20-6-1992

Dear Bill,

I am writing this in our caravan on the shores of Lake Maggiore in Northern Italy. Mary and I are on our annual holiday and so I am using the free time to catch up on over due letters to old friends.

It was good to hear from you again, and especially from your son David re your combined efforts on Pekin standards. I was pleased to be able to be of assistance.

You must be pleased that your son has returned near home and is interested in your hobby too. In the words of one elderly local gentleman It’s not too often the chick brings the broody hen a worm. So when it does happen it must be all the better.

These academics get moved from job to job and probably forget all about their last project, hence the absence of a reply from Dr West. That was the main reason I did not go into the academic life and did the research I wanted do privately. Hence I could do what I wanted since I was paying for the food.

The sight of a good bird is something special and once instilled into a Fancier cannot be erased. I sincerely hope David gets them good enough to make you feel really pleased with them.

I have cut back this year with the pressures on my time, but there seems a chance of something good amongst the chicks I have. So need you may be I will increase numbers again.

Best wishes with your endeavours.

Sincerely yours,