Douglas Morgans. WHC Club President

Douglas or "Dougy" as he is better known is easily our longest serving WHC member and still one of the most active members and supporters of the club.  He regularly attends committee meetings, now as our Club President. He is also very conspicuous at our South Wales monthly meetings, Game Fairs and Field Meetings which are never quite the same when, not present. 

He is one of the founding members of the WHC, joining up with John Buckner, Kenneth Macleur our late President and Lawrence Workman soon after the clubs formation.  They were all members of the local Wild Fowlers Club and through a chance meeting with a Hungarian falconer Lorant de Bastyai, they were introduced to falconry.  They were all immediately hooked.  Douglas, along with the other members knew little of falconry, although they all had vast experience in many other field sports but under Lorant’s expert help and tuition they soon learnt the finer arts and skills required by the challenge of falconry.

(Dougie with the club's Eagle)

 

These were the early days of falconry in the 60's when falconry restrictions were non-existent and the movement of birds between falconers in Europe and the UK were unrestricted. Things were easy in those days, no licences were required to take birds out or bring them back into the country.  No such things as quarantine and at the end of these overseas meetings, trappers would be present to sell wild caught goshawks.  The top price for females was about £4 and often males would be given away free. Dougy still regularly attends many of these International Field meetings often in the company of Mike Clowes, Gary Morris, Terry Large, Brian Paterson and numerous other club members. Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Germany, Austria and Poland are all on the list of visits where Dougy and our members are held in the highest regard.

He regularly joined John Buckner's annual pilgrimage to Thrumpster in Caithness along with many other WHC members, staying at Keepers Cottage on Lady Harnsworth’s Estate.  One year, on the occasion of Lady Harnsworth's birthday, Dougy, John and Lawrence were invited to her tea party and were privileged to meet and talk at length with her old school friend, The Queen Mother who was resident at nearby Castle of Mey. Be rest assured that Dougy used his normal charms on the Queen Mum.  Us lesser mortals there at the time could only envy their opportunity.

Dougy served with the Welsh Guards and saw service in Germany and Palestine.  After demobilisation he became a maintenance engineer at Tredomen Engineering Works, a company associated closely with the National Coal Board and with whom he stayed until his retirement.  I am told that many a good hawk perch was engineered from the Tedomen works.  He is renowned for an unquenchable thirst and snuff blending capabilities which he has now sadly had to give up (such a pity, as now, my main source of supply for his superior blend has dried up). Always immaculately groomed and dressed, his admiration for the opposite sex is legend.

Dougy is a great servant and supporter of the club, a gentleman of integrity and honesty and I doubt he has been off the committee since first joining the club all those years ago in the early 1960's. 

It is only fitting that very recently, he was made an honorary member of the British Falconers Club in recognition of his service to falconry.

Ian Blantern, Vice President