A picture of what is thought to be an English Falconer with a hooded peregrine, circa 1930 at a guess. Any ideas who this might be.

Another unknown falconer from the past, this time a German eagle falconer, we are not sure when the photos were taken, but probably somewhere between 1930 and 1943. Any clues??

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A British Officer with a trained Golden Eagle, Salonika, Greece. First World War 1914-1918.
This photo is in the book " The Illustrated War Record". The following text accompanied the photo;
" The war has brought many a town-dweller face to face with nature in her wilder moods.
At Salonika the rugged mountains impress all who approach that port from the sea.
These mountains are home of the Golden Eagle, a living specimen of which is seen in the picture.
It had been captured when young by a British officer and tamed by him."

The photo was entitled A study Behind the lines at Salonika.

Does anyone know who this officer might be.

Comment from Mr. Andrew Knowles Brown; the officer holding the eagle is not holding a golden eagle, looks like an imperial / steppe / spotted eagle.

Comment from Paul Beecroft: The photo is of Brig. General Gay but he is not the officer that raised it. Photo was taken around September 1916.

In the early 1970's a group of falconers in the north of England got together and formed an association which concentrated on hunting meetings. Its main area of hunting ground was the Bleasdale Estate in the north west of England.

This photograph is a group from one of those meetings and we have managed to name most but a few remain un-named. Are you there ? or do know anyone who needs naming.

1. **************, 2.David Glendenning (Keeper), 3.Mike Heath,
4. Michael Moore, 5. David Nixon, 6. Roy Barron, 7. Phil Marland, 8. James Connelly
9. Martin Bramhall, 10. Alan Gates, 11. Lorent de Bastyia, 12. Mr. Peter Duckworth (Estate owner),13. (Spud) John Slater, 14. ********, 15. Bernard Willacy, 16. George Roach, 17. Marcus Hart, 18. Barry Swales, 19.*******,
20. Colin Preston, 21. Terry Lewis, 22. Ann Gates, 23.*********,24. David Aldred, 25.*******, 26. Mike Cooke, 27. Jim Walsh, 28.******, 29. Terry Pickford.

Falconry Hood blocks presiding at the Falconry Archives at Boise.

I was asked on one of my visits by Kent Carnie, curator of the Archives if I had any idea about these blocks.
Put on the spot for the moment I could offer nothing more than they were falcon hood blocks. I did offer to try and find out anything more I could.
Sadly so far I have drawn a blank as to why these blocks should have the suppliers sticker on the base.

Smith Suitall was founded in the Buttermarket, Ipswich by Sarah Smith and a postcard series was begun by her son, Percy, who in partnership with a German postcard manufacturer produced a selection of 307 postcard views of Suffolk.
F. Percy Smith (1880-1944) was world famous as a photographer of plant life. Probably the first British example of time-lapse photography as applied to the growth of plants.
So far I have found no connection to falconry, does anyone have any clues ??

Jack Stoddart comments;

The beak is a dead give away. The blocks are from the Mollen family, they are just like the copies of the Karl Mollen blocks I have. Karl Mollen did sell blocks and patterns. The copies, I have were made by Adrian Von Arendonk. He met Karl Mollen's daughter and she allowed him to copy the blocks. The daughter was married to a man by the name of Peels. (another famous falconry family).
Ad was a prominent equipment maker and falconer from Holland. He was also the Dutch falconry historian of his generation.

Lord of the manors of Skelton-le-dale and Ratlinghope, falconer and dog breeder extraordinary.
World famous for his Laverick-Llewellin setters he was very succesfull trainer and and won many field trial championships.
As well as flying peregrines on his moors, he also trained and flew Golden Eagles and hunted the moorland foxes.
He visited the United States in 1926 with his son and a team of falcons and trained spaniels, and some say he was responsible for the popularisation of the sport in the US.

This photograph has a few persons un-identified, can you help. Also if you know anything of William Humphrey’s life I would be interested.

Thanks to;

Mrs. Florian Barker (nee Binney)

The man on the far right hand side of the photograph (No. 6) is my father, Charles Binney (1911-1971). When this photograph was taken he was Assistant Secretary at the Kennel Club, later Secretary until shortly before his death.