Remembering friends who have passed away...

 2026

Jean Young
Died 24th September 2026

Some sad news. Jean Young, who many will will remember from Agility. In her later days and more recently rally, died on Thursday, 24th September.

She won a huge amount with her Westie, Megan and was proud to be a member of the England WAO team.

In her competing days, I'd often get a Sunday night phone call from an excied Jean, enthusing over what she had won over the weekend.

In her later years, she moved from agility to rally where I believe that she was successful, too.

Funeral details to follow.

Carol A. Smith

Sally Jones
1958-2026

Bye!

I’ve gone over the bridge - now where are those bloody dogs.

I’ll start looking for Florence and the rest but will miss Muse, Lowen, Fika and Nico, our little family.

I had a shit day Thursday, and apparently passed away early Friday morning.

Perennial means comes back year after year - not anymore I’m afraid.

Hope you all enjoyed your latest competitions and events. Saved this party pooper until after the weekend.

Written in the style of Sally Jones 1958-2026 RIP

Sing ‘Killer Queen’ in your head in memory.

BOOM!

Stephen Jones -
In my own words... An underlying infection turned to sepsis and heart failure, She was taken to hospotal at 1pm on Thursday and doied  and, after three attemps at resuscitation, she sucumbed.   FAILURE AND, AFTER THREE RESUSCITATIONS, SHE SUCUMBED. tAKEN TO HOSPITAL AT 1PM ON tHURSDAY AND DIED AT 5AM ON fRIDAY.

Grace Muriel Sumner R I P
Died July 2026

You may not know Grace's name but, if you ever went to Supadogs, you will more than likely have eaten a ring party lunch prepared by her over the many Supa Dog shows she did for us.  Unfortunately Grace died having Alzheimer’s which is a very cruel illness. You can see the person, touch them, talk to them - but they don’t see you in return. Yes, they may talk but they don't necessarily talk to you!

Grace's amazing children, Karen and Kevin, cared for her around the clock for many months, and she was so lucky to have her family with her all the time.

I’m going to get my nails done for IMCA & PAWC in her honour as the last few times I saw Grace she loved having her nails done and continually showed her nails to everyone.

My love goes out to her whole family and want to thank you for inviting Sandra Gibbs and myself to see her on her way to being with Don again.

Sleep well, Grace. We send all our love to all her family. R I P

Linda Croxford

Jen Lewis
Died 4th July 2026

It is with great sadness that we share the unexpected passing of Jen Lewis, who passed away peacefully in her sleep with her beloved dogs by her side. She competed since 2006 at all levels and heights including qualifiers. She was also a KC Champ judge and an accredited trainer.

Jan will be deeply missed by everyone whose lives she touched. She brought kindness, warmth and friendship to so many, and her loss will be felt by all who knew her.

Jen's family wanted everyone to be informed and have asked that we let you know that they will share detials of her funeral/celeation of life as soon as arrangements have been made.

Our thoughts and deepest condolences are with Jen's family, friends and all who loved her.

Rest in peace, Jen.

Pam Costello

From Liz Carpenter

How is it possible to find the words to express what a devastating loss Jen’s recent and unexpected passing is to everyone who was privileged to know her. My thoughts are with her family, friends and clients at this very sad and difficult time.

It is impossible to convey just how influential Jen was in my life, especially at the beginning of my agility journey. She was my agility trainer when I lived in Yorkshire and she taught me so much about dog training and agility and set me on the best path I could have wished for. I was incredibly lucky to have been in the right place at the right time to learn from her. The irony is that I was initially disappointed to find that my agility foundation course organised by Bankhouse Barkers was going to be taught by a 'guest trainer' called Jen Lewis rather than by the two trainers I had seen on the club website. However, although I did not know it at the time, attending that foundation course was my 'sliding doors' moment and marked the beginning of a journey that would completely change my life.

Early on in the agility foundation course, Jen demonstrated some flatwork exercises with her own dogs and what I saw them do together seemed almost magical to me. In that moment I knew right there and then that I wanted that for myself and my own dog. It was a privilege to have been taught by Jen and I loved learning from her. While she was a stickler for detail and demanded excellence from her students, she was also incredibly funny and generous. She had her own unique style of teaching and peppered her explanations with sage and pithy sayings (the legendary Jen-isms) that so perfectly encapsulated the precise nature and concept associated with whichever aspect of agility she was teaching us about. I still use those Jen-isms to this day in my own teaching.

Those were very happy days and I lived each week for those evening classes, for the laughs with Jen and fellow class mates, for the fun my dog Inky had and for the nitty gritty dog training details. When the opportunity came to train with Jen twice a week I jumped at it, and I got a space in the Tuesday group at Bankhouse. Once I had two dogs, I got spaces on Mondays too, training both dogs twice a week.

Chats in the training venue car parks late into the night after training turned into late night walks in the Bankhouse field or midnight walks on the Chevin. We would talk about dogs and dog training and eventually, as our dogs became good friends, so did we. Over the years we ended up doing so much together,  seeing each other almost every day to walk in the woods at Timble Ings or at Snorlax Corner, at the field to train our dogs, chat on the phone or messaging online. We attended the same shows, camped together, ended up sharing a training field and I helped out in her agility classes, eventually teaching some of the classes in Otley.

Jen leaves a great legacy and her influence on those of us who were her friends and clients cannot be overestimated.

Who can forget...

• The strong and sturdy bag

• The infernal trailer ratchet straps that got tangled every night when we packed up at Acrecliffe, Sicklinghall or Tockwith

• Her regular admonishments to get a grip of yourself

• Her ability to see spider eyes in the dead of night

• Her generous post-training offerings of diet coke, tunnocks products or other tasty snackettes from the depths of her caddy van

• Her instruction to do a sequence again but better and to give it some grrrrr (or rice)

• The delectable treats from the pouch of delights

• Her encyclopaedic knowledge of head torches from living a nocturnal life

• Her ability to not only throw a toy to exactly the right spot to reward on the dog’s line but somehow also able to aim it directly at your head, face or back

• Those nights walking around the Bankhouse field or in the woods after training and setting the world to rights,

• Watching Widdleness listening for mice and executing his signature arctic fox style pounce on cue

• Her mastery of the art of conversational dog training using full sentences as cue

• The endless supply of funny stories about the Onion and 'its' antics and rages

• Her fear and horror of dog beards which gradually abated through the years through interaction with Flint and Stinkers

• The many faces and names of Peabert Dil

• Jen’s ability to effortlessly twist and crush drinks cans into flat disks in a single smooth move

• The use of caveman fingers to create memes and motivation for us all

• But most of all, who can forget her uncompromising approach to teaching, making sure we faced out the line, handled the lines, not the obstacles, talked to the dog not the jump, cued not narrated, put our toes to the line, let the weaves turn the dog, sent them, ran, blinded and MOVED!

I am forever thankful for the doors her mentorship opened, including introducing me to Susan Garrett’s programs which I joined and avidly studied. I remember being super proud to be trained by Jen when Susan named her as a UK Handling360 instructor. I also remember when Susan asked Jen if she could send a film crew over to film the story of Spudley’s journey to the Gold medal in Italy which she duly did. It was such an exciting time!

I have so many fantastic memories of my agility years in Yorkshire with Jen as well as travelling all over the UK with her when she was doing H360 training days and champ shows, competing my own dogs and dreaming of doing champ myself one day. We also had so much fun camping with all the Freymor gang every weekend.

A great memory was when Jen and Spudley were called up for Crufts Singles and she asked me to groom for her when I had never been to Crufts before! I was completely in awe of everything there and was so excited for Jen. I took lots of photos and videos from that day and made a movie of them using the music that Crufts chose for that year.

Such great times. I miss those times so much.

RIP Jen Lewis.

Philippa Armstrong
Died  June 2026

Friends will be very sad to hear that Philippa Armstrong passed away in the last week. I am unsure of the exact date, but it appears that the recent abnormally high temperatures were just too much for her already frail body to cope with.

Philippa was  one of our first disabled handlers. She put a lot into supporting distance handlers in the early stages and together with myself started the Distance Handling Facebook page. She was always happy to help anyone and was so generous with her time.

She will be greatly missed by all who knew her.

I understand that there will be no formal funeral, but there will be a scattering of her ashes at a later date.

Marion Mcilherene

From Sally Jones

Yesterday I received the sad news that Philippa Armstrong had passed away, and I wanted to share what she meant to me.

I first saw Philippa over 20 years ago when I judged a limit show.  She wheeled slowly around a jumping course with her beautifully trained border collie, Zippy, trotting beside her. I can’t remember the outcome of the run, but I do remember her whole body cringe when she got a round of sympathy applause from the onlookers.

My opening words to her were a bit of a gamble but proved to be what she needed. Pointing to her chair I asked, "'Does that thing go any faster?# The answer was 'no', I then told her about a wheelchair I’d seen whilst teaching agility in the USA that was a Ferrari in comparison to hers. Her eyes burned bright and, within a week. she’d formulated a plan to obtain one of these. That was just the start.

Philippa was an excellent dog trainer and also a highly intelligent woman with determination like I’d never met before. She started to train with me and, to be honest, I learned as much if not more from her than she did from me.  We were breaking new ground so had to go back to first principles to get the independence she needed from Zippy.  And Zippy was up for it. She was already an assistance dog but was a very good agility dog indeed.

The two of them won stuff against non-disabled handlers and I mean big classes like the Starters Cup.

Philippa was always in a lot of pain and had very limited movement but that never held her back.  She always competed like she was there for the win. But she was also in it for other peoplem, and it was her encouragement of other disabled handlers to break through the glass ceiling that most impressed me. It also impressed the judges at various award ceremonies along with her obvious sporting talent and I enjoyed accompanying her and Zippy when they collected their awards (I have one for being her trainer.)

Philippa was also a mother to two children and I send them my deepest sympathies for their loss. Your mother was a force of nature and, whilst that meant she wasn’t always soft and fluffy, she was an impressive woman with both clear goals and the plans to achieve them. 

Thank you, Philippa for including me in part of your journey and for the life-lessons along the way. You were indomitable and totally unique. You will be missed.

Barbara Edmonds
Died March 2026

On 2nd April, we said good night to Barbara Edmonds with whom we shared a lot of laughs and memories.

We first met when I started with my maniac dog. She gave me encouragement to not give up.

From there, the trouble started. She would giggle and blame me In class. She would go out and do a lovely round but tell me the wrong way to go and then chuckle. We got separated by Patrick Murphy in class for talking. Nevertheless I loved my weekly dog training sessions

Good night sweetheart. Go and hug all my mob and take them for a stroll.

My love goes out to the family. She will  be a big miss.

Tiens Myoko

Colin Hylands
Died 15th February 2026

Sadly Colin Hylands passed away on Sunday, 15th February. Some of you were aware that he had just been diagnosed with a terminal illness but was too far gone for any treatment to be effective. His passing was painless and peaceful.

Colin was originally from Newcastle and moved to Milton Keynes when he was 18. He started agility in 1995 with his dog Shaka (Lord of the Magpies) and continued to compete with 'Magpies' for 30 years. He was also a KC judge and enjoyed setting courses that he felt everyone could enjoy.

There are no words that can describe how much Colin was loved and will be missed on this plain but, at least, he is now with his daughter Daisy and his beloved Magpies.

Colin's funeral is at 12.15 on Tuesday, 10th March at Crownhill Crematorium in Milton Keynes. Dress code: casual/dog friendly! No flowers please. Donations to Willen Hospice or SANDS. There is a reception at Abbey Hill Golf Centre afterwards. You would be very welcome.

Elaine Hylands — feeling heartbroken

William (Bill) Jackson
Died 15th February 2026

If you ever had an agility photo taken at a show between 2000 and 2014, there is a very good chance it was taken by the father/son photography team of William and Andrew Jackson of Starshotz Studio FX.

Though Bill eventually had to do less shows due to various ill health issues, Andrew continued for a while longer.

Sadly after a short battle with esophageal cancer, William passed away peacefull at Frimley Park Hospital on Sunday, 15th of February 2026.

Andrew has since semi retired in Florida but has always cherished the friendships made through the agility circuit. 

Rest In peace William - Bill - Dad.

Andrew Jackson

Dr Dagmar Edwards
Died January 2026

This morning I said my final good bye to a dear friend - Dr. Dagmar Edwards.

I first met Dagmar at Watford Agility Club when I was about 14. At first I didn’t really know how to take her, but when she started instructing my group at Whirlwind, I started to form a friendship I could depend on. She was a strong character, quite opinionated in her views, but as time went on, I realised that she had a great sense of humour, a passion for life, had so many interesting stories and

Whilst she created a few dramas here and there - beaching her Merc by illegally parking at Supa Dogs one year is still my favourite -  I always had a good time in her company. She had an infectious laugh and was one of very few people that I could enter into a heated debate and know that we would still remain good friends at the end of it. She actively encouraged you to form your own views and opinions, whether she agreed with them or not.

She had an instinct for sensing your mood and could always tell if I had something troubling me. She had a knack of knowing when I needed to talk to someone, even if I didn’t realise it myself. The reality is I’ve hugely missed her the last couple of years and will continue to do so, as she was one of the few genuine characters in life, that what you see is what you get. She had such a balanced perspective and she was a friend who helped me and Natasha more than she will ever know.

Rest in peace Dagmar - and thank you for everything.

Matthew Goodliffe

A beautiful send off today by Vanja and those involved, for Dagmar, who sadly passed away a few weeks ago following a long illness of Alzheimer's.

In recent years it wasn’t always possible to share in the times we once had with Dagmar, however she was a key figure in our friendship and agility circles prior to the deterioration of her health.

I will be forever grateful to Dagmar for her support to me in my most challenging times after University and enabled me to shape the life I share today with Matthew.

Days with Dagmar around were always interesting with her antics and the wave of chaos that we shared…. there was never a dull moment! However at the heart of this was a lady who would support and help you when you needed it most and had a way to make the most significant challenges become cognitively manageable. 

Her support enabled me to recognise the effects of other people’s mindset and their negative actions were about them and not me. Consequently this new level of understanding and rationalisation of human behaviour enabled me to drive forward and with the support of others to excel in this wonderful world of Agility to become successfully dominant for the past 20 plus years including winning the World Championships 3 times over! 

Mental health is a big olde wheel and I’m glad through the support of Dagmar and her network I was able to dissect my spiders web and enable me to become the lady, friend, wife, coach and winner that I am today.

Rest in peace dear friend, enjoy running in those fields with your dogs wearing that Arsenal shirt and thank you for everything you enabled, I will never forget you.

Natasha Wise

Lee Broadhurst
Died January 2026

Although Lee had not been active in agility for a number of years, he certainly did have a past in it.

He started with his first agility dog Jack, followed by Harbor, Oak, Vito, Kit and Silk. He loved the competition of agility but loved the camaraderie more. He enjoyed chatting and laughing around the rings, lots of time taking the mick out of people - but in a fun way.

Also he would support others, maybe suggesting a different training technique or just offering a quiet positive word.

Lee enjoyed judging but hated training in the ring. Why come all this way, then start training?

He discovered Magic in 2001 and boy, did he take to it. In the early days, he would walk around the camping area where groups used to sit out, asking if anyone fancied seeing a magic trick. People were polite and would say yes, but you could see it on their faces, wondering what sort of magic this joker was going to show them. However, within a few minutes, they were up and right beside him watching. Supadogs, Dog Vegas, Agility Vision, he would put on a show and people loved it.

Unfortunately Lee was diagnosed with bowel cancer in July 2023. He had humour and a smile right to the end.

Lee's funeral will take place on Thursday, 5th February at Oakfield Gardens Crematorium, Fordfield Road, Mk45 1AD. Then afterwards, please come to celebrate his life at the Houghton Conquest Village Hall, High Street Houghton Conquest, MK45 3LF. Dress code - whatever you feel comfortable in. No flowers. If you wish to make any donations, go to the Primrose Unit at Bedford Hospital Just Giving page.

Debbie Broadhurst

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