My first introduction to Belgian bantams was at a Crystal Palace Show. I was
only a boy at school, it must have been about 1926 or 27 and I had only then
read about them. I wrote to Mr Kenneth Ward, the founder of the English Belgian
Bantam Club imagining, as a boy would, that the cost of his birds would be
about £1.00 each. I was horrified to learn that millefleurs were £18.00 a trio
and porcelain £20.00! However when I wrote back and said I was only a schoolboy
he replied at once, that at the end of the breeding season he would endeavour
to let me have two trios for £5.00 each. Those duly arrived and were obviously,
now I know, well worth £25.00 a trio. Those were the foundations of my stud of
Belgians which gradually increased until for many years I used to have two pens
each of the following:
Barbu d’Uccle: millefleur, porcelain, caillouté (black mottled),
white, quail and attempts in the last few years to produce cuckoo and blue.
Barbu d’Anvers: quail, cuckoo, black, white, blue and attempts to
produce millefleur, porcelain, ermine and other oddities.
This resulted each year after the breeding season, in a total of some 150 adults and at least 500, if not more, young stock. When I started with Belgians there was no club actually in operation.
I can just remember Richard Terrot, the previous secretary, as well as many of the older fanciers: C A M Wood of Chippenham, Mr Blackwood and many others. Harry Fox of Matlock always had a few good birds and was very helpful to me - I never bought a bird from him, he always gave them to me! Mr Ward was the kindest, most knowledgeable and wonderful man one could ever meet. His elder son always
kept a few Belgians as pets, while his younger son, Mr Cecil Ward, had a very fine stud and ill health was the only reason he had to dispose of it. He is, to my mind, one of the best authorities on Belgians today, with a keen sense of the finer points of type and colour.
I am very sorry to have had to dispose of my stud and it is the first time since I was sixteen that I have had no bantams, but I was very unwell when I
made this decision. A year or so later my large stud of pigeons went too. However I have made a wonderful recovery so all is well, but I am not going to play with fire and start them again.
I am not certain of the date when the club was revived with Mr Ward as President and myself as Secretary, but it has always flourished although it
meant much hard work in the first place. I think the club today is doing very well indeed under the secretaryship of Veronica Mayhew.
Her newsletters are excellent and there are a fine body of fanciers lending her their support. Having been president/secretary of various clubs in the past when letters often totalled 30 a day I know only too well how much work she must undertake.
I think that millefleur, porcelain and caillouté d’Uccles and quail, cuckoo and black d’Anvers are even better than in the past. Let us hope that the club continues to prosper.
only a boy at school, it must have been about 1926 or 27 and I had only then
read about them. I wrote to Mr Kenneth Ward, the founder of the English Belgian
Bantam Club imagining, as a boy would, that the cost of his birds would be
about £1.00 each. I was horrified to learn that millefleurs were £18.00 a trio
and porcelain £20.00! However when I wrote back and said I was only a schoolboy
he replied at once, that at the end of the breeding season he would endeavour
to let me have two trios for £5.00 each. Those duly arrived and were obviously,
now I know, well worth £25.00 a trio. Those were the foundations of my stud of
Belgians which gradually increased until for many years I used to have two pens
each of the following:
Barbu d’Uccle: millefleur, porcelain, caillouté (black mottled),
white, quail and attempts in the last few years to produce cuckoo and blue.
Barbu d’Anvers: quail, cuckoo, black, white, blue and attempts to
produce millefleur, porcelain, ermine and other oddities.
This resulted each year after the breeding season, in a total of some 150 adults and at least 500, if not more, young stock. When I started with Belgians there was no club actually in operation.
I can just remember Richard Terrot, the previous secretary, as well as many of the older fanciers: C A M Wood of Chippenham, Mr Blackwood and many others. Harry Fox of Matlock always had a few good birds and was very helpful to me - I never bought a bird from him, he always gave them to me! Mr Ward was the kindest, most knowledgeable and wonderful man one could ever meet. His elder son always
kept a few Belgians as pets, while his younger son, Mr Cecil Ward, had a very fine stud and ill health was the only reason he had to dispose of it. He is, to my mind, one of the best authorities on Belgians today, with a keen sense of the finer points of type and colour.
I am very sorry to have had to dispose of my stud and it is the first time since I was sixteen that I have had no bantams, but I was very unwell when I
made this decision. A year or so later my large stud of pigeons went too. However I have made a wonderful recovery so all is well, but I am not going to play with fire and start them again.
I am not certain of the date when the club was revived with Mr Ward as President and myself as Secretary, but it has always flourished although it
meant much hard work in the first place. I think the club today is doing very well indeed under the secretaryship of Veronica Mayhew.
Her newsletters are excellent and there are a fine body of fanciers lending her their support. Having been president/secretary of various clubs in the past when letters often totalled 30 a day I know only too well how much work she must undertake.
I think that millefleur, porcelain and caillouté d’Uccles and quail, cuckoo and black d’Anvers are even better than in the past. Let us hope that the club continues to prosper.
