Emmsmoor's
Silver Years
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Having decided, soon after our marriage, to introduce a dog and settled on the collie, my husband's vet supplied us with a list of suitable local breeders. Welcomed with the words; "COME IN o SIT DOWN o SHUT UP o CRUFT'S IS ON" we are unlikely to forget our introduction.

with this pair of suckers than in the kennels she currently inhabited. Emma, Acorus Blue Anemone, was almost four years old when she arrived two weeks later to commandeer both our home and lives, changing each out of all recognition. Emma proved to be no keener on the show scene than she had been about kennel life, but her enthusiasm for her new life, high on the Saddleworth moors, became the inspiration for our affix, Emm's Moor.

Two years on we decided a more co-operative canine was required, and although initially intending to purchase a bitch, it was Clayswood Silver Coronet, so named to celebrate the queen's silver jubilee year, who was the first to carry the 'EMMSMOOR' affix. Growing into a big rangy charismatic dog, he enjoyed the ring, and without being a showing fool, made his presence felt wherever shown. Invariably well placed, at all levels, despite his very obvious faults, highlights in his career included Reserve Best in Show, from an entry of more than 300 by over 100 dogs,at one of the then popular evening Sanction Shows, and Reserve Best of Breed with Best Opposite Sex under the late Ken Bullock at Great Harwood Agricultural Open Show.

 

After several false starts our first litter was born in 1981, not to our beloved Emma, but to the inbred Clayswood bitch, Donna Gracefull, purchased as our foundation. From her first litter of three tricolour bitches, we retained Emmsmoor Lady Amelia. Melia, to those that knew her, became our true foundation, being behind every collie that has since graced our kennel.

Showing remained of secondary importance to this kennel, which was always more interested in breeding stock of a particular type. Never having followed fashion, our collies, in several ways, retained many of the old virtues, including size and substance. Having selected for shape rather than excess coat and sweet expression, we have never lost either length or neck. Yes we have faults, but these we can live with, and in many ways we achieved our original goal of producing a line synonymous with the name of 'EMMSMOOR'.

Increasing age, and my decreasing mobility necessitated a serious reappraisal of our canine activities, and it becoming obvious to us both that we needed to make serious efforts to reduce the stock we kept. To this end a curtailment of breeding activities appeared necessary. Our last litter was eight years ago, putting breeding days behind us, but the eight remaining home bred collies will, we hope, continue to share our lives for some time to come.

Like many, my interest in canine genealogy and breed history stemmed from a desire to learn more about my own stock. This curiosity first kindled by my perceived likeness between Beulah's Nightvictorious, as portrayed in Margaret Osborne's 'THE COLLIE', and our beautiful Emma. In attempts to discover whether Nightvictorious had any influence over Emma's ancestry I admit to making rather a nuisance of myself, with appeals to various kennel owners, not all of which were courteous enough to answer. Just as my efforts were running out of steam, the acquisition of a retiring enthusiast's collection, comprising Stud Book, and Breed Record Supplement Rough Collie records for the period 1925 to 1979, gave my research the additional boost it required.

These records quickly became known to a number of enthusiasts, and increasingly I was asked to help with personal research. Audrey Chatfield was one of the earliest to request assistance after Miss Osborne's health began to deteriorate, and for many years I supplied pedigrees for the 'INTERNATIONAL COLLIE HANDBOOK's 'Dogs of the Past' feature, which was abandoned only after the publication of 'INTERNATIONAL ROUGH COLLIE PEDIGREES', for which I supplied many of the entries.

Partial collections will always have their draw back, and it was not long before I required information beyond their scope, which gave the impetus needed to attempt its completion. This was achieved after many years, not withstanding most are limited to photocopies of the originals, and accepting a great deal of catalogue work is still required. I continue to receive requests for help from all over the world, with many of the more interesting assignments entailing extensive involvement with breed club anniversary publications, including the impending Smooth Collie Champions book to be published as part of their breed club's Golden Jubilee celebrations.

Margaret Osborne's 'THE COLLIE' may have been the first breed book to grace my shelves, but I was soon avidly scouring the book stalls for further literature. This was the period I acquired my collecting habit, with anything on the breed, be it book, published correspondence or critique, carefully preserved for future reference. New publications, added as they became available, were hardly frequent enough to satisfy this enthusiast, so I turned my attention to out of print books, spending time hanging around the likes of Doggie Hubbard's shop, and I still retain the hand written list of breed monograms he suggested. Serious general canine books, containing major chapters on British Herding Breeds have been collected for a number of years now, and more recently an interest in canine art has turned my attention in this direction, with volumes covering the subject being amongst my more recent additions. Whilst I still have some way to go before attaining my goal of owning at least one copy of every English language book ever published on the breed, the Emmsmoor library houses an impressive collection of breed related literature including several scarce volumes.

Wishing to enthuse others with my own passion, early attempts were published in the 'YORKSHIRE COLLIE CLUB HANDBOOK's, but more serious efforts date from the arrival of my first computer in 1992, with the 'INTERNATIONAL' publishing its first article over my by-line in the following year. The lot of the breed periodical editor is not an easy one, and a reputation for being able to string a few hundred words into something of, even momentary, interest will have them begging for contributions. During the last ten years I have supplied material to several such publications, making many friends along the way, and amongst the more satisfying must rank my involvement with 'COLLIE WORLD' the Russian language handbook of the Fauna Collie Club, Moscow, and the friendship it forged with their editor Helena Zemliakova.

My close connection with Iris Combe is well know, although few realise how this came about. Having produced books on both the Border and Smooth Collies, her contribution to Rough Collie literature was intended as a swan song. A disappointing response to her request for information and photographs, obliged her to accept my offer, despite a degree of scepticism that this would be fruitful. The depth of material, easily supplied from computerised records, surprised Iris, and I felt extremely honoured it was considered significant enough to warrant particular mention.

It is an open secret that whilst 'ROUGH COLLIE RECORDS' was very well received, Iris was less than satisfied with the publisher who had cut much of the truly original material she had collected over a lifetime's interest. Never one to dwell on disappointment, it came as no surprise to learn Pat Hutchinson had been enlisted to help with cataloguing her vast collection of Collie memorabilia, and several were the suggestions of how this material could best be brought to a wider audience. The next I heard was an excited phone call from Iris, asking whether I would collaborate with her and Pat on a new venture, and it soon became obvious this was to be 'the book' Iris had originally wanted to publish. Launched at the rescheduled Cruft's of 2001, we have all been surprised at 'ROUGH COLLIES OF DISTINCTION's reception, and I still feel proud, if a little embarrassed, at the many encouraging testimonies we continue to receive from around the globe.

These days I am often asked; what are your plans for the future? Well I remain committed to supplying regular contributions to the 'INTERNATIONAL COLLIE HANDBOOK', but intend to allocate sufficient time to develop my research on 'Collie Lines and Families' into something that can be published in a form that enthusiasts will find interesting. I am also exploring themes on canine art and early kennel history, and who knows how these will evolve. Whatever happens my interest in the breed, its history and development will continue for sometime to come.

Darren A Bridge EMMSMOOR © 2002