SWAG Newsletter No. 63 1

Newsletter August 2016.

Dear Fellow SWAG members,

First of all thank you for taking the time to read this latest (in every sense of the word)

newsletter.

It will be more of a report of our annual fleece and halter show with a few other bits added on.

May I firstly take this opportunity to give a massive thank you to all those who helped organise,

set up and break down at the show it was a tremendous effort and without you it would have

been a disaster. I would also like to thank the alpaca owners who either sent in their fleeces or

brought their animals along to be judged by our wonderful judges (Val Fullerlove on fleece and

Rob Bettinson with apprentice Julia Corrigan-Stuart taking on the halter show).

A huge thank you must go to those of you who contributed to the fibre day, putting your crafty

skills on display for the public to marvel at. Thank you also to Colin Ottery for the shearing

demonstration which was a great addition to the format.

Numbers were slightly down (about 20) for the halter show on last year but we did have more

exhibitors so perhaps we are moving in the right direction.

It is very important that we build on our show from year to year. The Bath and West showground

is being developed in areas and the Bath and West Show itself is under a lot of pressure to cut

costs. We have shown them that we can provide four days of alpaca action culminating in our

show. We would like to repay their faith in us by growing and providing more of an attraction. It

is a great place to showcase alpacas let’s not waste it.

It was lovely to see so many of you at the ‘Chairman’s barbecue’ on the Friday night and I

apologise to the camping elite that I had to hit the sack exhausted at a feebly early hour.

If anyone has any feedback for the show and any ideas for how it can be improved upon next

year please let me know.

Thank you. Mark Steele (Newsletter editor/ SWAG Chairman)

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NEW SWAG LOGO

You may have noticed at the head of the newsletter that we now have a new more professional

looking logo.

I hope that you like it. I have attached a copy of the logo with the newsletter (assuming I

remember to attach it!) which you are free to use on your websites etc.

Please let me know if you want it in some other format as I have it in several.

We will be looking at some options with regard to badges or clothing at the next SWAG

committee meeting so if you have any suggestions please let me know soonest.

mark@patoualpacas.com

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THE SOUTH WEST ALPACA GROUP

ANNUAL FLEECE AND HALTER SHOW AT

THE ROYAL BATH AND WEST.

The Royal Bath & West Show is the only remaining four day agricultural show in the country,

attracts well over 100,000 visitors each year and has long been a welcoming venue for alpaca

shows. For the past few years it has been the home of the South West Alpaca Group annual

fleece and halter show.

Having taken over the Countryside arena in its entirety last year the SWAG committee were

keen to build on what was a hugely successful and popular show in 2015.

Having purchased a further two marquees just in the case the inevitable Somerset shower

turned into something more sinister the highly motivated and hugely skilled set-up team

descended on the showground on the eve of the show armed with bulging muscles, electric

energy and a large and loud sense of humour. Reading glasses were passed round and

instructions were held at arm’s length as the assembled mass of construction workforce

debated the best way forward.

With two marquees to erect and a sense of competition in the air two teams were hastily formed

and work began. Andre Shaw from Urcuchillay lead a masterful band of erecters keen on

reaching the winning post first whilst the chairman formed a construction committee of sorts with

two middle aged engineers in the form of Andy Walker (Reddingvale) and Dave Bearman

(Applevale), I’m being very kind to Mr Walker here. The race was on.

It is at this point that it must be mentioned that neither team seemed to have grasped the

premise of following the instructions accurately, instead opting for reckless speed. Inevitably

there followed a period whereby both teams hit a patch of calm, the marquee erecting doldrums

descended and on both sides progress was slowed dramatically. It was only when our senior

engineer (Andy) discovered where we were going wrong (something to do with different lengths

of something or other) that progress was restored and both marquees were finally finished as

the two teams merged to form a smoothly operating building machine.

So the stage was set, we had made a venue ready for and worthy of an alpaca show and we

waited (in the horizontal rain) for the moment to come.

Wednesday of the show saw unusually large numbers of spectators as Val Fullerlove and her

band of crafty experts put on a fleece and fibre day, converting a sheared fleece into felted,

knitted and woven products.

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The star attraction and new addition to the Wednesday craft day was Colin Ottery who provided

an every hour, on the hour, shearing demonstration for which Val carried out a wonderful

commentary, advising the watching public exactly what was going on, that it was the best

method of removing the fleece and most importantly, that the alpacas didn’t suffer as a result.

On Thursday the marquees became home once again to Val Fullerlove as she judged the South

West Alpaca Group annual fleece show which had been expertly organised by a tight-knit team

lead by Sue and Andy Chitty (Pippin) and Judith Newman (Angersleigh). The top prizes went

as follows:

Supreme Huacaya Fleece: Pippin Brambley Bob owned by Sue and Andy Chitty of Pippin

Alpacas.

Best of British Huacaya Fleece: Pippin Brambley Bob owned by Sue and Andy Chitty of

Pippin Alpacas.

Huacaya Judges choice: Angersleigh Tickety Boo owned by Judith Newman and Gary

Steer of Angersleigh Alpacas.

Supreme Suri Fleece: Pinkney Dragon entered by Jay Holland of Pure Alpacas.

Best of British Suri Fleece: Pinkney Dragon entered by Jay Holland of Pure Alpacas.

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Day three (Friday) and the wagons rolled in for the halter show, around 160 entries meant we

had a competitive show and the fact that the whole of Friday morning was dedicated to the

showing of black alpacas indicated that the Inca tribe had turned up fully loaded and ready to

take on all-comers. The challenging brigade was large and up for the fight but Inca still took out

all the black and grey championships (as well as brown female). Next year mes braves, next

year.

The SWAG show saw young Oliver Hey make his debut in the show ring as he took his alpaca

Inca Grey Jupiter into the junior grey male class. 8 year old Oliver was a consummate

professional and guided his charge to the male grey championship sash. Well done Ollie!

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The sun shone and the temperature climbed so much so that at the close of play for the day the

‘Chairman’s barbecue’ provided food and refreshing drinks for all, including our judges, Rob

Bettinson and Julia Corrigan-Stuart (apprenticing). Local sausages and burgers were washed

down with Somerset Cider and Australian wine and lager (not quite so local!).

The following day, the final day brought more good weather and alpacas from the lighter end of

the colour spectrum. Following the judging of the lights and whites, among ever increasing

crowds we came to the grand finale of the show at a reasonable time enabling everyone to

watch proceedings before the grand pack up and go home.

The Suri championship was won by Popham Suri Simone, owned by Kim Swetman of Silver

Cloud Alpacas.

Popham Suri Simone also won the Best of British award.

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The Supreme Huacaya championship appeared to be a close fought battle but was eventually

won by Green Park Neptune, owned by Helena Hazell of Green Park Alpacas and shown by Di

Davies (Neptune is now owned by Di).

Di Davies is the driving force behind the SWAG show and without her the show would be a non

starter it was therefore apt that she was in the ring to take the big prize. Well done Di!

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The final award of the day was the ‘Best of British’ huacaya. The best of British award is given

to the highest placed alpaca with British born parents. The award was brought in years ago

when a lot of the animals in shows were either imported or from imported parents. It is a

testament to the breeding programme here in the south west region that almost the entire

supreme line up remained in the ring for the awarding of the best of British trophy.

The cup was won by Ashwood Judge John Deed, owned by Steve and Chris Powell of

Ashwood Alpacas.

Plans are already underway for next year. It would be great to see you there!

Mark Steele.

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SWAG AGM and GUEST SPEAKERS

Saturday 8th

October 2016

The South West Alpaca Group AGM will be held on the 8th of October at The Hankridge Arms,

Hankridge Way, Riverside, Taunton, Somerset TA1 2LR. www.thehankridgearms.com

We are delighted to announce that our guest speaker this year will be Graham MacHarg from

Fowberry Alpacas in Yorkshire. Graham and Jenny have done extensive research into alpaca

nutrition prior to and after parturition and its effects on fibre quality.

Graham has already presented his findings to breeders in Germany and we are very lucky to

have him and Jenny visit us down here in the south west region.

Agenda for the day is as follows:

3.00pm Talk by Graham MacHarg – The Importance of good nutrition and its effect

on fibre quality.

5.00pm SWAG AGM

6.00pm Drinks and general alpaca chat.

7.00pm Dinner with Graham and Jenny MacHarg.

It would be very useful to know who would:

A) Be attending the talk by Graham MacHarg (free)

B) Be attending the AGM (free)

C) Be staying for dinner at The Hankridge Arms (at your own expense).

If you would be kind enough to let Judith Newman know by e-mail that would be great.

Judith-Newman@outlook.com

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Now available from Angell Alpaca's

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SWAG GALA TENTS.

Because of changes to the running of the SWAG halter show at the Royal Bath and West Show

(full report later on in the newsletter) we have purchased two marquees. These will be used at

this year’s Bath and West show and are available for SWAG members to hire for any event,

either alpaca related or not.

We now have two 10 metre x 6 metre marquees available for £200 per week and two 6 metre x

6 metre marquees available for £100 per week.

They would need to be collected from and returned to, Reddingvale Alpacas, near Wincanton in

Somerset.

If you are interested in renting one or more of these marquees please let me know at

mark@patoualpacas.com or on 07880542260.

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