[Ian Harford]

Thank you all for your comments on this year’s Midland Game Fair.

As was publicised on our website, in Countryman’s Weekly, Shooting Times and a substantial amount of the local media we had to alter the layout from normal due to the significant ground damage caused by the V Festival and for no other reason. If we had not changed the layout we would have had to cancel the Midland Game Fair. We had to completely redesign an event which had taken 18 months to plan in nine days.

I am proud of the grass roots origins of the Midland Game Fair and the diverse range of field sports enthusiasts that the Midland Game Fair successfully attracts. In no way would I wish for any section of the field sports community to feel they are no longer welcome to the Midland Game Fair. The location of the Terrier and Lurcher events was due to necessity and no other reason.

Those of you who normally attend the Midland Game Fair will know that since the layout change in 2005 the Terrier and Lurcher events have been right next to the Main Entrance. A prominent location reflecting the importance I give the Terrier and Lurcher events. There are 3 key elements we consider when locating the Terrier and Luircher events; show rings, field events and ringside parking. Our feedback from the Terrier and Lurcher community suggests that ringside parking is the most important factor.

The ground that was allocated to the Terrier and Lurcher activities was the only location that worked when taking all these factors into consideration. The reason that the gundog activities were located in a more central location is due to the type of ground being used. The ground for the gundog scurries was very wet and unsuitable for simulated coursing, and definitely unsuitable for showing arenas. In addition the 300m x 12m required straight racing could not be accommodated. We knew that with dry weather, which we were lucky enough to get, the ground allocated for the Terrier and Lurcher events would be in reasonable condition.

Our commitment to promoting all aspects of field sports is uncompromising. Each year we increase our investment in all aspects of our Terrier and Lurcher activities to continually improve the standards. Each year at the Midland Game Fair we invest in a dedicated car park with its own fencing, security guards and ticket sellers. We build three arenas in and provide more and more room for field events.

The location this year was not central to the show but there was no alternative other than cancellation. In all our years these events have been located within the show.

We look to continually improve the Terrier and Lurcher events, your attendance forms a cornerstone on which the Midland Game Fair is built. In planning next year’s Midland Game Fair we will once again be looking at the issue of ringside parking and the location of the Terrier and Lurcher events. Due to the health and safety implications it is not physically possible to locate the car park any closer to the Terrier and Lurcher rings than in 2007. I would be interested to know if you prefer the location this year, albeit slightly distant from the main Game Fair activities, or the old location which restricted the proximity of the parking?

We are very much hoping that we are able to return to the original layout in 2009, however we want to ensure that you are in support of any changes we make. This is YOUR show and we respect your opinion.

Please let me know your thoughts.

[the_stig]

ian - its nice to see that you have acknowledged the problems that the terrier and lurcher fraternity encounted at the midland no doubt thr will be further responses to your post .. i no doubt speak for others my main concern is the cost you pay to enter the show to spend most of the day showing not seeing very much of anything else surely the terrier and lurcher show is an attraction to the main show .. would you expect for example the police marching band to pay to be an attraction ?? i had quailfied for the champion of champions event but due to the entry costs i stayed at home .. yours in sport..

This post has been edited by the_stig: 24 September 2008 - 04:30 PM

[bigadg]

so why dident yo give us some toilets?
stu

[Beck]

we could have had a holiday abroad with what this wkend cost and it was diabolical from the camping to the t+l show !!!!! the t+l had no facilities what so ever we ended up buying water from the extautionate trade stalls for the dogs :wallbash: the countrymans weekly must get back to as it used to be free passses for qualifiers not 1 person going home with a grand :icon_eek: give everbody something back thankyou ! take a few tips from the welsh game fair where the emphasis is on how well the t+l are run

This post has been edited by Beck: 24 September 2008 - 06:21 PM

[Strong Stuff]

I have a feeling this will all fall on deaf ears, if they'd given a shit it wouldn't have been the way it was in the first place.

People treat you the way you let them, it is only now, after the event that a representative has come on to explain their point of view.


Beck is right about the water on that side of the site, the last drink available for the dogs was as you left the show to walk up the hill, under the map (which didn't have the camp site marked on, helpful!)

I suspect the only reason there is anyone on here from the MGF, is because they realise they messed it up, the golden goose is dead, how many of use will bother again?

No matter what gets said by the MGF reps, facts are:

T+L show was cast as far as possible from the money making part of the show.

No facilities at all on that side of the park, no toilets, no over priced food available, no ice cream van, no water provided for dogs, no nothing.

As far as I'm concerned, it was an insult the way working dog people were treated, and insult that hopefully many will remember when the MGF comes around again.

It's no good cracking on that the MGF was a victim of the mess caused by the V Festival, how much money did that make the park?

If the park wasn't suitable to run the show as it always is, without making any section feel outcast, then the show should have been cancelled or moved, it's not our problem there had been loads of crusties churning the mud up, MGF should have assessed the situation and either cancelled or charged a reduced rate to a smaller show, or a badly laid out one.

But no, Ian Harford and MGF made decisions that caused a section of the show to feel aggrieved, I hope it was worth it, I suspect it was, there was plenty of money changing hands.



Would be very interested to hear CMW verdict on the weekend, my guess is that is what Ian Harford is doing here, trying to placate us.


:no:

[Strong Stuff]

markbrick1, on Sep 24 2008, 07:19 PM, said:

i can see lots of angry customers :censored: :censored: but didnt this happen the other yr as well and all thats happened is the midland has gone furthor and furthor away from lurchers and terriers :wallbash: pity we dont get treated the same as the gundog owners :whistling: :whistling: why ian are we 2nd class citicens when it comes to country sports,all the best mark

I suspect because there isn't as much money attached to working dog people as the Spaniel brigade ...............


Note: I don't think all Spaniel/Lab/Gundog owners are posh arrogant rude gits who walk round gamefairs with crap dogs on 30 foot leads, just most of them! :thumbs:

[benbaikal]

:stupid: i think strong stuff as said what we are all thinking . the service that was supplied was totally rubbish and you had the cheak to charge us sixteen quid to be treated like shite you no what was needed by the terrier /lurcher people what did we get one toilet after a good hike .no water and pisspoor parking ,like they say its hard to get a good name but easy to get a bad one and you have sucseded in doing that.and if you feel that concernded about the situation then donate your takeings from the terrier/lurcher section to charity

[Simoman]

Ian, I'm pleased you have taken the time to post on the site and hopefully listen to the opinions of the members. Personally I think the lurcher and terrier rings were too far away from the main attractions and due to this many people felt like it had been ushered into a corner so as to not upset people.
Personally I don't care about parking close to the ring, buts thats my preference. I think more thought needs to be given to water for the dogs and toilets for the owners. In terms of fieldsports, shows like the Midland should be helping to showcase the role of the lurcher and terrier in todays countryside and the essential job they perform today. I feel that game fairs should be a place to showcase the abilities of these dogs and inform the paying punters who may be ignorant of the hunting scene but merely go because of the rides and the chance to wear "those hunter wellies" and breakout the hamper.....................

[john hubery]

Ian it is good that you have come forward to try and explan your point of view, as a trader and I am not alone in this, many others I spoke to over the weekend were not happy with the fact our customer base was so for away from the site. In fact if I hadn't had three young lads with me to carry our product for customers I feel we would have been coming home with nearly as much as we went with. Strong stuff and Simoman have both made their points in very different ways and both are right in what they say, and I may be wrong but I doubt it but back in the day when field sports where looking to swell their ranks at marches and demos the lurcher and terrier men and women were a welcome addition but now that has faded in to the past we have slipped right back to were we once where THE POOR RELATION

[dogrun]

16 quid to get in 3.60 for a burger 1.50 for a brew and is luke warm befere you can walk back to the t&l rings, it must cost people with families a fortune for the day, and most of that day is spent talking to like minded people, not walking around the main gamefair ! why was bellman and flint and blackdog and all the other terrier&lurchers stalls miles away ? agree with SS and Beck, 100% CMW spend the grand on prizes b&f and the other stalls have some cracking stuff, and would be appreciated more by the working t&l lads and lasses.
Europeans only on the toilet door, do they shit diffrently from me ?!




Young lurcher looks well Beck.

[matt11]

every body has made good points from the terrier world to you ian and i agree with what has been said i feel that you will have to put the terriers back as a main attraction next year or you wont have many dog men turn up.i was there on sunday i do appreciate what you were saying ian about time problems, but you and other organisers should not be ashamed of us terrier men!!

[ChrisJones]

Ian Harford, on Sep 24 2008, 10:12 AM, said:

We are very much hoping that we are able to return to the original layout in 2009, however we want to ensure that you are in support of any changes we make. This is YOUR show and we respect your opinion.

Please let me know your thoughts.

Mr Harford.

The question I'm asking myself is 'Where To Start?' Quickly followed by 'Will It Make A Shred Of Difference Anyway? In the hope of saving time and refusing to indulge in a pointless rant, that will inevitably fall on deaf ears, I will cut and paste my responses from years gone by...

Quote

The Midland is great... if you want to buy pots and pans, patio furniture and plastic archery sets.

The Midland is shit... If you want to camp. Want to have a shit. Want to have a shower or a wash. Pay a reasonable price for a beer and a burger. Want anything to do with hunting...

... And...

Quote

Went to the Midland last year. The year before that and the year before that. It's got progressively worse since.

We got off the M6, last year, and queued for an hour to get to Weston Park. We queued for a further 2 hours to get into Weston Park because the stewards don't know how to steward. Infact most of them looked as though they were ready to sit their GCSE's and most of them would've failed geography, because not one of them knew where the campsite was. Consequently we were re-rooted through 3 entrances and forced to queue at every one to be told we were in the wrong queue and would have to join the next one down which was back on the main road and down to the next entrance. So it's now Saturday afternoon and we're stuck behind another queue of caravans while more stewards scrutinise our permits, that entitled us to our £60 square of grass.

We paid £60 for a pitch and that was on condition that we spent £22 each on the weekend passes. So far so good.

After sorting the sleeping gear out we started the walk to the show where we were stopped at security and told we weren't allowed to bring beer onto the event and we had to buy all our refreshments inside. After smuggling enough lager, in an operation that would officially class us as buccaneers, we got into the event where we were greeted with what appeared to be an Ebay convention. Even a keyboard warrior, like myself, knows that a hunting show has hunting things for sale. The only things that were full price here was the limited hunting gear that was available for sale. I could buy one get one free on everything that was f*****g useless and any hunting gear was cheaper mail order. We were told we'd have to pay £4 for a burger and £4 for a pint for the joy of walking around what amounted to a car boot sale. Yeah I know they sell tat at hunting shows but this was beyond tat... this was overpriced crap.

So we got drunk in the company of the only redeeming feature of this show. The lads that we saw last year. And the year before. Good craic was had there!

The Sunday morning saw people queuing for the toilets because the camp site staff hadn't bothered to empty the chemical toilets. They shut the male toilets and divided the female toilets accommodate the men. 600 people sharing 10 stalls. The burger vans had run out of anything that resembled breakfast and £1.50 for a cup of instant coffee is taking the piss by anyone's standards. It's not like it was Starbucks FFS. The whole shambles was about people squeezing as much cash from their captive audience as they possibly could. Anyone that ever went to the Sheya show will know what a good show is. This is it's antithesis.

So after having to wait for 45mins to have a shit the following morning, we got in the car and drove home.

The moral of this story is if you want to meet up with forum members and go on the piss, there are far better ways of doing it than going to the Midland. f*****g hell... hire a field somewhere, take a tent and shit in a ditch. The facilities are far cheaper.

Bottom line is, Mr Harford, that you will never have another penny from me. But I know this is inconsequential as you've had a record 87,000 sheeple prepared to pay out the extortionate going rate.

I'd be interested to hear about this years facilities/prices. So much so I've devised a list of questions.

• How Much Was This Year's Entrance Fee?
  
• How Long Did It Take To Get Into The Grounds?
  
• What Were Your Opinions/Dealings With The Security/Stewarding Staff, Like?
  
• How Much Was A Pint?
  
• How Much Was A Burger?
  
• Was There Any Hunting Gear On Sale (i.e discounted?)
  
• What Was The Ratio Of Fieldsports Equipment Versus Cheap Tools And Plastic Toys
  
• What Were The Camping Facilities Like?
  
• At Any Time During The Weekend Were The Facilities Reduced To The Point Where Using Them Was A Major Inconvenience?
  
• Do You Feel That The Prices You Paid Were Too High/Average/Less Than Average?
  
• On A Scale Of 1 (Low) To 10 (High) How Would You Rate Your Midland Game Fair Experience?
  
• Would You Visit The Midland Game Fair Again?

They've claimed to be interested in our thoughts and opinions so here's the chance to stick it to them!

Warmest Regards
Chris 'You'll Never See Me In Your Poxy Fair Again' Jones.

[Dan_Jones]

Glad i said 'NO' to my dad now :D :D