“ON THE ROAD” WITH KEITH MOTT.
Terry Haley of Abbots Langley
Year after year the back garden loft of Terry Haley has produce wonderful performances in the short to the long distance races. Terry is known as the ‘Watford Wizard’ and I must say he must have put his spell on the 2025 racing season, as he had a brilliant year in Federation and National racing. He won the Thames Valley NR Federation eleven times and in some races took the first six positions in the Federation results. Most of these races were under 200 miles to keep the Federation costs down, but Terry did win: 1st Federation Berwick (288 miles), 2nd Federation Perth (349 miles) and 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th Federation Thurso (432 miles). He had a great season racing in the mighty North Road Championship Club, with the highlight being: 1st section H, 3rd open NRCC Lerwick (585 miles), plus several other top positions the open results. In the Great London Long Distance Club, Terry won several races and lifted £400 in their seven races. The ‘star’ pigeon of the season was Terry’s champion blue chequer pied hen, ‘Lady Chloe’, who was bred by Brian and Karen Hawes and has been named after Terry and Karen’s new granddaughter. This wonderful hen won: 1st section 3rd open NRCC Thurso (811 birds), 1st London NR Combine Lerwick (585 miles), 1st Great London Distance Club Fraserburgh (419 miles), with only two birds clocked on the day of liberation, 3rd GLDC Perth (349 miles), 7th GLDC Dunbar (310 miles), 1st GLDC Lerwick (585 miles). ‘Lady Chloe’ also won 1st Federation Perth (349 miles) as a yearling in 2024. What a wonderful pigeon! Another premier racer in the Haley loft in 2025 was the yearling blue chequer pied hen, ’True Grit’ and she recoded: 1st section H. North Road Championship Club Dunbar Old Hens (310 miles), 4th Federation Thurso (492 miles) beaten by two loft mates, 3rd Federation Grantham, beaten by two loft mates. Brilliant pigeon racing! I spoke to my ol’ mate, Terry at the end of his very successful season and he said, ‘I would like to thank my lovely wife, Karen for all her great help with the pigeons over the season and thanks also to my broth, Steve, who took my birds to his work place for 30 mile training tosses throughout the season, Thanks to you both’.
I think my wife, Betty and I have known Terry and Karen Haley for well over 50 years and all that time the ‘Watford Wizard’ has always been at the top of the game, being one of the premier North Road fanciers in the U.K. He has been a good friend of my family for many years; in fact he is my son, Mark’s godfather. His pigeons have won countless major positions on the north road through the years and have won 1st Federation from Leicester (68 miles), through to Lerwick (600 miles). He recently tried to count up his Federation wins and tells me they are about 50 firsts, but has won the Federation at least three times from Thurso (492 miles). Terry has won 1st Thames Valley NR Federation Champion race from Berwick, Perth, Banff, Fraserburgh and Thurso, as well as first in the young bird Federation Championship. He has won 17 R.P.R.A. awards and London Region trophies and medals, and of course 1st open Combine Fraserburgh with his champion blue hen, ‘Misty Lady’. This wonderful hen died of old age in the autumn of 2005 and has left a dynasty of winners in the Haley loft. The 2004 season saw Terry win 1st open North Thames N.R. Combine from Arbroath, with his good blue cock, ‘The Pimpernel’ and this champion pigeon went on to record 2nd open North Thames N.R. Combine Stonehaven in 2005. He is from a brilliant winning line of pigeons; with his dam being one of Terry’s good racing hens, ‘The Ghost’. The 2013 season saw Terry win the Federation three times with young birds and 1st open North Thames NR Combine Aycliffe (205 miles) with the Gaby Vandenabeele blue cock, ‘The Watford Wizard’. Terry has won it all over the years, including six times 1st combine (south road and north road) and has won three time 1st open British Barcelona Club National races.
Terry only usually keeps 14 pairs of pigeons, no stock birds or prisoners if possible, and races on the natural system. He has several lofts, with various trapping systems and uses sifted ballast on the floors, which is raked clean each week. He feeds on the floor amongst the sand and says he has found this satisfactory for the last 55 years. He maintains he feeds beans, peas and tares because the birds fly well on it and you don’t change a winning system. The birds are paired up on 14th February and rear one batch of youngsters and these are weaned off while the old birds are competing in their first Federation races. The pigeons are mostly raced on eggs only, thus ensuring all birds can be sent through the old bird programme, as no more youngsters are required. Terry is a retired fencer by trade and used to quite often take his birds to work with him, if he is down the road a bit, for training. Terry trains in any weather including rain and maintains, he had to work in the rain so why shouldn’t the pigeons work in the rain! The cocks go almost every week and the hens are only left at home if they are due to lay. The loft is usually almost empty on Saturday morning and is cleaned out whilst the birds are away. The Haley young birds are trained well and race the programme, through to 200 miles. He likes to show his birds in the winter months and has won at all the major National shows, including the B.H.W. ‘Show of the Year’ Blackpool, the ‘Old Comrades’ show and the R.P.R.A. Southern Region show. He has had pigeons in the British team for the Olympiads for many years and has won ‘best bird’ in the team. Every winter he is in demand to judge shows and has judged at all the major National events, including being the British judge at the Olympiads in Poland and Holland. Terry says his family take an interest in the pigeons and his son, Ryan, raced his own pigeons to his own small loft when he was younger. Terry flies in the Watford N.R.F.C. and his wife, Karen, was the Secretary for 30 years. Karen was an outstanding fancier pigeon fancier in her own right and won the Federation many times when she raced with her late father, Bryn English. A really great pigeon family!
Terry Haley’s pigeon career stared at the age of 11 and was greatly encouraged by some school friends who kept pigeons. This was in 1959 and Terry recalls that his first stock were from local farm buildings and anywhere else where pigeons could be caught at night. He says it was a hobby catching them as well as keeping them. In the early days he admired the performances of the late Wally Brewer and Jack Payne of Bedmond, who were winning races regularly at the time. Wally Brewer helped many Watford fanciers and he sold Terry a pair of Barker / Gits pigeons in 1966 for £3, which Terry says proved to be a real bargain. The Haley loft still houses some pigeons bred from the original farm building strays, one of which was the old blue chequer cock, ‘Nunnies’, which flew from Scotland over 30 times, including eight times Thurso (593 miles). This wonderful old cock was born in 1966, and was in the Guinness Book of Records for his record mileage in racing, winning 1st club Leicester, 2nd club, 5th Federation, 10th open Combine (3,111 birds) Perth, 2nd club Thurso, 2nd club Newark and three other major positions from Thurso. ‘Nunnies’ is more or less the sire of Terry’s loft with 1st Federation and 1st Open winners being bred from him. Terry maintains that pedigree forms don’t win races and says his loft is based on winning results achieved in the race basket.
Terry’s wonderful blue hen, Champion ‘Misty Lady’, must rate as one of the greatest long distance racing pigeons in the UK, when she was alive, winning the Federation many times and 1st Combine Fraserburgh. The last race ‘Misty Lady’ flew was Thurso (492 miles) and she was the only bird on the day in the Federation, being clocked in darkness at 21.55hrs. Terry retired her after that race at nine years of age, although she still looked and acted like a yearling. Terry tells me ‘Misty Lady’ won in different nest conditions, but thinks she was at her best sitting 14 to 17 day old eggs. This champion hen was the dam of many outstanding winners and grand dam of many premier racers including ‘Miss Ripple’, ‘The 34 Hen’ and Terry Robinson’s of Cheshunt winner of 2nd open London N.R. Combine Berwick in 2001.
In spite of having a hip replacement operation just before the start of young bird racing this year, Terry Haley had a brilliant 2022 racing season, winning 21 first prizes in the club, Federation and National. I spoke to my old mate at the end of his great season and he said, ‘after it became compulsory to inform DEFFRA and have vets visits to the loft, to be able to race from France, I resigned from three National clubs and decided to concentrate on mainly North Road racing. The North Road has no restrictions and although the competition is a bit less, I could at least enjoy my racing without the extra paper work and cost involved in racing from France. I have raced in the Watford North Road club for many years and all the marking stations, club and National are quite local to me. I was recovering from my total hip replacement and couldn’t drive for several weeks, and my brother, Steve, trained my birds from his work place (30 miles) all season. My wife, Karen, got up at 5am every morning to basket the young birds for training and on race days clocked in four winners for me, while I was recovering. Thanks to Karen and Steve for their wonderful help! As you know Keith, all my birds are flown on the natural system to my small garden and my 60 year old loft. I only enter small teams of pigeons, which have put up some great results again this season, which goes to prove you don’t have to send big teams of 50 or 100 birds to compete and win. I just want to enjoy racing my pigeons without all the recent obstacles being put in the way, which will become another nail in the coffin of an already dying sport’. Well done Terry, on yet another great season!
Well that’s it for this week’s article. I hope you have enjoyed this little update on the latest performances of my ol’ mate, Terry Haley! Congratulations to Terry on his wonderful club and National success this season. A really wonderful performance! I can be contacted with any pigeon ‘banter’ on telephone number: 07535 484584 or email me on:
TEXT & PHOTOS BY KEITH MOTT (www.keithmott.com)
