doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com CLA Game Fair 2014..........

My reasons exactly Eugene. In addition there are major road works in the area and unless they are gone in time it will be chaos.

I went to Ragley Hall CLA last year and it's the first time that I just drove in without queuing and the same for getting out again; wonderful!

Good luck to all those going. Lagopus.....

I should mention that the standard of catering in CLAs is pretty grim too. The best options are to join the CLA and get into their enclosure, or go to the food halls and buy artisan stuff there. Within the enclosure the food and drink is good if horrifically priced, and you do have a jolly little jazz band playing at lunchtime.

We eventually cracked the problem by taking a big cool box full of nice things and dropping it off with a mate who is a stall holder. He plugs it into the cigar lighter socket in his wagon in return for one of The Managements fruit cakes. Sorted.

Eug

Too true, Game Fair food and drink prices are extortionate. I am lucky in that the person I work for is a large landowner member and gets a multiple ticket allocation which includes entry to the member's enclosure so I get given free tickets. Prices there are still dear but better than on the main site but at least there is good seating and decent toilet facilities. Lagopus.....

To those who were worried about the traffic, I have been there today, arriving via the A44 from Chipping Norton. We drove straight in at about 08:00, no stops, no delays, no queue ..... and straight out again equally easily. No traffic problems on that route at all.
CLA enclosure was busy, but only about 3 minute queue at the bar at lunchtime. 4 drinks for just under �10, so expensive, but not crazy prices. I also get a 'free' ticket, and it can be an expensive day, but at least this year (as last at Ragley), the traffic has been well managed and not a problem. It was a fiercely hot day ..... but that is outside everyone's control.

I went to the CLA in 2011, had the time of my life. Something for every outdoor interest. The Brits really know how to put on a game fair!! I plan on attending again soon, a week in the countryside with my wife and friends and then three full days at the CLA. I came home with a wonderful Mortimer hammer gun that is very high condition. The dog demonstrations are wonderful and I was especially interested in the big difference between British working dogs and our working dogs, especially retrievers. I bet you see 5000 dogs with attendees and rarely do you see a dog out of control, that would not be the case in the USA. We had no problem with traffic but we went early and stayed late. Stayed in Oxford which is to busy for my tastes.

I have visited Blenheim and Woodstock many times,sadly not for this years CLA. Visitors to the fair may wish to take the opportunity to tour Blenheim Palace, the birth place of Winston Churchill.
As a matter of interest Winston was one of five guns that accounted for 6,943 rabbits shot on the Blenheim estate,7 October 1898,a British record.
Canadian visitors to the CLA, note; the Town Hall in Woodstock, Ontario is a virtual replica of the one seen in Woodstock, Oxfordshire.

Also there is the Midland Game Fair; a two day event in September and almost as big, and many other smaller game fairs around the country from about March to October. If visiting the old country it is well worth checking the sporting press and Tourist Information as there may well be something on somewhere accessible.

Pleased that it went alright John. It is from the North that I understand may well have been tricky. I think it mirrors last year when the first day was very hot. Hope the overnight rain hasn't dampened things too much. I should be at next year's event if all goes well. Need to save up before then as I have just bought another gun and hobby funds are low at the moment. Lagopus.....

Gunwolf,
Once you're in there, there is no escape and 14 weeks is far too young for puppy joints to do a whole day on her feet.
At my vet's, I have seen the effect of thoughtless owners dragging your puppies round a show for a whole day and it's not pretty.
At 14 weeks, it should a little and often, not 8 hours in the high 20's degrees.
All,
For your information, it has been announced that the 2015 show will be Harewood House near Harrogate, NOT BELVOIR.
Harewood is lovely but was the infamous venue that was cancelled due to the rain in 2007.

Didn't the owners of Harewood House come under some recent controversy stemming from the supposed 1st Earl's fortune having been derived from connection with the 18th century slave trade? I owned a Boss hammergun once which was built in 1860 for a member of the Lascelles family and researched it a bit. I ran into that controversy then and was curious whether it was ever laid to rest?..Geo

I have pigeon shooting permission on several farms on the Harewood estate and it really is a beautiful place to shoot, especially with my Midland Gun Co.1900 sbs hammer 12 bore. As for the controversy regarding the slave trade,it seems to have gone back into the past where it belongs.Its pretty silly to attempt to contrive blame for historical events like this. I sincerely hope that no-one from Germany decides to get excited about what my grandfather did in WW1, and as for what my father did to the Japanese in Burma's POW camps has me trembling in my boots ! Applying modern sensibilities to historical incidents is little more that politically correct opportunism.