TW Gaze Christmas Poultry auction to feature at least 250 local birds

It has been known for people to travel from as far as Brighton to experience the local tradition of the Christmas poultry auction at TW Gaze in Diss.

Its popularity may in part be because some lucky bidders will be able to boast placing a champion bird on their Christmas table.

All of the 250-270 turkeys, geese, chickens and ducks will not only go under the hammer at the Roydon Road sale rooms, but also be judged beforehand.

Honorary judge this year is Mark Gorton, who, along with David Garner, owns and runs the local business Traditional Norfolk Poultry Ltd, based near Attleborough.

TW Gaze’s Jenna Goodall Browne, organising the sale, said: “It is quite a thing to have a champion turkey on your Christmas table.

“The birds are very fresh...and are supplied from within a 20 mile radius.”

The sale this year is on Tuesday, December 23.

There are usually about 250-300 members of the public who come to view the poultry beforehand and pick out their chosen Christmas bird ready to bid on later.

The consignors bring the birds, which have been killed within the past 24 hours, in the morning and judging is set to begin from 2pm in the afternoon with public viewing opening at 4pm and the sale starting at 5pm until about 8pm.

The sale has been going since the firm was established in 1857. Right up until the late 1980s some birds were sold live in the pens. During the war years of 1939-1945, when there was meat rationing, the sales were particularly significant.