Cage & Aviary Birds

Northumbrian Notes with Austin Middlemiss

FROM the end of December and through January hasn’t been a great time, unfortunately. In that short time, I’ve attended three funerals. They were all close to home, as it were: my brother’s father-in-law, Tony Thompson’s brother-in-law and a dear Gloster canary friend.

Added to that, Tony’s cousin Lawrence has been very unwell in hospital. There won’t be many in the Gloster fancy who do not know Lawrence personally, or at least have heard of the multitude of stories regarding this true character of the fancy.

My brother’s father-in-law, Alan, wasn’t connected to the fancy, but we did share a common interest in the fortunes of Newcastle United Football Club and had many a despairing discussion about our team’s failings in the car journey to the matches.

Tony’s brother-in-law, Keith, had no direct connections with

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