Devon & Cornwall Waterfowl Show 2008

The show season of 2008 proved to be a difficult year, with many show entries down on the previous one. Thankfully Devon & Cornwall 2008 proved as popular as ever with a very good entry of 730! Some of our regular exhibitors couldn’t make the journey down to Wadebridge and they were sadly missed. That said, many did pack up their vehicles and head south to be with us on Sunday 30th November. We are very lucky down here to have so much local support from smallholders and farmers. Many of our entries are from Dorset west and I’m sure that helps when times are hard and funds for showing waterfowl are tight.

As many of you will know, I didn’t get round the shows of 2008 like I usually do. So it was great to catch up with familiar faces and see how they are doing with their birds. It was good to finally meet up with Colin Brieley, now living in France and showing his Runners over there. We have spoken so many times by e-mail; it was nice to put a face to the name. We didn’t get a proper chance to chat Runners, as I had two children in tow. But we will one of these days and thanks for the wine Colin, it was greatly enjoyed!

We are very lucky to have such a good venue for our show and with the greenery on loan from a local nursery, good lighting, huge barn and trade stands, if you haven’t visited us before then why not? How about giving us a go in 2009? You never know you may just get bitten by the exhibition bug! People are always attracted to the display of Call Ducks put on by Graham and Sandra Barnard. Children just can’t help themselves; they seem to love the tiny Calls. John Tucker from North Devon kindly staged a lovely display of wildfowl alongside the Calls. This gives the event more variety with John representing the wildfowl breeders. Being a BWA Regional Exhibition it’s nice to have both! If you do fancy coming to or entering the 2009 exhibition, it will be on the last Sunday of November. More details nearer the time will be available from Jackie Jarvis, John Richards, Simon James or me. If you can’t wait that long then why not attend our AGM and BBQ held in the late spring/early summer each year? It’s always a great day out for the whole family, at the home of one of our local breeders/exhibitors. Last year it was held at Merv Anstey’s place not far from Exeter, in the beautiful rolling Devon countryside. We had a lovely time there, with acres and acres of domestic waterfowl and wildfowl. Quail, pheasants, you name it they keep it and a lot of it is for sale too! Next years venue is still being firmed up. Friends of the show will be informed nearer the time and if you are not on the mailing list, Jackie or Simon will know the details once finalised, if you fancy coming along.

Many thanks to the judges of 2008, they did a great job and I hope that they enjoyed their day. Chris Boothby judged the geese and picked a Brecon Buff from John Hall as his Champion Goose; she was also Reserve Show Champion. Best Heavy Goose was won by Sue and Tony Axon for an American Buff. The Heavy and Light ducks were worked through by Bill Bowen and it was nice to see Steph Mansell had travelled down to steward with Bill. Best Light went to an Abacot Ranger drake from Sue & Geoff Chase. He was a pretty bird, but he just wouldn’t stand still for a photo-he didn’t like the paparazzi pointing their lenses at him! Bill’s choice for Best Heavy Duck was a lovely Rouen female from John Hall. She went on to be Show Champion as well. Well done John, having travelled so far, it must have made the journey worth all the effort! Indian Runners were in the capable hands of Keith May of Sweetshouse. Keith worked through the large class of Runners, choosing a nice white male of Sue and Tony Axon as Best Runner. We were thrilled that he picked one of our fawn females as Best Coloured Runner and Best Opposite Sex Runner. Keith has kept quality fawn Runners for many years, as did his father Gilbert and it was nice that our girl cut the mustard in his expert eye. Peter Kyles came down from Herefordshire to judge the Calls and Bantams for us, choosing a white Call from Graham and Sandra Barnard as Best Call. Graham and Sandra also won Best Coloured Call, so a good day for them too! Best Pair went to local exhibitor Ann Terrell. Best Bantam went to a Black East Indian from Sue and Tony Axon. Children’s classes and eggs were judged by Linda Bowen, with Katie Burrell winning Best Junior Call for a white drake and Best Pet for a white female. Best Plate of Eggs went to Peter Hayford of South Devon, who always does well with his egg exhibits. Junior Handler went to B Jones and the Novice Exhibitor award went to James Burrell for his Rouen drake. The 11 to 16 year old Decorated Egg Class was won by R&S Hoskin, with the 5 and under class won by R Richards. Show Chairman John Richards was winner of the points trophy this time around.

There are so many awards and trophies on offer at our exhibition that to list everything would take up most of this publication, so I’ll leave it at that for now. All that is left to say on behalf of the Show Committee is thank you to everyone who helped to make the show a success. We look forward to seeing you all again in November!

All the best

Julian Burrell