The Special Puppy and Novice Tests were held by kind permission of Mr & Mrs Cant and sponsored by Masters Dog Food.  The judges were Mr Len Herbert and Mr Billy Frosdick.

The day started bright and sunny and the weather held fine all day.  It was pleasing to see six Golden Retrievers and a Flatcoated Retriever taking part in the test. There are plenty of woodlands at Langford Grove and most of the tests were set in them, with marks, blinds, a short walk up and a steadiness test. The test which seemed to cause the most problems consisted of a mark and a blind, the blind to be collected first. This was down a track angling to the left, many handlers struggled to get their dogs onto and down the track.

There was a brilliant result at the end of the test when Julian Williams, taking part in his first test, won both the Special Puppy and the Novice with his two dogs.  His dog, Mossbury Alder was also the Judges' Choice for the Ron Bendale Trophy.

Award Winners at Langford Grove

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Open Qualifier award winners with judges Phil Askew and Steve Polley

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The Open Qualifier Test was held at Knights Farm, Colne Engaine by kind permission of Mr George Coutauld and sponsored by Masters Dogfood.

The weather was bright and sunny, staying fine and warm all day, giving moderate scenting conditions. Unusually for Essex the ground was hilly so that many of the marked retrieves fell over the horizon, so the dogs had to work out the retrieve on their own, out of sight of the handler.  There were six tests with marks and unseens in long grass, woodland, plough and thick cover.  These tests provided the right degree of difficulty, with few dogs getting a maximum score and even less getting a zero.  After a run off for third place, the results were as follows.

Congratulations to the Essex Area Team on winning the Soutern Interclub Match at Gardeners Farm, Ashburnham.

The team consisted of

Open - Liz Ingram with Gillygaben Tara

Novice - Geraldine Thompson with Hullabaloo Willie Gun

Novice Dog/ Novice Handler - Richard Hayden with Centanni Tip

The two novice dogs and their handlers did very well by each winning their sections.

Judges and Award Winners at Peyton Hall

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The Novice Veteran and Special Puppy tests were held at Peyton Hall by kind permission of John and Sue Hogsbjerg.

The day started dull and misty, then turned sunny and hot.  There were six tests with thirteen dummies to be retrieved, which proved to be unlucky for some.   Before lunch there were marked and unseen retrieves, a hunt up in reeds, an unseen out of a ditch and a retrieve across the river.

After lunch there was a walk up with a mark in front and unseen behind.  Finally, the test that proved to be the undoing of several dogs, where two dogs sat up, one to remain steady while the other carried out two retrieves. A dummy was thrown into the lake and the dog was sent for an unseen in some trees further along the side of the lake, then sent for the dummy in the lake across the front of the waiting dog.  Unfortunately, some dogs went for the dummy in the water first, while others ran in when the retrieving dog was sent.  Under Kennel Club rules, only three places could be awarded to the Special Puppies and none to the Veterans, because they had failed on a retrieve.

The tests were sponsored by Masters Dog Food and judged by Graham Stanley and Sam Morley-Riches

On Sunday 23rd August 2009 the Essex Area of the United Retriever Club held an Open Sugar Beet Test at Garnons Farm with the kind permission of Mr and Mrs Tom Dobell. The test was sponsored by Masters Dog Food.

The Judges were Phil Allen and Peter Lamb.

It was a beautiful, sunny day with a moderate wind blowing, scenting conditions were good. In the large area of sugar beet available, four challenging tests had been set with marks and unseen retrieves. There were also distractions with steadiness and memory being tested. Test three seemed to cause all handlers a problem, some more than others. It consisted of a long mark on the edge of the field to the right of the thrower, with an unseen placed to the left to be collected first. At a distance most dogs wanted to pull to the right when sent for the unseen. After lunch there was a walk-up in the sugar beet with the dogs being asked to retrieve across the line, both in front and behind. When the scores were added up there were four dogs within one point of each other, with two dogs in a run-off for 1st and 2nd and the other two for 3rd and 4th. The unluckiest handler in the run-off was Alistair Ford whose dog had made an inch perfect mark and then went on a walk-about on the return. The test was won by Liz Ingram's young, 19 month-old bitch with her other dog second. Liz's day was made when she realised that the first three dogs were daughter and grand-daughters of her favourite bitch, Tilly.