About Us

Redgates Agility Club was started by Tim & Clare Griffiths in the Autumn of 2001, and is based in the village of Sewards End, just outside Saffron Walden in the north west corner of Essex, close to the Hertfordshire / Cambridgeshire / Suffolk borders.

Tim & Clare had been actively involved in Agility for many years prior to then, and were both pupils of Mary Ann Nester. In fact Tim was one of Mary Ann’s first pupils when she moved

into nearby Thaxted in the early / mid 1990’s. In those days Tim & Clare only had one dog - Jessie (a Labrador Cross Lurcher from Wood Green Animal Shelter), and it was only Tim who was into Agility. Mary Ann has a lot to answer for, as it was her that persuaded Clare to get a dog and enjoy Agility. From then on they caught the Agility Bug, and in addition to competing, both started their Agility teaching careers at the West Suffolk & Little Paddocks Agility Clubs.

When Mary Ann moved away to Northampton early in 1991, Tim & Clare decided to start Redgates, and from the first class being held on 10th September 2001 with Tim & Clare wondering whether anyone would turn up, the club has gone from strength to strength.

Redgates now have 5 accomplished instructors who earn praise and compliments for their methods of training, which ensure lessons are informative, educational, and enjoyable.

Click Here to read about the Redgates Instructors.

Currently Redgates has more than 90 club members, and run 13 Classes each week - a variety to suit all abilities. We continue to invest in additional and replacement equipment to allow 2 groups to train simultaneously, and ensure that class sizes are kept small enough to maintain the high quality of training that we aim to provide.

In March 2008, Tim and Clare said goodbye to their first Agility Dog - Sweetie Jessica.
Click Here to read Tim’s tribute to her.