May 2009 Crouch Valley Auction

Sunday the 10th of May saw the first of the two 2009 Crouch Valley Auctions, these auctions are held at the Barleylands, Wickford in Essex during the begging of May and September. There are usually about 250 'lots' for sale at each auction and they range from large to small koi at prices to suit all pockets, depending on the popularity of the 'lot'.

There are always lots of koi varieties to choose from. Each koi for sale has been 'benched' by our expert team for size and variety. All the koi on sale are from members ponds, you have to be a member of the Crouch Valley Koi Club to sell but buying is open to anyone from the public.

On Saturday the 9th just after lunchtime the members all meet at the Barleylands to begin in the setting up of the auction, this will mainly invlove placing all the vats in a postition so that there is adequate space for the general public to safely walk around the vats, this year we saw 16 vats in place full of Koi for sale.

The PA system had to be rigged and wired for the Chief Auctioneer to make his announcements and for general background music, the great advantage of this superb venue is the fact that it is indoors under total cover, therefore bad weather does not hinder in anyway, not that we had to worry on that Saturday as it was glorious sunshine and the good news was that it was to continue for the following day.

Once the vats were in place it was then time to start to fill them with water so that the bags the following day could be placed in, ready for their lots to be called. It is a great club spirit over at the barleylands venue with everyone getting stuck in and making light work due to the number of helpers involved. So a big thanks to the members and friends for this. Sunday morning soon came and members started turning up at 7 o'clock to help out once more at the Barleylands venue, Koi were already starting to arrive to be benched, benching at the auction is a very much an organised event there is a group of members ready with carpet protected wheel barrows ready for Koi to be transported from vehicles to the Vats, very little lifting is done to minimise any accidents or issues.

The benching team will inform the scriber of what variety the Koi is and then will check the Koi over for any health issues, all this will be noted on the auction form and then the Koi bag will be given a number. Bags can contain anything from one koi to a dozen or so of small Koi even as small as an inch.

Benching carried out up until about 11 o'clock that day due to one or two late arrivals but that is all part of the day and in a very relaxed atmosphere. General public started coming through the doors at 9 o'clock and slowly started to walk around the vats full of Koi, all koi where in bags for ease of transportation and for bio security reasons, unless the Koi are of very large size or the vat contains Koi from one individual. Once people had made there choice they had time to catch up with friends and grab a bite to eat and drink from the refreshments area, they also had time to look at the dry goods for sale this included a fantastic selection of garden plants, then the fun began!!

People were dotted all over the place in there little areas, either standing up or sitting down in front of the chief auctioneer ! some great little bidding battles began and ending in smiles and happy customers. Before we knew it the day was done, all the Koi had been sold at very reasonable prices. It was then time to pay the cashier and receive their receipt for the Koi they had won. Once this was done it was once again off to see the guys with the barrows. Koi were taken directly from the vats to the owners car, boxes are offered free of charge so that transportation can be done as safe as possible for the journey home.

On behalf of the Crouch Valley I would like to thanks all that attended the day and for all that manage to give up some of their time. We hope everyone had a great day and that your new living jewels in your ponds had a safe journey home and are doing well. Look forward to seeing you again later in the year.

Kind regards Graham McCartney Crouch Valley & BKKS Member