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Latest
news (updated 22.12.07)
GODALMING SPORTS AWARDS 2007
Following
their success at the British Riding Clubs Championships,
we nominated Guy Phipps and Wendy Ducker for the junior
and senior individual awards at this year’s Godalming
Sports Awards. The
purpose of these awards is to acknowledge outstanding
performance or special effort within Godalming’s
sporting environment by a resident or someone belonging to
a club in Godalming and its surrounding areas.
All those nominated were invited to attend the
annual awards ceremony held at Charterhouse Sports Club on
21st November.
The nominations covered a wide range of sports,
including football, lacrosse, rowing, shooting, fencing,
bowls, swimming, athletics and there were many examples of
individuals and teams achieving success not just locally
but also in national and international competitions.
Guy
Phipps was one of three runners-up for the Denningberg
Shield for the junior individual title and Wendy Ducker
was the winner of the Charterhouse Club Shield for the
senior individual title.
The
top three in each category were presented with a piece of
crystal engraved with their name and the details of the
award they had been given, and the winners also took home
either a shield or trophy to keep for the coming year.
It was great to have a riding club represented at
these awards, and fantastic that the panel who judged the
nominations recognised the achievements of both Guy and
Wendy.
HIGHLIGHTS
OF 2007
We
had a really good turnout for our AGM at the end of
November. Everyone brought along a plate of buffet type
finger food to share and after the business part of the
evening those present were treated to a short film showing
highlights of the Club year – many thanks to Annie
Denton for her hard work in putting this together and also
to ProSportPhotos and Michael Huggan who both let us use
some of their photographs of club members in action from a
variety of events.
The film show was followed by a very interesting
talk by Elstead member Louise Barnes and one of her
colleagues on their work as Mounted Police Officers with
the Metropolitan Police.
Based in Hammersmith, Louise and her colleagues and
their horses carry out a wide range of duties, including
attending football matches and State functions. Louise
showed the protective (and very heavy) gear that they have
to wear in situations that could be dangerous (such as
certain London football matches) which protects the rider
from injury from knife or fire attacks – not easy when
you then have to mount a horse of 17 hh or more!
As well as their police duties, a Mounted Police
Officer has to ensure their horse is well cared for,
superbly turned out and that tack and horse are cleaned
and put away even if the shift ends at 1.00 a.m.!
The evening ended with the presentation of the
Club’s annual awards – details of who got what later
in this newsletter.
It was a very positive end to what has not been an
easy year for our Club.
Of the 11 open events set out in our 2007 schedule,
three were cancelled due to Foot & Mouth Disease.
Several other events were adversely affected by bad
weather.
The impact of FMD on our members’ only events was
less, with only those scheduled for August being
cancelled. As
well as regular instruction with Brian Hutton and Tracey
Lawson, two cross country sessions were offered to
members. There
were three clear round jumping sessions plus a further two
which included competitions, evening dressage competitions
plus another which was held in October.
Other events on offer to our members included an
Outdoor Service and Fun Ride,
a session on ‘first aid for riders’, a skittles
evening and a BBQ.
Our teams continued to do well, with Elstead
finishing either first or second in the majority of
qualifiers and ‘friendlies’.
We qualified 24 horses and riders for the national
championships at
Lincoln
, gaining a number of team places, the highest of which
was fourth in the Rural Riders Dressage.
We had a number of individual placings, the high
spots being Wendy Ducker winning the senior individual
open dressage championship and Guy Phipps winning the
junior individual style jumping championship.
Elstead was well represented at the London &
South East Championships at which our show jumping team
was placed fifth. Elstead
has retained the Foss Trophy for the most points gained in
team events by a club in our Area (
West Surrey
) so well done to everyone who has taken part in our
teams. This is the fourteenth time we have won this
trophy, and the eleventh year in succession which is
really amazing.
NEW
LOW EMISSION ZONE FOR
LONDON
The
new Low Emission Zone (LEZ) for
London
comes into effect on 4th February 2008 and will
have an impact on those driving horseboxes into both the
City and the Greater London area. From 4th
February, vehicles over 12 tonnes must comply with the
Euro III standard or pay a charge. From July 2008 this
will be extended to lighter vehicles that are over 3.5
tonnes. The
Euro III standard became mandatory for all new vehicles
sold in the EU from October 2001 but for older vehicles
there may well be an issue.
Options [apart from buying a new(er) vehicle] are
either to pay the charge (£200 per day) or improve the
emission standard of the vehicle by fitting a filter which
substantially reduces the amount of matter emitted from
the vehicle’s exhaust.
If you drive into the LEZ and fail to pay the
charge, you will receive a penalty notice requiring you to
pay £1000 (reduced to £500 if paid within 14 days).
This charging system is in place 24 hours a day, 7
days a week, every day of the year.
The LEZ lies mainly within the M25.
While our part of Surrey does not fall within the
LEZ, a number of competition venues within Surrey may well
do so – also getting lost and straying into the LEZ,
even unwittingly, would result in the charge applying if
your horsebox did not meet the required emission standard.
For more information and to
view the map showing the LEZ for
London
, visit the Transport for
London
website at www.tfl.gov.ukwwwww.tfl.gov.uk
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