The most perfect time of the year to stage an event for serious Koi enthusiasts. It is the cooler water temperatures that show the best pigmentation and the same cooler water makes transportation much safer with little chance of female Koi releasing their eggs. Of course, the Japanese have been well aware of this for as long as I can recall.
When I first heard mention of this event in January 2009 it was the best ‘Koi News’ I had heard in the UK for many years. Just to realise that there were some Koi lovers out there who would give their time and labours, not discounting a possible financial risk involved, to stage the event at a time when Koi keepers do not relish spending long hours gazing at their collections in our winters – especially a winter as cold as this one.
I arrived at the hotel complex at teatime on the Friday afternoon and checked in for the night to find a lovely room inclusive of breakfast for £45.00. The receptionist pointed to my left where my room was and to the right where she told me the restaurant and bar was, she mentioned it would be open at 6.00pm. I went to my room, made a coffee, had a quick wash and went to find the show hall entrance. It’s here where I must complain strongly as my room door was a full 20 yards away from the entrance to the show; did the organisers have no consideration for visiting pensioners?
As I entered for the first time it was a hive of activity with Koi being brought in and benched by the members of the EMKC, light was already fading but the artificial daylight lamps were doing their job and this is the scene that faced me.
The BKKS judging team were coming to officially judge the show itself but I had been asked to give my opinions as to the best entries from sizes two to five only purely as an added alternative viewpoint. There were 36 very well aerated show ponds all neatly laid out with splashguard dividers placed firmly between them and the majority of the entries were either already benched or were waiting to be benched.
The size of the hall was just made for the area taken up with the show ponds and a few surrounding trade stands. I made a slow walk around the ponds attempting to take a mental note of pond numbers with the better entries only to discover that most of the ponds contained the better entries! I had designed my own ‘judging forms’ before the show which were being printed out by young Andy Wigglesworth from Doncaster who was arriving early on Saturday morning and had offered to assist me by taking down notes.
I wandered upstairs where there was a refreshment area and had a coffee which I drank overlooking the show beneath me. Of course there were also several familiar faces there, some were having deep and meaningful discussions – all Koi related. We chatted for some time until I had to make the long 20 yard trek back to my room for a quick change before going down to the bar around 8.30pm to see what food was on offer.
And there is where I made my big mistake of the weekend!
I followed the directions given by the receptionist earlier and found the door to the restaurant/bar to find it locked with no signs of life at all. By then there was no-one working on reception so I checked the corridors to find not a soul anywhere. I then walked outside and the freezing cold wind hit me, as did the large snowflakes falling everywhere. I ran to my car and switched on the engine wondering where to go in an area I had no idea of at all. The gate to the complex led to a main road with a left or right option, I chose right and drove for a few hundred yards as the snowflakes worsened. Very soon I approached a road sign that pointed to the right and bore the legend ‘Swadlingcote’.
(Now, dear reader I must digress, because I had only heard the name ‘Swadlingcote’ once in my life before when I was travelling around the UK in various rock groups. Our agent sent a booking confirmation for ‘Swadlingcote Rink’ and I rang him to enquire if there was such a place in the world with such a name. He replied by saying it was a famous rock venue where some of the biggest bands in the UK played. I do recall playing there and it was, if my memory serves me well, a large hall filled to the brim on the night we played there.)
I decided to take the right turn in order to try and stir up some memories but not one memory returned that night. My recollection of the place many years ago was not what I found there that night, instead Swadlingcote was another Milton Keynes; Telford; Skelmersdale or other similar places which were merely an endless series of roundabouts that seemed to lead only to the next one and by then the snowfall had become a mini blizzard.
After getting dizzy going around the circles I spotted a Tesco Express and decided to head for it. A nice guy was on the counter as I asked him how to get to Swadlingcote to which he replied ‘Swad? - you’re here!’ I then asked if the place had a centre with pub/restaurants at which he said ‘Oh yes’ and gave me directions to the single roundabout that held the key to this hidden area. I eventually came to signs of life and even spotted the odd human on the way, it led me to a pedestrianised area with double yellow lines everywhere and a pub/club nearby. I parked on the double yellows and walked inside to find what looked like the entire population of this area were in there. I bought a pint and took it outside to light a cigarette but the wind howled right through me. I took one sip and left the remainder on a table to get back to the car. I set the satnav back to the hotel, parked up and got back to my room for a coffee and the few biscuits nearby before getting into bed.
I THINK IT WAS THE FOLLOWING DAY AROUND LUNCHTIME THAT MUSHIO INFORMED ME THAT THE BAR/RESTAURANT AT THE HOTEL HAD BEEN MOVED FOR THE FRIDAY EVENING TO THE COFFEE AREA IN THE SHOW HALL AND ALL THE KOI ENTHUSIASTS HAD ENJOYED A WONDERFUL NIGHT WITH WARMTH, GOOD FOOD AND DRINKS!
After a lovely breakfast chatting to Keith Siddle the following morning I went into the show where Andy was already waiting with the forms. I knew that, as more visitors arrived, it would become more difficult to get a perfect view of the entries so I decided to get cracking straight away. The header boards at the front of each pond were perfect as they showed pictures of the entries within the ponds together with the size groups. We discounted the sizes six and seven and concentrated on the ones I needed to give decisions on. After an hour or so we had four judging sheets for each of the sizes I had been asked to vote on.
The hall began to fill quickly as more Koi stalwarts came into the show, I recognised many of the faces from old times but thankfully there was also new blood there. As to the standard of entries, that was as expected and was much higher than a normal section show. As to the condition of the entries they were all in perfect health and seemed quite content to be there. As mentioned earlier, it was the BKKS judges who were to make the real decisions whilst I had been asked to select my best Koi in each of the four sizes. I knew this would have to be from the Go-Sanke entries although there were some very good entries coming from other classifications that I had to discount. As more people came into the hall it became more difficult to get to the ponds I needed to see without disturbing the people looking into the ponds. It was around mid day we had the sizes two, three and four judged but the size five entries posed a problem for me. I had one Kohaku and one Showa in size five and could not come up with the winner despite the fact we trudged back and forth from both ponds that were some distance away. Rather than toss a coin I took the entry numbers of the two Koi to the EMKC office where the paperwork was being done and suggested that the entire show organisers cast a ballot vote on the two. I still do not know exactly which one was finally selected but they were both superb Koi.
Please excuse the shocking photography but this lovely size four Kohaku was a joy to behold and I confess she was my personal favourite at the show. Tategoi most definitely but the soft beni stood out, the frame was perfect and the simple sandan pattern was placed well over the entire body.
As to my overall impressions of the event, there was a buzz of real enthusiasm from the people who came along to view and discuss the high level of entries. The EMKC show team performed their duties superbly as though it was second nature to them. The guys who entered their Koi to the show were the stars as usual and the BKKS judges took their work very seriously as always. The indoor lighting was good with the odd exception where a lamp would be out above a pond which gave an advantage to the Koi within that pond but that was a small matter.
I left mid afternoon on the Saturday after chatting to many old friends there who all were pleased they had attended. There’s no doubt in my mind that these events are the lifeblood and the future of the ‘real’ hobby and show the newcomers the enormous difference between the so-called ‘Koi’ that can be seen at most local garden centres and ‘Proper Koi’ – the real thing. The people who attended the event are the real Koi enthusiasts in the UK, the ones who will take the time to travel from many parts of the country to ‘talk Koi’.
I can say all this because I have done all of this over the years. I have entered my Koi to shows; I have been a BKKS judge at shows and I have been involved in Koi shows right from the smallest through to chairing BKKS Nationals. Believe me I do know what is involved and the workload can be significant. However, without the guys who keep quality Koi and have taken time and trouble involved to bring them along for us all to see there would be no shows at all.
On the other hand there are many enthusiasts who do not enter their Koi into shows but they do go along to support their hobby and to see why some Koi are a world apart from the norm. These people are real Koi enthusiasts in the truest sense of the word.
As to those who keep Koi, do not take them to shows and do not support the shows, sorry – in my eyes they may just as well keep goldfish, they are certainly not Koi keepers.
I ONLY HAD ONE SINGLE COMPLAINT ABOUT THIS WONDERFUL EVENT AND IT DID SPOIL IT ALL FOR ME. I LOOKED EVERYWHERE IN EVERY ROOM, I EVEN WENT OUTSIDE TO CHECK BUT THERE WASN’T ONE SINGLE BOUNCY CASTLE TO BE SEEN ANYWWHERE!
Come on lads, it was a memorable event but can we get it right next year?