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
