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Clumber Notes
Maureen was, for many years, the Breed
Notes correspondent for Clumber Spaniels in 'Dog World', until it ceased
publication as a weekly newspaper which saddened many people.
Maureen has continued her breed notes through social media and on
Dog Focus. Her notes are
produced below (from 26th September 2022).
Please enjoy reading these and do feel free to
contact Maureen
with any relevant news.
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31st
January 2023
I was reading
the breed notes in Our Dogs and noticed Ian Layfield commenting on
when if ever litter brother and sister had done the double whilst
still in Puppy. It set me to thinking about Clumber siblings doing
the double. Our Sh Ch Maursett Mathos JW and his sister Sh Ch
Maursett Mycate at Kiswahili, owned by Royston Walkling did the
double and gained their crowns at 1 year and 1 week under Ian at
South Wales Kennel Association in 2018. Following it up with a
repeat just days later at Gundog Society of Wales under Jackie Ward.
In 2021, Dave
and Sue Boden and Paul and Hilda Monaghan both got the CCs with Sh
Ch Tweedsmuir Just Cruzin Among Suelynda and his sister Sh Sh
Tweedsmuir Just a Dream under Daphne Bailey. I would imagine that
somewhere along the line there were other Tweedsmuir siblings that
did the double. The last double was at East of England 2022 under
Eunice King, when she awarded the Dog CC to Sh Ch Maursett Mallachie
at Molvonia belonging to Paul and Sue Whitehouse, thus making him up
and the Bitch CC to his sister our Maursett Marnie. Prior to these,
I think the last ones I can remember were Lee Cox’s Sh Ch Vanitonia
U Bet I Am and Sh Ch Vanitonia Wot A Liberty.
We took a
ride to Border Counties Gundog last weekend and we were delighted
when Maursett Masikean took Best Puppy and Best of Breed at only 10
months old, under Nicola Calvert. Claire Nixon also had a good day
with Stonilea Williams Charm, who won Vulnerable Breeds Graduate and
was then awarded Best Vulnerable Breed by judge Irene Glen.
Nominations
for the Clumber Spaniel Club AGM are closing tomorrow (1st
February) so anyone wishing to submit nominations or propositions
needs to get these in sharpish to meet the deadline.
Meanwhile,
Eunice King (Acting Secretary of the Clumber Spaniel Club) has asked
me to remind everyone about the Breed Appreciation Day on Sunday 19th
February 2023. There are a few places left and we do need more
people in the breed to move up the judging ladder. Do get in touch
with Eunice if you are interested.
Do keep the
news coming in.
Maureen Taylor
Email: maureen@maursett.com |
25th
January 2023
It was a cold
and foggy ride down to Manchester for the first set of CCs for our
breed. Patsy Hollings had a good entry and only three absentees. It
was a great day for Lee Cox’s Vanitonia Kennel with both CCs coming
from the Puppy classes, DCC - a first for both Vanitonia Rio Sonora
to Bebecova and owner Ricky Furnell, with litter sister Vanitonia
Secret Episode (owned by the Crocker, Frost Cahill partnership) not
only gaining the BCC (again her first), but also Best of Breed, Best
Puppy and winning the Gundog Puppy Group under Jeff Horswell.
Reserve CCs went to Paul and Sue Whitehouse with Sh Ch Maursett
Mallachie at Molvonia in dogs, along with Paul and Hilda Monaghan’s
Sh Ch Tweedsmuir She so Sheek in the bitches. Best Veteran was Sue
and Lauren Wilson’s Winhampton Oops a Daisy and Best Special
Beginners went to Claire Nixon with Stonielea Williams Charm.
I am sure
Claire doing well with a youngster bred by Gerry and Lyndsey Steele
would have cheered Lyndsey up as she has been very ill in hospital
for over a week now. I am sure like me you wish her a speedy
recovery.
We took Pearl
(Maursett Madrigal) - or hooligan mark 2 as she is probably better
known - to the show to give her some socialisation and she enjoyed
her day out. £15 well spent and one less for Tony to have to run
around after at home. Meanwhile, hooligan mark 1(Gertie – Maursett
Masikean) has a new trick. It seems it is great fun to divest Tony
of his socks, not just while he is sitting, but especially when he
is walking! I think she is trying to kill him, as I have no idea how
he does not fall over. Gertie, of course, thinks a hoot, wagging her
tail and woo wooing. If these two puppies make it to their birthday
it will be a miracle.
Crufts has
extended its closing date until tomorrow (26th January
2023). This is something I cannot recollect the Crufts Committee
doing before, so if you have not yet got round to entering you need
to get a move on!
It will be a
low news time between now and Crufts so any big wins at Open Shows
will be welcome news to fill in some space.
We are now
looking forward to some Open shows with Pearl making her debut in
March, plus two weekends away with football related events, one
being the League Cup Final at Wembley where we will be in with the
great and good in the posh seats.
Right off to
do some gardening seeing as it is fine and not too cold. I need to
get some leaves moved so the Snowdrops can be seen in all their
glory.
Do keep the
news coming in.
Maureen Taylor
Email: maureen@maursett.com |
10th January
2023
Happy New Year everyone.
I have had an email from Clumber Club Acting Secretary Eunice King
to say that they are holding a Breed Assessment Day on Sunday 19th
February at Leamington Hastings Parish Hall, Hill, Rugby CV23 8DX.
Full details can be got from Eunice and they are also on the club’s
website.
It was sad to hear that East of England Championship Show would be
holding it’s last show this year - it was, of course, one of the
shows to loose challenge certificates for our breed next year.
Boston Championship Show will be taking over East of England’s date
and venue, but we will not have CCs there (I confirmed this with the
secretary of Boston last Friday). Three Counties is another show to
lose CCs next year so we will have a big gap between end of May -
Bath, and Leeds at the end of July, with only 1 Championship show,
Windsor in between. The third show to lose CCs is Gundog Society of
Wales.
There were no CCs for Clumbers at Boston, but three adults and three
puppies turned up for judge Sue Margerison. Best Dog was Linda
Thorogood’s Anbrook Don’t Stop Me Now at Harrifield and Reserve Best
Dog was Lynn Guy’s Puppy Suelynda Kith and Kin Among Jahanghir. Best
Bitch and Best of Breed was Paul and Hilda Monaghan’s Sh Ch
Tweedsmuir She’s so Sheek, with Reserve Best Bitch and Best Puppy
going to our own Maursett Masikean.
The schedule for the Clumber Club Open Show is now online with Arena
Print and do not forget our AGM will be held afterwards so get any
propositions in to the Acting Secretary. I was just looking at the
judging lists and it is dire that we have hardly any people on the B
list that are breed specialists. The C list also comprises of a huge
majority of all-rounders.
I have already made note of how few breed specialists are awarding
CCs this year and it will only get worse unless some breed people
are fast tracked up the lists.
Patsy Hollings has drawn a great entry at Manchester of 36 dogs
making 39 entries. We are second in ring 13 in Bingley Hall. That
must a first as we are normally tucked away in a corner. Judging
starts at 9am with 58 Welsh Springers in before us. I note that
nearly 100 Weimaraners are in after us, that’s a big number of dogs
for one ring!
I understand that there are three litters on the go at present so
hopefully some new puppies will be in the ring later this year. On
the downside, a litter of so called Clumberpoo puppies (an
unfortunate name!) are advertised on Pets4homes -only £1200 for a
puppy from parents with no health tests!
Do keep the news coming in.
Maureen Taylor
Email: maureen@maursett.com
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18th
December 2022
Apologies for
the delay in the results from LKA, the past week has been a
nightmare. Tony had a suspected DVT so Monday we were at Urgent Care
in Stockton, followed by the specialist DVT Clinic at Hartlepool
Hospital. Tuesday, saw us back again at Hartlepool - no DVT but
another infection was noted so he was put back on strong
antibiotics. Fast Forward to Saturday and Tony was feeling rough and
tested positive for Covid. Unlike Tony, I am still testing negative,
but will no doubt go down with it at some stage, so it looks like
Christmas at Maursett is cancelled. Meanwhile I had a second head
scan with dye to see if they can find a brain and am due another
urgent appointment on Tuesday, so fingers crossed I stay negative
until after that.
We were late
starting at LKA, so the bench party started early. Loads of food and
drinks, so a big thank you to all who contributed. Peter Sheppard
was awarding CCs for the first time in Clumbers and found his DCC
(his all important 3rd) and BOB in Lee Cox’s Vanitonia
Soloist, handled by Adam Gardner; I must admit, Bruin did try it on
a little, but a patient Adam convinced him to be good. Paul and Sue
Whitehouse collected the Res CC with Sh Ch Maursett Mallachie at
Molvonia, while his litter sister - our Maursett Marnie - gained her
2nd CC to go with her string of Res CCs. At her first
show, Vanitonia Secret Episode belonging to the Crocker, Frost and
Cahill partnership picked up a Res CC out of junior. Best Puppy went
to another attending his very first show, by way of Maursett
Mordecai at Rocabec (Elvis to his friends) belonging to Julie and
Peter Cummings. Julie shows and judges Bedlington Terriers, so a
bit of a change for her. Best Veteran was Sue and Lauren Wilson’s
Winhampton Oops a Daisy.
Clumber
registrations for the first three quarters of this year are down,
but we have more registrations than the other minority spaniels,
with only Cockers, English Springers way ahead and Welsh Springers
just slightly ahead of us.
Finally may I
wish you all a Merry Christmas and a happy, healthy and successful
New Year.
Do keep the
news coming in.
Maureen Taylor
Email: maureen@maursett.com |
5th
December 2022
The latest
edition of the Kennel Gazette is out and the number of show
societies that have de registered is awful. It seems many of the
younger generation are not prepared to take on these shows and many
- like me - are too old now, having done our stint in years gone by.
I was a club secretary and treasurer for two different societies for
nearly 20 years.
The
Lancashire Heeler Association have come up with a great idea. They
have successfully applied to the Kennel Club to have one of their
Open Shows purely for vulnerable native breeds. The proposed date is
Sunday 18th June at Stoneleigh. Hopefully the Clumber
Club will back this and it will hopefully give a nice entry for
someone in the breed to judge. Mentoring could also take place at
the show.
We spent an
afternoon at the vets last weekend as Marnie had a fight with some
barbed wire whilst out on a walk and lost, 6 stitches later she is
recovering, but my bank account isn’t!
The Kennel
Club have just announced that as of 1st January 2023, for
a two year trial period, general and group championship shows can
apply to be exempt from benching. Crufts will remain fully benched.
I know that many societies were worried at the cost of benching and
how to keep costs down. There has been a debate for years now with
many wanting benching and many, including myself, who if at all
possible, do not use it. My dogs are caged either next to me
ringside, so I can enjoy watching the judging or - if absolutely
necessary - on their bench in a cage. How often are benches too far
away from the ring? As a minority breed, I fear we do tend to get
pushed to one side.
Congratulations to Paul and Sue Whitehouse who went Reserve Best in
Show at Coventry Gundog with Sh Ch Maursett Malachie at Molvonia
(Garfield to his friends). Terry Pearson (Lanspar) was the judge for
Clumbers and Jane Howarth was the Best in Show judge; she must have
been impressed with Garfield as she also gave him the CC and Best of
Breed at Gundog Society of Wales in October.
Linda
Thorogood also had a good day at Crystal Palace Canine Association
where Anbrook Don’t Stop Me Now at Harrifield (Stoker) was BOB and
Best AV Vulnerable Breeds under Gavin Robertson and Gundog Group 2
under Paul Carpenter. I must give a little mention to Ruth Antieul
who is a new Clumber exhibitor and went Res BOB and BPIB at the same
show with Maursett Marceline. It is good to see that we are
attracting exhibitors from other breeds into ours - Ruth also shows
a Vallhund.
Do keep the
news coming in.
Maureen Taylor
Email: maureen@maursett.com |
5th
October 2022
Sunday saw the Clumber Spaniel Club hold it’s
Championship show at North Muskham with Karin Brostam Berglund from
Sweden judging. It was a fine day with plenty of sunshine with a
cool wind so we were able to enjoy having the judging outside. There
was a fairly high absentee rate with 23 dogs and 28 bitches
present; it was nice to see a good number of dogs that do not
usually grace the Championship show rings entered. I know Peter and
Jackie Sheppard were taken ill with Covid hence their tribe was
missing. I do hope that Jackie feels better soon as I understand
that Covid has been worse for her than for Peter. Talking of Peter,
he has asked me to remind folk that he still has a few calendars
left.
The dog CC and Best in Show went to the winner
of Limit - Maja Bubalo’s Hrothgar’s Hop Skip’n’Jump, with Dave and
Sue Boden’s Sh Ch Tweedsmuir Just Cruzin Among Suelynda, handled as
usual by Hilda, getting the Reserve CC from Open. In the bitches, it
was again Sue and Dave collecting the bitch CC, Reserve Best in Show
and Best Opposite sex, from Novice with Suelynda Kreme Della Kreme.
This is her first CC and she also won in the Special classes,
gaining a first in the Special Post Graduate Dog or Bitch class.
Best Puppy in Show was Ricky Furnell’s Vanitonia Rio Sonara of
Bebecova (who also won the Special puppy class under judge Mr Ken
Bartlett). The Special classes were well supported and Junior Dog or
Bitch was won by Maursett Melwyn, handled by Lucy Wareham for her
mum Rachel. Open was won by Marjorie Charlesworth Ironside’s
Tavirosh Sugar Plum Fairy who is now being handled by James Taylor.
There is, of course, no overall award for the special classes.
A nice gesture from Paul and Susanne
Whitehouse who donated a piece of crystal for both the Best in Show
and Best Puppy in show, something the winners will no doubt
treasure.
The kitchen seemed to be doing a roaring trade
and everyone seemed pleased with the food. I can vouch for the Red
Velvet cake which was yummy! All in all, the show was a hit with all
and it was especially pleasing to see the children encouraged by
having junior handling and with everyone getting a rosette. It did
seem that we have reverted back to the shows of old, where all were
encouraged and the atmosphere was really good. Well done to the new
committee who certainly seemed to work hard to make the show such a
success. Eunice King, Secretary of the Clumber Spaniel Club, has
asked if anyone picked up her coat by mistake as it is missing - it
is navy blue with a red motive on it. Talking of Eunice, her
granddaughter Kirsha was stewarding at the show and she did an
absolutely sterling job in the ring.
I am at present shovelling food in one end of
the puppies and cleaning it up coming out of the other end. It is
hard work trying to clean up before they stand in it and tread it
all over - the joys of breeding! I must give a thumbs up to the
Kennel Club. We recently opted to join the Assured Breeders Scheme
after much deliberation. Tony applied for the puppy registrations on
Thursday afternoon online; these were approved and showing on our
account by 6pm the same day. Not only that, but the printed
registration pack also containing the documentation landed on our
doormat yesterday morning - just five days after we hit the ‘send’
button online. The Kennel Club certainly gets and deserves our
praise for this.
Do keep the news coming in. |
26th September
2022
We are now heading towards the shortest day
with the Autumn equinox having been and gone - so days are now
shorter than nights Where has the year gone? Oh and him indoors is
already playing Christmas songs!
Darlington saw Carol Page judging and
unfortunately there was a number of absentees. The dog CC, his
second at consecutive shows, and Best Puppy was Lee Cox’s Vanitonia
Soloist who had a fabulous day going on to win the Gundog Puppy
Group, then Reserve Best Puppy in Show under Patsy Hollings. In the
bitches, it was another CC and Best of Breed for Paul and Hilda
Monaghan with Sh Ch Tweedsmuir She’s so Sheek and a Reserve CC for
Maursett Mimi, who is owned by Ryan Ennis Holden and was handled by
our daughter Hannah. This was Mimi’s first show so you can imagine
how overjoyed Ryan was and how proud we were.
The entry for Gundog Breeds Association of
Scotland is 10 - no CCs here, so not a bad entry for Colm Beattie.
The entry for the CSC Championship show is 67
dogs making 77 entries which is a fabulous entry for Karin Brostam
Bergland. The Specials have 23 dogs entries for Ken Bartlett. I am
told that there is still time to book your lunch of pies and peas
and that raffle prizes will be gratefully received.
We have a hectic run of shows coming up with
four shows in under two weeks. It seemed a good idea at the time,
but now I am not so sure!
Do keep the news coming in. |

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