Clumber spaniels gather at their ancestral home

Every dog has its day - and at Clumber Park on Sunday, 60 of them had their day in the same place and the same time.

Owners of Clumber Park's famous canine, the Clumber spaniel, gathered at the breed's ancestral home near Worksop for a tree-planting ceremony, the unveiling of new information boards about the dog, and of course, walkies.

Barbara Weston, of the Walking With Clumbers club, said owners have been meeting up for 11 years, with the event at Clumber Park the highlight of their calendar.

She said: "You come here and you're going to have a smile on your face, you can't help it."

The lesser-known breed has been in the spotlight since 2026, with Bruin, a Clumber spaniel, fending off almost 19,000 competitors to be named best in show at Crufts.

The breed is typified by a white coat with lemon or orange markings, a large square head with deep muzzles, and a low, heavy-set body, with large paws bred to push through undergrowth.

Their roots go back hundreds of years with Return from the Shoot by Francis Wheatley, dated to 1788, the first known image of the gundogs.

While the exact origins of the Clumbers are not known, they may have come from a kennel of prized spaniels gifted to Henry Fiennes Pelham-Clinton, the 2nd Duke of Newcastle-under-Lyme, who built the now-demolished hall at Clumber.

But despite recent popularity, Clumber spaniels are a vulnerable breed.

Weston, who was at the event with her Clumber spaniel Chloe, said: "There are only about 200 born every year, and they're spread around the country so you don't get to meet other Clumber owners - so we decided to have a walk.

"You've only got to go up and cuddle a Clumber to see why they're so special.

"They're very loyal, they're very adaptable, they're relatively easy to be trained."

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