The South Eastern Gundog Society (SEGS) was formed in 1952
by a group of gundog enthusiasts. The following memories of those
early days are by Gordon Smith, one of the founder members,
and first appeared in the 'Golden Jubilee Year Book' in 2002.

It all started in 1949 when I purchased a yellow Labrador as a belated
wedding present for my late wife, Phyllis. We got involved with showing
and it was at a Show that we learned about a gundog training class
to be held at Wrotham.

We were introduced to a gentleman who would start us off on the right
track. After it was explained what was expected of a working retriever,
handlers and dogs were taken into a field and shown some basic training
methods. The fun started when we were instructed to sit our dogs,
command them to stay and walk away. This we did. There were dogs
everywhere, with handlers trying to catch them, all except one which
was still sitting. The gentleman came up to me and said, ‘You’re having
me on – you’ve done this before!’ So I explained that my wife went
shopping with the dog, which was told to sit outside the shop and
therefore knew the ‘stay’ command. In due course I learnt that our
instructor was none other than Peter Moxon whom I came to know well
in later years. I not only ran dogs under him but also judged with him.

If you have any
memories or photos
of the early years
of SEGS that you feel
would be suitable for
inclusion on this site
and of interest to
other members
please contact us.

The South Eastern Gundog
Society was born, with
Mr Bentley in the Chair,
Mr Eric Mackintosh as
Honorary Secretary,
Mr Tom Hendley as
Honorary Treasurer and
Mr Bill Hickmott and
Mr George Williams as
trainers. A working party
was formed and on
3rd March 1952, at an
inaugural meeting
attended by fifty people,
Mrs H. J. Morgan was
elected President. With
the enthusiasm and hard
work of the Committee
and members, the
Kennel Club soon gave
full recognition to the
Society and we were able
to run our first trials.
The Committee, not
entirely happy with the
running of their first trials,
raised the matter at the
next meeting. The Field
Trial Secretary gave a
brief reply: 'Goodbye and
b......r you!' with the
result that I had the job
for the next ten years.