One of Britain’s biggest gundog events reached its climax at Packington when the 20 finalists competed to become the BASC/Chudleys gundog scurry league winner.
More than 1,200 individuals, including a hundred young handlers under 16, entered the competition which ran at shows throughout the summer. The winner in a closely contested final was Alan Davies from Andover, Hants, with his labrador Bertie who scored 94 points, narrowly beating last year’s winner Steve Blackwell who took second and third places with his spaniels Blue (92 points) and Tyke (91 points). Steve Townsend won the fourth prize with his labrador Ellie (89 points) despite having one arm in a sling following an accident.
The finalists were those who had accumulated the highest total of points at 11 events throughout the country involving various test including an obstacle scurry, water retrieves, long retrieves and pick-and-mix retrieves. The final involved six individual scurries over difficult terrains that included grass, rough ground and water.
The main sponsor was Chudleys, who provided the principal prizes and a host of other prizes were given by Lintran, Tuffies, Charles Wall clothing and Bob Jones sticks. All 20 finalists received commemorative clothing from Bushwear and Barbour.