congratulations! Susie trains with us here on Wednesday mornings.
GUEST TRAINERS
On Saturday 22nd July we have 2 guest trainers for the group. Renie Neeves who trains and owns Labradors and Percy Baldock who trains HPR’S and owns Vizslas. Try not to miss it!
STOP PRESS
CONGRATULATIONS to Ann Bridges and her Labrador Riley who are the first ones from our group to pass the KC WORKING GUNDOG CERTIFICATE today July 15th
MORE CONGRATULATIONS!
Wednesday August 2nd saw Brian West gain the KC WORKING GUNDOG CERT with his liver Labrador “Elsa” Brian also trains with us here on Wednesday mornings. Elsa is a grandaughter of Merit so very well done both of you.
Saturday August 26th saw Dave King with his lovely ESS Rosie , gain his KC Puppy Assessment certificate
Kennel Club Good Citizen Bronze Awards
Saturday September 2nd.
Well done to the 9 who passed their Bronze awards and to those who didn’t, “have another go!”
Pictured from left to right, Trainer Lucy Surrage, Sonia Donavan with Holly, Darryl Smith with Barley, Sandra Willard with Jessie, Kitty Keeley with Wilma, ASSESSOR Di Miles, Sass Drury with Oliver , Chloe Surrage with Fenner, Ann Hooper with Gem, Keven Barton with Sapphire and Trainer Vanessa Deacy. Missing from the group is Julie Salwey with Flossie
Julie with Flossie
On Sunday October 22nd at the South of England GWT (novice) Brian West gained a Certificate of Merit with Roytan Lemon Chiffon (Mattie)
SHOOT TRAINING DAY
Friday November 10th 2006
12 of you braved the above day and for some it was the first introduction to a shoot . Overall I feel it was a success and was only marred by poor Susie dislocating her shoulder and the pain she must have suffered.
Our thanks go to Mark Saunders for inviting us in the first instance and also thanks to the team of stalwart beaters on the day. Here are a few pictures to remember.
We all meet at the woodyard.
Waiting during the first drive
Brian West takes a rabbit from his Elsa
Kitty’s Wilma retrieves a bird
Best of the day, Sonia with Holly
The Motley crew at the end with trainers, Tania, Martin, Vanessa and Diana
January 2007 and we are all back to training with some more puppy assessment success.
Paula with “Bracken”,Kate with “Taxi”, Julie with “Ruby” and Chloe with “Reo”
The January 18th issue of Shooting Times carries an article on the Morghew Shoot of which Peter Bishop is a beater with his lemon and white cocker “Rosie” who trains here on Saturdays. Peter and Rosie front left.
CRUFTS 2007 and Vicky Payne who trains with us here with Quincy her ESS won 2nd place in the Gamekeepers Ring Working Gundog class. Just shows what fun can be had with training and working a gundog! Very well done to you both!
Crufts 2007 Our very own Diana presented 3 of her homebred black Labrador bitches in the pickers up competition and was awarded 4th place out of 22 entries. Well done Diana!
APRIL 2007 Beverley with her Annie who train here on Wednesdays gain their Gundog Club Stage Two Retriever with distinction
MAY 20th Sunday Brian West took part in the KSSLRC Veteran test with my Merit and came 3rd. Bailey with me, would have been placed 5th.
On Saturday June 16th we held our KC Bronze Good Citizen Award day.
Of the 15 present taking part, only 4 were “NR” , the dogs deciding to lie down 10 seconds before the end of their one minute stay. The other 11 all passed .
The 11 passing were
Sue Curties with Bilbo, Peter Leyburn with Lola, Carole Bishop with Rosie, Bob Wilcockson with Fergus, Sarah Lee with Pepe , Chloe Surrage with Reo, Ann Bridges with Paddy, all in the above picture. Also passing with picture to come were Julie Hammond with Ruby, Emma Hallett with Widgeon, Barbara Wilson with Mollie, and Jack Evans with Max, Jack was also celebrating his 14th birthday!
Well done to all of you.
July 15th At Michelham Priory Game Fair the two top places in the LONG RETRIEVE were taken by 1st Fergus with Bob and 2nd Ann with Riley. The two of them also did well in the scurries coming 3rd and 2nd respectively.
July 14th & 15th Michelham Priory game Fair and the Labs don’t have it ALL their own way! Two spaniels from the group did really well. Vicky Payne with “QUINCY” was 1st in the Spaniel Scurry and Dave king with his “ROSIE” was 2nd ! Then Quincy came 2nd in the pick and mix and long retrieve as well!!
LATEST NEWS
Sunday July 16th
Vanessa and Lucy (group teachers) both passed their tests to become Kennel Club Good Citizen Assessors for the Bronze Award. Congratulations to both of you!
Latest puppy award
Jack Holt with his black Labrador Jess gained his KC Puppy Assessment yesterday October 6th 2007
December 1st
New Puppy Passes
Well done to Michelle Poole with Freddie and Lee Kent with Olive, both passing their KC Puppy Assessment
Saturday Feb 2nd 2008
Well done Di Stead with Teal-k and Julie Hammond with Mink gaining their KC Puppy Assessment awards at training yesterday
CRUFTS 2008
GAMEKEEPERS RING
Sas Drury with Oliver
Out of a huge class got into the final 7 or 8 and narrowly missed out on a prize card! So very well done for a first effort!
Ancha Gergely with Betyar showed very well in the HPR class for dogs
Diana Evans showed her bitch Pippin but no awards this time
and I showed Esme (Roytan Ariadne) with no luck this time but she did look so good!
KENNEL CLUB GOOD CITIZEN 2008
SILVER & BRONZE AWARDS
Saturday May 3rd. Our Group held the above assessments and all in all it proved a successful day for most.
Our Assessor for Silver was Di Miles (KC Approved Assessor) and for Bronze, Lucy Surrage (Kennel Club Approved Assessor). Our thanks to them both for giving up their morning.
Passing Silver were Ann Bridges with Paddy, Kevin Barton with Sapphire, Kerry with Stella, Dave King with Rosie, Julie Hammond with Ruby, Chloe Surrage with Reo, Sas Drury with Oliver, Bob Wilcockson with Fergus, Jack Evans with Max and Chris Wilson with Mollie. Very well done to all. A stirling effort (no pun intended!)
Passing Bronze were Pru with Flick, Di Stead with Teal’k, Linda Wilcockson with Tess, Lee Kent with Olive, Alison Thompson with Daisy, Jan Absolom with Hazel and Jill Blackadder with Edith.
Photo to come which does not include Jan Copsey with Dill, and Dave King with Rosie. Again huge congratulations for your efforts and for those of you not attaining your certificates today…try again!
Dave King with Rosie receiving both Bronze and Silver awards.
Kennel Club Good Citizen Puppy Assessments May 3rd 2008
We are really pleased that two more puppies have passed their assessments. They may now go ot to Bronze if they wish!
The photo shows Julie Lawrence with Harvey and Jacky with Abigail. Well done both of you!
Saturday May 10th
Surprise Working Gundog Test!
Everyone turned up expecting training as usual but we decided that as we had a “spare” Saturday this month, we would run a test to see just how much everyone had taken in! I think we all enjoyed it, our teachers became our judges and Pauline helped with dummy throwing and general stewarding.
The results were as follows!
1st Dave King with Rosie
2nd Yan with Weaver
3rd Kevin Barton with Sapphire
3rd Ancha Gergerley with Betyar
4th Jack Evans with Max
4th Di Stead with Teal’k
Lucy Surrage also passed 2 more Bronze KC Good Citizen entrants who had been absent last week. Simon Quy with Wellington and Ancha Gergeley with Betyar. Hopefully photos will follow.
Saturday June 7th
Three more KC Puppy Assessment passes today.
Fiona Flint with Tilly
Beverley Baldwin with Tanner
Linda Jeffes with Tally
Pictures will come but proving evasive!
Saturday June 14th 2008
Although Susie Smyth is unable to train with us now on Wednesdays, I was delighted to hear that she ran in the UGS Novice Test at Gardners Farm Ashburnham and came 2nd with her Lab Bandit. Very well done Susie as I could see that you were in very competitive company! Any photos?
Sunday July 6th 2008
At the Bakadam Club Novice Dog/Novice Handler GWT today, held at Willow Farm, Sundridge, Westerham, our group saw 4 competitors participating. Di Stead with her Lab T’ealk, Kitty Keeley with her Lab Wilma, Bob Wilcockson with his 2 Labs Fergus and Tess and Jan (Yan) Auer with his Lab Weaver. For all except Bob it was their first attempt at a working test and I am delighted to report that not only did they put their all into it and hopefully enjoyed the experience , but that Jan gained 5th place and was awarded Very Highly Commended (VHC). So if anyone is interested in taking part …please ask. (There is one on August 31st run by KSS)
Pictured from left to right
Mark Toublic 3rd, Winner Debbie Thompson, Lin Stiles COM, Judges Dick Pettit & Tania Stapley, Alan Scutcher 2nd, and from AGG, Jan Auer VHC running his very first test
and Jan receiving his award
JULY 12th 2008
At Michelham Priory, Bob Wilcockson ran Fergus and Tess in the scurries and came 2nd and 3rd. The next day, Ann Bridges came 2nd in another scurry with her Lab Riley.
July 19th 2008
At Ninfield carnival Fergus and Tess came 1st and 2nd this time!!
OUT IN HUNGARY
The date now escapes me but I have neglected to congratulate Ancha Gergely with her Vizsla “Betyar” when they were the only dog out of six entries to pass a basic day testing for working gundogs. This is a huge achievement and we all wish them the very best of luck.
KC Puppy Assessments
On Saturday August 2nd two more puppies gained their awards. Hannah Spearman with “Uma” and Jonathan Kefford with “Bella”. Well done both!. Hopefully they will now go on to do their Bronze.
Hannah with Uma
Jonathan with Bella
Joining the success above is now Penny Mawson with Uma’s brother “Max” gaining his puppy award on Saturday September 6th
URC Novice Dog/ Novice Handler
September 21st saw our new teacher Pauline Chamberlain getting her first working gundog test award when she and her dog came 4th at the above. Very well done!
Saturday mornings photos
And now we have the pictures taken by Ancha Gergely on one of our Saturday morning training sessions. Ancha is quite happy for you to print off your own pics for free but is also happy to do a professional print out as a service.
by anchagergely
Saturday February 21st
The film taken by www.fieldsportschannel.tv is now on so go watch it!
CRUFTS 2009
It’s a long way to Birmingham, but I hope that all who managed the trek enjoyed the Gundog Day on Saturday March 7th.
Having travelled up with Pauline, who had her bitch Hazel in the Gamekeepers Ring, (Hall 5) it was great to meet up with not only Lynne and Sas with Dilly and Oliver, but Vicky the vet was there too with her ESS Quincy.
Everyone showed well, considering the large classes, but the only one to come away with any honours was Quincy! He got a VHC for Vicky who must be as pleased as punch.
Beshlie and I were in the Vizsla Breed Ring in Hall 4 ( no prizes there this year) so I had to keep running between the two to try and catch people in the ring. Hence the photos are not quite as good as I would have liked but here they are to give you an idea.
Next year we want Fergus, Wellington and Verdi at least to join the others up there!
Pauline with Hazel
Lynne with Dilly
Sas with Oliver
and Vicky with Quincy
And have just been sent these of Beshlie
Fieldsportschannel.tv also had a chat with us all afterwards and so there may well be a follow up to the previous video on line.
Back to training!!!!!
SHOOTING TIMES
At last I have managed to upload all the pictures taken by David Tomlinson for his article in the Shooting Times, March 26th. He is very happy for anyone to print off their own pictures and I will put an “honesty box” in the meeting room for donations, which David will send to the Barn Owl Trust in Suffolk. I just hope this link works as it has taken forever to do!
Link to David Tomlinson Photos
Saturday April 4th
Chantal Pugh with Rupert passes her KC Puppy assessment
Three happy owners, Russell Coomber with Lola, Kitty keeley with Flint and Louise with Maisie, all passed their KC Puppy Assessments on April 4th
Saturday May 2nd
Pictured below are 3 more happy puppy people.
Anne & Emily with Lucy, George with Csako and Janet with Millie who all passed their KC Puppy Assessment today
Saturday May 9th
The Kennel Club Good Citizen Bronze Awards were held, with 18 handlers with their dogs. 13 passed with only 5 NR and these were all due to dogs moving in the last few seconds of the “stay”, so please do try again!
A very pleased Dee Blake with “Verdi”
from left to right
back row, steward for the day, Vanessa, Kate with Merlin, Jackie with Abigail, Andrew with Sonny, Michael with Harvey, Duncan with Maiya, Jonathan with Bella, Assessor Eileen Ayling, Paula with Bracken, Debbie with Ollie and Hannah with Uma. Front row, Jeremy with Josh, Kerry with Carly, Martin with Nellie.
Well done to all of you…and now the really hard work starts!!!
More KCGC, May 16th 2009
Percy Baldock came to assess more Bronze and one Silver. We also had 2 KC Puppy passes.
From left to right, front row, puppy pass George with Csutak, bronze passes Kitty with Flint, Kerry with Dinky, Carole with Cody,puppy pass Elizabeth with Bindi, back row, bronze pass Beverley with Tanner, Di with T’ealk who passed SILVER, assessor Percy and steward for the morning, Martin. Well done all! Next week we have Silver and Gold!!!
Saturday May 23rd…Kennel Club Good Citizen Awards
Our very first Gold awards together with some more Silver success!
Front row left to right gaining SILVER
Jill Blackadder with Edith, Pru Knight with Flick, and Kitty Keeley with Wilma.
Back row
SILVER :- Simon Quy with Wellington, Darryl Smith with Barley, steward for the morning Vanessa Deacy, Assessor Mark Bott, GOLD Bob Wilcockson with Fergus, Sas Drury with Oliver and Jack Evans with Max
We are very proud of you all through the last few weeks and hearty congratulations to all who passed . To those yet to get rid of the “NR” keep at it…we WILL get you through!!!
Saturday June 27th 2009
Better late than never is the news that Jack Evans with his black Lab “Max” was Best Junior Handler on the day at SEGS Funday held at Horsted Keynes.
This news from Kitty Keeley who thoroughly enjoyed the experience:-
Flint on Saturday, what a clever boy, first test a 0, because I didn’t walk him closer, knew I would lose points for that and because he failed got nothing, next ,picking up in the wood a 16, along mark attained another 16, then the big 20 and played the joker,(lucky), the last retrieve, marked was over the water onto a bank, he swam out with about 12 geese next to him and got a 19, wasn’t that a good outing for a very young dog, he was in the same category as Jack, pre novis, so I was doubly chuffed with his performance. I keep closing my eyes and reliving that 20, cant wait for 1st August for another go. ….and from Pauline who also had a good day with her dog “Icky”
Ikkie,was also v good.3 out of 5 reteives he brought to hand. Got 2 x19 .lost apoint as it was one of his dropping dummy times. then dropped 1 because it fell out of his mouth on the way back from a long seen , with heel work first. He did a brilliant seen onto the bank across the water, hesitated on the bank so she took off 2 points butalso delivered to hand. Then did a swim across to bank ,jumped fence, reteived ,jumped fence , hesitated and ran a few yards along bank befofe swimming back. then handed the dummy in perfectly. lost 5 for that. so really pleased with how he did.
Demo in aid of St Michaels Hospice Sunday July 5th 2009
I took a team to help out at the Ticehurst Dog show in aid of St Michaels Hospice. We were there to show how much fun can be had training gundogs and also to bring some children into the ring. Thankyou team, for giving up your Sunday morning. Lets hope they made a goodly amount for such a well deserving cause.
From left to right, Kitty with Flint, Jan with Hazel, Anne with Riley, Debbie with Ollie, Brian with Elsa, Simon with Monty and Pauline with Hazel.
The dog show brought forward another star of the future!!! George won her class with Csutak and then went on to gain Reserve Best In Show!!!
CONGRATULATIONS!!
Scurry Day August 2nd 2009
Andrew Nicholson with “Sonny” was best overall and also the day before , at UGS Fun Day came 2nd in pre novice!! Excellent and very well done! Beverly Baldwin with “Tanner” went home with 2 red rosettes and a third…I think the two of them were having their own “in house” competition!
Monday August 10th 2009
I have some very sad news passed to me through Andrew. He has told me that Beverley’s husband John, suffered a sudden heart attack and passed away. I have no further details but suffice to say Martin & I are both shocked and saddened. To those of you who would wish to send a card or letter, as Beverley does not work a computer, her address is
Beverley Baldwin
“Polhawn”, Fairfield Road, New Romsey, Kent. TN28 8HS
More Puppy Assessment passes
Two more people passed their puppy assessments on Saturday August 8th
Simon & Heidi with “Monty” and David with “Bella”
BEST IN SHOW!!!
George told me today that she and Csutak took best in show at the Iden dog Show WOW!
Sunday August 16th 2009
Excellent news that Vanessa is now a Kennel Club Approved Good Citizen Silver Standard assessor. She went to Winchester to take her exam and passed with flying colours! Well done Ness…are you going for Gold next?
Monday August 31st 2009
At the Companion Dog Show at Alexandra Park Hastings, Lynne came 4th in the Gundog Class with her Wiemeraner “Dilly”. So very well done in a big class!
Also at Bodiam dog show, Bob and Linda Wicockson did really well with both Fergus and Tess. Fergus got a 3rd and Tess got a 6th in gundog. They cam 4th in brace, and Fergus went on to get a further VHC!
Sunday September 13th
Brilliant news is that our trainer Pauline Chamberlain with her dog “Ikkie” won the UGS East Sussex Novice Dog/ Novice Handler Gundog Working Test . Their score was 113 out of 120. May this prove to be the start of many years of success in competition….very well done!
With all the different things going on I forgot to put up another puppy assessment pass which is Simon Thorne with his “Dodger” picture below
Saturday October 31st
We held a surprise “competitive training day” for all who attended.I have some pictures of the different groups but the battery ran out for the prize winners.
Sorry Penny! Couldn’t resist!
Winners were:-
Puppies …1st “H” with Izzey. 2nd Pauline with her spaniel. 3rd Penny with Daisy. 4th Jayne with Wally and 5th and best improved, Harry with Suki
Adults……1st Di with T’ealk. 2nd Andrew with Sonny. 3rd Anne with Lucy. 4th Hannah with Uma. and 5th Lou with Maisie
Everyone who took part was given a certificate of achievement for their efforts and I hope you all enjoyed it! Good practice for the real thing!
Saturday November 7th
Another happy KC Puppy Assessment Pass for “H” with her black Lab “Izzey”
TRAINING CANNOT TAKE PLACE WHILST THE ICE AND SNOW ABOUND AS WE CANNOT PARK THE CARS AND THE LANES ARE IMPASSABLE FOR MOST VEHICLES. PLEASE RING IN IF YOU REQUIRE FURTHER INFORMATION . THANKYOU
Bar more snow, training will resume Saturday 16th Jan!