Page 53 - Koi Net - On-Line Koi Magazine - Issue 1
P. 53
KOI CLUBS
There’s no doubt about it, the internet has made One thing that helps to keep a club together is their
information on keeping koi readily available, but does show, sadly the number of koi shows has diminished
it replace the koi clubs? over the years for one reason or another. In the early
1990s the South East held The Tri Show for a number of
I have kept fish all my life but started keeping koi forty years, where the South East were joined by two other
years ago when I built my first pond using a butyl liner, clubs like Crouch Valley and Middlesex & Surrey Border
which incidentally still holds water, but is the home of Section (sadly the MSB is no longer in existence) to run
frogs, newts and anything that wants to live there at a joint show at the end of the koi show season.
the bottom of my garden.
Each club brought along ten vats for their koi and were
I visited a garden centre and saw a notice in the responsible for taking them down and drying them at
aquatic section advertising the South East Section of the end of the show. Each club was judged separately
the British Koi Keepers’ Society, I attended the next so there were three champions and the koi were judged
meeting, met lots of like-minded individuals and that in three sizes.
was over thirty-five years ago.
It was never intended to be a competition between
Over the years the number of koi clubs has clubs, just a meeting of koi mates having a chat and a
diminished, perhaps people think they haven’t enough barbecue at the end of the season, it worked a treat for
time, or perhaps it’s because information is so readily a number of years.
available on the internet. But I know from personal
experience that joining a koi club and meeting koi Shows start small and grow over a period of time,
keepers from all walks of life is an experience not to remember the first National Show was held in Peter
be missed. Waddington’s garden!
There are still a number of koi clubs up and down the
country who will welcome new members to join in
their club activities.
Often these activites will include pond visits to other
clubs where you can see other koi keepers’ ideas on
pond and filtration design or visits by speakers giving
advice on various subjects relating to the hobby. But
perhaps the best thing of all is the fun and helpful Pond visit to Harry and
comradeship of sharing the same hobby. Paula Ratcliffe’s home
in Dartford.
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