NEWS FROM DOWN UNDER
by Doug McClary
November 2014
Conspiracy to upset my system
Once again my notes are late owing to the late or non-delivery of my BHW carrying my column. I usually wait for one arrival to write the next but Australia Post seems to be doing its best to derail this scheme. Fortunately I had started the column so whilst some of the material is a little old, at least I am ‘yer’ as they might say in Devon.
The Year
The year is rushing along and I have been thinking about all the British shows and how I miss the decent and genuine competition. I look with envy at all the show advertisements and mentions and know that as far as I am concerned it is all over for me. We are still in the throes of the breeding season and at long last the YBs are beginning to appear in reasonable numbers. It is therefore the quiet season down here in the southern hemisphere. As far as my health is concerned, I am slowly getting back to some sort of normal life and every day seems a little better than the last. Ann has been wonderful and has supported my inability to drive or to lift anything. She has carried and replenished the water in the lofts on top of running the house, doing the shopping and cooking. I shall have to provide her with a break after this. It has all taken longer than I thought it would and I am not a happy patient.
Devon and Cornwall SRS
The first show of the new season is always the much anticipated young bird show. It is the first chance to show off the new crop appearing for the first time in their finished glory. The show on Sunday the 19th October saw 8 Members entering 172 Birds at Bampton on what turned out to be a lovely mild day. The judges for the day were the ‘old boys brigade’ of Ken Hearn of Bideford and Tom Morgan of Hemyock. The class winners were as follows: Class 1 Red Cock R&J Thresher RED B.O.S. Class 2 R HEN M/M. B .Seward 3 M C J& D Fisher 4 M H J& D Fisher 5 B C P. Bedlar 6 B H J& D Fisher 7Cheq C R& J Thresher 8 Cheq H R& J Thresher 9 0pal Mosaic C Mr & Mrs Colin Carter 10 Opal Mosaic H Mr and Mrs Colin Carter 11 AOC C . J& D Fisher 12 AOC H J& D Fisher Silver Blue Hen B .I S. 13 TTW C R& J Thresher 14 TTW H P.Bedlar 15 Late Bred C or H J& D Fisher 16 TTW Adult C R& J Thresher 17 TTW Adult H J& D Fisher. Members were pleased to welcome Bob Reeves who drove out from Exeter for some pigeon company. For years Bob attended the Devon and Cornwall shows and was the man behind the teapot and who seemed to be able to produce attractive refreshments. Bob is always at his best when he is mingling with fellow fanciers and typically, he gave specials and at the end of the show presented the trophy. Unfortunately the show scheduled for the 8th November had to be cancelled. Future Shows in the Society’s calendar are, December the 6th with Dave Minty and Mr D.Treasure travelling down from Wales to judge the show racers, and with Honiton’s Brian Reene selected to judge the racing section. Brian has been enjoying a purple patch with his racing at National level so will be a popular selection. I understand that Owen Vaggers is assisting with encouraging more racing entries. More Welsh judges are down for the final show on December the 29th when the Dave Roach and Mervyn Hoskings duo will judge the main classes and with Mike Spear sorting the prestigious Championship class. Any further information can be obtained from Brian and Caroline Seward on 01398332044. Another date is the Southern region show of the British Show Racer Federation when Keith Foley and Bill Hocken will be judging. Schedules and detail can be obtained from Roland Thresher on 01643 702884.
Beer
The beer is finally improving in Australia! After years of taking the same old stuff, light and ‘lagery’ in nature with lots of fizz and presented in a mouth numbing coldness, consumers are catching on to the attractions of ale and better taste. The country is now where we were in Britain three decades or so ago when that most successful organisation CAMRA (Campaign for Real Ale) did so well to raise awareness and to persuade brewers away from aerated keg offerings. My son Stephen arrived recently and presented me with some bottles of St Austell Breweries ales much to my amazement. Naturally I asked where he had obtained them and the answer was that he bought them here in Mount Eliza! Since then I have been a regular customer of the establishment and have been enjoying Tribute and other beers from St Austell. This week, during a wonderful warm afternoon, I sat out on the balcony under the umbrella quaffing a half-litre of Tribute while gazing out to sea on one side and to the lofts on the other. How good is that? It took me back to living and working in St Austell when I knew the brewery well.
Ugly letters
Very occasionally events occur within the sport which questions what sort of people we have within our ranks. I have been told about a dreadful anonymous letter written to a good and successful showman making threats against him and his birds. This man would do anything for anyone and is being targeted by some low-life, because he works hard at his chosen hobby and thereby finds success in a deserved fashion. I understand that the letter was posted in Yorkshire so all Yorkshire sportsmen and women should take heed regarding who has perpetrated this foul act. The sport does not need such people. This all took me back to my earlier days in showing when two incidents occurred to disturb me. Firstly, a brilliant young powder blue cock was sabotaged at the GYA show in my absence by someone probably a fellow exhibitor and competitor, stripping the webbing from a number of flight stems. Soon after that, a good friend from Yorkshire received an anonymous call threatening personal injury if a certain other fancier won a prize under his judging at a forthcoming show.
North East SRS
It is good to hear from Colin Farndale who has sent in details of the latest open show held on Sunday 2nd November when 361 birds were entered into the show over 12 classes. Classification as follows:- Class 1 = Adult Cock, Class 2 = Adult Hen, Class 3 = Young Cock, Class 4 = Young Hen, Classes 1-4 are for Red, R Ch, Mealy, D Ch, B Ch, B Bar, WF and Pied of these colours, Class 5 = Any Other Colour Adult Cock, Class 6 = Any Other Colour Adult Hen, Class 7 = Any Other Colour Young Cock, Class 8 = Any Other Adult Young Hen, Class 9 = Adult Wire Cock, Class 10 = Adult Wire Hen, Class 11 = Young Wire Cock, Class 12 = Young Wire Hen. There were 4 Prize Cards awarded for each class. Class 1 = 1st J & A Bell, 2nd R Cass, 3rd Bill Carney, 4th J & A Bell. Class 2 = 1st J & A Bell, 2nd J & A Bell, 3rd P Littlewood, 4th C Swinburn. Class 3 = 1st K Story, 2nd Bill Carney, 3rd K Story, 4th J K & J D Lynn. Class 4 = 1st C Swinburn, 2nd C Swinburn, 3rd J & A Bell, 4th P Littlewood. Class 5 = 1st C Swinburn, 2nd Wheatley Family, 3rd C Swinburn, 4th Wheatley Family. Class 6 = 1st Wheatley Family, 2nd C Swinburn, 3rd Wheatley Family, 4th Wheatley Family. Class 7 = 1st C Swinburn, 2nd J Barnes, 3rd C Gulliver, 4th C Swinburn. Class 8 = 1st J Barnes, 2nd J & A Bell, 3rd D & J Hull 4th C Swinburn. Class 9 = 1st Dixon & Dodgson, 2nd J & A Bell, 3rd C Swinburn, 4th J & A Bell. Class 10 = 1st J & A Bell, 2nd J Barnes, 3rd J & A Bell, 4th Wheatley Family. Class 11 = 1st J & A Bell, 2nd J & A Bell, 3rd C Swinburn, 4th Dixon & Dodgson. Class 12 = 1st J & A Bell, 2nd J & A Bell, 3rd C Swinburn, 4th C Swinburn. Our BIS was from class 2 a Mealy for J & A Bell. Our BOS was from class 1 a Dark Ch for J & A Bell. Our BWB was from class 10 a Dark Ch for J & A Bell. All members would all like to thank the three Judges, Mr Thomas Newton, Mr Brian Wharton & Mr Duwane McClamont, who all stepped in at the last minute to cover sickness etc. The awards went around very well but the John and Alice Bell partnership seems to be starting up the season where they left off last year. Congratulations. Colin confirms my observation that he has been around for a long time and has promised that he will provide information on this in due course.
New Loft
They do things big in Wisconsin! John Lipski, son of Dick dropped a few lines about his new marriage, new house and new loft but with no details of what comes first! John and his bride bought the house in August and there was much to do. However, construction of the new loft commenced immediately. The construction will be twelve meters long and five meters wide to which will be added a three meter deck for aviaries and viewing area. The footings were made two meters deep and required a ladder to get in and out of the pits. Somehow I doubt that the loft will blow away. Looking at the framing of the floor, it might be suggested that a large forest has been used and I will refrain from casting aspersions that they need to be sturdy to accommodate large Americans! I shall look forward to seeing the finished article in due course.
The loft footings with ladder
More footings
The floor frame
A memorial
Readers may remember some while ago I mentioned the death of Bob Kluss of Milwaukee, Dick and John’s nearest pigeon neighbour. Every year they travelled to the shows together including the National Young Bird show at Louisville. It would have been emotional this year not to have the Kluss exuberance and chat during their journey but there was a nice touch because Bob’s son in law Jason produced a poster to be displayed at the show. I have included below the pictures that made up the poster. Apparently they found it comforting to look across to see Bob beaming back at them and I am sure that he would have been there in spirit. Dick judged the birds and selected a blue cock owned by Stan Relinski as his champion for the day.
Bob
Not recommended
David Brown who is celebrating his 80th birthday dropped a few lines and mentioned a story involving George Greenshields who managed to inadvertently leave a bird in a show basket on its return from a show. He discovered it when he prepared his baskets for the next weekend’s show and despite its isolation, seemed non-the-worse for its experience. The week after, this bird was shown and won best in show. There could be a message here about overweight birds and the ideal show condition but such a dramatic practice should not be tried. It has always been one of my fears that I should ever leave a bird in a basket and my last act always before putting the baskets away in their steel cupboards, is to make a final check. David is undergoing an operation on his eyes so I sincerely hope that all goes well for him. Eighty or not, his booking is made for Blackpool.
Another Blackpool experience
Brian Seward mentioned that he had taken Caroline up to see the lights and found the town packed out with people. The lights now extend to the lower hall at the Winter Gardens where a Chinese sponsored organisation has a permanent display. How this will affect the Blackpool show is not clear. Brian and Caroline took a crowded tram and found themselves unable to get off owing to the crush. Oh dear what can the matter be
In conclusion
That seems to be my lot for another time. It has been a difficult one but made a little easier by receiving some show results. My thoughts will be with you all in the UK enjoying your top class shows and showing. In the meantime, I am here at 3 Kunyung Road, Mount Eliza, Victoria 3930, not enjoying any showing but ready to receive news on
Douglas McClary
Kemyel Lofts of British Show Racers
douglas-mcclary.blogspot.com.au
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