Since 1951

For very many years Windsor has been known as the Ascot of Dog Shows, the summer “Crufts” in the opinion of many exhibitors.

Situated in the green parkland of Home Park, Windsor, under the ramparts of the Castle and with the River Thames as a boundary it is one of the loveliest dog show venues in the UK.   Indeed Windsor Show is unique as, for all of its greater than half a century of existence, it still takes place on the same ground as its very first show in 1951.

The Foundation Years

The first Windsor Championship Show was held in 1951.   It had no connection with the Championship Show held before the war and had no assets of any sort.   Because a Championship Show had to be sponsored by an existing Society the Windsor Gundog Society acted as the parent body, but throughout their joint existence the funds of these two organisations were kept completely separate.

As Windsor Championship Show was starting from nothing, means had to be devised to raise funds and at a general meeting of interested people on 19th October 1950 three forms of membership were outlined:  Life Membership at 5 guineas (£5.25); Foundation Membership at 2 guineas (£2.10) for three years; and Annual Membership at 1 guinea (£1.05).   By this means an initial sum of £450 was raised and in the following year was added to.

The first Show in June 1951, although a tremendous canine success, was not a success financially and there was a loss of £270.   To avoid this happening the following year the committee decided to increase various charges but not the entry fee, which remained at 10s 6d (52½).

First Show Committee 1951

Left to right – Mr Raymond Oppenheimer, Dr Esther Rickards (Secretary), Mrs. P Phillips.  Mrs. Edwards, the first chairman, resigned from this office on moving away from the district in 1952.   The chairmanship was taken over by the Earl of Northesk, an office he held until his death in 1964.

The Championship Show continued to prosper and with its lovely setting in the Home Park, with Windsor Castle as a backcloth, it grew in popularity and each year many hundreds of overseas visitors came to the show.   Dr. Rickards, the secretary, had been responsible for its growth and her tireless work on its behalf was in no small measure responsible for the success of the show.  Her Majesty The Queen became the patron in 1956 and she took a great interest in the show with details of the entry being sent to her each year.

In 1962 Dr. Rickards decided that she could no longer continue as secretary.   Her reason for this was the new Kennel Club Regulation compelling show secretaries to provide the exhibit numbers in the judges’ portion of the judging book. Dr. Rickards was invited to be a vice-president of Windsor Championship Show, a position she accepted with pleasure.   She also remained on the committee.

1963 The Rains Came!

Home Park is quick to dry after rain but with the Royal Windsor Horse Show a few weeks beforehand the ground has little time to recover from the pounding of horses’ hooves and the movement of heavy horseboxes etc.   In 1963, the rains came to Windsor.

Restrictions on the movement of heavy traffic on the showground and especially across the ring areas during the set-up days are necessary to keep the ground in prime condition for the dog show.

The first two day show

In 1969 Windsor held their first two-day show expanding to three days in 1973 but it was not until 1984 that Windsor held the show on a Sunday for the first time. Group Captain “Beefy” Sutton took over as Secretary in 1988 on the death of his wife and so until 1989 he remained Chairman, Secretary and Show Manager. Mr. Stuart Chamberlain became Show Manager for the 1989 show.

At the end of 1989 Group Captain Sutton retired from the position of Secretary and Mrs. Irene Terry became Secretary a position she holds today. On Group Captain Sutton’s death Mr. Ken Rawlings became Chairman and Terry Thorn Vice-Chairman for the 1991 show. Terry Thorn had been Chief Steward since 1984, but outside pressures meant that he had to stand down from both positions following the 1993 show.

1988 saw another innovation at Windsor – the famous “Pink Jackets” for the committee, the first Championship Show to have such a distinctive way of identifying committee members! These were paid for by Ken Rawlings and have over many years been taken-in and let-out again as committee members, of varying shapes and sizes, have come and gone. The first generation saw service through to 2007 when lighter weight, but still the distinctive “Pink”, replacements were supplied by Oonagh Gore.

Millennium Year saw the Golden Anniversary of Windsor Championship Show

Many specials were awarded, and with assistance from many Life Members and Pedigree it was possible to mount a display of memorabilia from those 50 remarkable years.

The Queen had become Patron during the tenure of Esther Rickards, the first secretary, and it was in 2000, in her seventy-fifth year, that Her Majesty relinquished her patronage, along with the patronage of many other the Societies.

The year 2000 also saw the retirement of Mr Austin Clancey who had held the position of Treasurer since 1963, John Reymond, Assistant Treasurer for a number of years filled his place.

Sir Dudley Forwood

For many years our President was the charismatic Sir Dudley Forwood whose enthusiasm and support for Windsor was boundless, following his passing in 2001 Leonard Pagliero OBE became President in 2004 bringing, together with Vice President Terry Thorn, the same support and enthusiasm for the Society.

Oonagh Gore became Chairman and Liz Cartledge Vice-Chairman in 2002 and are ably guiding the Society through today’s ever more difficult times. After a period considering who should be Patron the committee decided to invite The Earl of Buchan to fill this role and we were delighted when he accepted the invitation. It is a position he relishes and is to be seen at every show supporting the society knowledgably discussing dogs with judges and visitors alike.

New Showground Layout

Windsor Championship Show has long been looked upon as the “Ascot” of dog shows, the “Summer Crufts”, and has usually been favourably looked after by “the weather god” and in 2008 he was kind enough to smile on the show a rare dry 4 days in a very wet summer. The new showground layout, with separate car parks each end of the showground and in-out rings for every breed (even though the show requires almost enough canvas to cover two football pitches!) is well liked by all and worked even more smoothly in a warm dry summer.