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Merseyside
AS in the Merseyside AS held its first Open Show at the Liverpool Show, Wavertree, when societies from all over Britain were invited via an advertisement placed in The Aquarist magazine... A new idea at Table Show’s was a selection of fish for member’s to judge for themselves, then, the official judges judged the fish and gave their results announcing how the points were allocated to each species. The members were then invited to compare their own findings with the judges and some interesting comparisons were had... The Society was approached by the Liverpool Museum Authorities to stage an exhibition of tropical fishes. During the course of the exhibition, two evening lectures were given at the Walker Art Gallery Lecture Hall, the first by Dr. F.N. Ghadially, MD., PhD., DSc., on Breeding Tropical Fishes, accompanied by two films. The second, by Mr. R.E. Legge of Chester Zoological Gardens, was on Marine Aquaria, illustrated with colour slides. On the evening of the lectures the Museum remained open till 7-45pm. so that visitors could see the exhibition before attending the lectures. Admission was free... Former Merseyside AS member, Eddie Pillinger, who had been trading as Greenfield Aquatics for a number of years from the basement of his house in Greenfield Road, Old Swan, opened his first shop in Wavertree, called the Merseyside Aquaria Company Ltd. Shortly after this he changed the name to Water World Ltd., due in part, I was informed, because many of his customers thought the name was too similar to the Liverpool Aquaria Company! Eddie Pillinger went on to open another shop in Walton, and another in Chester. Business expanded even further when he opened his Water World Garden & Aquatic Centre in Burton, South Wirral. Eddie has now retired from business and one of his employees, Len McGlashen, took over the ownership of the Aquatic Centre, the three shops having been sold... The Society celebrated its 20th Birthday and the committee introduced an Annual Cup competition for Society members only, which was promptly won by the Chairman Fred Mulla... This ‘Special Edition’ Newsletter effectively marked the birth of the magazine as we know it, the magazine apparently running with the original News Letter logo whilst a competition was held for a cover design and magazine title. Three former members think it was "A Blackpool chap named Gordon Howard" who submitted the design of an outline map of Britain with the then club badge positioned so that the point of the base indicated Liverpool. The name, it seems, was formed from a combination of the Beacon fish (Hemigammus ocellifer) and the newly built ‘Beacon’ of St. John’s Market Restaurant Revolving Tower in the city centre. No matter, Volume 2 of the magazine was seen in January 1967 sporting its new cover and name …Mersey Beacon! The AMDAS (Association of Manchester & District Aquarist Societies) was formed when "It was felt that the number of clubs in the South Lancashire area, within traveling distance of Manchester, was so great that some liaison was needed." Societies within a 50-mile radius of Manchester were invited to join. Founder members were: Belle Vue AS; Glossop AS; Gorton & Openshaw AS; Heywood AS; International Catfish; Knutsford AS; Macclesfield AS; Merseyside AS; Osram AS; Rochdale Breeders; Salford AS; Stockport AC; and Tropical Aquarium Breeders. In addition to lectures, film libraries etc. the main attraction was the Northern Show League run at Open Shows. The society with most points at the end of the season being awarded the League Champion's Trophy, which was sponsored by Yeats Publications and the Pet Trader... The first Open Show of AMDAS was held and twenty-two societies benched over three hundred entries. Best Fish in Show Award went to Vera Parkes. The trophy for most points in show went to Merseyside AS with 371 points... |
