THE
GREENS OF RUNCORN
(part 2)
by
Les Parkinson
This
is part two of the story and we are now bringing Jim & Margaret into
the story and with them more insight into the Green's of Runcorn and
their years in the sport, there may be areas where we talk about the
same things which I feel we must do to keep the story in its true context.
Jim has been involved in pigeons for as long as he can remember and
is not the first in the family to have pigeons because when he was born
his family were already keeping them.
His
father and uncle Ebb raced 'short Diggers, these short distance birds
were raced with considerable success in the 20's and 30's until Jim
& Lol's father died in 1937. One of their best-remembered birds was
'The Old Ruffled Un' (which would be known as a frill these day's).
This bird won several races for them and when it died it was actually
stuffed & preserved but unfortunately over the years this bird has been
lost. With the passing of their Dad, Richard, Jim's eldest brother George
and Uncle Ebb formed a new partnership and they continued to fly the
'Short Diggers' to George's home for some time with Jim becoming the
training lad. It was his job to cycle 2 - 3 miles, 3 - 4 times a day
along the 'cut' (canal) bank after school. This was toward the late
40's and after the Second World War the sport of the short diggers died
out in the Waterloo area of Widnes due to the redevelopment of the area.
At
around this time Lol (Brother Lawrence) obtained some homers from a
friend of the family and these were housed in Orange boxes on the back
yard wall of the family home in Nelson St, in the Waterloo area of Widnes.
In 1952 when Jim became involved with Lol and the pigeons once more
and the partnership of Green Bros was formed. Pigeons were purchased
from a well known local fancier by the name of John Malloy who was also
a very good friend of their Uncle Ebb, as Ebb & John started work together
at the I.C.I. in Widnes. John flew the old Barker Logan strain with
a lot of success and was also a good administrator for the sport. He
won the very strong North West Nantes Club in 1951 from Nantes with
a Dark Cheq Cock called "Sir Galahad" and he also took 9th position
with his second bird in this 2 bird club. John also had another good
well-known pigeon called "The Old Holland Cock". The first birds Jim
purchased from John Were 6 young birds of the old Barker Logans lines,
the price was �5 each which was an awful lot of money in the 50's, in
fact some men's wages were less than �5 per week. He also purchased
a pair of Dr.Andersons Brioux's from this source, these were being sold
via John for a Mr Perryman of Leicester and these birds which Lol purchased
were the bases of the Green Bros loft. John went on to give the brothers
more birds when he got to know them better and was also a great asset
because he helped them all he could. He taught then as much as he could
about flying distance pigeons and as the friendship evolved he told
them why he had made them pay for their first birds that they had had
off him.
It
was John's theory that if you paid for something you would take better
care of it than if it was given free of charge which is a true fact
in the pigeon world. Later on as Jim got married and Lol went into the
army the birds were moved to Jim's new home in Church St and then to
the allotment in Lower Church St, conveniently behind The Swan Pub.
The loft remained there until 1977. It was while flying to this allotment
that Green Bros. Had many wins including topping the North West Combine
in 1961 from St Malo. This Blue yearling Hen won from 6107 birds. In
1972 the Bros. Were 3rd North West Combine from Rennes (2) when all
the first 3 birds were on the decimal and in the same race they also
took 6th place from 2,238 birds. In the early days of racing the pigeons
there was not the transport available as there is today and all the
training was done either by bicycle or on the train. The birds would
be put on the late trains in the evening and then liberated by the station
personnel early in the morning. Depending on what shift Jim was working
and of course the weather allowed, if special races were coming up the
birds could be re-basketed and taken back to the station to go down
the track again for a second toss. After the Bros. Joined the National
Flying Club in 1966 some birds would be sent by train to Weymouth and
would be privately singled up down there for a small charge. A telegram
would be sent of the liberation times so that their flying time could
be logged. It was only in the Mid 70's that the Bros. started any private
training by road. In the 60's there were several flyers in Widnes that
had transport and would do communal training, In those days they did
try to help one another and as most work in Widnes was shift work this
was appreciated.
Then
in 1966 when Green Bros. joined the National Flying Club the birds were
marked at Oxford and so it meant a day off work to take the birds to
the marking station. But this did not deter them and the in first race
they sent to the Nantes National they were 12th Section with a velocity
of 1193 there were 7013 birds took part in that particular race. The
same bird was then sent to Pau and it took 5th Section and 232nd Open
from 3838 birds, doing 808.5ypm and so the thrill and love of the longer
distance races was born. In 1969 the Bros. Were 10th Section, 155th
Open from the Avaranches Young bird National in a NorthEast Wind. Their
success with the club continued in 1972 when they were 8th Section Vel
592ypm from Pau with a Blue Barker Cock who went to Pau 3 times. While
flying in Widnes they also had a cock which called 'The Old Light Un'
and during his racing life he was a little gold mine. If he didn't actually
score in the races he was entered in he would still win the pool money
he was 9th North West Combine from Rennes from 5107 birds. At their
peak in Widnes every box in the racing loft held a winner and in most
cases 2 in each box because Jim's theory was to pair winners to winners
as he believed that blood will always bring out the best through re-production.
After racing Pau and reading about how testing the race was they decided
to make further introductions to keep their ever improving channel team
fresh for the task and ahead of the game.
It was 1975 Jim was able to introduce Van Bruaene birds into the loft,
these were purchased from a sale in the Midlands off A.H.Bennett who
actually won the Nantes national and it was the "Midas Line" that they
bought to strengthen their team. At about this time they also attended
the sale of Nobby Hughes of Handwood and bought 3 birds. These were
the old Barker lines and were bought as seen with no pedigrees and the
3 birds purchased were actually quite old birds as Jim could not see
an old respected fancier keeping older birds if they had not either
raced well or bred some good birds. These new birds were crossed into
their own birds with great success. It was during 1976 & 1977 that a
great deal of redevelopment was taking place and the heavy industries
were dying out and both Lol and Jim lived and worked in these redevelopment
areas. It was Lol's home that went first and he decided to move to Runcorn
but he also decided to leave the pigeons alone for a while as he was
still working shift work and he had a young family who obviously wanted
their father's attention in his spare time but circumstances decreed
otherwise.
In
the spring of 1976 the lofts on the allotment were broken in 3 times
in 6 weeks and several birds were taken, including most of those that
had been purchased to strengthen their team. Jim always believed that
the thieves were only after one bird and that was 'Soldier' the blue
Barker Cock that went to Pau 3 times because all the birds that were
taken were all blues and all bore the old metal rings but they never
did get him the reason being that he was always kept in his own box
in the racing loft, fortunately he was never moved to the stock loft.
Of the 12 birds stolen they only ever got one back and this was a blue
Barker Heavy wattled cock which was purchased at Nobby Hughes sale.
Although this cock had never been broken to the loft he had always had
a box right in front of the stock loft door which had an inner netting
door so that the birds could see out and they could have plenty of fresh
air. After the third break in which occurred over night on Good Friday/Easter
Saturday the loft was so badly smashed up, birds had been taken and
swabbs were left to die in the nest pans. The brothers decided enough
was enough and that if the birds were not removed from the allotment
there would be none left for anyone to fly, so Lol's loft which was
still at their Mother's home in Widnes was quickly moved to Lol's new
home in Runcorn. In this last break in the robbers also took drinkers,
nest pans, gallipots, baskets and corn and even an old stool that they
used to sit on while waiting for the birds. In fact the thieves had
everything to start up in pigeons apart from a loft.
These birds that the brother's raced were of such a calibre that with
in 6 weeks of the birds being moved and broken into their new loft at
Runcorn they were still winning from across the Channel. All the winning
in Widnes was done on the Natural system and although they have only
pointed out some of the cock's performances, Hen's were also flown with
considerable success. This was how the Bros were able to pair winners
to winners and the young birds were only ever flown to their perches.
The loft was 'L' shaped with the main racing loft and young bird loft
being some 6-foot off the ground. This had to be done because in front
of the loft was a 6ft sandstone wall with a 6ft chain link fence on
top. The stock loft was underneath and to the side of the young bird
section so that when the young birds came out of their trap they could
drop on to the stock loft roof and see all around. On the allotment
the Bros. had open hole and so the birds would be exercised constantly.
In Widnes the Bros. Started flying in the strong North End Club against
such good NorthWest fanciers as Billy Beesley, Freddy Andrews, who went
on to be a very successful conveyor. Tom Mckeon, Arthur Mellor and Tommy
Haslam & Sons from Thatto Heath who was the father and founder of Haslam
Bros who are still very well known today. In fact the first clock that
Jim ever bought was for �5 in the chip shop in Mersey Road, Widnes from
Tommy Haslam who was a gentleman of the old school. Later on the Bros.
Joined the Ditton v District Homing Society and in fact for a time Lol
was secretary of this club.
It
was from this club that the Bros. had to finish as the Club was wound
up when only 5 members all N.F.C Members were left when all the other
club members voted to join the North West Homing Union for cheaper racing.
It was at this time of moving to Runcorn that first Lol and then Jim
joined the Very strong Runcorn v District H S. Lol decided that he now
wanted to fly on his own so he joined as Mr.L.Green and when Jim & his
wife Margaret joined the same club 18 months later they joined as Mr
& Mrs J.R.Green and so both brothers have continued to fly on their
own until the present day. The first year of 1978 Jim & Margaret only
flew young birds but the following year started flying the old birds
which were all yearlings bred from the stock birds of Green Bros. There
were only stock birds taken from Lol's when our loft was transferred
from Widnes to our new home in Weston. Only a couple of racing birds
were taken to our loft these were gift birds that had been given to
Margaret prior to the break in's. Jim & Margaret have flown in the Runcorn
v District H.S ever since and are also members of the N.F.C, the Beeston
Castle 2 bird club and the Cheshire Plains Championship club. In 1998
they joined the Midland National flying club so that they can get the
birds approximately 380 - 400 miles a month prior to the N.F.C.'s Pau
race. In 1984 in the 30 odd strong Runcorn v District H.S, Lol won 5
out of 7 inland old bird races and as the birds hit the Channel Lol
took 3rd Sartilly (1). With Jim and Margaret taking 7th Sartilly (1)
and then they went on to be 2nd & 3rd Sartilly (2), 1st Rennes (1) in
a North East wind & 1st Rennes (2) in a North West Wind with the same
bird 'Jo 90', she flew these two races in seven days covering 365 miles
each time. They were then 3rd Nantes and 1st & 3rd Niort, the first
bird was only a yearling and it topped the very strong Cheshire Plains
Federation.
Also
in 1984 one of their young birds finished a credible 598th Open, 41st
Section in the national flying clubs young bird race from Sartilly.
It was flying for 14 hours 49 mins to record a velocity of 634.55 ypm.
In 1984 Lol was top prizewinner with Jim & Margaret being runners up.
Jim always uses Niort 495 miles as a pointer to the better distance
birds. He likes to give his yearlings at least 2 trips over the Channel
but if possible prefers to get 3 races under their wings. In the 1985
season out of 6 birds timed in on the day from Niort Jim & Margaret
had 4 of them and of the 4, two of them were yearlings. The race was
actually won by Lol with 'Lol's Pride' but they were 2nd, 4th, 5th &
6th. In the 1985 N.F.C.'s Pau race they were 17th Section, 320th open
with a velocity of 921.67 ypm. It was in the early eighties that Jim
& Margaret's good friends Michael & Margaret O'Grady of Winsford took
them to Bank's near Southport and introduced them to one of the old
Maestro himself namely Tom Ryding. Although they had already flown some
of the Tom's birds which the O'Grady's had given to them they had never
met Tom himself, we must take into account that Tom was the expert at
the Pau race which was also the race Jim set his season out for so this
meeting was important for the future of racing for Jim & Margaret. What
a revelation this was to learn that Tom actually prepared his Pau birds
in very much the same way as they had been doing for years. This helped
to confirm in their minds that they were definitely on the right track
with the distance birds. Another of the most remembered things discussed
with Tom was about the young birds, with Pau not being flown until July
you tend not to want young birds bred this late but Tom maintained that
any eggs or young birds in the nest at the time of Pau, particularly
off his performance birds should always be reared because obviously
the birds that flew this race well were at their fittest and therefore
their young ones would be at their best. It was from a pair of these
Rydings birds that Michael & Margaret gave Jim & Margaret that the Dam
of their first Section winner and N.F.C certificate of merit winner
was bred. It was also at about this time that they met Paul Clements
of Heswall and his family his Mum was a smashing person, very down to
earth and always with the teapot on the go. Paul came to be a good friend
he flew the A.H.Bennett birds and he gave them some very good distance
birds.
In
1987 Jim & Margaret sent 3 birds to Pau and all were timed in to take:
8th Section L 92nd Open, 25th Section L 259th Open, 27th Section L 291st
Open. In Section L there were 506 birds with 5333 birds in the Open.
The following year the bird that was 8th Section 1987 took 29th Section
J, prior to the Pau race he had been to Nantes with the Beeston Castle
2 bird club where he took 7th place with a velocity of 1013.883 ypm.
Picking up �305 on the way. It was in 1988 that their Section L winner
'202' began to come to the fore. He had always been a consistent bird
but after racing 7 inland races and 4 Channel races with the Runcorn
v District H.S and the Cheshire Plains Federation his last one being
Nantes where he took 4th Club he was just exercised around the loft
for 2 weeks and then he was sent to the Beeston Castle 2 bird race from
Saints and what a race this turned out to be. There was only one bird
home on the day of liberation and '202' was timed in early the next
morning to take second place. The race virtually finished one day racing
for '202' because he never returned from a channel race on the first
day again his velocity in this race was 841.14 ypm. In 1989 this blue
Cheq Cock again flew every inland race to the coast then went to the
N.F.C Nantes race, then was just exercised around the loft twice a day
until he was sent to Pau where he took 5th Section L and 147th open
returning with a pellet in him from being shot. 1990 saw him doing the
same programme again but this time he was 1st Section L from 424 birds
& 25th Open from 6213 birds flying 697 miles 665 yards with a velocity
1032.51 ypm. In 1991 two birds were sent to Pau both had followed the
same regime but this time '202' was 5th Section L from 333 birds and
72nd Open from 4992 birds with a velocity of 1034.632 ypm. This was
good enough to win the N.F.C certificate of merit and their other bird
was 31st Section L and 340th Open. As stated earlier the dam of '202'
came out of the Ryding bird's but the Sire was a grandson of A.H.Bennett's
"Champion Midas", he was purchased from a Mr.Mawdsley of Southport.
The
next outstanding bird for Jim & Margaret was a Blue pied Cheq hen that
was bred out of the Ryding pigeons crossed with the Van Brueanes. She
has been 2nd Chepston, 3rd Sartilly, 4th Rennes and in 1993 she was
1st Niort when the loft was 1st,2nd,5th & 8th. In 1994 after going to
3 inland races and a couple of channel races with the club she went
to the N.F.C Saintes race and she was 61st Section. The same year a
son of '202' was 15th Section L, 126th Open from Saintes flying 532
miles on the wing in 15 hours 37 mins on the day. His dam was also the
Dam of this years Section winner from Pau. In 1994 a blue hen was 71st
Section from Pau. In 1995 The Cheq Pied Hen was 20th Section L out of
388 birds and 532nd Open out of 5482 birds from Pau. In 1996 she was
again sent to a couple of inland races then to the Nantes National taking
37th Section 136th Open out of 10,123 birds, a month later she was sent
to Pau but because of adverse weather conditions the birds were brought
back to Saintes where she took 43rd Section out of 380 birds and 1194th
Open out of 4976 birds. She also won with her performance from Nantes
an R.P.R.A. Western Region Meritorious award for the best performance
of a committee member from Nantes. In 1997 the pied hen was on course
to be sent to Pau again but after her inland races she was again sent
to the Nantes National where she was 153rd Section, 418th Open from
9536 birds but then Jim took ill again and they were unable to send
to Pau so the Nantes National was her last race as she has now been
retired. In 1998 their 3 year old Red Cheq Hen did them proud. Jim had
had his eye on her and a 4 year old Red Cheq Cock the same way bred.
The
hen is the perfect racing hen with a wing that we would class, as a
good long distance wing to carry a good apple type body, that she has,
her eye is a solid but light old gold. This hen has the perfect breeding
for the distance being a g.daughter of "Lols Pride" Unfortunately the
Cock got smashed up at Weymouth and hasn't flown since but the Red Cheq
hen seems to have gone from strength to strength. She was 4th from Niort
in 1997 so Jim had her programme for 1998 mapped out. She was sent to
3 inland races with the Runcorn v District H.S and then she was sent
to La Ferte Bernard with the Midland National and although she wasn't
fast enough to make the sheet she was bouncing when she dropped. So
to give her a few more miles under her wing she was sent to Sartilly
(2) with the Club. After this a month later she was sent to Pau with
the N.F.C. She was sent 10 days sitting and after a 2 day hold over
the birds were liberated at 5.45 into a light north wind. Well with
past performances in mind they were up bright and early on the 2nd day,
Monday morning. Jim was pounding the floor because he was due at the
hospital for 9.50am, while trying to help Margaret on the Saturday he
had slipped down the loft steps and broke his elbow so he had to attend
the fracture clinic at Whiston Hospital so it was Margaret who was being
left to wait for the birds. Jim was sat patiently waiting for the brother
in law to take him but he was also sitting where he could see the loft
and suddenly at approx. 8.30 all hell broke loose.
He
was shouting the Red Hens here time her in and because I timed her in
on the landing Jim thought Margaret was going to lose the rubber between
the planks on the landing. But obviously this did not happen as she
went on to be 12th Open, 1st Section L from 3817 birds in the Open &
302 in the Section. She covered the 697 miles 665 yards in 19 hours
45 mins with a Vel 1035.107ypm. The Dam of the Red Cheq Hen is a daughter
of Lol's Pride and full nest mate to his champion "Blue Boy" and the
Sire is a Red Cheq Cock given to them by Baz Fletcher of Elton as a
late bred in 1993 this cock is a nice handling pigeon but does not show
the strength of wing for the distance as his famous Meritorious award
winning daughter.. It was bred after his sire took 4th Section from
Pau in 1993. Since 1995 although the birds have been raced, they have
not been raced to their full potential because through failing health
due to Emphysema & a heart attack Jim has not been able to give the
birds the attention they require to bring then to their racing peak.
The cleaning out and general work around the loft has now to be carried
out by Margaret who has her hands full with looking after Jim and trying
to keep on top of the loft work. Margaret is secretary of the Runcorn
& District H.S and Vice President of the Cheshire Plains Federation.
She represents both the Club and the Beeston Castle 2 bird Club at the
Western Region. Jim is chairman of the Runcorn v District H.S & represents
the R & D. H.S. 3-bird club and the Cheshire Plains Championship Club
at the Western Region and both are Western Region Committee members.
On
the subject of their membership to the Western Region which is an area
where they have enjoyed going and meeting new faces for many years and
also the other positions and jobs that they have done. Because we are
on the same wavelength as Jim & Margaret we all took note of the fact
that many fanciers are getting disillusioned with the sport because
of the continual knocking that they receive when they are trying to
move things forward. They also think more or less the same about how
many of the genuine workers of the sport are continually knocked back
when they are working to take the sport forward. We all have our little
stories and here are a couple from the partnership. In 1966 when Green
Bros first joined the N.F.C and they sent to their first ever Pau race,
the birds were liberated on Friday lunch time and on the Saturday the
weather turned very bad and there were no English birds liberated in
France that day. Jim did not know quite what to expect but even so he
refused to leave the loft on the Saturday afternoon and evening and
although the weather was fine and clear up here in the North West. 3
or 4 of the Widnes Fanciers called at the allotments to see if anything
had come and they told him to give up and come for a pint instead but
he could not be persuaded and so you can imagine his joy when just before
9.15pm he saw not 1 but 2 birds approaching the loft. Sure enough it
was his Blue Cheq cock and he had brought a young bird home with him,
he really could not believe it as there were not so many fanciers in
the North West in the N.F.C I n those days. But although the Cheq cock
had arrived home he would not go through the trap as he would normally,
instead he started strutting around the standing crowing up as if to
say 'Here I am, look at me, haven't I done well' so Jim had to open
the loft doors and walk him into the loft.
In
those earlier days of the National when you had timed in your verification
had to be sent by telegram to 'Pigeons Manchester'. It is funny how
History repeats itself because in 1990 when '202' won section L from
Pau bad weather on the continent had prevented a Friday liberation and
the birds had not been liberated until the lunch time on Saturday. Very
early on Sunday morning the Cheshire Plaines race controller Bob Lloyd
rang to say there would be no liberation from the federation birds that
day as there was fog from Kent to Cornwall and Jim's first reaction
was 'God what will happen to the poor Pau birds' to which Bob replied
'We will be looking for them'. However the weather is, you still look
for them and about late afternoon Jim & Margaret were sitting In the
lounge, Jim on his usual perch just inside the lounge with a full view
of the loft through the dining room window and Margaret on the settee
looking through the lounge window towards Frodsham. Alan Cooper had
just called round and was sitting chatting about the race asking what
they had heard and so forth, when all of a sudden Margaret spotted "202"
coming up the road. And quickly shouted 'he's here' then ducked round
to look again. Jim's response was to say stop winding me up but when
both Alan and Margaret jumped up and ran through to the back garden
Jim quickly realised Margaret was not having him on. But as he reached
the garden Jim could not see him because "202" had gone round the trees
on his usual lap of honour. He was quickly timed in and as previously
stated was 1st Section L, 25th Open but although it was not the best
of National races if "202" had decided to do a second lap of honour
they could have been piped to the post for 1st Section as W.A.Gough
& Son of Lymm were close on their heels that day. Strangely enough when
"202" won the Section they had not put the clock into the loft as they
would do normally and in 1998 when the red hen now aptly named 'Maggie'
won the section they again had not put the clock in the loft although
everything else was in place and Jim on his usual perch was waiting
to go to the hospital with a broken elbow.
Yes
even his broken elbow had to wait while the pigeons were clocked. About
10 or 11 years ago Margaret used to work on a Saturday which really
did get up her nose and her Dad used to come and wait with Jim for the
birds to arrive home. One Saturday afternoon as normal they were waiting
when all of a sudden their dog set off barking, neither of them could
see what she was barking at so Jim went to the front door to see if
someone was about. As he opened the door he came face to face with a
burly fireman with an axe in his hand just about ready to break down
the door because they had received a 999 call reporting a fire at their
home. Letting them In Jim told them that there was no fire and no one
here had phoned from their address. No sooner had the fireman gone than
on the door step were two police officers arrived trying to find out
where the Hoax call had come from and with all this happening the birds
were arriving home. As they pointed out you can laugh at this now but
at the time it wasn't so funny when you are trying to time the birds
in.
Their
birds are housed in a wooden loft which is 23 foot long and 10 foot
wide with a two foot corridor running the full length of the loft, which
is split into 3 sections. One section houses 20 natural boxes, the next
is the young bird section which has just box perches and the third section
has 12 widowhood boxes although they do not fly widowhood. The loft
is raised about 3 foot off the ground and is approximately 30 yards
from the house, nearer to the house, at the side of the garden is a
small 10' x 6.6' wooden stock loft. This now tends to be used not for
stock birds but for old birds which lose their partners at the races
or are late returning. They have tried widowhood a few years ago with
some success but Jim found it too much for him, carrying the hens up
and down the garden with his health deteriorating, so they now keep
to the natural system. The birds are paired up on the full moon in late
February or Early March but not later than 20th March, in fact looking
back through past years records the most successful seasons have been
when they have paired up around St. Patrick's Day, 17th March. The birds
are fed the same corn all the year round, a top quality No.1 racing
mix, this is supplemented with a top quality breeding mixture at breeding
time and a special moulting mixture at the end of racing. Both garlic
and lemon are used in the drinking water throughout the year and when
the birds return from racing there is glucose in the water. The old
birds are vaccinated, wormed and coxied prior to pairing and the young
birds prior to training. The birds are cankered at regular intervals
through out the year. Jim & Margaret try to do our own training but
sometimes this is not always possible and they appreciate any help that
they can get. In addition to the distance family they do have had some
sprint birds presented to them by T.Hulme & Son of Sandbach and R.Houghton
of Frodsham but admit that they don't seem to have much luck holding
them so they are back to relying on their old established long distance
birds. Jim & Margaret do send their thanks to both Tommy & Robbie for
their help.
Having
said that they have put up many excellent performances with their birds
and they are not a one bird wonder loft at the distance because there
are a few here that have done the job from 700mls. When you consider
the performances of this partnership through to National level they
have had very little publicity over the years. I hope through this report
we have brought fanciers in general up to date on a winning channel
team that have won more than they have been given credit for. Margaret
has written in the papers for many years but she always neglected to
publicise their own winnings. Let's hope that we have now put the record
straight on this winning family of pigeon fanciers "The Green's of Runcorn".
Elizabeth and myself would like to thank Lol, Jim & Margaret for taking
time out to not only show us their birds but also tell us some of the
stories that have been part of their pigeon world for so long. It was
a very cold day and Elizabeth said that the whisky she had at Lol's
certainly warmed her up.
