Bob Woodhead talking to Mick Haywood:

During the early 1930’s, my father Herbert Woodhead was a member of the Leeds and District Skylark Club.

The Secretary was Blind Job Bennett of York Road,Leeds, and the Batley Branch Secretary was Jack Landers of Bright Street.

Besides my father other members from Batley were John Lumb, Ralph and Jim Senior, George Fleming, John Carney, Pat Killgallon,Tommy Craton, Jim ‘Lark’ Cafferty, Quick’ Holdsworth, , John, Tom and Joe Gavaghan.

Many hours were spent observing a skylark to try and find its nesting place, usually a shallow nest lined with hair in a hollow on the ground. It was watched in its slow climb and rapid fall many times to try and discover the area in which it had built its nest. The area was then thoroughly searched until its nest had been found. Once the nest had been found the distance to some nearby tree or wall was paced out and the direction noted so it could be found again at a later date.

After the eggs had hatched and when the down was on the bird one of the young larks was taken from the nest. The young bird was taken home and kept in an old hat with some felt inside. The hat was kept covered with a thin black cloth which was only removed to feed the bird.

Lark cakes were made to feed to the young bird. Bird seed was ground in a coffee grinder until it was a very fine powder. This job my father gave to me. The powder was collected in a small drawer, emptied into a basin, two eggs added and it was beaten into a cake mixture stiffness. The mixture was placed in small grease tins 3” diameter by 2” deep, put in the oven and baked rock hard after my mother had made her bread.

At feeding time a grated tablespoonful of the cake was mixed with water in a cup into a paste. A smooth stick about 1/8" diameter was used to feed the young bird, the paste being picked up on the end of the stick and dropped into the bird's mouth. When the lark grew bigger a cage was made about 15”x12”x12”. The cage had a wooden base about 3” deep into which a grass sod was placed. The grass sod was changed every week and many patches of turf could seen missing from Ben Brown’s field.

The frame of the cage was covered in a thin black canvas to stop the bird from injuring itself whilst flying about. The frame slotted into the base so it could be removed to change the sod.

The cage was either hung on a nail at the back of the door fan light window, or it stood on two wooden beams screwed onto the cross beam of a sash window. Older birds were fed on bird seed and meal worms. These maggots were kept in a tin box with air hole in the top. Inside the tin was kept either a dead sparrow or mouse on some sawdust and torn rag, so the meal worms could feed and thrive. The worms were broken in two and dropped into the bottom of the cage for the bird to eat.

Bath day was once a week. This was done by means of a special bird shower which was always kept in the knife drawer. The shower was made out of two pieces of tin tubing each a 1/4" diameter and 3” long. The two tubes were fastened together at right angles and some small holes made on the outside of the bend. The downward tube was held in the hand and a mouthful of water blown along the upper tube. The water spurted down the tube and out of the holes in the corner showering the bird.