A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE BPSS
The British Pigeon Show Society was formed in March 1948 by leading fanciers of the day wanting to set up a major Championship Show for the whole fancy. A subscription fund was set up to give the show a working capital of £2.2s for Patrons, £1.1s for Honorary Vice Presidents and 7s6d for Ordinary Members. By the time of a committee meeting held in Idle, Bradford on 1st July over £170 had been subscribed. The first show was held on 15th & 16th October that year at the Corn Exchange in Leeds. W.Watmough was the first Chairman and Mr H.Dyson was the first Secretary. The entry fee was 4 shillings for members and 5/- for non-members. Prize money was set at 15/-, 10/- and 5/- for 1st, 2nd and 3rd place in each class and admission charges into the show were 2/6 on the first day and 1/- on the second. At this first show there were 202 classes with the biggest classifications for Modenas, L.F.Tumblers, Magpies, Oriental Frills, Fancy Homers and Dragoons. All birds were staged double tier. The AGM was held at the Queens Hotel, Bradford on 16th March 1949. Edgar Morton was made President and the Vice Presidents and Committee consisted of such famous fanciers as C.Sharpe Magee, J.L.Sears, H.Field, W.Allen, G.Bentley, T.Booth, W.J.Empson, Dr.Elliott, W.F.Holmes, J.Lister, R.Main, W.Machin, D.Parvin, H.Sutcliffe, W.J.Smillie, F.Turpin and R Shackleton. Due to work commitments of Mr Dyson, Miss Marjorie Ryder who had helped him at the first show took over as Secretary. The first show had actually lost £98, but due to the subscriptions raised a profit of £114 was made to be put forward for future shows. The committee wanted to keep the show as the first Classic Show of the year, but unfortunately the Leeds venue was unavailable for 1949. After a vote between halls in Bradford and Newcastle, it was agreed to hold the 1949 show on 7th & 8th October at Belle View Barracks in Bradford were it stayed until the early 1950s.
By 1953 the show had moved venue again to Valley Gardens in Harrogate, where the “ Harrogate Show “ was to become the show of the year for most serious fanciers from all over the UK. At these early shows an entry of over 2000 was normal, but at the 1953 show there were over 500 show racers with both the young cock and young hen classes having in them over 120 entries each, which must be something of a record for the BPSS.
By 1958 with the show still at Harrogate, its date had moved to mid November, being held on 19th & 20th. Schedules were sent out to all NPA members and there were 303 classes and 40 judges. Several NPA trophies were now awarded annually at the show that are still awarded today, like the Dutch Fanciers, C.A.House, A.Allum, King Edward VII, and Morton trophies. The NPA also held a committee meeting at the show on the evening of the first day.
The show continued to grow in stature and prestige during the 1960s and attracted many foreign visitors. The awarding of prize money ended in 1966, apart from in 1972 when major sponsorship and advertising was attracted from a leading tobacco firm. Unfortunately 1967 saw the first cancellation of the show due to an outbreak of Foot and Mouth.
By 1970 Miss Ryder became show manager and Mrs Marjorie Butcher had taken over as Secretary.
At the AGM held on 29th April 1974 at the Victoria Hotel in Bradford, it was decided to move the show to Doncaster Racecourse as it was thought to be a better venue than Harrogate. With this move the show could now be staged with single tier penning. Edgar Morton was Chairman, with Gordon Rigg President.
During the 1970s entries continued to grow to regularly be over the 3000 mark with many breed clubs holding their club shows at Doncaster.
At the 1977 AGM Brian Emmett took over as secretary with many successful shows being held, culminating in the 1986 show held in conjunction with the NPA to celebrate the Centenary of ringing pigeons. At this show a record entry for the BPSS was achieved with 4678 from 368 exhibitors. This was the largest Fancy Pigeon show held in the UK in living memory.
Barbara Young took over as Secretary at the 1995 AGM held at the societies regular venue of The Thornhill Arms, Calverley, Bradford. By now the Chairman was Mike Knaggs and the President was Brian Brock. During the 1990s entries were regularly over 4000 and the society started to invite leading fanciers of long standing to act as President. The last 4000 entry show was the very successful Millenium Show, with the last show being held at Doncaster Racecourse in 2004. Due to the re-developement of the Racecourse and the unfortunate cancellation of the 2005 and 2006 shows because of Bird Flu the 2007 show moved to the present venue at Pickering. This show also marked the end of Barbara’s very successful and efficient period as Secretary. Richard Henderson took over as secretary in 2008.
