“ON THE ROAD” WITH KEITH MOTT.
Two great fanciers have left the sport in recent months because they can’t manage their pigeons any more. Both are great friends of ours and both are now over ninety years old! Bob Reeves recently had fall and damaged his back quite badly, and can’t walk properly or bend over, so has had to pack up his beloved pigeons. The sport of pigeon racing is going to miss our Bob, as he was a great worker for the sport and did a lot of outstanding charity work. Fred Dickson turned 93 years old last May and can’t ride his bike the two miles to his pigeon loft on the allotment any more. His pigeon helper, John, had to stop coming to the loft, because he contracted ‘Pigeon Fancier’s Lung’. Fred isn’t a driver and his local pigeon club packed up, and the nearest club now is 20 miles away. Let’s have a look at what these two great pigeon fancier have achieve after a life time in the sport!
Bob Reeves of Exeter.
Our first look back features a very dear friend of mine, who won the Nantes National in 1996, Bob Reeves of Exeter, He is one of the pigeon sport's gentlemen and is not only a great pigeon racer, but is also a pigeon lover, representing everything that is good about pigeon racing. On my visits to Bob's little loft, the birds are always bursting with contentment, with his small team of natural old birds popping in and out, feeding their young and generally enjoying life. On one of my many visits to Bob's bungalow, he had the young birds out for a fly and when he called them down they alighted all over him, not from hunger, but from love. Bob won the Nantes National with his two year old Warrington-Savage Barker blue chequer hen, 'Reevo's My Peggy', named after Bob's late wife. This game hen won the National while feeding a youngster, but was locked out of the loft when she arrived home from Nantes, as Bob didn't expect her home so fast and was cleaning the old bird section out. The clock and thimbles were in the bungalow and he lost a lot of time, clocking his National winner in his kitchen. 'Reevo's My Peggy' was medium-sized and apple-bodied in the hand, with silky feathering and a nice tic behind her orange eyes, which really set her off. She had been a truly class act, as prior to winning the Nantes National she won many top positions including 1st Club, 4th Section, 8th Open WECA Littlehampton, in spite of being a really bad trapper. On her build up to her National win, she had four races, including Rennes, and her last training toss was a single up from Torquay, 20 miles from the Exeter loft.
Bob was born in Exeter and although his father wasn't a pigeon I fancier, he owned some good greyhounds in the late 1920s and early 1930s. Bob first became involved with pigeons at the age of six, when he used to watch a school friend's father's birds train and race. The young Bob kept his first birds in a fish box, with chicken wire over the front. One particular fancier who gave him some special help in getting started in pigeons was Tom Wilson, who lived just down the street from the Reeves family. Tom's loft was situated on the old city wall, looking out over the River Exe and beyond to the Haldon Hills, the present day Exeter liberation site. Bob said that Tom was a grand old fancier who taught him a lot of the basics of racing pigeons, which he has never forgotten. Bob has been a fancier for over 80 years, a part from the war years, and the first club in which he raced was the Western Counties RPC, which is still racing on the north road today. He likes all sport, but his other love is boxing, which he did competitively from the age of nine, boxing for the Exeter Boxing Club and the Royal Navy. Bob had 421 amateur bouts and lost only 11 of them. His first loft was 3ft square and 18 inches deep, made from Tate & Lyle sugar boxes and nailed to the bathroom wall. He had to get up a ladder to clean and feed the birds and once he got splinters in his bottom when he slid down the ladder with some race rubbers, to run to another fancier's loft to clock in!
Bob's present loft was 12ft x 6ft, with two sections, one with 12 nest boxes for natural racers and one with 28 box perches for the young birds. His self-built loft has open door trapping and he maintains that good ventilation, and plenty of it, is a must for good loft design. He paired up all his old birds on the full moon in March, when the wild birds mate up. He says he raced the natural system because he is an old fancier and it suited him. His birds had lots of clean water, good com, a clean loft, and most of all, a lot of love. During the racing season he liked to give his birds three training tosses in the week, Tuesday 20 miles, Wednesday 40 miles and Thursday 20 miles, as this kept them on their toes and muscled up. His family of pigeons were made up of the old English strains of Warrington-Savage Barker, Kirkpatrick-Savage Barker and a few Busschaerts, and they did him proud. The Warrington-Savage Barkers were bred down from Menzie's Lerwick hen, only bird on the day and in race time from 671 miles. The Kirkpatrick-Savage Barkers were obtained from his son, Allan, who raced them with outstanding success to Thurso. Bob's best performance to date was winning the Nantes National in 1996. He says it's a race he will never forget and only fanciers who have won the National know the fantastic feeling you have when you are told that you have won.
His family is very interested in the pigeons. Indeed, they are a smashing family and he had two sons who were both fanciers. Sadly Bob Junior pass away several years ago and he lived and raced pigeons with great success in Malta for a number of years. Allan had to give up his successful team of pigeons because of the dreaded ‘Pigeon Fancier's Lung’, but still liked to go to see his dad's birds on race days. Bob raced in the Exeter Invitation RPC, of which he was a life vice president, and races both north and south routes. When racing, Bob fed his old birds with a good mixture, as this seems to keep them in condition longer. He gave them a trapping mixture and a lettuce twice a week and maintains that there is plenty of iron in green food. He also boiled stinging nettles and, after straining them, put the liquid in the drinking water. Bob had tried a deep litter of wood shavings on the floor of the loft, but didn't like it. He preferred to get on his hands and knees for a daily scrape out. When breeding, he put the best to the best to keep the line going until he needed a bit of new blood, hopefully from the same strain. When selecting breeders, he went for good type, balance in the hand and good winning bloodlines. When, you have had pigeons for over 80 years, he thinks you have a feeling that you've put the right two birds together. There you have it, Bob Reeves, the NFC Nantes National winner of 1996.
Fred Dickson of Cramlington.
Fred Dickson has celebrated his 93rd birthday this year and has had to pack up his beloved pigeons recently, but was still winning at the highest level up too his last racing seasons! He used to ride his bike to his loft on the allotments over two miles away from where he lives and says he can’t ride up the hills any more. The local club he raced in packed up and not being a driver, and the nearest club being many miles away, he had to pack up his birds. Fred loves long distance pigeon racing and over the years has been outstanding racing at all distances, but very special at 581 miles from Bourges to his loft in Cramlington, Northumberland. He sent four birds to the Bourges race in 2013, with four Combines competing and with the race turning out to be a very hard push home, the birds clocked in the Combines on the day of liberation could be counted on the fingers of one hand. Fred lives at the top end of the North of England Homing Union area and clocked his good Eric Cannon blue chequer cock, ‘Northern Expected’, at 06.03hrs next morning to record 1st club, 1st Federation, 1st New North Amalgamation and 8th North of England Homing Union open result (2,355 birds). This wonderful round about cock has now flown Bourges (581 miles) three times and won 1st, 3rd and 4th Federation. A fantastic achievement! The Bourges Amalgamation winner, ‘Northern Expected’, is a son of Fred’s champion ‘Five Times Bourges Cock’ which was killed by a Sparrowhawk and a stock hen of Eric Cannon bloodlines obtained from Ced and Clive Allwright of Ashford in Kent. ‘The Five Times Bourges Cock’ was bred from ‘Foxwarren Fred’, a red chequer cock bred by us at Claygate and he has proved to be one of the best 550 mile stock cocks we have ever owned and was bred from the very best of Eric Cannon’s wonderful long distance family. ‘Foxwarren Fred’ was the sire of many premier long distance champions including: 1st Federation Bourges (581 miles), 2nd Federation Bourges, 2nd Federation Bourges, 2nd Federation Bourges, 3rd Federation Bourges, 5th Federation Bourges, 8th Federation Bourges and was grand sire of 1st, 1st, 3rd, 4th, 4th Federation, 1st, 1st Amalgamation Bourges (581 miles) in the 2012 and 2013 seasons.
Later in the 2013 season Fred won with a yearling blue chequer cock bred by us in Claygate and he recorded 1st club, 2nd Federation, 12th New North Amalgamation Arras (377 miles) in a strong north east wind. This game cock was a son of our good Eric Cannon stock hen, ‘Foxwarren Katie’ when mated to a son of our ‘Number 1’ Brian Denney stock pair, ‘Sasha’s Boy’ and ‘Lady Tuff Nut’. ‘Foxwarren Katie’ is a granddaughter of the Eric Cannon champions: ‘Culmer Marion’ winner of 1st open NFC Sartilly and ‘Culmer Channel Queen’ the NFC Pau Merit Award winner. ‘Sasha’s Boy’ is a full brother to ‘Dark Charm’ and ‘Dark Dancer’, with ‘Lady Tuff Nut’ being a daughter of the champion of all champions, ‘Tuff Nut’. Another premier racer, ‘Northern Star’, flew Bourges (581 miles) once and won 1st club, 2nd Federation in the 2012 season, being clocked on the day of liberation and is a daughter of the champion Eric Cannon stock pair, ‘Foxwarren Fred’ and ‘Northern Producer’. This wonderful hen is the sister to several premier 580 mile racers, including 1st Federation Bourges (581 miles) and is half-sister to the ‘Five Times Bourges Cock’, winner of 3rd, 5th, 8th Federation Bourges. ‘Foxwarren Fred’, ‘Lady Tuff Nut’, ‘Northern Expected’ and ‘Norther Star’ are the four grandparents of David Coulter’s wonderful hen, ‘Charlotte’ winner of 2nd open NIPA St. Malo National (450 miles) in the 2018 racing season. These seasons were the tip of the ice burg, as Fred had brilliant success over a life time in pigeon racing!
I have known Fred Dickson since the early 2000s and following his great success racing in the ‘hotbed’ of the north east of England over that time and I asked him for article many times. Fred being one of the true gentlemen of the sport and a very modest man always declined the offer. His racing record in a life time in the sport is second to none and as far as I know had never been record in the fancy press. In recent times I had written dribs and drabs about Fred and his brilliant performances, but he finally gave me some matter verbally and we can now give him a proper article. Fred Dickson lived several miles away from the pigeons and had to travel to tend the birds every day, whatever the weather conditions might throw at him. I remember one day he rang me up and there was two foot of snow on the ground and he was off to feed and water the birds. This great fancier had to hire a taxi cab on race days to take him to the pigeon club to get his clock read! Fred’s cousin, John Dickson, was very keen on the pigeons and helped out with the transport, and around the loft. I have known and spoken to Fred on the telephone many times over the years, but never met him, until in November 2011, when I was invited to judge at the NEHU Show in South Shields and we met in person for the first time. I really enjoyed our pigeon chat and I must say he looked much younger than his then 85 years!
Fred raced his small team of old birds on the natural and roundabout systems to his allotment ‘L’ shaped loft, which was 28ft long. Fred built the loft himself in 1989, with open door trapping and used sand litter on the floors. His real interest was in long distance pigeon racing, but told me, he only used the shorter Federation races for training, but he did enjoy these events and won a lot of premier prizes in them. Fred had no stock birds in the later years and told me the main families kept were Eric Cannon and Brian Denney, with 600 mile racing in mind. He had a great admiration for the late, great Eric Cannon and had followed his wonderful performances in the long distance Nationals over many years. He had also obtained a couple of outstanding Eric Cannon based breeders from the Kent loft of Ced & Clive Allwright, who have won the NFC three times in recent seasons. Fred sent his yearlings through to 431 miles and his old birds had to fly Bourges (581 miles), with the yearling being paired up in February and the channel birds in March. The birds were fed on ‘Gerry Plus’ and a quality ‘widowhood’ mixture, and were never broken down during the racing season, even on the shorter training races. The birds were normally trained prior to the first Federation race, then after were exercised around the loft for any hour twice a day. Fred told me his old birds had no training in the 2012 season, but still won the Federation! Fred had a few short distance pigeons from his good friend, Tommy Laskey of Gateshead, who had won 1st Up North Combine and Fred told me, ‘Tommy was a great sprint racer’. Fred had a yearling Laskey blue hen that had three races up to 290 miles on the roundabout in 2012 and won 1st Federation (twice) and 3rd Federation. A brilliant hen! The Dickson loft won 2nd, 3rd, 4th Federation Bourges (581 miles) in 2012, with his champion stock, ‘Foxwarren Fred’ being responsible for the pigeons taking the first four positions in the Federation result in that race. Fred’s good two year old blue chequer hen, ‘Northern Star’ won 2nd Federation Bourges in 2012 and she is a daughter of the champion stock pair, ‘Foxwarren Fred’ and ‘Northern Producer’.
Fred had had pigeons all his life and both his great grandfathers were outstanding pigeon racers in the North East of England. He owns a pigeon wall plate dating back to 1910, which belonged to his great grandfather and this has all the Cramlington HS winners painted on it for that season. Fred’s trade was an electrician working in the coal mines of the north east for most of his working life, but when the coal industry went in to decline, he became a factory worker and found it hard to race his birds, having to work 12 hour shifts. In the year between 1950 and 1960, Fred tells me he had the best pigeons in the local area and won many races from 50 miles through to 600 miles out of turn. The family of pigeons raced at that time was the Stassarts and had a red cock that won eleven firsts and twice 1st Federation. A sister to the red cock won five firsts, including 1st club Bourges (581 miles). In the 1957 season the club had 17 races with the Federation and the Dickson loft won twelve firsts.
Well, there you have it for this week! I hope my readers have enjoyed our article on two of our retiring greats of the sport, Bob Reeves and Fred Dickson. Two gentlemen of our sport and wonderful pigeon racers! Well to be honest, I didn’t enjoy it, I’m sad to see them both leave the sport.
TEXT & PHOTOS BY KEITH MOTT (www.keithmott.com)
