History

A meeting of founder members of ‘The proposed’, Great Dane Club of South Wales, was held on 6th July 1979 in Bridgend Recreation Centre.

Mr Les Lewis was elected Chairman, Colin Richardson as Secretary, and Mrs Jean Granelly as Treasurer.

The first Committee Meeting of the new Club took place on 27th January 1980, it was here that the first shows were discussed.

May and September were chosen to hold shows. Mrs Olive Davies judged our first ever show at Caldicot Leisure Centre. I remember it was held outside on the sports field.

The entry was 132 dogs making 250 entries.

Best Bitch & BIS was Millpark Sunset Strip. Best Puppy in Show was Maplemead Mayfair.

The Rev. Gwyn Davies was elected as our Patron in 1981. It was felt a natural choice for us as he was a ‘Welshman’, and cherished his Welsh roots.

During the early part of 1981, I took over as Honorary Secretary of the Club. In May 1981,we learned that the Kennel Club had granted us Challenge Certificates for 1983. This meant a great deal to us all, and proved that all our hard work was paying off.

Judges for the first Championship Show were to be Mrs Freda Lewis for Bitches and Mr Ray Carpenter for Dogs. The venue chosen was Pontypool Leisure Centre. The entry here was 149 dogs making 236 entries.

In 2004 we celebrated 25 years, our Silver Anniversary, since approval by the Kennel Club.

The next milestone is 2008, where we celebrate 25 years since we were first approved Challenge Certificates for our Breed in Wales.

We have a small but effective and hardworking Committee, some of whom are original founder members of the Club.

We are pleased to be one of the current four Great Dane Clubs who run The Dane of The Year Show annually, a spectacle for all who love the Breed. We also support with the seven other Clubs, The Great Dane Breed Council.

Mr Les Lewis has recently been voted as our Patron instead of President, a position he was invited to, after he retired as our Chairman.

The current Committee are always diligent in their duties, and we welcome comments from our membership.

Hon. Secretary