Entries remain buoyant as we move into 2024 and we had a very enjoyable trip to the Sheffield venue. It’s a lovely area with some bespoke shops and coffee houses. Stephan took top honours again and was able to award himself the BIS rosette from the prototype award stand .Due to the late finish we didn’t really get to experience the award ceremony to its fullest but there’s next time to look forward to.

I notice at shows that there are still unfit mice on the bench hunched up in Maxeys. Disqualifications for parasites are still a regular occurrence. It should be a matter of pride to only enter fit animals and a matter of conscience not to put other exhibitors stock at risk. One of my mice came back from the last show with no bedding at all which means that somebody else got it in their Maxey. That’s how easy it is for cross contamination to occur. Treat your animals after a show and before returning them to their boxes.

Looking forward to Bradford, may the best mouse win.