“ON THE ROAD” WITH KEITH MOTT
UBI Combine (Poitiers Race)
The UBI Combine sent 767 birds to Poitiers (380 miles) in France for its big event in late June and the members enjoyed a good steady fly, with the convoy being liberated at 06.00hrs in a west wind. The successful small team racing msn, Bob Alty of Stevenage, won the Combine on a good steady velocity of 1201 ypm. I have known Bob Alty for many years and he one of the great workers in pigeon racing and one the sport’s un-sung heroes! For many years he was one of the main people running the busy London & South East Classic Club Stevenage marking station and now helps to runs the British Barcelona Club station at Walkern. Bob put so much time into working for the sport that he finds it hard to find time for his own birds, but still manages to produce some premier performances in his beloved long distance races each year.
The first ten in the Poitiers Combine result were: 1) Bob Alty 1201.8: 2) P. Latchford 2101.6: 3) M. Turner 1200: 4) Terry Haley 1199: 5) Gary Inkley 1198: 6) Gary Inkley 1196: 7) J. Adams 1194: 8) M. Bish 1195: 9) J. Adams 1194: 10) Burgin & Marshall 1193.
The pigeon that everyone is talking about is Bob Alty’s fantastic champion ‘Barcelona Bob B’ and he has a long list of top prizes won in National and Classic races, including flying Barcelona (732 miles) three times. This wonderful four year old blue chequer cock is a Jan Aarden and both his parents were obtained from Bob Beetham of North End, near Stevenage, hence the ‘Bob B’ in the champ’s name. He was lost off the top of the loft as a young bird and returned two weeks before the first race, to be trained up and race the full young bird Federation programme. Bob tells me the chequer cock has never slipped up or looked back since his time out of the loft as a youngster and races best when feeding two big youngsters and sitting eggs. Racing on the natural system, ‘Barcelona Bob B’ has won: 2013: 4th open BBC Niort (384 miles), 2012: 6th open BBC Barcelona (732 miles), 2011: 26th open BBC Palamos (708 miles), 2011: 65th open BBC Poitiers (367 miles), 2011: 79th open BBC Messac (289 miles), 2010: 164th open BBC Poitiers (367 miles): 2011: 244th open BBC Messac (289 miles), 2012: 307th open BBC Carentan (183 miles), 2013: flew BBC Barcelona (732 miles). A fantastic long distance racer!
Bob races his birds on the natural system and pairs up in mid-March, with long distance racing in mind. The 14 pairs of racers rear a pair of youngsters and start training to Boreham Wood on their second round of eggs, and then get one Federation inland race before going over the Channel to France. Bob has two 12ft self-built lofts with stall traps and he uses a sharp sand litter on the floors, which raked off every day. The feeding of the pigeons is pretty straight forward with ‘winter’ mixture being fed in the resting months, ‘Gerry Plus’ in the early part of the racing season and a good quality ‘widowhood’ mixture when the birds get to the main long distance events. Bob is a great fan and user of ‘Hormoform’, and maintains is brilliant for rearing youngsters, and creates good feather. He mixes this great product with his corn. The Alty loft houses only one pair of stock birds and Bob breeds about 30 young birds each season to race. There is no ‘darkness’ system at the loft, with the youngsters raced natural to the perch, but if they pair up they are allowed to sit pot eggs for an incentive for their racing. Bob gives the youngsters two tosses a day, starting two weeks before the first Federation race and then they race the programme through to Honiton (146 miles). Most of Bob’s pigeons are Jan Aarden through Bob Beetham’s loft and one stock bird from the Ponderosa Stud in Weymouth, and when he brings in a new stock bird, he tells me if it is the right bloodline his hand tell him if he like it or not. He likes long cast and silky feathering.
The pigeon bug gripped Bob when he was a seven year old lad living in his birth place, Liverpool, and has now been in pigeon racing nearly 68 years. He told me he was walking along the sea side beach one day in the North of England and a lump of oil on the sand moved, and it was a racing pigeon. He picked it up and took it home to revive it, and from that moment was hooked on pigeons! Bob joined his first club in Liverpool and his first winner was a Kirkpatrick red pied hen and she won from Whitchurch. Bob’s job was a fire man stoker on the old steam trains and after racing his pigeons for 12 years in Liverpool he moved south with his job, but tell me he was bored when the electric train came in so came out of the railways. He says in the old days pigeon racing was friendlier, but maintains the ETS is a good step forward, although he still enjoys recording his long distance birds on clock and rubbers. Bob is a member of his local Walkern club and the 2013 season saw him win the Falaise race with a sister to ‘Barcelona Bob B’, and he is a keen member of the British Barcelona Club. He tells me, a few years ago, when he was 100% in to the racing side of the sport he owned a good Busschaert chequer hen that was home to win nine inland races, but her trapping wasn’t too hot and finished up recorded three times 1st club, three times 2nd club and three times 3rd club. Needless to say Bob has a long list of jobs in the sport including: President, Chairman and chief clock setter at the local Walkern club and is one of the main workers for the BBC marking station, as he was for the L&SECC for many years.
I used to visit the Walkern marking station at the sports ground regularly when convoying for the L&SECC and returned with Peter Taylor in September for the British Barcelona Club Tours young bird race marking. Bob was there working away, as was my dear friends, Mike and Edna Shepherd, who have also had a life time working for pigeon racing. It was nice to see them both in good form and Edna tells me she has been a pigeon club secretary for 50 years and of course, Mike and Edna were secretaries of the National Flying Club for a number of years. I really enjoyed my day out at Walkern! I must say I’ve enjoyed penning this week’s column as Bob Alty has got his name in print and no one deserves it more than him. He is a great bloke and has been a tireless worker for our sport for many years.
Three Borders Federation (Blandford / Yeovil Races)
The Three Borders Federation sent 1,046 birds to the fifth young race, flown from Blandford in late August and the result was dominated by the Esher & District RPC partnership of Malik & Khan, who took 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 16th positions on the Federation result from Blandford, flying 86 miles to their loft in Tolworth. The partners have enjoyed a brilliant 2016 season racing in the Three Borders Federation winning: (Old Birds) 20th, 21st, 25th Federation Blandford (1,441 birds), 9th, 10th, 13th Federation Honiton (1,405 birds), 25th Federation, 31st, 32nd SMT Combine Falaise (1,591 birds), (Young Birds) 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th Federation Blandford (1.097 birds), 3rd, 11th, 12th, 20th Federation Yeovil (769 birds), 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 16th Federation Blandford (1,046 birds). The Malik & Khan partnerships won the Federation ‘Individual Points Trophy’ in 2015 and have had another brilliant season in 2016, with the highlight being 1st open BICC, plus other top positions in the National Flying Club and British International Championship Club. Well done to the lads, that is fantastic pigeon racing by any ones standards!
The first ten in the Blandford 3 Federation result were: 1) Malik & Khan 1279: 2) Malik & Khan 1278: 3) Malik & Khan 1278: 4) Malik & Khan 1277: 5) John & Alan Stoner 1273: 6) M. Gumble & son 1265: 7) Frank & Sue Carson 1265: 8) M. Gumble & son 1264: 9) Terry Goodsell 1262: 10) Richard Kent 1261.
The following weekend the Federation sent 878 young birds to Yeovil for the third time this season and the convoyer, Dom McCoy, produced yet another great race, liberating at 07.30hrs in a no wind situation. The Federation secretary, Bryan Poulton, wrote in his race report, ‘for the third week running the weather forecast for Saturday was poor. Yet again we managed to get a good liberation and race returns, as the forecast did not materialize as expected, with many Federation going for Sunday liberation’. Well done to Dom and well done to Ken Wise who won the race and recorded his third Federation winner of the 2016 racing season.
The first ten in the Yeovil 3 Federation result were: 1) Ken Wise 1688: 2) Ken Wise 1677: 3) M/M T. Leonard 1629: 4) Paul Arnold 1629: 5) Ken Wise 1629: 6) Tidbury & Garrett 1627: 7) Ken Wise 1627: 8) Tidbury & Garrett 1627: 9) Tidbury & Garrett 1626: 10 Tidbury & Garrett 1626.
Well, that’s our article for this week!
I can be contacted with any pigeon ‘banter’ on telephone number: 01372 463480
or email:
TEXT & PHOTOS BY KEITH MOTT
(www.keithmott.com)
