A VISIT TO THE HOUSE OF AARDEN
by Gareth Watkins
Bob Bolitho, Anthony Southwood, Tony Southwood, Arthur Luscombe and Steve Wright at the House of Aarden Stud
On a beautiful sunny winter's day I travelled down to God's County in the company of father and son clubmates of mine, Tony and Anthony Southwood, to make a long awaited visit to the new home of one of Britain's top pigeon studs - The House of Aarden at Temple near Bodmin in Cornwall.
Shortly after our arrival we were joined by my two long time Cornish friends, Bob Bolitho and Arthur Luscombe, who had made the relatively short journey from Helston and Redruth. It was good to hear that both Bob and Arthur are considering joining the BICC and are hoping that a number of other Cornish fanciers will join them in pursuit of "fame and fortune" on the International stage. I feel sure that Steve and Lesley Wright will give generous support to the Cornish members should they take up the challenge.
As most will know, the stud is the pride and joy of Steve and Lesley Wright, formerly of Dawlish, Exeter and now, since September 2013, Bodmin. I was amazed at the amount of work that Steve, Lesley and their family have completed in the four months since their move and the stud is already up and running with young birds in the nest and weaned!!
The photos that accompany this brief report will demonstrate the extent of the stud and although there is still a fair bit of work yet to be done, I think it’s fair to say that the Wrights have "broken the back" of the work involved in the redevelopment. All that needs to be done now is a certain amount of landscaping to the surroundings and the addition of large aviaries to the holding pens. Then Steve and the family can start on the renovation of the farm house!!
During our visit we had the pleasure of handling some truly outstanding long distance stock, all of which had a strong Jan Aarden base and all of which are saturated in generations of winners at the extreme distance. The bloodlines of Hagens Brothers, Jan Polder, Batenberg Van de Merwe, Van de Velden, Van Dommelen, Van Geel along with the champion long distance racing cocks "Invincible Spirit" and "De Barcelona" are all represented at the stud.
Holding pens
First to hand was an old "Welsh Warrior" - none other than "Padfield's Invincible" winner of a cupboard full of prizes in long distance Nationals, including 2nd Open BICC Barcelona, for Vince and Dai Padfield of Cwmtillery. He handled like a two year old and I know he has become one of Steve's favourites in the time that he has been at the stud. We handled three of his sons during the visit and they were superb specimens like their sire.
In the adjacent breeding pen to the old warrior was yet another long distance winner into Wales - "Padfield's St Vincent" which won in 2013 1st Open BICC St Vincent International. He is a relatively recent acquisition and was yet to be mated in 2014.
Next up was the champion Barcelona cock "De Cas" - one of the best Barcelona pigeons in Europe with 17th & 45th Open International against as many as 27,000 pigeons, prior to his move to the UK.
One of the breeding sections
Another recently acquired addition to the stud is the great breeder of long distance racers, a blue cock named "Young Boris" bred by Martha Van Geel and purchased by Joe Raeburn before being sold to Crowley & Green. Young Boris is responsible for breeding pigeons to win 1st, 3rd & 5th Open Barcelona, 6th Open Marseille and 9th & 12th Open Perpignan amongst others. Now 13 years old he still handled well and had already filled his first pair of eggs since his November purchase at the Crowley & Green clearance sale.
Young Boris
One of my favourites was a dark chequer w/f cock named Barcelona Bill. He is the full brother of 1st National 2nd Open International Barcelona and was mated with his own daughter at the time of our visit.
We also had the opportunity to handle a son and a daughter of Wim Van Houten's great Barcelona International winner Champion Nellie. Nellie beat more than 25,000 pigeons when winning the 2009 Barcelona International race.
All the principal stud cocks are housed in individual breeding pens to ensure parentage. Their children are housed in a number of 10ft x 10ft sections, each of which can accommodate 20 pairs of breeders and each family is kept separately. All birds, without exception, were in excellent condition in readiness for the main breeding season which was about to begin.
One of the individual breeding pens
If Steve and Lesley were to take up showing these pigeons they would "run amok" in handling, T/W or eyesign classes, such was their quality. Add to this their long distance pedigree and ability to pass on these winning genes to successive generations and you literally have the fancier's dream pigeons.
The set up here is truly professional with the birds' every needs catered for in idyllic surroundings. Set on a hillside, you have panoramic views over the beautiful Cornish countryside for miles around. The Wrights' nearest neighbour is at least a mile distant on the opposite hillside and yet the stud is located no more than 100 yards from the A30 the main arterial road into Cornwall. It took us just 3 hours to make the return journey home to Wales such is the ease of access.
1st open BICC St Vincent for the Padfield Family. Now at House of Aarden Stud.
A long awaited and thoroughly enjoyable away day handling top class pigeons in top class condition managed by a top class fancier at a top class location. What more could anyone want - I for one was well satisfied. Many thanks Steve and Lesley for a lovely day out in one of my favourite places - Cornwall, and for your continued generous sponsorship of the BICC.
The view from House of Aarden Stud looking out over Bodmin Moor
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Elimar - January 2014
