Vera and her two daughters, Sarah (on the left) and Elizabeth.

Nestled in the heart of rural Northumberland, Titlington Training and Demonstration Centre (TT&DC) is a farm diversification project that has exceeded all expectations.
The first 10 months of operation saw 1,500 competitors and over 3,000 spectators visit Titlington, a figure way above what they ever imagined at such an early stage.
The change in direction was the brain-child of owners Vera and John Purvis after John's health started to deteriorate a few years earlier.

Just as they completed their research and put the wheels in motion, John suffered a massive brain haemorrhage in January 2001, which left him paralysed down one side and mentally disabled.

So, with John so ill, the success of the project has been left to Vera, her two daughters, Sarah and Elizabeth, local trainer and adviser Selby Friar and a very successful event rider, Craig Anderson, who helps with the shows, runs the commentary and maintains the arenas.
Vera and her family also have some very good friends who offer endless help, plus the interest and support from the locals. The project has also been well supported and grant aided by DEFRA.

 

Most weekends are taken up by some competition or another, be it dressage, show jumping, arena show cross, combined training, cross country or training sessions. Many top class instructors in both dressage and show jumping run clinics at the centre on a regular basis.
The indoor school, with the cushion-track surface, can be harrowed and rolled, which then allows it to be used for many other things such as football training and the local dog club. In addition, there are six purpose-built seating stands in the spectator's gallery.
The outdoor arena is 70m by 45m and has an all-weather surface. It looks extremely impressive when the full set o f BSJA show jumps are strategically placed on it, whether they are making a course for the young horses, inexperienced riders or the bolder combination wanting a much bigger course.

Both arenas are available for private or group hire all year round and the newly-built cross-country course can also be hired when the weather and ground conditions allow. The centre has a current membership of 104. This costs just £17.50 and for that members receive a mailout about every six weeks plus many concessions in the competition entry fees, courses and clinics.
As well as all the work involved in running the centre, Vera, Sarah and Elizabeth are dedicated to nursing John at home to give him the best possible quality of life. Their son, Ian, is a teacher, and lives away from home, but he too returns home to help look after his father on competition days so that Vera and t he girls can concentrate on the success of the shows. As well as scores of unaffiliated shows and competitions in the diary for this year they have two British Eventing Horse Trials, four Affliiated dressage days, and affiliated BSJA shows arranged.