Midlands enjoys a solid 2023 and looks forward to next season

 Midlands Carriagedriving held its AGM and Conference on Sunday 26 November, attended by around 20 members. The club’s finances remain in good health, having made a small profit on the year thanks to a tremendous entry for the Onley Regional, Para, Club and British Young Drivers’ Championship classes. Dave Wheeldon stood down from the committee and Jon White was duly elected as his replacement, there being no other candidates; both Ben Smith and Angela Flanagan were re-elected for a further term.

Jon White has joined the MC Committee (Credit Kingswood Associates)



Chairman Paul Hart gave a summary of the year, saying it had been a challenging time for all concerned since the loss of Dave West and with Lesley moving away as they had done so much for the club. He thanked Dave Wheeldon for standing in as chairman for an interim period, ably supported by his partner Tracy and daughter Megan.

Midlands is very grateful to several ‘old stagers’ who had returned to support the club, not only as stewards but also in official capacities, namely Ruth and Bob Auton and Chris and Jenny Doughty who stepped in to organise the two-day event at Oasby.

The website is running well; Paul gave a heartfelt thank you to Mike Watts for help to revamp the site and his continuing support, along with Nicola Corby who monitors content.

Anslow’s run of one-day events, while having small entries, proved their worth with several small ponies and novices – both human and equine – enjoying the opportunity to compete outdoors. The third obstacle and entry into the water splash will be given a new look for 2024. 

Margaret Warmsby and her small pony enjoy competing at Anslow (Credit Kingswood Associates)




The club enjoyed an enviable position of having to curtail entries at Onley which finally ran with 78 competitors forward, very ably organised by Team Kirby. 

Christine McLeod Competing at Onley Grounds (Credit Kingswood Associates)


Conversely, it had been disappointing to cancel the event at Brailsford through lack of entries. Brailsford is a new venue with promising potential. In its place, a further one-day event was run at Anslow. The season ended on a high at Oasby, highlight of the weekend was the Fun Quiz on Saturday evening run by the Auton’s and Doughty’s.

There is much to look forward to in 2024; four more one-day events at Anslow are planned (28 April, 19 May, 16 June and 25 August – the latter to be confirmed); two- day events will be held at Thoresby Park (11-12 May), Onley Two-Day National and Club (27-28 July) and Oasby (17-18 August). Put the dates in your 2024 diary; everyone at Midlands looks forward to welcoming competitors, officials and
stewards! 

For further information on Midlands Carriagedriving, visit:
www.midlandscarriagedriving.co.uk

Issued on behalf of Midlands Carriagedriving by Kingswood Associates
Tel: 01205 480190 – Mob: 07973 218834 – E: kingswood.associates@btconnect.com

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