When I came home out of the Air force (1946) I desperately needed to get my
hands on some Tipplers. A certain man of Darnall, Sheffield, kept the true
Macclesfield Tipplers - His name was Binnar Purseglove. A cantankerous blunt
Yorkshire man who sold me 2 pairs for breeding.
They were grey grizzles and heavy prints - beautiful birds. The price was 5
shillings per bird - About that time $1 US. When I asked for advice his
answer in a guttural dialect was that if I didn't get the young ones weaned
off and on a loft training schedule I would certainly loose the lot of them.
The specified age of such weaners was 3 weeks.
I followed Binnar's advice and soon has a kit of Macs. For altitude and
style they were marvelous! I was however, living in a fools paradise because
someone reported me to the local housing authority because I was in breach
of an ordnance against keeping pigeons. The bottom line was that I had to
dislocate the necks of the 12 Macs that I had. At that time part of me died
with every dislocated neck. I do not think that I have ever recovered from
that experience. I lost my faith in human nature. I was doing no harm.
However the Gods came to my rescue and I managed to get a piece of land
1/2 a mile from my house. There I can keep anything from a pigeon to an
elephant! Macs? Well they are extinct in pure form now. They were part of
old England, but most of old England has gone forever.
