Club history

A Little Bit of the Club's History

by Jane Cresswell

On the 6th August, 1973, the inaugural meeting took place of the now Border Collie Club of Great Britain. Each of the original members had to put forward £2 thus making a financial foundation for the club.

The names put forward were:
Border Collie Enthusiasts Club
Border Collie Club
Border Collie Breed Society
The Border Collie Breed Followers

No. 1 was at that time thought to be the most suitable. The aims were discussed and the Chairman (Mr R. Somerfield) of the day offered to keep six Aylesbury Ducks to break in young dogs for the members.

Officers of day were:
President: Mr L. Hanson
Chairman: Mr R. Somerfield
Vice-Chairman: Mrs C. Cox
Treasurer: Mrs B. Jennings
Secretary: Mrs M. Leigh (now Hopkinson)
Assistant Secretary: Mrs A. Jennings

The Member's Subscription was £1 annually, and a "Newsletter" was to be printed twice a year and circulated to the members. In order to raise money Jumble would be collected and sent to second hand dealers, also a sponsored "Sit" was arranged to coincide with the Firbeck Carnival.

FINANCE
£1 was raised from the sale of coffee and 50p from the sale of models (it makes one wonder what the models were like as not many were around then).

From the inaugural meeting and the A.G.M. of 1973 only three meetings took place:
September 3rd 1974, January 21st 1975, March 4th 1975.

A.G.M. 1975
The opening speech was give by the President Mr W. Dixon (who is an hon. life member and judged our breed for a number of years) who then informed the members that the I.S.D.S. had elected to disassociate themselves from any form of club who have applied for registration of the Border Collie for show purposes. However, the then Secretary (Mr Anderson) for the I.S.D.S. had been urging his members to support the move.

Coffee evenings were to be arranged with raffle prizes donated by the committe. A tramps Super Exemption Show with Obedience, a St. Ledger sweepstake was also talked of for raising money for the club funds.

(The cost of printing the St. Ledger tickets was £15.12, prize money £48, incoming £104.30).
(The Exemption Show with Obedience raised a total of £33.40)

Foot note: I have mentioned the names of the officers from the inaugural meeting, as they, with the help of the committee and enthusiasts, laid the foundation stone for the Border Collie Club of Great Britain.

July 1976 - September 1977
Correspondence from the Kennel Club to say that three names were to be put forward. The names put forward by the committee were:
Border Collie Club of Great Britain
British Border Collie Club
Border Collie Club

Exemption Show/Trial Marion Leigh to find a herd of sheep for the trial. Sheep netting - Mr Steel, admission to be 25p adults, 10p children. The catering to be done by the ladies on the committee and a marquee to be insured for two weeks. (After all the hard work and arrangements, there was a boycott - everything was cancelled). The commitee then decided that some form of fund raising was very necessary to help with the cost of cancelling the show. This was done by having "Disco" collecting Jumble.

P.R.A.
Members present thought that regular testing of stock should be encouraged in any way ie: Subsidised testing costs for members and a list of tested animals to be printed in the Year Book or Newsletter. Application to register the club will be in the October Edition of the Kennel Club Gazette.

All present paid 10p for a cup of coffee and £100 was donated to club funds. A founder members' meeting at Blyth Parish Hall to be booked and the committee to do the refreshments (Pie 'n Peas). Treasurer's Report £39.16 after expenses.

The constitution was discussed and was agreed unanimously that the club must promote the working aspect in the form of working test/trials, but to gain Kennel Club recognition before going further.

The first suggested provisional judging list - March 1977 (A.G.M.):

Breed Show Judges:
Mr W. Dixon
Mr H. Glover
Mr W. Findley
Mr A. Roberts
Mr W. Taylor
Mr J. Taylor
Mrs C. Fox
Mrs M. Ainscough
Mrs Roslyn Williams
Mr Bray
Mr Bennett
Mr Dunn
Mrs M. Leigh (Hopkinson)
Mrs J. Bray

Obedience Show Judges:
Mr F. Smith
Mrs Jennings
Mr Collier
Mrs I. Smith
Mr W. Shackleton
Mrs C. Fox
Mrs M. Pearce
Mrs Collier
Mrs U. Bellamy

At the meeting following the A.G.M. the following people were to be added to the list. Those proposed were Mrs R. Davies, Mrs Gibson and Mrs I. Coomb.

For the first time an official auditor was used. The condensed accounts for the year September 1975 to February 1977 : the funds stood at £118.

Deposit account £8.88, Current account £7, Cash in hand £23.

Arrangements were to be made for the first Open Show with Obedience to be held in September 1977, the secretary reported that 292 dogs were entered making a total entry of 520.

 

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