Alan Hall

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THE FEDERATION WESTERLY PROFILE

How many of you managed to work out this months westerly profile from the picture and clues last month. I had the pleasure of Alans company last month when he and Andy Hopkinson paid me a visit They both left with a smile on their faces so I can only assume that they enjoyed themselves. Next time you see Alan look down at his feet and you may see feet like camels, this is because of Alan's military service, which he spent the majority of his time serving in the desert. Places like Aden. Sharjah, Muscat and Kenya and as Alan put it they were always worried in case anyone turned up with the cement. He also had a short time in Ireland. Alan spent 6 years serving his country and has very fond memories and like all service men plenty of tales to tell including the size of the camel spiders (the size of your hand) and of course the scorpions.

Alan is married to Margaret and this year sees their 40th wedding anniversary. They have a daughter Jacquelyn who is 38 married and has a son Christopher who is 14 and their only grandchild. Alan and Margaret also have a son John who is 34. John has an interest in pigeons and keeps Hamburg Schimmels which apparently means spangles. John has kept West's in the past and spent many an hour flying them.

Alan also served in the T.A. and the Doncaster County Borough and South Yorkshire Fire Brigade to give them their full title, now into his sixties he is proud of his fireman service from which he is now retired. I discussed with Alan his time as a fireman and any situations he would wish to recall, but as Alan said you had to learn to treat it just as a job and although it had its bad days, the good days always made up for them,

Alan's other interests include Numismatist (1 thought Alan was swearing at me) but this means coin collecting. Alan collects generally British coins and has coins going back to William IV. He gets his annual non-circulated mint set, He did tell me that he let Barry Collins have a very old Chinese coin. I immediately thought that Barry was a Numismatist as well but apparently Barry just collects old things (that makes sense). I would just like to thank Alan for his generosity when leaving after his visit he gave my wife a new coin, of course realizing she doesn’t collect old things (no comments please).

A. l have lived in the Doncaster area all of my life apart from my military service.

A. l have kept pigeons for 50 years apart from when I was in the services for that period I gave them to my wife's brother. it must of done some good because he's still got the bug. l have recently set him up with some West's and he is flying them our

A. I first stated with a mixed variety of pigeons namely racing pigeons and fantails, which eventually ended up with a loft full of cross breeds. l then moved on to

Macclesfield High Flying Tipplers, and could they fly. I would say could have out

flown the West’s at that times but sadly I have not seen that breed of Macclesfield

A. I have kept West of England Flying Tumblers for a number of years now. My favorite colours being Red, Cream and Yellow in that order, but I also keep Blacks. Duns and Spangles in various colours. I have recently been experimenting in producing the Almond West and so far I am pleased with the results. l have about 70 West's, but intend to thin them out this year. l also keep Polish Zamoyska's as a second breed, once when judging for best in show I was accused of being a biased flying breed man because I chose a show racer. but keeping both breeds I think makes me a fancy pigeon man as well.

h. In my stud of West’s l look for a good pearl eye with a small pupil, a nice bald looking head. I don't mind a bit sweeter head in the hens a good width of feather. short legs slightly knock kneed, good handling and a very important point with me. a long keel. which in my opinion makes for good handling.

h. My pigeon housing consists of a concrete building approximately 18ft x l5ft with an aviary on the front. We also have a wooden loft 21ft x 9ft complete with aviary,

A.. My future aims are to one day have some purpose built lofts. one of the best West studs in the country and to win the B.P.S.S. show at Doncaster with a Red West of England Tumbler,

lh. Get the best birds that you can from a reputable breeder, the most expensive are not always the best, there are still some fanciers who will let you have decent birds at a reasonable price and may even donate a few free ones to get you started. Listen to advise from experienced breeders (it's free) and you can always forget it later if its of no use to you. Don't expect to win every card in sight straight away, accept the judges' decision, and be a good sport, your bird may lose today but it might win at the next show (remember another day another judge). lf you like the pigeons you have in your loft. keep theme because the judges only look at them for a few minutes at each show you enter them in. you look at them in your loft every day of the year.

A. More interest is starting to be shown in show pigeons I have recently set up three people with West's and one with Polish Zamoyska’s, so lets hope they join the relevant clubs. The Federation is forging ahead at full steam now and doing well with the flying breeder but lets not forget about the N.P.A. and all the smaller breed clubs, as we are all part and parcel of the same sport (united we stands divided we fall).

A. There are many l would like to thank but l do not intend to give a list in case I miss anyone out except to say that I would like to say a big thank you to Geoff Tebbs from Wadsworth, Nr Doncaster for introducing me to the WEST OF ENGLAND TUMBLER many years ago.

As always my thanks to Alan for his cooperation in compiling the profile. By the time you are reading this the show season will only be a matter of weeks away and I would like to wish you all a very successful season. The Federation show is well under control and I sense the excitement building with everyone, I am sure it’s going to be the success we all believe, don’t forget this year Brian Siggers will be at the show and available for all of you that want to capture that special bird on print. Also the Federation patch badges are now available to members at £6 or non members at £10 please contact either Ian Johnson or myself. Yours in sport DAVE WALTERS