Source: Historic archives of NAC yearbooks
Bradford small livestock show held 20/21 January at Doncaster racecourse
Although there were six adults and one U/5 rabbit were entered only two adults and one U/5 were at the show.
Due to the gap between entering and the show date, it is not always possible to predict what a rabbit might do in that time, some chew, some get stained through excess wetting, and if you feel your rabbit is not up to scratch you dont take it.
The National Angora Club Products Competition
There was a very good entry this year, with two beginners producing excellent work.
There were a wide variety of scarves, gloves, skeins, flowers and toys.
Sally May’s wheelspun Angora single ply won best yarn.
The Judge, Anne Gibson, found it very difficult to choose between this finely spun Angora chemise from Mary Tomlin and the beaded shawl from Lesley Hordon.
The beaded shawl by Lesley Hordon was judged Best in Show.
The felted beaded scarf on the right was made by Rebekah Staples. The bowl on display is also a sample of her felting work. The scarf was 73 % angora, 25% merino tops, 2% silk tops on chiffon fabric. It was decorated with seed beads and buttons. Rebekah also produced the best spindle spun yarn.
The next Products Show is at the London Show in October 2019. This is held at the East of England Showground in Peterborough. Please see the Club yearbook for the schedule for entries. All members can enter. If you cannot spin or knit, you can still enter your clipped Angora wool. Free spindle spinning lessons will be available at the Club Stand at the London, and also at the craft shows throughout the summer.
The breed standard of the national club.
Body Coat
- Clipped down to a maximum of one inch, pure colour, fine texture, even and dense all over
- A coat of 1 – 2 inches is permissible in the case of coloured Angoras
- 15 points
Furnishings
- Head, feet, legs, face, ears and tail
- 15 points
Head
- Broad, short skull, broad flat nose, large eyes of correct colour, dense crest, long fringe, thickly wooled along line of jaw
- 10 points
Ears
- Erect, short, tapered, well wooled, fringed and tufted
- 10 points
Body
- Short coupled, back arched, chest deep, broad and prominent, powerful shoulders and loins a good size
- 25 points
Legs and Feet
- Straight, good but not coarse boned, heavily wooled with short nails
- 10 points
Condition
- Firm flesh, clean well nourished and well groomed
- 10 points
Carriage
- Alert and upstanding, masculine in appearance in the case of a buck
- 5 points
Total Points 100
Weight
- Ideally not to be more than 7½lbs.
Serious Faults
- Narrow wedge head, low head or ear carriage, plain long ears, no furnishings, bad condition
Subscriptions are now due for 2019. New members are £7, existing renewals, juniors and seniors are £5. Anyone is welcome to join the National Angora Club who is interested in angora rabbits.
You might think that I should be the last person advising “show” people on grooming ideas, but the top exhibitors have kindly shared some very surprising ideas with me which you might find interesting. When embarking on a new hobby, career, or interest the thing to do is go to the top, and thats what I have done. Club members have been very generous in sharing their secrets for the benefit of all who read this article. To begin at the beginning, the question put was “ what is the tool most important to you for grooming?”
I’m going to try and take you through the grooming until they are adults. I personally start grooming my babies about 6 weeks old,where I take them out and sort out the knots behind their necks. Then at 8 week to 9 weeks I take them out regularly, which is normally every other day, and I check behind their ears and at the back of their tails, this should normally only take you about 10 minutes.
Angora wool products
The Products section – by Patsy Hirstwood
Clipped wool
Products begin with Clipped wool, and the main thing to watch here is that one does not ‘double clip’, this simply means that one must not have any short hairs amongst the long wool, for this immediately puts the entry at a disadvantage no matter the quality or colour of the wool.
The Story of the Rabbit in the First World War
This book tells the stories of rabbit keepers and their rabbits during the Great War. It was published on Armistice Day 2018, commemorating the 100th anniversary of the end of World War 1.
The Fancy Goes to War
At the onset of the War, younger rabbit fanciers enlisted. Older fanciers struggled to keep rabbit shows going, and started breeding rabbits for meat. As German U-boats sank merchant ships, home food production had to increase. The Government promoted rabbit breeding, and the Food Production Department joined with fanciers in the National Rabbit Scheme. A Rabbit Club was set up at Buckingham Palace. The King was the President, and Princess Mary a member.
Feeding Rabbits in Wartime
The rabbit journal, Fur and Feather, continued to report the rabbit shows, and keep fanciers up to date with regulations on feeding their rabbits. It was an offence under the Defence of the Realm Act to feed human food to animals, punished by imprisonment. There were grave shortages of hay and oats, which were sent to feed Army Horses in France. Fanciers had difficulty finding substitutes.
Rabbits for Food
Many new rabbit keepers, outside the Fancy, took up breeding rabbits for food. However, standards of hygiene were poor. Wood for hutches was scarce. Among the unfortunate crossbred rabbits raised for the table, coccidiosis reached epidemic proportions. Hundreds of rabbits died.
Helping “the Boys” Start Up Again
When fanciers returned from the Armed Forces after the War, those left at home set up a scheme to provide them with free rabbits. Prices of rabbits had soared, due to the demand for breeding stock for food. However, no returning troops wanted Angoras!
Rabbits At the Front
We know that rabbits served as mascots on the Western Front. They also served in the Air Force, Navy, and in the Submarine service. Australian rabbits also served – as dinner for the troops! These made a welcome change from bully beef and hard Army biscuit.
The book is available from http://www.furandfeather.co.uk and http://www.waterstones.com
The London Show October 2018
The National Angora Club products competitions are open to all members, whether they keep rabbits themselves or not. Whilst it is great to see members on the day handing in their entries, those who cannot travel to shows can send in their entries by post.
The judge at the London Show was Christine Robinson, an accomplished spinner. She had a difficult choice on the day. The Best in Show was a beautiful white Angora lacy shawl by Mary Tomlin. A little White Angora rabbit knitted by Sally May was best in the Miscellaneous category, followed by a Cinnamon Angora toy cat knitted by Elizabeth Miles.
Members who have rabbits, but do not spin or felt, can enter clipped Angora fleece into the products competition. There are classes for both White and Coloured wool. Judges look at the colour, length, texture and presentation of the wool. Wool for the competition is layered in tissue paper and packed in tins or boxes. Large clear plastic Ferrero Rocher chocolate boxes are ideal, after the chocolates have, of course, been eaten!
The products competitions take place at the Bradford Show in Doncaster Show in January and the London Show in October every year.