• Page last updated: 03 October 2021 (website last updated: 03 October 2021)

Welcome to the Gravesend Bird Club's website

We're a Kent bird club and we hope this website will promote both the club and the keeping of cage and aviary birds in and around the Gravesend and Medway Towns area. We're keen to stress that the focus is on local matters, providing information about this and other Kent clubs, and a guide to where to find birds and buy equipment.

We've also included a link on keepers' language, which sets out what we mean by terms like specialist societies. In this way, we hope the website will be useful whether you've years of experience or yet to own your first bird.

We are also aware that if you're new to birdkeeping, it can appear a daunting prospect coming along to a club meeting for the first time. We therefore hope that these pages will give you a better understanding of our club and help to overcome any initial concerns. We'll certainly be glad to see you.

Brief news

03 October 2021: A quick reminder that our October meeting will take place on Mon 11 October. 2021 membership cards will be distributed and we will finalise preparations for the annual show. Look forward to seeing you on the night.

14 September 2021: The club met yesterday evening and agreed to hold an annual show this year. This will take place on Saturday 13 November 2021. Please note that this a week later than discussed on the night owing to a potential clash of show fixtures. Show schedules will be distributed at next month's meeting (Monday Oct 11).

18 August 2021: After the long period of two national lockdowns and the gradual easing of restrictions, the club is re-starting activities with our first monthly meeting for 18 months. Our Monday 13th September meeting (7:30-9:00 - doors open at 07:15) will be an opportunity for members to come together and to discuss and agree whether we will hold our annual show this year (scheduled for Saturday 06 November).

10 August 2021: We have discovered a number of emails in the club account that were not forwarded as expected so we apologise if you haven't received a response to a query. We will work through these over the next fortnight. Members have been emailed with details of our forthcoming meeting and members without email will receive written correspondence. We hope you will be able to join us next month as we plan for the future programme of the club. Thank you.

21 September 2019: we held the British birds and canary table show during our September monthly meeting. There was a decent turnout of 19 birds with a mixture of Glosters, Lizards, Scots Fancy and Redpolls. There was no meeting in August but July's meeting included the the budgerigars and foreign birds table show. Our October meeting (Mon 14th Oct) will focus on preparations for the annual show that will take place on Saturday 09 November. The October meeting will also work through any final requirements for the interclub with Dartford. Quick reminder that our Oct meeting runs the standard time of 7:30 - 9pm and please feel welcome to come along on the evening.

29 June 2019: we had a good talk from Steve Allwright at our May meeting on Lizard canaries and a reminder that we'll have our budgerigars and foreign bird table show at our July meeting. Please feel welcome to come along on the evening (Mon 08 July from 7:30 - 9pm).

05 April 2019: following agreement at the AGM for the club to highlight an improved understanding of particular bird species, this coming Monday's meeting (08 April) will feature presentations from/ discussions with Steve Allwright, Richard Hammond and Bryan Rush on Gloster and Scots Fancy canaries. The aim is to try and cover all aspects of keeping the birds.

About the club

The Gravesend Bird Club has a long history and, with the dissolution of many bird clubs in recent years, GBC is now one of the few cage bird clubs still remaining in Kent.

The club meets every second Monday of the month for presentations, discussions, table shows, and general banter/ exchanging of advice. The highlight is the Saturday, annual show that's open to the public. Not all keepers show their birds though and potential members shouldn't be put off if they're only keen on knowing more about the hobby in general.

Club membership

If you'd like to consider joining this Kent bird club, come along to one of the monthly meetings and have a chat with the members. Don't worry if you're new to bird keeping and we welcome new members even if you're still considering which birds to keep.

If you’re not able to join us in person, you can now join on-line through PayPal, which provides a secure on-line payment system. We started this service in recent years and hope that you’ll feel encouraged to join our club and help us to build for the future. You don't need to be based in Kent and we'd welcome your support and interest from anywhere in the world.

On-line members will receive by email: essential information as it becomes available, a quarterly update, and a copy of the schedule for the annual show.

Membership for 2021 runs for the calendar year (until 31 Dec 2021) and subscription rates are £5.00 (adult), £2.00 (junior aged 15-17 years), £8.00 (couple), and £10.00 (show partnership). The PayPal link is accessed via our contacts and membership page.

History

The Swanscombe and Northfleet Cage Bird Society was founded in 1924 and held its inaugural meeting in the Queen's Head pub on The Hill in Northfleet. The Gravesend and District Cage Bird Society was founded in 1937 where it initially met in Freeborn's Hall in Peacock Street, Gravesend, before moving to St. James Hall on Darnley Road. The two amalgamated in 1946 to form the Gravesend, Northfleet and Swanscombe Cage Bird Society with meetings originally being held at Princes Street Hall in Gravesend before moving to the current location in St Mark's. At the 2016 AGM, members agreed to change the club's name to Gravesend Bird Club.

Web accessibility

The design of the website has been updated for HTML5 but we have aimed to provide, as far as we're able, optimum accessibility to users with regard to type of browser, resizing of browser window, and screen reading software. We'd therefore like to hear any comments or problems that you may have encountered in using this site. Many thanks.

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