What's in the issue

The National Exhibition is the highlight of the show year and this week we look forward to the big event. We’ve got full details of the When and the Where, including a detailed floor plan for use on the day. We hear from the event’s organisers, the Parrot Society, and its main sponsor, Johnston & Jeff. And we look back to our roots, with a special in-depth focus on the hobby as it was a century ago, with special emphasis on the ever-popular canary breeds. It’s not all Stafford-related, though: we’ve got expert advice on keeping parrots and penguins; a profile of a very special waterbird;  regular bulletins on canaries and from the North-East; and a judge’s view of a cracking show in Northern Ireland.