BB was born in Lamport,
Northamptonshire on the 25th July 1905, second son to the Revd. Walter
Watkins-Pitchford, the rector of All Hallows Church in Lamport. His
childhood home was Lamport Rectory, set in the Northamptonshire
countryside. He had a great love of the outdoors and enjoyed hunting,
fishing and drawing, all these things were to influence his writing
greatly. He was educated at home by his father until 1920 when he went to
Northampton School of Art; while there, he won a scholarship to study in
Paris. On returning to England he completed his studies at the Royal
College of Art. In 1930 he became an assistant art master at Rugby School
where he remained for seventeen years. While at Rugby School he was to
begin contributing regularly to the Shooting Times and start his career as
an author and illustrator. Deciding that the name Denys Watkins-Pitchford
was too long and unwieldy he wrote under the nom de plume of 'BB' (a large
size of shot used for shooting wild geese) which he felt was more easily
recognizable, but he maintained the use of his given name as that of the
artist in all his works. Watkins-Pitchford told his friend and fellow
countryman Jack Hargreaves (presenter of the 1970s British television
series "Out Of Town") that the name "BB" would also suggest "big shot" to
some readers (BB shot being a larger variety used by wild-fowlers like
Watkins-Pitchford). The joke was self-deprecatory, rather than egomanical,
chosen as it was years before the fame which he later enjoyed.
Inside all of his books appeared the
quotation
- The wonder of the world
- The beauty and the power,
- The shapes of things,
- Their colours, lights and shades,
- These I saw.
- Look ye also while life lasts.
This quote, so apt for his
works, has sometimes been thought to have been another one of 'BB'’s
creations but it was in fact copied from a tombstone in a north-country
churchyard by his father.
In 1989 he was appointed to the
Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE). He died a year later in
October 1990.
In January 2000 Tom O'Reilly founded the BB society, to act as a focal
point for BB collectors and enthusiasts, it now has a membership of about
400. To mark the centenary of his birth in 2005 an official archive of his
works was opened in Rugby School Library.
The BB Society have their own
Web page which can be found at
http://www.welford.org/bb.htm this is
just my little tribute to an author I love, hopefully one day the Society
will take up my offer and use this website to promote his works.
