Plaque to commemorate bird man is reestablished at the Spa

Did you know a Plaque in memory of local animal impersonator, ornithologist, and entertainer Percy Edwards was reestablished at the Spa this month thanks to the Felixstowe Society?

Percy was born in Ipswich and lived in Trimley St Martin and sadly died in 1996. However he was well known across the land for his bird and animal impersonations and would regularly appear on our screens on programmes including the Morecambe and Wise show - see clip here from YouTube. 

At the height of his career he could accurately imitate over 600 birds, as well as many other animals. Among other things, he provided the voices for the killer whales in Orca (1977), the Reindeer in Santa Claus: The Movie (1985), sheep and bird sounds on Kate Bush's song The Dreaming, and the alien in the film of the same name. He appeared occasionally on BBC TV's pre-school series Play School as a storyteller, in 1967 and from 1973 through 1980. One of his last stage appearances was in the Grand Order of Water Rats centenary show at the London Palladium in 1989.

Percy was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in 1993 for services to ornithology and entertainment and he appeared regularly at the Spa Pavilion too, never forgetting his Suffolk roots. It was thanks to these performances that a plaque was unveiled to commemorate his many appearances at the Spa but the plaque was sadly broken during the Spa's refurbishment. 

Thanks to the Felixstowe Society, we now have another new one, once again taking pride of place in our Foyer in fond memory of the Bird Whistler.  Our grateful thanks to Jan Garfield, Chair of Felixstowe Society and of course its members too for kindly arranging this. 

Director of the Spa Pavilion, Ray Anderson, with members of the Felixstowe Society