RPRA SOUTHERN REGION SHOW
2014
by Keith Mott
The month of November saw fanciers make their annual drive up the M40 to High Wycombe for the RPRA Southern Region Show, which is one of the high lights of the show calendar in the South of England every winter. I was invited to judge again this year, but because of my now famous ‘dodgy knee’ I had to decline, but I will be back next year. This year’s show held at the Hazlemere Community Centre turned out to be one of the best ever, with 729 birds entered. Ron Lacey tells me he had to turn down all the late entries, because the show was full up, but he could have accepted them all the entry would have been around 800 birds. The entry for this wonderful event was from all over the UK, including Scotland, Wales and the Channel Islands, and several of the judges commented on high the standard of the birds entered was. There was the usual auction of gift birds and the funds raised by the show and sale was donated to the RNLI and The Douglas and Helen House Hospice. Stuart Sheffield came along and did an excellent job of judging the specials.
Show secretary, Ron Lacey and his band of helper work hard every winter and put on one of the best shows I visit! We don’t seem to mention Ron Lacey’s band of stewards and workers in the annual write up, whom year in and year out work tirelessly to put this great show on. I don’t know their names, but we always ‘tip our hats’ when we meet up each November and it’s them same ol’ faces every year working so hard on this great event. Well done to you all! The 2013 Southern Region Show saw my good friend of 35 years standing, Ron Lacey, return as one of the event organizers after packing up as show secretary in 2010. He told me at that time, he was approaching 80 years of age and was having trouble coping with the vast amount of work involved in organizing this wonderful annual show, which I could well appreciate. But Ron being Ron and one of the workers, he could not stay away and is back at the helm. When I say that Ron is one of the sport’s great workers, it is an under statement, he has spent a life time working for the RPRA and the sport of pigeon racing in general.
Best in Show was won by a beautiful two year old Mosaic hen owned by Colin and Jean Carter of Churchdown. Colin and I regularly exchange emails and he writes, ‘ the BIS hen is from my Mosaic family which I have developing over the last seven years and she had very little showing as a young bird and yearling, but won several minor cards. She has had only three shows this season, winning BOS Stithians Summer Show, 2nd at the ‘Duchy’ Show and now BIS RPRA Southern Region Show. When she was 2nd at the ‘Duchy’, she was beaten by her nest mate, which won BOS (over 500 birds). This is the third time we have won BIS at the RPRA Southern Region Show’.
When walking around the National shows in the winter months, we quite often bump into Colin Carter and win or lose, he always seems cheerful. Colin and his wife, Jean, are fanciers who enjoy their pigeons, top or bottom of the result sheet, they always enjoy themselves! Being one of the premier Show Racer partnerships in the U.K., more often than not they have pigeons on the winners table, which is great achievement as theirs is a small team loft, with quality and not quantity being the criteria for their pigeon regime. Colin’s wife, Jean, is his pigeon partner and is very active in the sport, playing a big part in the management of the birds and attends all the big shows with him.
Colin Carter was born in Portchester, Hampshire in 1938 and no member of his family kept pigeons only shot them for food, along with wild rabbits, and chickens for their eggs. He became a pigeon fancier at the age of 15, when he caught a couple of strays at the local abattoir, where he worked as a slaughter man. In a short time he met up with two local fanciers, George Brister and Bill Harris senior, who set him up and got him going in the sport. His first club was the Fareham & Dist. F.C., flying both south and north road and he won his first race on the north road. At the age of 18, the young Colin had to go off and do his National Service and formed the H.T. Carter pigeon partnership with his father, Harold. The Carters were founder members of the Portchester Flying Club. Colin is a very keen fisherman and spent a lot of time out on his cousin’s boat in Portsmouth harbour. Fanciers he admired and gave him advice in the early days were Norman Southwell, Russ Dowden and Colin’s idol, Vic Robinson. Colin says he can remember Vic giving his opinion on eyesign, saying, ‘it’s eye site they need not eyesign’.
Colin’s first show birds came from Cyril Lowe of Guernsey in 1965 and at that time Bill Harris was a stoker on the boats that went on regular trips to Guernsey from Portsmouth. Bill would bring show birds over from Cyril to go to the big London shows. When Colin saw these Show Racers he was hooked and when Cyril Lowe found out he gifted Colin with several pairs. At that time Colin married his wife, Jean, and started a family. In 1970 work took the Carter family to Gloucestershire, where they set up home in Churchdown and because of lack of time all the pigeons had to be sold off. Colin restarted up in the sport in 1991 with a few race birds and joined the Newent & Dist. F.C. On visiting the Old Comrades Show at the N.E.C. Birmingham that winter, Colin bumped in to Doug McClary, who he hadn’t seen for over 20 years. One thing led to another and he soon had some of the McClary Show Racers in his back garden, replacing the racing pigeons. He joined the Monmouth Show Racer Society and more show birds were introduced, mainly from Ron McCarthy, Tony Williams and the Wheatley family in the north east of England.
Some of Colin and Jean Carter’s main achievements in recent years have been: 1995: B.I.S. Louella Fancier of the Year, Reserve Champion British S.R. Federation Show: 1996: 1st. Pairs class B.H.W. Blackpool Show (Colin’s first attempt), B.I.S. East of England Spectacular: 1997: B.I.S and B.Y.B. at the B.H.W. Blackpool Show, Best Yearling at the Old Comrades Show: 1998: Club champion of the Devon & Cornwall S.R. Society, B.O.S. and Best yearling at the Old Comrades Show: 1999: B.I.S. and B.O.S. R.P.R.A. Southern Region Show, B.I.S. and B.O.S., Best yearling at the Old Comrades Show, Club champion of the Devon & Cornwall S.R. Society, B.I.S. Pensilva Show: 2000: B.Y.B. at the Old Comrades Show, B.I.S. Pensilva Show: 2002: B.Y.B. at the Old Comrades Show, Best Show Racer National Young Bird, B.O.S. to club champion and Champion Young Bird Devon & Cornwall S.R. Society: 2003: B.I.S. and B.Y.B. at the B.H.W. Blackpool show: 2004: B.Y.B. Plymouth Open Show, Best Show Racer R.P.R.A. Southern Region Show: 2005: B.Y.B. Royal Welsh Show, B.O.S.Y.B. South West Open Show, B.I.S. Devon & Cornwall S.R. Society Young Bird Show, B.Y.B. and Reserve Champion Young Bird in the final club show.
Some of the premier pigeons in the Gloucestershire loft are: Champion ‘Cotswold Queen’, Best in Show B.H.W. Blackpool Show 2003, 1st. National Young Bird Show, B.Y.B. and Reserve Champion Devon & Cornwall S.R. Society Show, 1st. R.P.R.A. Southern Region Show: Champion ‘Cotswold Gem’, Best in Show B.H.W. Blackpool Show 1997, Best Yearling Old Comrades Show: Champion ‘Cotswold Star’, Best in Show Old Comrades Show 1999, 1st. Thame Show, B.I.S. West Country Medley: ‘Young Ron’, Winner of the fancier of the year at Louella Show, beating all breeds in 1995. B.O.S. Thame Show, 1st. B.H.W. Blackpool Show: ‘Cotswold Lad’, B.Y.B. Old Comrades Show, B.Y.C. Royal Welsh Show, 1st. R.P.R.A. Southern Region Show: ‘Cotswold Girl’, Best in Show East of England Show 1996.
Colin told me he likes to keep his family as close bred as he can and that way, he can produce the type of bird that suits his management system, produce the type he likes. The loft has 18 nest boxes and at the final show, Blackpool, the loft is normally housing 12 pairs. The birds are paired up at the end of January and he breeds a maximum of 30 youngsters for the show pen. No stock birds are kept; all the old birds have to go to the show arena and competes in about 16 shows each season. Colin maintains that if a pigeon is six years of age or older in his loft, it is something very special and likes to breed off young pigeons, and not from old stagers. All young birds are pen trained, but are naturally quite tame and any showing wild tendencies are disposed of, as it upsets the rest of the loft. The show loft has four compartments, two for cocks and two for hens, with the birds being separated at the end of July. The young and old birds are run together and get a bath once a week. The perches are scrapped every morning, the floor three times a week and no deep litter system is used in the loft. The water fountains are topped up every day and the birds are fed on farm peas and beans, with a young bird mixture added in the summer months. T.W.P. is given before the shows. When judging, Colin likes a bird that is well balanced, silky feathering, handsome looks and good colour. He doesn’t mind what colour, but the bird must be good in colour, not ‘wishy washy’, or one of those pretty ones you sometimes see, and of course handle fit, and not short in the keel.
John & Alice Bell travelled from Catrine in Ayrshire for the High Wycombe Show and won Best Opposite Sex and Best Over All Points for the second year on the trot, Best Racer and Best Show Racer Points. John and Alice won seven classes under six different judges, which is a wonderful achievement at the highs level of showing! I first met John and Alice in November 2011 when I judged BIS at the NEHU Show in South Shield’s and they won Supreme Champion with their wonderful red hen. This wonderful red ‘doo’ had everything in the hand, outstanding feathering, balance and nice dark eyes, my perfect pigeon. I judged at the Blackpool Show in 2007 and John and Alice won one of my classes with a blue Show Racer hen! John finished with racing pigeons and concentrated solely on Show Racers in the 2006 season and won the Hurlford open show, recording his first Best in Show with a Dark Chequer cock bred from his ‘Old Silver Hen’. The following January this wonderful looking cock went to the BHW ‘Show of the Year’ at Blackpool and won ‘Supreme Champion’. Alice told me, this was the best day of their Show Racer life, to win the Supreme prize on their first attempt. It was a dream comes true! The Bell partners had three open show wins in the 2007 season, four more in 2008 and went on to win Reserve ‘Supreme Champion’ in 2009. In 2010 John and Alice had three major open show wins and so went to Blackpool with three birds in the Supreme Champion class. On entering the Winter Gardens on the Saturday morning they were amazed to see that their yearling Blue Chequer Cock had won his class and Best in Show, so was their fourth candidate in the Supreme Champion class. This cock’s nest mate won Supreme Champion and he was BIS, Reserve Supreme Champion. John told me he didn’t think this had ever been achieved before, with a nest pair winning the two premier prizes at Blackpool on the same weekend. These two champion cocks were bred from a seven year old blue chequer cock bred by Darren Gibbons and he said, ‘it goes to prove that old pigeons can still breed champions’. With a lot of hard work this family of winning Show Racer has been formed from four pairs of original stock birds and the Bell partners told me it is well worth the effort when you win at the very top level with your own family of birds!
Class winners were: Class 1: 1st M/M M. Horner, 2nd C. Reynolds, 3rd J. & J. Bell: Class 2: 1st M/M C. Carter, 2nd Petty & Crawford, 3rd D. Mackintosh: Class 3: 1st J. & A. Bell, 2nd C. Reynolds: 3rd B. Carney: Class 4: 1st J. & A. Bell, 2nd J. & P. Harrod, 3rd C. Reynolds: Class 5: 1st J. & A. Bell, 2nd J. & A. Bell, 3rd J. & A. Bell: Class 6: 1st Petty & Crawford, 2nd J. & A. Bell, 3rd J. & A. Bell: Class 7: 1st M/M C. Carter, 2nd M/M C. Carter, 3rd J. & A. Bell: Class 8: 1st C. Gilliver, 2nd Miss L. Bullard, 3rd C. Reynolds: Class 9: 1st Petty & Crawford, 2nd D. Minty, 3rd R. Hughes: Class 10: 1st R. Hughes, 2nd C. Reynolds, 3rd M/M M. Horner: Class 11: 1st J. & P. Harrod, 2nd J. & P. Harrod, 3rd C. Reynolds: Class 12: 1st J. & A. Bell, 2nd J. & P. Harrod, 3rd R. Hughes: Class 13: 1st C. Gilliver, 2nd C. Reynolds, 3rd J. & A. Bell: Class 14: 1st M/M M. Horner, 2nd C. Reynolds, 3rd J. & A. Bell: Class 15: 1st C. Bullard, 2nd Miss L. Bullard, 3rd J. Smith: Class 16: 1st J. & A. Bell, 2nd T. Haley, 3rd A. Talmer: Class 17: 1st J. & A. Bell, 2nd J. & A. Bell, 3rd Miss L. Bullard: Class 18: 1st J. & A. Bell, 2nd J. & A. Bell, 3rd C. Gilliver: Class 19: 1st F. & G. Crawford, 2nd C. Bullard, 3rd S. Tarr: Class 20: 1st J. Smith, 2nd J. Smith, 3rd J. Prentice: Class 21: 1st J. Smith, 2nd T. Haley, 3rd T. Twyman & son: Class 22: 1st J. Prentice, 2nd P. Harrod, 3rd T. Haley: Class 23: 1st C. Bullard, 2nd T. Haley, 3rd T. Twyman & son: Class 24: 1st C. Bullard, 2nd C. Bunting, 3rd M. Gaiter. Class 25: 1st C. Gilliver, 2nd T. Twyman & son, 3rd Hitchcock & son. Trophy winners were: Best in Show, Colin & Jean Carter: Best Opposite Sex, John & Alice Bell: Best Show Racer, Colin and Jean Carter: Best Race Bird, John & Alice Bell: Best 400 miles, J. Prentice: Best T. T. W., Petty & Crawford: Most Points Show Racer, John & Alice Bell (52): Most Points Race Bird, Colin Bullard (25), Best Points Over All, John & Alice Bell (75).
I have been associated with the Southern Region Show for many years and have derived great pleasure judging at this great annual event through the years. This great event is one of my favourite one day shows, which is now held at the Hazlemere Community Centre, near High Wycombe. In recent years the Community Centre has proved to be a first class venue for this major event, having two large halls for the show and charity pigeon auction. My good friend, Ron Lacey, former President of the R.P.R.A. Southern Region, has run the show in recent years and prior to that Val and Tony Viccars were the show secretaries. I have attended the show most years, since it started at Ascot Racecourse over 30 years ago and in recent seasons have booked the judges for the racing classes for Ron. Years ago I used to show and won many firsts with my racing pigeons, which I always considered a good achievement, with the ‘red hot’ competition at the Region show. After Ascot the show moved briefly into Basingstoke and then went to Slough for ten years, being run by the late great Bob Arnold. I always remember Bob telling me that he had been in pigeons all his life, being taken tenderly into a pigeon loft at the age of ten days old, by his father, in 1920. Bob was a wonderful man and put a lot of hard work into the Southern Region Show through his many years as show secretary.
My ol’ mate, Ron Lacey, took over the job of show secretary a good few years ago from Val and Tony who had to step down because of ill health and I must say, Ron has done a brilliant job. Ron told me he was President of the R.P.R.A. Southern Region for 14 years until he had to pack up through ill health. He has been in the sport for 60 years and likes only long distance racing. Ron has 13 natural pairs of mainly Hartog and Vandy pigeons, which says are never parted, with the nest boxes being closed to stop them breeding in the winter months. The old bird racers are lightly trained up to 30 miles and are fed a good mixture, which includes 50% beans. He had raced north road all his life until turning south road with the club four years ago and has won 1st Federation Lerwick, with the bird on the day. Ron’s 30 youngsters are raced natural to the perch and have won the Young Bird Average several times in recent seasons. The young birds are trained up to 30 miles, the same as the old birds, and race the whole programme. Ron says he is a small team fancier and keeps no stock birds. He maintains that he would cut out all the big money in pigeon racing and the sport looks like it’s falling because there aren’t so many fanciers, but he thinks it’s as good as it’s ever been!
Well that’s it for this week! Congratulations to Colin and Jean Carter on his great success at the RPRA Southern Region Show. Thanks to Ron Lacey’s Grandson, Matt, who supplied some of the photos. I can be contacted with any pigeon matters on telephone number: 01372 463480.
TEXT & PHOTOS BY KEITH MOTT (www.keithmott.com)
