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Aylesbury
(Utility)
According to Lewis Wright in the 1880's the
AYLESBURY
ducks should be of the purest white with a bill set well up on
the skull and the beak almost in a line from the top of the
head to the tip (similar to the Runner) and of a delicate
flesh colour . Although pure ducks exist and are thriving as
a breed most of those that the general public perceives as
an
Aylesbury are commercial meat crosses which are frequently
pictured in children's story books.
Historically they were walked from the Vale of
Aylesbury to London (40 miles max). Each of the inns they
stopped the night at allowed the birds to be kept in large
enclosed yards and in the morning the birds were driven
through a cold sticky tarry solution in a shallow ditch and
then through a layer of sawdust. This made somewhat crude
shoes to protect their feet for the day and the next night
this was repeated with a charge of a few birds at each stop.
The alternative was to try to camp on the common or 'waste'
and stop the local poachers from removing a few for the pot.
The breed is thought to have evolved during the
early years of the eighteenth century by selective breeding
of the common duck, usually brown or grey in colour but
occasionally white. Breeders were aware that the London
dealers had a preference for white plumage, the feathers
being popular on the continent as quilt-filling and the pale
pink skin of a plucked white bird is somewhat more
attractive than the yellow of coloured ducks.
Prior to 1839, the ducklings if not "walked"
were transported to London by packhorse or carrier's wagon,
the opening of the branch railway line from Cheddington to
Aylesbury in that year providing a boost to the industry. J.
K. Fowler, writing in 1850, tells us 'oftentimes in the
spring, in one night, a ton weight of ducklings from six to
eight weeks old are taken by rail from Aylesbury and the
villages round to the metropolis'. Throughout the nineteenth
century the main market for duck meat was provided by the
wealthy people of London, very little of it being sold
locally. Aylesbury ducks start laying eggs in early
November, the two month old ducklings coming to market from
February whereas the Rouen, its main competitor, began
laying in February, coming to market as a six-month old bird
in the last three months of the year. Peak season for
Aylesburys was therefore late March and early April, the
Rouen being geared for autumn and Christmas.
The number of establishments in Aylesbury began
to decline after 1850 due to a number of factors, including
the introduction of sanitary regulations which made duck
rearing in cottages difficult. The deterioration in the
quality of soil in Aylesbury following many years of duck
raising has also been given as a contributory factor. |
