The Monty Python ‘dead parrot’ sketch

• I LOOKED up on the internet recently to see if there was any information on my parents’ pet shop in Caledonian Road Islington.

I see the only shop mentioned in your November 2016 article (Calls for Cally pet shop to get plaque after claims famous ‘dead parrot’ sketch was made there), is Cally Pets.

It said that the Monty Python “dead parrot” sketch was filmed there…

But the sketch was filmed in my parents’ pet shop PE Child at 294 Caledonian Road, which had been there since the 1940s.

The shop was sold to an insurance broker next door, and he later sold it to the Istanbul Social Club.

I have photos of the shop and my father with a python and a black bear which got too large and was given to the London Zoo.

I also have a photo of me as a child holding a small crocodile. There is also a photo of my mother in the Daily Mirror with some fish and a model in 1946.

The shop was first established in 1853 on the site of the Old Street police station. There was suggestion of a plaque being put up. It would be nice if my father’s name was on it.

DAVID CHILD
Aylesbury