News Archive 2000

Exemption Show Announced

November 27th 2000 - The Downlands Staffordshire Bull Terrier Club is pleased to announce that it will be holding an exemption show on 25th February at Petersfield Community Centre, in aid of the "DNA Fund", that is the fund for research into hereditary cataracts in the Stafford. This important research will also be transferable to other breeds in time. For further details see the Downlands Diary or contact Ann Gatenby on 01730 828402. We look forward to seeing many of you there!

Web site Disaster Strikes!

November 9th 2000 - Our web site inexperience is highlighted horribly as it turns out that we can't view some of the e-mails sent to us. Fortunately the "damage" is very limited, and we have been through the site today amending links, but could Jason Winter please resend his e-mail "Dogs' Health" to us at ben@holybourne.demon.co.uk where we should be able to read it. Our sincere apologies for the inconvenience and many thanks to those who have taken the time and trouble to feed back to us.

Regal Bella of Socksdown wins Best in Show

October 29th 2000 - Judge Miss Barbara-Ann Beaufoy chose Mr. & Mrs. Lee's REGAL BELLA OF SOCKSDOWN as her Best in Show in a close run contest at the Downlands October 2000 Open Show. Best Dog and Best Opposite Sex was Booth & Grimwood's RAMBLESTAFF JACKNIFE. Best Puppy was awarded to Brown's ARAIDH DEVIL IN DISGUISE AT ROTHERSTAFF. For the full details, and some pictures, please see our Show Results page.

Downlands website approved to join the International Stafford Web Circle

October 15th 2000 - More good news as the club's website has been approved to join the International Stafford Web Circle. Similar to the web ring described below, this organisation also links many web sites with similar interests and themes across the world and it is hoped that visitors to this web site will find these of interest and that visitors to other websites in the ring may be interested in this site. Again, there is an amount of technical work to be done on the homepage to complete the joining process and it is hoped to have this work completed soon.

Downlands website approved to join the Staffordshire Bull Terrier WebRing

October 10th 2000 - Good news as the club's website has been approved to join the Staffordshire Bull Terrier WebRing. This organisation links many web sites with similar interests and themes across the world and it is hoped that visitors to this web site will find these of interest and that visitors to other websites in the ring may be interested in this site. There is some technical work to be done on the homepage to complete the joining process and we hope to have this work completed soon.

Downlands Christmas Party Announced

October 8th 2000 - The Downlands Christmas 2000 Party has been announced. Following disappointment last year when, due to a variety of reasons, the event did not take place, the club is pleased to announce that the party will take place on Sunday 10th December 2000 at mid-day, at the usual venue, Rake Village Hall, Rake, Hants. The party will follow the usual Downlands party format, with a match judged by Mr. Tony Gareffa (Shirestaff) starting at 1:30 pm, followed by doggie party games and a doggie fancy dress. For the human attendees there will be a raffle, plus a quiz with a Christmas 'goodie' as a prize. The admission fee of £3.00 for adults (children are admitted free) will cover refreshments (hot drink, mince pies etc) and all profits will be donated to the DNA Hereditary Cataract research fund. We do hope that you will be able to attend and support the club and the worthy cause.

Website Domain Secured

July 25th 2000 - The club takes another step into the twenty first century as its brand new website, www.downlands.org.uk is registered and launched. The website is still under construction, but it is hoped that the establishment of a presence on the world wide web will allow the Downlands to extend its influence in the Stafford world considerably.

Tickets Turned Down

July 16th 2000 - Hopes for the Kennel Club to grant the Downlands a Championship Show suffered a temporary setback as it has been decided that the club will not be awarding them in 2002-2003. This situation is reviewed by the Kennel Club every two years and the next period we will be able to apply for them is 2004-2005. However, the Downlands committee remains undaunted and continue in their pursuit of this quest. Currently, only the Southern Counties and the Western clubs are able to give tickets in the south of England, whereas there are ten clubs entitled to do so in the Midlands and North of the country.

June 2001 Show Receives Kennel Club Approval

July 10th 2000 - Good News for aficionados of Downlands Shows as the Kennel Club has given its approval for the Open Show to be held on 24th June 2001. Further details may be found on our diary page. Look forward to seeing you there!

Bridletown Noble Prince of Beraka J.W. wins Best in Show

June 25th 2000 - Judge Mrs. Karen Tittle selected Mr. & Mrs. Paterson's BRIDLETOWN NOBLE PRINCE OF BERAKA J.W. as her Best in Show in a hard fought contest at the Downlands June 2000 Open Show. Best Bitch, Best Opposite Sex and Best Puppy was awarded to Lee's REGAL BELLA OF SOCKSDOWN.
For the full details please see our Show Results page.

New Arrival For Show Manager

May 2000 - Congratulations are in order to our show manager, Jamie Mace, and his wife Sarah on the birth of their daughter, Chelsea Summer Mace. The club extends its best wishes and warmest congratulations to the Mace family.

Jamie, Chelsea, Playstation and Four-legged friend

New Life Vice President for Downlands

March 26th 2000 - at the Downlands Staffordshire Bull Terrier Club 2000 AGM, Fred Clark was honoured with a life vice presidency. Fred (Curfews) first came across Staffords in the 1940's and has owned Staffords since 1949.