History
A meeting was
convened in the Old Arcade Hotel, Church Street, Cardiff on the 1st
of November 1951, with 27 people present, to form the South Wales
Boxer Club. The meeting elected as Chairman - Mr Kirkham, as
Secretary - Mrs Aster and as Treasurer - Mr L. Thomas. The annual
subscription fee was fixed at one guinea and joint membership at one
and a half guineas.
The first Annual General Meeting was held on 10th March 1952 at the
Pavilion, Cardiff Arms Park.
The Club held matches and film evenings, and sponsored classes at
local shows. As a result of a turbulent meeting on 11th November
1952, there were several vacancies on the committee and a Special
General Meeting was called for 4th December to fill them. An Open
Show was suggested for the 21st February 1953, and these measures
gave the club the impetus to proceed. Cups were donated (some of
these are still on offer today) and Mrs Dibbie Somerfield was asked
to judge, the show commencing at a stately 2.00 pm. It was a
success and another Open Show was proposed for 14th or 21st
November. (It is interesting to note that this is around the time
we now hold our Championship Show).
Judges during the fifties were: Mrs M. Fairbrother, Mrs J. Dunkles,
Mrs H. Gamble, Mrs. Hullock, Mrs C. Wilson-Wiley, Mrs F. Price, Mr.
Mulhouse, Miss J. Grover and Mrs O. Kelly, most of them were to have
a big influence on the breed in the fifties, sixties, seventies and
beyond.
In those days there was a great choice of venues, but the shows ran
at a loss. Matches were held regularly with the Gwent Boxer Club
(now the Cotswold Boxer Club) with a shield provided by the SWBC.
These were revived in the eighties but support from the South Wales
Club was limited and so the teams were generally unbalanced.
At the April 1960 show there were 39 exhibits making 107 entries,
but whether it made a profit or not is not recorded. The committee
dug deep into their pockets for raffle prizes and prize money for
each class. Draws were held on the Grand National, the Derby and
the St. Leger for funds, and generally it was a tough time
financially for the club. In July 1962 funds stood at £147.4.1d. at
which time the committee decided to invest £100 in a Building
Society.
The Club first applied for C.C. Status in 1966 for 1968, but at this
time were not successful. By the end of the sixties the Club had
settled into a regular pattern of two or three shows a year, and
inter-matches with local clubs or breed clubs.
In 1970 the charges for catalogues were 4/-, entrance 3/- and OAP
1/6d.
In the early seventies an attempt to change the Club’s name to the
Welsh Boxer Club was refused by the Kennel Club. In 1973, for the
21st anniversary, a film and slide show was suggested with a 21st
birthday dinner.
In 1980 the committee decided that the cups were too valuable to be
given out as several had been lost, and rosettes were to be given in
lieu. Also in 1980 the Club was involved in the inaugural meeting
of the Working and Pastoral Breeds of Wales.
In 1981 the Club held a special meeting at Llandaff to inform
members about P.A. Dr Bruce Cattanach showed the P.A. film and
answered members’ questions. This was a worrying time for most
breeders. 1984 was a celebration year for the 100th show was held in
November. Half-price entries, prize money, rosettes and a free
catalogue for each exhibitor made it a bumper show. The judge was
Dr Cattanach, with 142 dogs making 230 entries it was the best entry
so far.
After the AGM in 1985 the committee decided that cups should once
more be given to members winning at shows. Many new cups were
donated and to date they are still on offer.
At last in1985, CC status was granted for 1987. Pontypool was
chosen as the venue for the Championship Show because of its
accessibility from England. Also in 1985 the SWBC became involved
in the docking issue writing to the Foreign Secretary, and in May
1986 it sent a representative to the proposed Council for Docked
Breeds.
In September 1986 a new Club logo was designed, and a newsletter
called “Pup Chat” was started and ran for several issues.
The first Championship Show was held on14th November 1987 and was
judged by Mrs V. Tripe (dogs) and Mrs M.
Best (bitches) there were 250 dogs entered, the entry fee for
members being £4.50 and £5.50 non-members. Texaco generously donated
a new set of cups for Best in Show etc., and several members have
since donated cups for most classes. Prize money was on offer and
the first of the Club’s series of collectable pottery plates was
given to winners of each class.
At the Championship show in 1989 the committee decided to hold a
parade of imported dogs. Permission to do this was granted by the
K.C. although at the time the K.C. hadn’t realized that all imported
Boxers at that time had cropped ears, but by then we had done it!
It provided a showcase for dogs that many had never seen.
November 1993 saw the 40th Anniversary, and at the Championship
show that year a special class with £40 prize money for the winner
was included. The referee Mrs Mary Foan judged it after the main
show was completed.
1994 saw the first of what was to become a series of very successful
weekend Judging Seminars, the first one being held at Duffryn House,
Nr Cardiff. These were held bi-annually and were a major event in
the boxer calendar attracting around 80 delegates from all over the
country. In 1998 the venue moved to the Parkway Hotel & Conference
Centre, Cwmbran. Unfortunately due to spiralling costs the last
seminar was held in 2002. The club were very proud of what they had
achieved with these seminars and believe that as yet they have not
been rivalled.
The Club currently has a good working committee and puts on three
shows a year. In 2004 to try and increase entries the Limited show
held in January was upgrade to an Open show. The 2nd.
Show again an Open show is held on May bank holiday. In 2006 saw the
club move from the Memorial Hall in Usk to the Agricultural College
in Usk. The move was forced on the club by the Memorial Hall, which
was due for re-furbishment. However the move has been a success both
for the club and the exhibitors. The Championship show is held in
November and again a move of venue resulted in the show moving from
Pontypool to Cwmbran for one year, which was not as suitable as
first thought. However in 2006 the Eastern Leisure Centre was booked
and proved a popular choice to all. Hopefully we are now settled in
these new venues, but who knows life is forever changing.
We have
representatives at Boxer Breed Council, and try to promote the Boxer
as a healthy family dog by following a Code of Conduct, and we are
currently drawing up guidelines for Boxer breeders
We
welcome any comments or suggestions that would improve the service
this website provides.
