Are there any shows in Britain at all?

[squirreltz]

Hi,
Forgive if this is an awkward subject, but am I correct in understanding that there are no gerbil shows coming up in Britain at all at the moment?
I understand about the e.coli thing and the struggle a lot of the NGS breeders must be going through - is that the reason there's not a lot going on?
Or is it that there aren't enough people attending and helping out, cause there must be a lot of us about now. If that is the main reason then count me in! Come on, who else? (!! )
I know about the AGS virtual show, I just worry that my photo taking isn't good enough to do my gerbils justice!
I was just reading some old posts from about 2003, the people all seemed to actually know each other from meeting at the shows. It just made me sad, I've only met 1 or 2 of the people on this site and the things they said about gerbils were really inspiring. That was all i'll shut up now.

[Admin]

Well I think the NGS still holds the Enfield and London shows but as far as other regions go I very much doubt you will see any in the near future. The society itself is hardly a national one as far as shows go anymore, but more of a London and district gerbil club. Besides I think there's probably less than a handful of breeders that are still affiliated to the society, for one reason or another, which makes it very hard for them to run a decent show these days.

Ed

[Solitaire]

Last I heard, there were shows at Harrogate, Reading, Stafford and Enfield but other than the Enfield one, I can't say how regular they are (I know Reading is at least once a year).

According to the NGS site, the last show was in September at Reading.

The only one I am currently able to get to is the Enfield one, and I've lost the last Nibbler I got so I'm not sure when the next Enfield show is (my guess would be around March - usually it's March, June and October, but because the Reading show took place so close, the Enfield one was probably cancelled).

If anyone else has better information, please share it! I'd like to attend more shows myself.

[Admin]

Well Reading is the old London championships show, they just moved venue.The Same goes for Harrogate , which is the old Bradford championship show. I think though that with the Reading show now it's not strictly an NGS show as it was an open championship this year and you didn't need to be a NGS member to enter. . As far as the Stafford show goes which used to be their xmas show, I don't think that's being run anymore.

They did try and run a virtual show though this year but I think that too got cancelled through lack of entries.

Ed

[aquaticjird]

The membership of the NGS is quite healthy, but the demand for shows is not. IMHO the main reason for this is the internet, not fear of disease. In years gone by, the only way of communicating with fellow gerbil enthusiasts was to meet them at shows. For many, myself included, the actual showing part was just an extra bit, talking about gerbils and exchanging stock was the main purpose of these events. In the mid 1980s - yes, I am a bit long in the tooth, but I bet I could beat you all at swimming - I lived in Scotland. There were shows across the central part of Scotland and maybe 20 exhibitors would turn up to some freezing chuch hall in Falkirk.

This is not just a gerbil thing. Entries are down dramatically in all the small animal societies.. In fact, I'm not sure how long Enfield will carry on. The venue is run by the Lonodn rat and mouse society. They have monthly shows. The NGS just joins in twice a year. When we were there last in July, there were actually more entries in the gerbil section (around 40), than in either the rat or mouse section. In years gone by, there would be 100+ rats and so many mice thast you had to go outside from time to time cos the place stunk of male mouse.

Sue

[Loz]

Oct 12, 2008 21:00:16 GMT aquaticjird said:

IMHO the main reason for this is the internet, not fear of disease.

Well that's a little odd, you would think that if that was the case, their members would support the societies virtual shows, even if they are reluctant to attend the real life ones.

[squirreltz]

How about an egerbil virtual show?

[Dave]

I like it! It could be done kind of like Indy's photo contest!

[Admin]

Well there should definitely be something in the pipeline in the not too distant future, so watch this space!

Ed

[squirreltz]

Oooh!
Sx

PS. If any of us can help.....