A few days away.
We were recently on a 10-day holiday, having a break from pressing these keys which does get to you at times. On the subject of pressing key’s I was talking to the late Jack Sharratt about work many years ago and he said, “I had you down as a pen pusher” which I wasn’t in those days and even today give me manual work anytime in preference to sitting at a desk.
Anyway, Elizabeth has always wanted to visit an area where a TV programme was made so we went down to Oxfordshire where we are told film crews are very often seen.
Henley a nice place to visit
Isn’t it strange how thing’s go wrong when you are away, during this trip someone got their facts wrong about the website and started a chain reaction of comments? What I can say is I can prove that the facts as they saw it were incorrect and two of the people concerned were far from telling the truth. That’s another matter.
Just need a rack on the back of the bike for the pigeon basket, this was at the Spread eagle in Thame..
Getting back to the holiday, as we know anyone involved in pigeons spends a lot of time scanning the sky, which is what I did quite often while away, and always do. What I did see while travelling around were quite a few what looked like Red Kite’s so was wondering if they affected the pigeons too much. We were walking down the main street in Thame and saw a shadow which caught my eye and as I looked up there was one of these Kite’s hovering above. I have not seen any of these BOP so don’t know what affect they have on racing pigeons. We are more used to having the Peregrine’s around here, plus the Buzzards but they don’t bother the pigeons.
This was the place to be the Geoge Hotel Wallingford.
We did visit a couple of country manor’s including Althorp House where Elizabeth want to go. A good place to visit if you want a leisurely walk round and are interested in the heritage of the UK.
The other was Waddesdon Manor now owned by the National Trust which we are members of. This is one of the homes of the famous Rothchild’s family and a very nice place to visit. To the left of the Manor they have an area where they keep caged birds and by chance I was talking to their keeper. At first, I didn’t say that I was into pigeons but as the conversation progressed, I brought them up. He then said, “Pigeon people don’t like birds of prey” To which I replied, “I don’t totally think that is a fair and correct view on pigeon fanciers”
Waddesdon Manor
Althorpe House
So, I went on to point out the problems and the fact that the major problem is where these false nesting sites are placed. I added that in time the BOP will become used to such area’s and will decimate the bird population. “Why” he said, “Well, when you think about it we are short of many of the birds that we used to see on a daily basis. They are no longer about and that is mostly down to the BOP who are having them for their daily meals, after all that’s what they do” Except for the so-called specialist in bird life, we all know that the decline in wildlife has only been since there were so many BOP about that are protected. The people who protect them don’t have a clue what they are talking about when it comes to wildlife, they come over as people who want to see the kill instead of protecting them. I have to say, by the time our conversation had finished he appeared to be seeing both sides of the argument.
What was strange about this spell away, even though I thought about them I never once visited a pigeon loft.