SANDGROUNDERS AQUATIC SOCIETY

About "Sandgrounders" A.S. Our society was formed April 1st,1971 with an annual subscription of £1.The aim being to encourage members to exhibit fish at shows.However only 8 people attended the meeting. (Yet despite this, the "encouragement" worked, as during the next 15 or so years the society was a dominant force in the fish showing world) It was therefore agreed to hold the first show the following July where due to initial enthusiasm over 500 fish were exhibited!

The 70's were a very busy and successful time. In 1972 Steve Hooton was elected as Secretary (still a stalwart member today!) and due to the popularity of the show, it was moved to Meols Cop H.S. in 1973. By 1976 both the membership and the Showing had really taken off. This can be seen in the 1976 photo which certainly captures the atmosphere of the time, when the Show tables were full to overflowing and glass toffee jars were much used! 1976 Show Committee Steve Hooton,3rd left standing During the next few years membership continued to increase to over 120 members and monthly table shows became the order of the day, so that at club meetings there would often be entries around the 100 mark.The meetings were fortnightly and seldom fell below 70 members. In fact, if you weren't early, you didn't get a seat! The "showing" side went from strength to strength and had many successes including winning the FNAS Show League by huge margins. As can be seen by the next photo there were pleasingly a good number of enthusiastic youngsters involved.(What wouldn't we give for that today?!!) As the children got involved, so did the parents who brought them to the meetings! Sandgrounders youngsters The 80's saw Sandgrounders continue to do well in the Showing world and in 1982 we won the FNAS Show League for the 5th consecutive year! Show entries by the mid 80's were averaging around the 600 mark. Sandgrounders trophy haul We were also regular entrants at the British Aquarists Festival and in 1980 won Best Tableau with a Swiss style chalet . However, it was in the late 80's that the gradual decline in new members started, particularly with the juniors. The Swiss Chalet (1980) The 90's saw the Shows continue with a good level of entries and also Auctions were successfully started at Meols Cop School and brought in needed revenue for club funds.One Show in the early 90's attracted a record 1,175 entries! In 1995 an era came to an end as the 25th Silver Jubilee Show was the last Show for the society. This was due to a combination of falling membership and the problem of meeting increased fees for the hire of the hall. 2000 onwards This decade finds the membership steadily dwindling, as it has in many societies and with lack of numbers, the emphasis moving away from Showing. Whilst many people keep tropical fish, it seems increasingly difficult to tempt them out of their homes and try a society meeting. Hence today, many societies are managing to keep going with attendances of less than ten. Today more members tend to keep a Community Tank or two, while others are more enthusiastically involved in the breeding of fish. OLD PHOTOS WANTED! * My thanks to Steve Hooton for help with info. and photos and also Muriel Kenyon for photos. If any ex "Sandgrounder" reading this, has any old photos, especially of meetings, I would really appreciate them.