Issue 58 - September 2021
Sue Peace 1928-2021
At the beginning of August we lost one of our oldest and longest serving members of our Club. Sue Peace joined the Club with her husband Arthur in the early days. Both were very active members and supportive in all things we got up to. Arthur was a gamekeeper and Sue worked for the NHS until her retirement. Sue supported Arthur with his hobby of poultry keeping and his showing of Old English and Modern Game. They both helped the Club at all the events we put on to their fullest until Anno Domini dictated in a curtailment of their support, After the death of Arthur, Sue supported the Club the best way she could, but with failing eyesight this became more difficult so we saw less of her. Sue always made an effort to get to our Annual Show to meet up with us all and she remained in contact with many friends and members.
What with all the recent shows and meetings being cancelled and the restrictions due to the pandemic, my personal contact with Sue was broken. However, the Club was well represented at her Thanksgiving Service.
Thank you and rest in peace.
Neil
Chairman’s Chatter
Welcome to the September 2021 edition of the Cotswold Quill. As the last edition of the Quill was sent out in December 2020, it is clear that very little has happened, or has been allowed to happen, with our club since then. Although it is still early days with Coronavirus, most of us have had two vaccinations now, although they are not a 100% effective protection, particularly with new strains arriving. However, we should now try to bring some normality back, whilst still taking precautions. We will have to learn to live with this virus for many years to come and, unfortunately, I suspect that life will never be the same again, with many people (including myself) avoiding events with huge crowds, particularly those that are held indoors.
Well, what an 18 months it has been! We were extremely lucky to hold the Club Members Show at the beginning of March 2020, just before the lockdown, but all meetings, shows and exhibitions cancelled since. It will be good to get back on track. In addition to Covid, we have had to contend with bird flu, with a housing order which ended on 31 March and a ban on bird gatherings which kept going until 15 May. With the ban on bird gatherings ending, the poultry sales have re-commenced, which has proven to be useful events to catch up with other poultry keepers and club members.
With so many places closed due to lockdown, it has been great that the take-aways have remained open. Our local Indian restaurant has a new item on the menu which has proved popular. It is Chicken Tarka, which I understand is like Chicken Tikka but a little otter!
The first stage of getting back to normal is to restart the monthly meetings and I am delighted to say that September’s meeting will be Paul Morgan’s postponed talk from last year. Paul will be giving us the lowdown on the Spanish Fowl and the work of the new breeder group set up to promote this rare breed (www.ukspanishbreeders.co.uk.). As I mentioned before, part of the work involves setting up a register whereby the pedigrees of birds are recorded, similar to a herd book for pedigree cattle. Once set up and the birds registered, as long as the owners are members of the appropriate breed society (The Rare Poultry Society in this case), there is a chance that the birds can be saved from culls caused by Bird Flu.
The October meeting will be the AGM which will cover two years as we were unable to hold an AGM until now. Don’t forget that, in addition to getting your ideas for events and speakers ready for discussion, you should also get your cameras clicking and create some masterpieces for the photographic competition to be held at that meeting.
As usual, the November meeting will be the club Box Show, with the following meetings to be decided at the AGM.
Our last exhibition was the Ploughing Match in September 2019 and our next one will be Frampton Country Fair at Frampton on Severn on Sunday 12 September coming. Please let me know if you wish to be involved. I have contacted the usual suspects but you are all most welcome, even if it just to call in to the marquee for a coffee and a chat.
So sad to hear of the passing of Sue Peace, one of the founder members of the club. Obituary from Neil on the front page. Unfortunately, I did not have the pleasure of knowing Sue or her late husband Arthur, being a relatively recent club member, but I understand that they were stalwarts of the club and will be sorely missed.
I also have to report the sad death of former club member Dennis Norvill. Dennis and Veronica were members of the club for a long time, leaving a few years ago. They contributed much to the club, including attending the shows and exhibitions. They won well with their magnificent Cochins.
I bumped into former club secretary Sue Burroughs at our local country show recently, who told me that she was a club member in the 1990s and asked me to pass on her regards to those that knew her. We had a good chat and she appeared fit and well.
Please keep an eye on our website and Facebook for updates about the club.
By the way, I recently ordered a chicken and an egg from the internet, just to see which one came first. I’ll keep you posted.
(A chicken is an eggs way of making another egg) Ed
Best wishes to you all. I look forward to seeing you all at last at
the next meeting.
John Smith. Chairman and Exhibition Secretary.
Editorial Ramblings
For the last two summers we have been discouraged from taking foreign holidays, with the threat of an expensive compulsory isolation stay in a hotel. However, we have been encouraged to take exercise. This has resulted in more people visiting the countryside and taking holidays in the UK. National Parks are reporting serious erosion of footpaths on popular moorland and mountain landscapes. This may have had a serious effect on ground nesting birds especially where dogs have been allowed to roam freely away from the gaze of their owners, only time will tell. Some counties and districts are now asking tourists to stay away and the Northern section of the Lake District are asking visitors to take a Lateral Flow-test prior to visiting and Cornwall asking visitors to stay away to the detriment of their tourist industry. It now appears that being double jabbed is not 100% effective in preventing Coronavirus especially after six or more months have passed. I for one will be wearing my mask when visiting shops or anywhere crowded. Let’s hope next year we can go back to pre-covid activities.
Ken.
Exhibition Dates and Show Dates
12th September 2021
Frampton on Severn Country Show
Setting up Saturday 11th at 6pm
Diary Dates
Wednesday 8th September
A talk on Spanish Fowl and the work of the new breeder group. Paul Morgan with live props
Please don’t bring your own birds to this event
Wednesday October 13th 2021
***Annual General Meeting and Photographic Competition***
Elect your committee Your chance to have your say, Suggest future meetings
Wednesday 8th
December
To
be arranged.
Club subscriptions
Club subscriptions run from October until September and are usually payable at the Club Annual General Meeting on the second Friday in October.
If you haven’t already paid please either send a cheque made out to “The Cotswold Pheasant and Poultry Club”, to Kathy Harrison, 185, North Home Road. Cirencester, Gloucestershire. GL7 1DY.
Alternatively online to the Club Bank account.
Account Name: The Cotswold Pheasant & Poultry Club.
Sort code: 30-98-41
Account number: 03190855
Please be aware that some of you haven’t paid for the year 2020-2021. Please pay your overdue subscription to maintain the viability of the club ongoing. Remember we haven’t received any other income for over a year.
Seasonal Reminder
When the birds start to moult this appears to coincide with an increase in Red Mite infestation. Clean out the houses, Pay particular attention to perch sockets, the underside of free standing perches and around door frames. Treat the birds with insecticide powder and then do any repairs to the houses, before using creosote to preserve the timber. As the longer nights draw in look out for Northern Fowl Mite, these live on the bird and are more prevalent in the winter months.
For Sale
Incubator: Janoel 8/48 Auto turn £50.
1 Pair of Millefleur Pekin Bantams £25
3 Poultry Houses: Price and sizes contact:
Ruth Cheesley 01793 762780. Near Highworth
From The Presidents Perch
Hopefully things are now getting a bit near to normal, but I think we must still keep our guards up. We have had to endure the precautions placed on us for a long time, so it will not hurt us to carry on being careful for a little longer. We as the Club will start our monthly meetings in September and we will be doing our first Exhibition at Frampton on Severn. It is a start along the road back to normality; it will seem a little strange meeting up with everybody again and catching up with all the News. I must thank John our chairman and the committee for keeping us informed about what has and is going on around us during this very trying period. Now we as a Club are meeting again it is time to think ahead to the A.G.M. and a program, some of it salvaged from the lost year. Please put your thinking hats on and come up with topics and speakers etc. Do we get the shows back on the go (poultry restrictions allowing) for some friendly rivalry and get Joe Public informed in what we are doing, the choice is yours. As I have said many, many times before it is your Club and the A.G.M. is your platform to speak up on how you want the Club run. So do not forget the October meeting.
No doubt during the Winter the Committee will have to
organize a get-together to do maintenance and repair to the Exhibition and Show
equipment, so keep it in mind so that we can get a good gang to attack it. I
think that is all I want to say now and I am looking forward to meeting up with
you all again.
Neil.
Life President: Neil Harvey
Chairman & Exhibition Secretary: John Smith
Vice Chair: Sandy Lee
Hon.Secretary: Margaret Gardner
Hon.Treasurer: Kath Harrison
Trophy Steward : Charlie Berry
Show Secretary & Editor of "Cotswold Quill": Ken Cservenka
Webmaster : Sandy Vaughan
The Committee Members:Richard Burford, Sean Creed, Pam Bailey.
Editorial Deadline for next issue
November 20th 2021
(01285) 656480
ken.cservenka@sky.com
*******
The Cotswold Pheasant & Poultry Club
Website
www.cotswoldpoultryclub.co.uk
Cotswoldppc@hotmail.com
*******
Chairman: Mr John
Smith 01666 824763.
Cotswold Quill editor: Mr Ken Cservenka 01285 656480 ken.cservenka@sky.com
Secretary: Mrs Margaret Gardner 01666 510248