"Old Hand" Retires .... (ish).

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"Old Hand" Retires .... (ish).

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“Old Hand” Retires . . . (ish).

When I ceased writing for the Racing Pigeon Pictorial under the title “Old Hand” in 1995, due to the RPRA Lawsuit for “infringement of copyright” (which was withdrawn), I thought I would never take up the pen again in that direction, but you never know you know.

The old firm of Bishop, father and son, served the Fancy for 64 years as publisher of the old “Gazette” in its heyday, and the shop “Old Hand Supplies” when they sold the publishing business, but now the shop is up for sale as Roy and Audrey Bishop are ready to toddle off into the sunset, holding hands, and a ‘nice little earner’ it is too. Situated on the main Torquay Road in Paignton, with parking available in both front and rear, the double fronted window is in a prime location. The shop is in excellent order and functions as both Pet Shop Supplies and corn dealers, and incorporates a “Fancy Goods” Section (Animal/Bird statuettes) that has attracted a lot of business these past ten years since it was incorporated. It attracts regular custom from Fanciers from a wide radius, even as far as 80 miles away, and is a ’Mecca’ for holidaying fanciers to south Devon too. Interested parties can contact the Bishops on 01803-663759 or call at “298” in working hours and have a chat.

Science Fiction . . .

Comes to town. GEM GPS was, until a mere few months ago, something out of science fiction, whereby a man, or vehicle could be tracked by the ‘plant’ of a “Homer” device on him or it, which emitted a radio beep every few seconds, and which could be tracked on a receiver. This became reality a year or so ago, when some very expensive modern cars were being stolen to order, and the “Homer” idea was followed up, perfected and started stopping crime. Now the electronics are encapsulated inside a tiny very lightweight ‘homer’ carried by a bird, and the owner of it can see on his Google PC just where his birds are, what route they take and how far they are from home at any given time. I have watched the filmed recording of the route taken by Brian Wall’s team, and as it is formed by connecting every consecutive “beep” into a chain, from start to finish, it gives a perfect picture of what happens from the moment the flap drops to the birds landing on the loft as the GPS satellite traces the route, though you cannot actually see the birds you can see where they are. I have also read a report from a fancier who described how his birds were following a line for home, and which suddenly changed direction by 180 degrees, a complete reverse, and accelerated to 70mph from their previous 45mph. The bird returned wounded by a hawk hours later. That would have had me on the way to where the strike occurred believe me, looking for bear!

The system costs £125 plus a fiver or so for insurance p&p, and I have no doubt that if this becomes popular on the continent then more systems will be sold and the price will come down. So far as I know GEM is the leader in this field.

An interesting effect of this system appeared to be that if a Peregrine or Gos attacked and took off a bird carrying the “Homer” then the exact location of the nest would be revealed. I can imagine this would have appealed to Welsh and Scottish fanciers in particular. I was so chuffed with this thought that I phoned Brian Wall, and he told me that it wasn’t quite as easy as that. The “Logger” as the homing device is called would have to be retrieved, and processed through Google, THEN it would reveal where it was attacked and where it was taken to. Apparently its own battery system is not big enough for it to memorise where its been, and Google finds that out from the Satellite after it gets home.

Aberdare . . .

Was again a good show for Moelwyn Davies and his team of Welsh Aces, over 1,000 visitors, Stands and Refreshments, all comfortably housed in the huge Michael Sobell Sports Centre. They raised almost £8,000 in total and were able to donate £1,000 to each of the five SE Wales Feds who are part of the SE Combine. Jimmy Richards from Laindon in Essex again sold his entire ‘fetch’ of Squeakers inside an hour, and I noted two continental breeders with baskets of well grown squeakers selling well too.

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Barnsley Lofts, under construction . . .

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Richard Green and his helpmate Frank Quinn of Devizes.

Richard Green of Crowley & Green parted with most of those he brought, and the RV Woodcraft team again started with a massive pile of perches, nestboxes, etc, etc, and ended the day with very little. Some new faces this time, and one or two of the old ones were absent. I think almost every one of the stallholders had a good day, quality sells itself. I had a natter with a Belgian vendor who showed me a new trick in feeding squeakers, and I could hardly believe the way he shovelled food into a baby bird, no messing, it was full in no time.

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Mark Boddy, hard at it . . .

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Mark Palmer (Bricon) and attentive audience.

Both B&R and P&J stands were run off their feet almost from start to finish, and the ETS clock vendors for Unikon, Bricon and Tipes never stopped taking orders either. Who said fanciers would leave the sport in droves rather than buy? Only the credit crunch stopped some for sure, but not many!! David Parsons, MRCVS was busily analysing droppings for fanciers, these Welshmen don't look a gift horse in the mouth!

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Jimmy Richards of Laindon and his helpers.

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David Parsons MRCVS, working !

Clares (Osmonds) were selling their new line Colostrum well, obviously many fanciers had done their homework and were trying it on dampened feed. I collected a large drum of it in Feb and am doing a field trial on it, and so far the results are very encouraging. I am also running a field trial on GEM’s Procol which is also Colostrum, with added DMG, and will publish my results in the fullness of time. I have to say that the YBs coming out of the nest are very forward for their age on both products. Those photos, mostly taken before the show opened to the public, illustrate the huge amount of space available in this location, and the local B&B accommodation copes very well with the crowds that arrive from all parts.

Text and Photos by 'Bilco'
Irelands Own Pigeon Auctions
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