Mud bath at Chaddesley as Horsham Lad wins a cracking AGA Ladies Open, and our new Le Chameau boots make their debut!

It was dark at 6am on Friday morning, and cold, and wet ... and I'm sure that the Coward family will remind me that it was just the same at 4am in Yorkshire! I was up and had the car packed while the rest of the Simpson family slept, and they did not want to get out of bed - even a nice cup of tea in a special edition AGA mug was not enough to tempt Mrs S (Yorkshire tea as well!).

 

As you can see from the first three pics it was already quite muddy when we arrived, and we needed a tractor to tow Derek in with the AGA van - which also caused a slight delay! It was a good day for our new Le Chameau boots to make their debut, but, despite the new footwear, Mrs S refused to get out of the car - however, she was eventually cajoled out after being convinced that it was really quite warm!

I suspect that washing machines in the pointing world will be working overtime this weekend, especially the one in the Lewis yard - Hannah returns to the paddock (above) on a very muddy Vic Venturi after finishing 3rd in the Club Members race, and gives connections her view of the race (below).

AGA point-to-point winners visit the Divertimenti Cookery School in London

Back in July we took all of the winners of our additional award categories - plus our two new champions, for an end of season celebration in London at our Divertimenti Cookery School. A delicious menu was dreamed up for this hands-on session, which was designed to be fun as well as challenging, and each of the winners brought a partner so that they could work in teams.

Something fizzy was served while our group waited for the arrival of our host for the day - TV Chef Rachel Green while AGA Rangemaster Group CEO William McGrath gives his pre-race address, thanking our group for their efforts during the season and telling them to have a great day!

Rachel Green has arrived and after addressing the group she is straight in amongst it to demonstrate that she wants this to be a hands-on session!

I do believe that ace Yorkshire trainer Mrs Cherry Coward has just spotted the camera man!

AGA Ladies Series steps up a gear at Barbury Castle, both on and off the course!

The venue for the second AGA Ladies Open of the season is Barbury Castle and there was a real sense of deja-vu for AGA CEO William McGrath because for the second season running he was heard to say - "is this well hidden or is the satnav on the blink?"

The wind had played havoc with our attempts to show off the new AGA Home Business set up at Cottenham, but Derek bagged a prime spot upon arriving at the course (just after dawn), and we soon had everything in place ... and it looked good!

People were soon flocking to our AGA tent to find out what this new AGA Home Business idea is all about, including PPA board member Heather Kemp and her husband Tony. Heather, newly retired from the saddle, was also clutching a handful of notes which were swiftly exchanged for 6 of our limited edition AGA Pointing mugs!