Thank you for taking the time to share your knowledge with us, firstly can you tell us a bit about yourself and how long have you been a judge?

I only passed my True Bantam judging test in 2008, following my Sussex Test in 2007, however had been given the opportunity to judge with Rob Whittington on various occasions, normally being asked to help him with True Bantams, Waterfowl and Eggs, which are my strongest points. I was even lucky enough to judge the Reading Bantam Show champion in 2008, this being a fantastic little Quail Barbu Dand'Anver hen, which I gave Best True Bantam to at Arun Valley Poultry Clubs show in the summer of 2007.

What makes a Pekin stand out above the rest of the class for you?

Pekins were one of the first true bantams that I ever kept, and I am pleased to say that I now have them yet again. I am particularly fussy with the breed, but when judging circumstances change, for instance, if judging locally, you will normally find it hard to select a decent pekin out of a large entry, obviously looking for a bird with good cushion, skirt, tilt, and foot feathering, however if judging on a larger scale(which I have yet to do), a large majority of the birds will have these requirements, you then going in for the 'nitty grittyand', this being split wings, leg colour, eye colour, neatness of the head and obviously presentation, which is vital in Pekins, and the reason for Angela DuPontand's many successes with her birds.

What are the most common faults you see when judging Pekins?

Split wings are rather common, as are wrong coloured eyes, and toe nails. You can normally find fault in the colouring of Pekins as well, with partridges, mottledand's and lavenders all having there own little faults in most birds, this meaning that whites and blacks are often on top, although they are far from perfect, with yellow whites, and white under colour in blacks being a common sight around the country. Type wise, it again depends where you're judging, in the North, there are masses of well rounded typy pekins, however they are, sadly, rather lacking in the south, however I know that I will be working hard to change this view, as will another Island resident, Fran Kenure.

Do you get more pleasure from judging the Blacks and Whites or the Any Other Colours and please explain why?

I cant really say I prefer judging one to the other, whites and blacks is normally where the quality is, however, it is only right to remember how much work has gone into the coloured varieties, and I always admire the breeder of a well marked Pekin.

Over your years as a judge, how have Pekins changed? For example has the size changed, are you finding different colours are now more popular?

In my very short time in judging, I have not really seen much of a change, the millefluers, etc which people tried to bring into the show circuit never really hit off, possibly because they are not good eough to reach the high status of the whites, blacks, mottleds and others. Buffs seem rather popular which is nice to see, and some more recent colours (Blue Mottled especially) have clearly come on, this shown by a little cockerel at Reading Bantam Show 2009, which exercised lovely type, and similarly good colour.

Can you recall the best Pekin you've ever judged and explain why you liked it so much?

When judging true bantams at Portsmouth in 2007, I came across a fantastic little white pekin hen, owned by Rodney Woods wife, which had fantastic skirt, and was superbly prepared, my only other requirement being tilt, this leading to it being beaten by a Dutch pullet, however, I felt it would have had a good chance in large pekin competition.