what a classic production.. James Robertson Justice on his grouse moor .. Bitichin ,with his Falconer the late Stephen Frank who he later left the moor too...i had some very happy days on here in Dornock... 2013 last time here picking up my Pointer pup off Stephen.. Rip..thanks for posting a timeless piece of history..
I never get tired of this stuff! I have two Jerkins heavy in the molt right now, and I can't wait to get them back in the air, chasing grouse. I've been at it for 38 years now, and this sport still makes me feel like a kid, full of dreams and ambition for the hunt. Thanks for the post!
Jack Mavrogordato Jack Mavrogordato (1905-1985) gained more than 40 years personal experience embracing practically every falcon or hawk used in falconry, from gyr and saker to merlin and shikra. He was son of a rich greek businessman, in his childhood neighbour to Churchill and aqcuainted with other notabilities in the UK. He lived in London during WW II and was inrolled in the local A.R.P. (Air Raid Precaution) during the first part of the war.
This is Old School Hawking at it's best. All of us old falconers read the English Falconry books when we started. Here's a magnificent video of what we read. Outstanding! Thanks for uploading!
In 1966 he succeeded major-general A.G. O'Carroll-Scott as president of the British Falconers Club. In 1969 on the formation of the International Association of Falconry and Conservation of Birds of Prey, he was appointed its first president.
Jack Mavro travelled all over the world as a falconer - trapping goshawks in Norway, flying sakers in Saudi Arabia and Bahrein, meeting Goering and Himmler in Berlin at the International Sporting Exhibition in 1937. In 1966 he visited America by invitation of NAFA. He took part in the field meet at Centersville, South Dakota.
Later on he worked as solicitor for the M.A.P. (Directorate of Materials Production) as his health did not permit him to contribute more actively to the war effort. He was educated a solicitor, but TB forced him to live a part of his life abroad. Thus he came to play a part in Sudanese independence. He was trained as a falconer by Captain Knight. In 1936 he succeeded Hugh Knight as honorary secretary as the British Falconers Club.
Being a keen ornithologist all his life he became deeply involved in conservational matters. He lived the final 25 years of his life at Salisbury Plain, also being involved in local politics. He never married as he felt himself debarred of proposing to a fertile woman, as he himself was rendered infertile by TB.
