By BRIAN EMMETT

What a weekend that was; the weather was kind to us, the fanciers were there from everywhere, I once wrote that at the show it was possible to hear dialects from most parts of the British Isles, from the Northern tip of Scotland to the far reaches of Cornwall and Kent. Times have changed and now at the show we hear dialects and languages from Germany, Poland, Holland, France, Ireland, America, Australia, South Africa, the Middle East, the far East, Canada and just about everywhere else.

I headed this article 'Talking to Pigeons' and the reason it came to me was - in the middle of the Hall, as Fanciers quietly went about the task of boxing their birds, stood this silly old man. In his hand was a Short Faced Tumbler, and the bird was held up to be on eye level and the guy ignoring all the bustle about him, was talking to the little bird, saying what a clever little beauty he was to have done so well and that he would soon be home. The old boy was so happy, here he was sixty-two years after acquiring his first pair of pigeons (racers) a happy chappy, he had chaired his first meeting of the National Pigeon Association Annual General Meeting as the President. Around him he heard several other humans talking to their birds as they lifted them with tenderness from the cages to place them in the boxes.

Yes, of course that silly old man was me. I talk to all my stock, mice, cavies and pigeons and so do many others. Yes, we do love our pigeons and I am sure that they appreciate us talking to them. That little Tumbler seemed to understand and he sure looked interested in me as I spoke to him. We need not be embarrassed about talking to our stock, let's face it there are some in high office who talk to their plants and trees, and I'm sure the plants and trees give no indication they understand what is being said to them.

It was a super show and Mike Knaggs and the team he heads to run the event deserve to be congratulated on the work and effort they put into it. Well done. Due to the sad occasion of my friend Rod Wright's death, it fell to me and Eileen to deal with the NPA Certificates at the show and things went well. True, there were one or two errors due in the main to people who may well be good pigeon judges, but fail to write numbers down in the right order, and how many of them think that ADULT is a description of the bird's sex, is unbelievable. The success of dealing with the NPA Certificates is attributable to the helpers who came along and gave time to fill out the cards. I give a big thank you to you on behalf of the British Pigeon Show Society and myself; they were, Paul Littlewood, Patt Pratt, Sue Vine, Kevin Pratt, Carol Cook and Brian Brock. (I hope I ain't missed anyone - I don't think so, but if I missed you, please forgive me). Eileen never left her chair all day Saturday and was back there on Sunday morning administrating the records. (Someone asked if she was super glued to the chair!)

Read the rest of this article in Feathered World, January 2005 issue