The 3rd Middlewich Gas Shoemaking Competition

Again the competition was a great success with over a hundred entries, a record number of applicants considering this was only its third year.  We feel this is due to the time of year with very few other contests running over the winter and the support of Claire at forgeandfarrier.co.uk who promotes the competitions and keeps us all up to date with all aspects of events, we can’t thank her enough.  Also a massive thank you must go to our sponsors for their support without which the day would not have been able to go ahead.  Legges Brothers sponsored 338 pieces of steel and Calor Gas donated 20 gas bottles which are both an amazing show of generosity.  Louise fromMustad came on the day with prizes for the apprentice and open competitors while MNC Horseshoes, Breakaway Horseshoes, 3^rdMillennium Horseshoes and Jameg sent prizes galore for the intermediate and open competitors.

As this competition was originally set up to encourage apprentices there were 38 awards for the training farriers all sponsored by Sean Mooney (Holmes), Stromsholm, Mustad, J&A Ferries, Londonderry Forge Supplies,  Jim Blurton, Derek Gardner Tools, Alan Calvert Tools and Leon Bentham provided a new bronze horse trophy for the apprentice champion.

In their infinite wisdom Leon Bentham and JC Lee decided to this year set up all the 21 fires and anvils in a redundant warehouse next to BL Farrier Supplies ltd in Middlewich, which seemed a logical idea as the previous two years had been a frantic effort to erect a marquee in the reliable British weather and then the morning of the competition set all twenty fires and anvils up and then clear it all away again that evening but with a secure building this could be done at leisure in the days previous and proceeding, easy!!

1600hrs on the Saturday evening all prepared we felt confident we had thought of everything, on the timetable we had 84 competitors set out to each compete in two rounds of shoemaking and unfortunately we had to send 18 of the later entries back as there was no room to fit them in.  Just ready to set off home for the night and it started snowing and as in true British fashion a bit of snow and the country went into panic.  Understandably Farriers travelling from further afield decided not to drive the distance which left us with about ten or so free spaces which came in handy for the lads who were held up in the morning and missed their first round.

In the morning the first six rounds were held and we soon realised 21 fires in an enclosed space, even on a frosty day, was going to be a HOT day!

Class 1- 1^st year apprentices

6^th           Ed Dodd
5^th           Oliver Fairgrave
4^th           Dylan Evans
3^rd           Rhod Thomas
2^nd          Dan Hawkins
1^st           Ryan Sutton

Class 2 - 2^nd year apprentices

6^th           Frazer Atherden
5^th           Dain Atherden
4^th           James Stevens
3^rd           Gregory Calvert
2^nd          Henry Tracey
1^st           Dan Rabin

Class 3 - 3^rd year apprentices

6^th           Liam O’Hara   
5^th           Sean Mooney
4^th           Stuart McGaffin
3^rd           Robbie Watson-Greaves
2^nd          James Elliott
1^st           James Gant

Class 4 - 4^th year apprentices

6^th           Oliver Blatch
5^th           Rob Overend
4^th           Steven Cooper
3^rd           Thomas Newhouse
2^nd          Tom Middleton
1^st           Jake Elliott

Class 7- Intermediate

3^rd          Rob Bedford
2^nd          Jason Brown
1^st           Ben Taylor

Class 8 - Open

3^rd           Andy Bowyer
2^nd          Jon Nunn
1^st           Cody Gregory

Our judges for the day were Jon Atkinson and Charlie Hughes who both gave up their Sunday and had the mammoth task of marking over three hundred which they both did fantastically.

During the day hot food and refreshments were provided by Sue and Ed Bentham either warming up or cooling down the competitors and spectators before they commenced the second rounds in the afternoon.

Class 5 - 1st & 2nd year apprentices

6^th           Jamie Edwards
5^th           Gregory Calvert
4^th           Dain Atherden
3^rd           Dan Rabin
2^nd          James Stevens
1^st           Frazier Atherden

Class 6 - 3^rd & 4^th year apprentices

6^th           Thomas Newhouse
5^th           Robbie Watson-Greaves
4^th           James Elliott
3^rd           Sean Mooney
2^nd          Stuart McGaffin
1^st           Jake Elliott

The points for each competitor from both rounds were added up for the overall apprentice champion.

Reserve Champion                          Dan Rabin

Apprentice Champion                    Jake Elliott

Class 7- Intermediate

3^rd           Jason Brown
2^nd          Rob Bedford
1^st           Ben Taylor

Class 8- Open

3^rd           Jon Nunn
2^nd          Tom Williams
1^st           Matt Randles

The points from both rounds were again added together for the championships 

Intermediate Shoemaking Championship

6^th           Matthew Burrows
5^th           Disco Dave Jones
4^th           Mark Gilliver
3^rd           Jason Brown
2^nd          Rob Bedford
1^st           Ben Taylor

Open Shoemaking Championship

6^th           Andy Bowyer
5^th           Elgan Harries
4^th          David Lynch
3^rd           Tom Williams
2^nd          Cody Gregory
1^st           Jon Nunn

A special prize went to Maurice Guilfoyle the oldest competitor on the day who at 58 toiled in the heat with the rest of them, he shared his prise with his striker of 60 years old.

We hope to see you all again on Sunday 3^rdFebruary 2013.

Report and results provided by Leon Bentham

Full photo gallery click here.