Branch information and events
Information on the British Deer Society (BDS) Wessex branch including events, news, and contacts.
Events
Please note that branch events may not be going ahead due to Covid-19 pandemic.
| 28-30 July | The New Forest Show, New Park, Brockenhurst |
| 19-20 September | Royal County of Berkshire Show |
Branch Contacts
| Chairman | Dorothy Ireland | d.ireland@bdsbranches.org.uk |
| Secretary | Hugh Goodman | h.goodman@bdsbranches.org.uk |
| Membership | Stephen Farr | |
| Treasurer | Karene Johnson | |
| Range Officer | David S Davies | |
| Photographic Officer | George Trebinski |
| Committee |
David Barrett, Mark Hatt-Cook, Trevor Hughes, Roger Ireland, Matthew Moore, Nigel Dewing, Terry Hoskins |
| Hon. Vet. | Keith Cutler BSc MRVCS |
Branch Areas
| Postcode | Area |
| BA12 - BA15 | Bath |
| BH | Bournemouth |
| DT | Dorchester |
| GU10 - GU12 | Guildford |
| GU14 | Guildford |
| GU17 | Guildford |
| GU21 - GU22 | Guildford |
| GU26 | Guildford |
| GU30 - GU35 | Guildford |
| GU46 - GU47 | Guildford |
| GU51 - GU52 | Guildford |
| GY | Guernsey |
| JE | Jersey |
| PO | Portsmouth |
| RG | Reading |
| SL | Slough |
| SN8 - SN9 | Swindon |
| SO | Southampton |
| SP | Salisbury |
News
2019 Shows
The final show of the season was the Royal County of Berkshire Show at Newbury Showground. It was good to see so many members, especially those who were new to Wessex. It was also good to see the youngsters again in the marquee, especially at the Touch Table, with numerous questions about deer. The antlers once again were a great attraction to them.
Saturday was a lovely day and the crowds poured in to find a different layout of the main show. The organisers had gone to town with re-arranging quite a number of exhibitors but fortunately, we were still in the same place although near to us were the four packs of hounds that had moved from another area.
The second day began quite damp, but by the afternoon the sun appeared once more and the weather did not keep the attendance down.
Members Evening
On November 7 we held our annual Members Evening and Photographic competition.
It was so good to see so many members attending to listen and debate chest versus head shot in deer with our guest speaker Martin Edwards, the new Head of Deer Management for BASC. It was extremely interesting to listen to the audience with their views on the subject.
Maya Holding, a research scientist based at Public Health, came along to ask once again for members’ help in collecting deer serum and tick samples to aid monitoring the areas where tick-borne encephalitis virus (TBEV) has been detected, and also to monitor for any potentially emerging areas elsewhere in the UK. It was so pleasing to see members who would like to participate in the study take away sample packs, especially in the New Forest where this problem has been detected.
The annual photographic competition this year was won by Debbie Heath, with a stunning photograph of a muntjac, so well done Debbie.
AGM
Our Branch AGM where you the members can air your views takes place on February 6 at Lyndhurst Community Centre at 7.30 pm. The Officers and committee have all shown willing to stand again if re-elected on the evening.
The 2020 Show season
We have heard in the last few weeks that Countryman Fairs have stopped trading and are in the hands of the receivers. This is an enormous blow to us, as it means that the Broadlands and Highclere fairs will not take place unless a miracle happens. Highclere especially has been a wonderful fair over the many years that we have exhibited there, with the organizers supporting us a great deal.
We will be at The New Forest Show at New Park Brockenhurst from July 28-30. The show will be celebrating 100 years since the first New Forest Show, so remember those dates for your diary.
We will also be attending the Royal County of Berkshire Show Newbury Showground on September 19-20. Remember that you can now bring your dog on a lead into the showground.
Animal accident reduction
Back in October, I attended on a very wet day the launch of the Animal Accident Reduction Group annual project in the New Forest. It concerns all stock owned by the commoners and the safety of them on the Forest roads. We are part of the group because of the accidents involving deer. The launch at ‘The Fighting Cocks’ pub at Godshill, near to Fordingbridge, consisted of life size cut outs of horse, donkey, cow, pig and sheep which will be placed in various town and village locations in the New Forest area throughout the winter months to make people aware of speed. So many animals are involved in hit and run accidents and sometimes left either injured or dead for some time before the agister can attend. This can be very distressing for the owner.
Emails
We hope the email letters that get sent out from time to time either with new events or reminders are a help. We hope to meet up with some of you at some stage in 2020.
