The prevailing austere economic climate did not suit large
exhibitor kennels popular in the late 19th and early 20th
century’s, and, although Eden and Laund continued, to
some extent, to dominate the Collie show scene, a quiet
ransformation, which encouraged a new breed of wealthy
hobby breeder/exhibitors, could be detected. Often they
would be women, who enjoyed far greater freedom of
expression after the end on the first world-war, and
amongst this class we must include Mrs George BEULAH,
Mrs James MARIEMEAU, Miss Clare Molony WESTCARRS, and
Mrs M. W. Thompson WALDEMAR, all of whom came into
their own during the period. Less frequently laurels
would be divided equally between husband and wife as
in the case of Col & Mrs Wilberforce DELWOOD, and at
ALPHINGTON a whole family were involved. These trends
also detectable in the Smooth world, where Laund were
joined by Mrs Rhys, who named her collies with the
initials BD and Mr B. J. Hewison’s HEWBURN, both of which
exerted considerable influence throughout this and subsequent decades.
In breeds like the Rough Collie, that rarely campaigned stock much beyond their title, it will always be difficult to isolate the stars of the show world, and this was particularly true of the 1930s, where it is very much easier to highlight those kennels which could repeatedly produce winning stock. If we take the winning of Challenge Certificates as our yardstick Mr F. W. Ball’s BACKWOODS kennel was certainly the most successful, with 18 different collies, 8 of which gained their title, amassing a total of 39 CCs.
