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If you knew her, you'd never forget her...

Mandy Dumont met Beryl Tonge in the 1980s at Empingham DTC in Rutland. She found out that they had gone to the same high school in Essex - except over 30 years apart. At the time, Beryl was 'old' but she was only 72 when she died, not much older than Mandy is now. In this article, written by Mandy, she remembers her friend.

Beryl Tonge was one of life's characters. She once said, 'You're better off without them, but it gets a bit boring.' At the time, she was talking about men!

This is possibly why I thought of her on Valentine's Day this year when I remembered her comment. There had certainly been men in her past, but probably not completely available ones. But that's another story...

Beryl had been very involved with horses and even had her own riding school but, like many others, had changed to dogs and agility.

She had a lovely, little lodge cottage near Rutland Water. The kitchen was just built in at the end of the living room. The outdoor space was lovely natural countryside.

Beryl was very pleased when they invented Velcro for trainers as that made it easier for her.

Going to shows
We became great friends and often went to shows together.

Normally we drove to shows in my little Austin Metro hatchback with three people and seven dogs in it. The back seat divided and could be folded down to leave just a single seat. We had my lurcher, Spider, and my little terrier and another friend had her collie-sized crossbreed. Beryl had Lucky, a similar sized black crossbreed along with assorted other terriers. There were no regulations about restraining dogs in cars in those days, and one of her terriers would suddenly arrive on the back of my neck whenever she was scared by a noisy concrete road.

She was competitive with Lucky, but I can't remember how she did with the terriers.

Beryl was well known for arriving at a show and opening her door, releasing the loose terriers in all directions. Once we were all delayed leaving a show when one of the terriers had to be retrieved from a rabbit hole.

She would also bring whisky and cigarettes with her, and some were surprised when she didn't spontaneously combust from the fumes!

Camping with friends
We had a great group of friends at Empingham who enjoyed training and competing together in the late 80s. Some of us camped at shows, and Beryl would drive over to join us for the day. She is the little old lady bending over with the terrier on her lap in the camping photo.

Something that seems strange now but was accepted then was that all competitors had to wear their dog's ring number clearly displayed.

There are more restrictions nowadays either from the government about travelling with dogs or from the shows especially for camping and spacing. Gardens weren't heard of then, but they are a massive improvement, and I certainly wouldn't want to camp without one.

Some things have changed about agility, but I am glad that we still have the characters like Beryl, and it is something that older people can still enjoy.

One thing that hasn't changed, however, is the alcohol when camping!

 And bless her... and she was right about men.

About the author...
Mandy Dumont started agility in the 1980s with her Lurcher, Spider. She blames Dave Ray for her choice of dog as she'd seen him on Pebble Mill on TV with his lurcher. The dog was definitely not easy, but it taught Mandy to laugh when things go wrong, a skill which has been very useful since. They did win out of Elementary.

Mandy then moved on to collies. She had success with Jazz who took her to Senior as well as lots of finals. Tiff took her to Olympia, and she went to Crufts with her first terrier, Spice.

Other dogs followed including . Her present dogs are Nutty, a difficult terrier now retired, Jet, a difficult crossbreed and a young collie, Tilly.

Mandy used to live in Rutland but has moved down South many years ago.

She plans on continuing to travel to shows and carry on camping for as long as she can and as long as she still enjoys it.

First published 1st March 2023

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