Highclere Country Fair produces headline competition winners and record sales despite one months rainfall
Nothing can stop a Countryman Fairs event, not even Mother Nature herself. Despite receiving Mays average rainfall for Berkshire in just 24 hours, thousands of country life supporters defied the weather eager to attend one of the finest countryside showcases in the UK, Highclere Country Fair.
Throughout
the weekend gundog handlers, shooters, airgun enthusiasts and fly casters
all battled away in one of the many field sports competitions on offer
to win their share of the £200,000.00 combined prize fund on offer.
The Mitsubishi Motors World Series Clay Shooting Championship continues to write its own headlines as each qualifying event produces head turning results. Purbeck Shooting School once again set a taxing sixty bird course which continually defied all who entered. Top Gun went to Kevin Mayor with a score of 57. Other qualifiers of note include 2007 Junior Class Champion, Sam Green, who moved into the Professional Class and qualified with a score of 56. In the Open Class 2006 Champion Anthony Poolman qualified in first place with a score of 51 after been moved back onto the Open class after failing to qualify last year.
All 20 of the qualifiers gathered in front of the Mitsubishi Colt CZ1 and the Mitsubishi L200 they had entered to win in order to hear the results of the prize draw. Pet Easton, Ladies Class second place qualifier, was the lucky winner of the random prize draw.
Since Pet started shooting over ten years ago she has avidly promoted a greater involvement in clay shooting, regularly writing articles on ladies clay shooting and arranging ladies day clay shoots. Using these shooting days Pet has raised thousands of pounds for Breast Cancer Research and Cancer Research UK. Pet has entered the World Series every year since it was established in 2004 and qualified for the first time last year. Pet was unable to make last year’s final but has vowed to be there this year.
The gundog competition with the world’s largest prize fund, the Richa Premier Gundog League, shifted up another gear at Highclere Country Fair. Gundog handlers from across the UK waited in earnest to compete for the valuable points in the Richa Premier Gundog League and win their share of £50,000.00 prize fund on offer.
The four Hart Gundog Scurries at Highclere Country Fair allowed record numbers of Open Class competitors to once again battle it out for valuable points. If the pressure of the Richa Premier Gundog League alone wasn’t enough the presence of two camera crews and a photographer made the importance of the occasion really felt. Through the pressure of the league, being filmed and the testing weather conditions three new handlers to the 2008 league still managed to earn themselves valuable points.
In the Hart Gundog Scurries young Bryony Bleackley entered in the Junior Class for the first time on the Monday and took first place in all four scurries, whilst in the Novice Class first time entrant James Kingswell took first place in three of the four scurries entered.
Highclere Country Fair has always been synonymous with an exceptional profile of country related exhibitors offering the highest quality of products. The excellence of Countrywide Kennels products resulted in a complete sell out on their range of kennels. Stands on the new Gamekeepers Row reported record sales as did a range of stores offering shooting accessories and quality clothing.
Next year’s Highclere
Country Fair is one the 24th and 25th of May, keep visiting our
website for more details.