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pigeon Interview with Ollie Harrispige This Interview was taken from the Performing Roller Association (P.R.A) bi-monthly magazine July-August 1989 issue: Mr. Ollie. D. Harris Birmingham
England McRae: How long have you kept Rollers? How many years? McRae: Did your family keep them then? McRae: Did you ever have breaks from them?
Like the war? McRae:
Did you obtain your pigeons from your father? And if so where did he
get them? McRae:
So he knew the great Bill Richards father! McRae:
You must feel pretty lucky to have grown up amongst real rollermen? McRae: Were they members of
the Harborne Club then? When did that start? McRae:
When did you first come in contact with Bill Pensom; How far away did
he live? McRae:
What was the difference between Bellfields stock and the Richards birds?
Did
you see them when you
were growing up? How often? (I was rather
excited, hence run on sentences!) McRae:
What were they like in type - the Bellfield stuff? McRae:
On the Richards birds what colours did he have? McRae:
Eye color? McRae:
What were these Bill Richards birds like on the ground? McRae:
I was told by Bill Pensom they were nice small compact pigeons.
McRae:
What were they like in the air? You once told
me you
used to watch
Bill Richards
kits from school. McRae:
How deep were they? McRae:
How many did he keep? McRae:
So the only Richards birds around
were “catched” pigeons? McRae:
So did you get a hold of a
few? McRae:
Were fanciers such as Bellfield,
Skidmore, Richards etc.
pals did they
see each
other? McRae:
Did they see each others
pigeons? McRae:
Did Bill Pensom go
and see Richards then? McRae:
So when you started.
Who did you try to
acquire pigeons
from?
There must
have been a
few other good
fanciers too. McRae:
Yeh! Tell me that
story about that
white,
red necked
hen, I
know Herb
Sparkes has
an old photo of
her. McRae:
You’ve
told me that
Bill Pensom once
kept a number
of whites, and
these days we
rarely see any
whites - let
alone great ones. McRae:
They were as
anything in
the air? McRae:
Weren’t
you near
Elija Tomkins?
He lived
in
Horborne. McRae:
He must
have been getting
good birds
everywhere! McRae:
Ah! that’s it. Wasn’t she pearl eyed one? There’s
a photo. McRae:
So
that’s that
pigeon! McRae:
Did
you
see
that
red
chequer
bald
hen
in
the
air? McRae:
And that
red necked
hen was
a “catched pigeon”? McRae:
Did you
ever see
any of
the youngsters
off 463-1613,
the red
odd wing
cock and
dun hen?
I know
Bill sent
those two
to America
in 1936. McRae:
The dun
hen, 1613,
didn’t
Bert breed that? McRae:
A lot
of people
in England
and America
got pigeons
from that
pair - they
were responsible for a lot
of good pigeons. McRae:
Which were
the best
pigeons you’ve
ever seen? McRae:
You mentioned
a black
badge hen
you bred
in 37. McRae:
A lot
of these
Black cheqs
we’ve
got now, (referring mostly to the stock Sparkes, Guthormsen,
myself and others have in North
America) Bill sort of finished up with - a lot
of those - the black cheq bronze, go back to the
463-1613 and a black self hen I believe Alf
Roper caught, but
I think Skidmore bred it. McRae:
I don’t know. McRae:
You’ve talked
about a red chequer badge cock Bill sent over in 51? McRae:
What became
of the
red chequer
badge cock?
McRae:
A few
pairs of
your birds
were sent
to Guthormsons,
Kiser, and
Borges about
5 years
ago in
Canada and
California.
Is
there any
pattern you
follow in
matings.
Your
birds have
a lot
of “roll” and
I also think they make excellent outcrosses. McRae:
Are there
any colours
you’ve
found more successful? McRae:
Has fit! McRae:
I’ve never seen
any yellows out of your pigeons or out of Bill (Pensoms)
do they ever come
out? McRae:
I
never
did… McRae:
Most
of
your
strain
come
into
the
roll
fairly
early - say
six
months.
Have
you
ever
had
any
good
ones
come
late? McRae:
Did
you
ever
get
anything
off
her?
Did
you
lose
all
of
them? McRae:
if
you
compare
the
fancy
today
with
the
pre-world
war
II
days,
how
does
the
fancy
birds
and
the
birds
compare? McRae:
Where
do
you
think
it’s
gone
wrong
then? McRae:
I
think
people
are
more
impatient
too.
It’s an impatient age.
Fanciers don’t fly theirs birds out, stock on pedigree, and aren’t
putting
the
hours
of
study
in.
People
like
Skidmore
and
Bill
Richards
were
probably
more
harsh
on
birds
for
the
stock
pen
and
culled
hard - kept
fewer
stock
birds
than
most
do
today. McRae:
Did
you
ever
get
to
the
bottom
of
how
he
mated
up
his
pairs? McRae:
It
makes
you
wonder
how
long
rollers
have
been
around - where
they come from….? McRae:
Did
you
ever
see
that
stuffed
roller
old
Jack
Taylor
owned? McRae:
Skidmore
didn’t feed his birds very well I’m
told. McRae:
Sometimes
you
hear
fanciers
say
Ken
Payne
didn’t
fly
very
good
birds
but
you
were
a
friend
of
his
and
should
know
what
of
his
kits? McRae:
When
Bill
was
over
in
England
in
65
he
took
a
number
of
pigeons
from
you - which you can talk about - and he also took a gorgeous
black badge hen from Portman NBRC-6230-63 - actually
a
61.
There is
a
little
controversy
as
to
where
that
hen
came from. McRae:
She
did
look
like
one
of
yours. McRae:
Was
Bill
over
in
65
for
2
weeks? McRae:
Did
he
stop
with
you
most
of
the
time? McRae:
What
birds
did
he
take
from
you? McRae:
Aside
from
the
fact
he
liked
your
pigeons
in
the
sky,
do
you
think
there
was
any
other
reasons
he
took
them? McRae:
Can
any
difficulties
arrive
from
dark
chequers
continually
together? McRae:
What
would
happen
with
mating
whites
together?
I’ve
rarely
seen
anyone
do
it
even.
They
used
to. McRae:
With
your
pigeons
it
seems
any
combination
of
pairs
will
produce
almost
any
colour
offspring.
You
must
be
deliberately
mixing
them. McRae:
Your
own
pigeons
tend
to
be
small
and
of
very
good
type.
You
must
have
concentrated
on
that. McRae:
You’ve
said
your
general
goals
and
ideals
have
stayed
fairly
steady.
Who
did
you
learn
the
most
from? McRae:
Smallish
and
very
powerfully
athletic.
McRae:
He
was
always
writing,
but
he
still
never
really
got
himself
across.
I
can’t
totally
explain
it,
and
I
spent
years
with
him
too. McRae:
I
bet
the
fanciers
of
sixty
years
ago
would
never
have
imagined
it. McRae:
The
old
families
were
kept
as
pure
as
practical,
with
performance
as
the
judge.
It
seems
to
me
one
of
the
problems
is
that
fanciers
with
the
blood
of
say…Bills’ birds
seem
ready
to
cross
with
all
sorts
of
strange
blood.
What
do
you
think
of
that?
They
crossed
yours
too. McRae:
Didn’t
Bill
Pensom
have
a
job
working
as
a
bus
driver
as
a
carpenter
over
here? McRae:
The
story
goes
that
when
Bill
was
driving,
if
he
saw
a
kit
of
pigeons
up,
he’d
stop
the
bus.
Is
that
true? McRae:
Have
you
ever
put
anything
in
your
rollers
drinking
water? McRae:
Bill
once
told
me
that
as
a
kid
an
old
man
used
to
pay
him
to
pee
on
crushed
brick
-
then
the
old
man
used
to
feed
this
stuff
to
his
pigeons. Mrs. Harris:
(Enters
after
shopping
trip)
Hello!
What
have
you
two
been
up
to? |
||
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