History

Steve Hutchings Budgie Site

History of Club

MEMORIES OF WESTON-SUPER-MARE BUDGERIGAR SOCIETY

Early in 1959, on a cold evening, eleven Budgerigar fanciers met a Walliscote Road School in Weston-Super-Mare, to discuss the possibilities and the likely interest in forming a specialist Budgerigar Club in the town.
Some of the more experienced were unhappy at that moment, they could only a "Budgie chat" twice a year at the local CBS meetings.
It was decided to contact any other budgie breeders who were visiting shows in the local area and invite them to the inaugural meeting, which was held on a Tuesday night early in 1959.
At the meeting there was plenty of enthusiasm to form a club, just for Budgerigar breeders.
It was decided that it would be named Weston-Super-Mare and District Budgerigar Society.
Meetings, talks, and discussions would be held but no shows. At that meeting I was invited to become a member of the committee.

Oh how the outlook changed in that first year. Far from just meetings and talks, we held table shows and then a young stock show. The enthusiasm for the club was tremendous. we decided to become affiliated to the Area Society, Western Counties Budgerigar & Foreign bird Society.

Harry Willis and I were appointed as delegates to the WCB&FBS. We were two raw, but enthusiastic newcomers to the fancy. We had both recently left the armed forces and had great ideas on organisation. Certainly, we were full of enthusiasm and willing to work- but of course we lacked experience in the fancy.
Two years after the club was formed, on the 12 th August 1961 we held our first Open Show at the Town Hall - we never looked back.

During the period 1959 to 1980 ( when I moved away from Weston ), I was fortunate enough to hold every office, including becoming the first life member. During these years, the society made many friends among the " big names" of the fancy. The first was Bill Bancroft, who helped the society with talks, judging, gifts of trophies and cash. Soon all the big names in the Budgie fancy in the U.K. wanted to judge and speak at the Weston-Super-Mare events.

Harry Bryan, Mrs. Moss, Bill Bancroft, Alf Ormerod, Fred Lane, Tom Rothery and many others including the most famous of all Mr. & Mrs. Watmough, all came to officiate and/ or talk at our meetings and shows.

The original founders of the society were three intermediates with the rest of us being mainly beginners. The standards and goals we set for the first year were over optimistic - but we achieved them all. We used to take our show exhibits to open show throughout the South west during September to November. This was to support the other shows, but we should have been very disappointed if we did not bring back the major special award.

Our exhibits ( about 120 show cages ) used to travel in a horse box, towed by a Land Rover.
Naturally, as a new club, we had no show staging and had to hire the staging for our open show from Bradford, which was expensive. A decision was made to buy our own staging .
An impossibility some thought. But in four months we raised over Ł1,200 and purchased our own staging.
We did it by selling surplus birds from the local members.
Never could I have imagined, when as a beginner, I went to that first meeting to talk with others about the idea of forming Weston-Super-Mare B.S. how far that road could lead. Through my involvement with Weston-Super-Mare B.S. I went on to hold high office in the Western Counties B&FBS, I become a member of the B.S. General Council and remind a member during most of the period 1973-1992.

I was chosen, with my wife Barbara to be joint co-ordinator of the highly successful and prestigious for the B.S. " Convention" 90’.
Eventually I had the honour of being elected to the position of B.S. president for 1991/1992 and together with Barbara travelled the world meeting overseas Budgerigar Societies officials- Brazil, Canada, Australia, America, Europe- we travelled so far encouraging the formation of an international body which was, in fact founded in 1993.
All this I owe to Weston-Super-Mare B.S. for that was my starting point. I only hope that others will enjoy serving the club as much as I have and one day they, too, will owe it as much as I do.


Stan Moizer. Jan 1997.

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