How it all began . . . . .

MOVING BACK TO LINCOLNSHIRE

We have lived in the village of Great Gonerby near Grantham, Lincolnshire since my husband Jim left the army in 1989. I originate from Kirton Holme near Boston, but Jim is from Hitchin in Hertfordshire. We moved into our new house with just one dog, but now have a small kennel full! Great Gonerby folk are known hereabouts as "Clockpelters" and we adopted this name for our affix.

A LITTLE IRISH LUCK . . . . .

We've owned Cavaliers since we bought our first pet on a tour of duty in Northern Ireland in 1978. We chose the cavalier after searching through library books for the dog which looked most like Lady in "Lady and the Tramp". This was our first introduction to the breed but when I was a young girl, we owned a very small field spaniel and no doubt I was also looking for something a bit like her. We fell in love with our Trish (Carnem Patricia) and were very proud of her - we thought her beautiful However, when we asked her breeder Mrs McAfee if we should show her, she kindly pointed out we asked her for a pet dog, and that's what we'd got!

ONE IS NEVER ENOUGH . . . . .

Feeling one wasn't quite enough, whilst in North London in the late '80's we contacted Cavalier Rescue, and some weeks later following a visit from Jeannie Boyd to assess our suitability, we were offered a tricolour boy. Thanks to him, we were also introduced to the Cavalier club, and the world of dog shows. We were now well and truly hooked on cavaliers and added a stray blenheim girl named Angel (a story in itself). Sadly these two both died before we moved to Grantham, but soon after we arrived we began the search for our first show dog. During this time, we went to one or two shows - and watched a young Lucy Koster take her 3rd CC with Knight Magic at Harana.

THE SEARCH FOR A PUPPY . . . . .

We began our search by contacting a well known breeder, who kindly met us at a show and asked us what we were looking for. A tri bitch, we told Pam Rooney. She laughed, muttered something about hens teeth, and suggested we try a black and tan instead - she knew of a litter. We arranged to see them - and were delighted when we brought home Tiffany, a lovely ruby puppy. She was just about the last one to be sold from a litter of 8 - which should have alerted us to the fact that the best were very definitely taken, but we wanted her regardless and although she didn't turn out good enough to show, she was the most wonderful girl to live with, and we enjoyed rearing her puppies and showing them instead. A few years later, finding there were more health issues than I as a novice could cope with, I took the painful decision not to carry this line on.

THE NEW GIRL . . . . .

At a show one day, forlorn and show-dogless, I watched an exhibitor take all the prizes with two fabulous puppies. Having won with both, she needed a spare handler for best of breed and I volunteered. She asked why I was at a show with no dogs, and I told her. Imagine my delight when she told me she had repeated the mating that produced those two wonderful pups, and there was a bitch for sale if I was interested. If?? We fetched her a few days later. The two pups shown that day later became Ch Darozel Daniel and Ch Darozel Desmoines. And my girl Darozel Georgia gave me all those precious "firsts" - qualifying for Crufts, getting placed 3rd in Mid Limit at Crufts, gaining her stud book number - she and I had a marvellous time. Georgia is behind all my present cavaliers. Sadly we recently had to say goodbye - Georgia died aged 13 years in November 2006.