ABOUT US

It was a warm Friday evening in late Summer 2004 in the Rock House Inn when Elvis Afanasenko and Phil Ferris got to arguing about who was the best at calling stags in the rutting season. The guttural noises drowned out any other conversations as the two went at it. Another local, Steve Wiggins, suggested that they settle the matter by having a competition in October and see who could attract the most stags. While they were at it, Steve said, why didn't they raise some money for charity? And so the Bolving Competition was born. That first year Richard Kingdom ran himself ragged organising the event and they raised a very respectable £435 for the Devon Air Ambulance. Oh, and Elvis won the competition.

2004: Elvis, Richard Kingdom, Phil Ferris and Chinner Kingdom

Phil, unfortunately, died in December of that year. It was totally unexpected and the crew decided to honour him by holding another event the following year, the prize being the Phil Ferris Memorial Trophy. Richard again did the massive organising job, ably supported by his father Chinner, Steve, Elvis, Gerald Dale, Dave Riddler and Merek Winiarski. Over a hundred people turned up at Draydon Rails to watch the event and the trophy was won by Bryony Oliver. £660 was raised for charity. 2006, and around 250 spectators turned up. The winner was Steve Coats and the Bristol Royal Hospital for Children benefited to the tune of £1,276.

Johnny Kingdom and Elvis with the Phil Ferris Memorial Trophy in 2007

Two years ago the event was won in style by Elvis Afanasenko. Witnessed by 200 plus spectators and Johnny Kingdom and his film crew, Elvis started the crisp autumnal evening with three gut-busting roars that none of the other competitors could touch (although Paul Biere came a very creditable second). There was a stag and a couple of dozen hinds down in the darkening fields below and he answered Elvis back straight away with a challenging bellow. The evening continued with a variety of different techniques and sounds, but none could match Elvis' for authenticity.

The number of contestants was down slightly on the year before, put down to general camera-shyness but over £1,790 was raised for The Devon Air Ambulance and the event was featured in Johnny's last TV series!

Last year's event raised over a thousand pounds.

This year we're hoping for bigger and better things. The list of organisers is the same and the event is again being held at Draydon Rails, just outside Dulverton, starting at 6 pm this year.

2007:Richard Kingdom, Mal Vango, Steve Wiggins, Merek Winiarski, Chinner Kingdom and (inset) Gerald Dale

A big thank you to publicans Di and Dave for agreeing to host the reception after the event at The Rock House Inn, where the raffle will be drawn and the "Horn Blowing" competition will be held.