It’s a bunny old game

Gordon Taylor, the chairman of the Mansfield Rabbit Club, pictured with an Otter Rex which he took to the Selston show on Saturday.

Rabbit lovers from around the UK converged on Selston Parish Hall to exhibit their furry friends at a show held by Mansfield Rabbit Club.

The club’s second show held at the venue on Saturday saw 95 rabbits being judged in four different classes, Fancy, Lops, Fur and Rex.

Chairman of Mansfield Rabbit Club Gordon Taylor said: “ We had a good show - everybody enjoyed it this year.

“Entrants and judges came from all over the country as well as from the Mansfield area.

“There were lots of people from Selston who came to have a walk around.

“We always encourage people to come along and talk to us.

“If they are interested in showing rabbits we will help them and give them as much information as we can.”

Gordon (83) is a registered judge for the British Rabbit Council based in Newark.

He has more than 30 of his own rabbits and entered his Otter Rex in the competition.

The retired engineer has been keeping the creatures for 20 years.

He said: “I would recommend keeping rabbits to anyone. If you feel stressed up you go into the rabbit shed and it all seems to disappear.

“If you start handling them when they are young, they get used to you and get to know you.

“They are easy to keep, the main thing is to keep them clean with fresh shavings, to keep them from getting stained and keep their water replenished.”

To enter rabbits in official shows, each one has to be registered with the British Rabbit Council and is given a special ring which is registered on computer.

The Selston Parish Hall was chosen by Mansfield Rabbit Club to host their shows after they lost their previous venue at Clipstone.

“We had a job to find another place,” said Gordon.

“Selston have been very good to us we store our pens there and there is a nice kitchen for us to put on refreshments.”

Membership of the club is £2.50. At shows the entry fee is £2 for the first rabbit and £1.50 for the second.

The next show is on August 25, which promises to be even bigger with eight different stock shows.

The Mansfield Rabbit Club has its own Facebook page and is always keen to find new members and volunteers to help run the shows.

Anyone interested in joining can contact Gordon on 01623 407312.