Terry & Chris Gerrish

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Terry & Chris are one of the few father and son partnerships that remain in our great hobby. Although Chris has moved away from home and has his own family, he is very much part of the partnership and enjoys the thrills of showing his birds as much as anyone. In fact his daughter Carly and son Sam have a great interest in the birds and could well be the next generation of Gerrish's to keep the West of England Flying Tumbler. Terry & Chris have done more than their fair share of winning over the years and keep a strong stud of pigeons. They are both very much part of The Bristol Tippler & Tumbler Show Society. Terry has recently retired from his job as a driver and his family are very much part of his life. He married June 42 years ago and they have three children and seven grandchildren. Their eldest child Susan lives in West Kirby with three of their grandchildren. Robert, Rachel and Richard. Then comes Michael his eldest boy followed by Chris. Both are married and live in Whitchurch, Bristol and both have two children. Michael, although not the pigeon fancier, is still very interested when Terry and Chris are showing and phone as soon as they get back home from showing to find out how they got on. In fact it is Michael that looks after the birds when Terry and June go on holiday with Chris and his family. Michael is married to Jackie and their children are Andrew and Mitchell. Chris is married to Deb and, as mentioned before, have two children Carly and Sam. Chris is a plumber by trade and has worked for Bristol City Council for the past 18 years. One reason that Chris has not erected a pigeon loft at his own place because, being on call 24 hours a day, there is no guarantee when he will be around to regularly feed and water the birds. It is therefore more convenient to share these duties with his Dad where the birds are kept.

A. Chris ‑When Deb and 1 got married we moved into our present address and have been here for the last 14 years.

A. Terry ‑ When 1 was 7 years old my Granddad bought me 2 pigeons and a dog on the advice of my Father who was doing military service in France this was in 1941. The pigeons 1 kept at my Granddad's home in an Anderson shelter. This was the beginning of my interest in pigeons.

A. Chris ‑ Because of Dad 1 feel as though 1 have always had pigeons around me.

A. Terry ‑ At the beginning there was no one breed that 1 was interested in ‑ any or all breeds of pigeon at that time took my interest especially the ones that as a young boy 1 could sell on to a pet shop, ie Dockers. 1 was an enterprising young lad.

A. Terry ‑ As the years past I married, raised a family and, at one stage, helped run boys football teams including refereeing. After all this 1 found 1 had time on my hands which brought me back to my first love of pigeons. I built myself a small loft and bought two small white Fantails, which 1 flew. One day, as 1 was driving along, 1 saw a kit of West of England Tumblers flying and realised this was the breed that I Wanted to keep. 1 went out and bought two breeding pairs. 1 was flying these pairs during the day, which attracted the attention of a man called Ernie Bates, who was retired. Ernie passed on a tot of knowledge to me with regard to showing this breed of bird, which was invaluable and, at the same time, introduced me to Harry Heal. By now my son Christopher was also taking a keen interest in my hobby.

A. Chris ‑ 1 think it is fair to say that when Dad started keeping the West of England 1 really started to show a real interest in the pigeons.

A. Both ‑ We only keep West of England Tumblers and have 12 breeding pairs. At any one time we have 40 pigeons in our loft. We keep many different colours of birds, which include Black, Dun, Silver, Yellow and Reds.

A. Terry ‑ A well‑proportioned bird from head to tail (well‑balanced bird).

A. Chris ‑ Along with Dad's comment 1 would also like to say that 1 like to see a good pearl eye, the bird not too deep in the keel and not too long. The bird must be pleasing on the eye.

A. Both ‑ 24ft x 8ft separated into two compartments with 14 built‑in nest boxes.

A. Both ‑ Twenty. We only ever purchase twenty rings each year and this is our target. This year we are very pleased with our breeding.

A. Both ‑ To maintain the high standards of show birds that we are well known for and to continue to build on our past and present success.

A. Both ‑ First and foremost is to gain knowledge and information on the breed you wish to keep from fanciers who have kept and shown those birds with success. One of the most important rules that we could pass on to beginners is cleanliness in the loft. This advice would save so much time and trouble in the future healthier birds.

Q. What are your personal views on the fancy in general, shows, bird fanciers etc. ?

A. Terry ‑ It is so nice to speak with people who have the same love and interests as yourself. I look forward to attending many shows around the country, which show high standard of birds and fanciers alike.

A. Chris ‑ The Federation seems to have stimulated a lot of interest in the West and therefore the competition should be greater than ever this year.

A. Both ‑ There are so many people that we would like to thank but far too many to mention. At the top of this list we would have to put our wives. June and Deb, without whose help and support our participation in this wonderful hobby would not have been possible.

There we go, another profile completed although 1 must admit it wasn't easy trying to put over the views of two people, but as you can see Terry and Chris seem to have the right combination to make a partnership work. 1 still have many names in the bag but as you may have realised by now the article is called The Federation Westerly Profile. 1 have therefore restricted it to paid‑up members of the Federation. So if you haven't paid you £2 subscription it is not too late. 1 would like to start compiling profiles on the Tippler fanciers in The Federation but cannot think of an appropriate name, something like Tip Top Fanciers, Any sensible suggestions would be welcome.