Human

BRITISH BARCELONA CLUB'S 50TH ANNIVERSARY

Part 20

by Keith Mott

Season 2014 represents another milestone in history for the British Barcelona Club, for this year is the club’s 50th anniversary. In celebration of this event it is intended to reproduce some of the articles on past winners that have appeared in the Fancy Press over the years. It is well worth remembering that here in this country we have just three racing organisations that cover the whole of the country, of which only one, the British Barcelona Club, encompasses the Channel Islands, making its races truly National events. To celebrate the Golden Jubilee every section winner in this year’s races will receive a special commemorative medal which will be presented at this year’s dinner at Days Hotel, Bournemouth. In the meantime it is hoped that readers will enjoy the exploits and methods of past winners of this highly successful club. For those interested, it is not too late to join and partake in this year’s celebrations. Good luck to our members for the forthcoming 2014 season. - Michael Shepherd (BBC Chairman).

ADRIAN HUMAN

of Petersfield

Champion Ramsdean Reliance - Spanish Diploma Winner

Adrian Human is only really interested in long distance racing and all the pigeon management is set up for the Tarbes and Palamos Nationals. His best pigeon is the champion blue chequer cock, ‘Ramsdean Reliance’, and he is bred down from the very best Davenport / Cattrysse bloodlines of Champion ‘Game Lady’. This brilliant 600 mile cock was raced on the natural system, performing best sitting ten day old eggs, and won the British Barcelona Club  ‘Spanish Diploma’ winning 19th, 44th, 51st, 108th open Palamos (657 miles), and 16th open Barcelona (676 miles). He was recorded in race time from the longest British Barcelona Club  event five times and recorded 16th open Barcelona as a ten year old. This wonderful cock has proved to be a champion in the breeding loft, producing several premier long distance racers, including ‘The Bordeaux Cock’, ‘The Section Hen’ and a ‘Spanish Diploma’ winner for his father, Derek Human. A fantastic cock!

Adrian  is from a very successful pigeon racing family, with his father, Derek being a recent NFC Tarbes winner and his grandfather also being a very good fancier many years ago. Adrian was born in Alton, Hampshire and told me, ‘I have been around pigeons all my life, going to various pigeon events with my father, such as Reading Cattle Market in the days when you queued for one to two hours for NFC race marking. In 1991 I moved to a house next door to dad, I was working in Portsmouth so started training his pigeons every day. At the time I kept British finches, which I housed in several aviaries and a bird room. After a while working with my dad’s pigeons, my interest was re-kindled and I changed to pigeon racing and built a new loft. My first pigeons came from Louella and my dad. I joined Alton club for young birds in 1992 and won my first race from Seaton and I went on to win every young bird race except one, winning the young bird average in the club. I thought pigeon racing was easy, how wrong I was.’

Adrian races his birds on natural and pairs up the first sunny weekend in February, with his race birds choosing their own mate. Training starts the second week in April, usually from Hayling Island, about 15 miles south of the loft, moving to the New Forest about 30 miles down the road and sometimes the birds are singled up. His Palamos birds are usually singled up late in the evening at around 8pm. Adrian feeds ‘PLX’ mixture early in the season changing to ‘Irish’ mixture as the distance moves up and Peanuts are fed quite heavily once the distance is over 250 miles. He says, his favourite nest condition for the long distance events depends on the individual bird, as they are all different. His present race loft is a 42ft Petron, with Hermes auto boxes and it was a gift from his dad when he downsized his loft, when he moved into a new house. It is well vented with sliding ceiling panels so the airflow can be adjusted and tells me he has used deep litter when time was short, but I like to scrape out. The main family keep are Cattrysse, because over the years these birds have done well for many different people. Adrian and Derek share the 20 pairs of stock birds, which are kept at Adrian’s home and these are nornally paired up at Christmas. The stock loft is 16ft x 8ft, with a massive aviary and the main feeding is Brian Wall’s ‘Breeding’ mixture. Adrian and his dad have one youngster each out of each nest. New stock birds introduced only come in from good long distance lofts who race small teams of birds, like Adrian. His best breeder in the stock loft is ‘Ramsdean Reliance’, as he has bred a ‘Spanish Diploma’ winner for his dad, and he is the sire of many premier racers for the Human lofts. He usually keep 40 young birds each season and half of them go on darkness, and once training starts they are fed on half ‘PLX’ and half ‘Young Bird’ mixture. They are usually parted before racing starts and allowed together on Friday lunch time of marking day. They must have at least two Channel races, and must go to either BBC Lamballe or the NFC young bird race.

Adrian’s father Derek and I go back many years, starting in the early 1980s when he had his wins in the Central Southern Classic Flying Club and he came to my home in Claygate to have his young bird champions photographed, and I covered his successes in the fancy press. Derek is a very likeable guy, who has always got a smile on his face and along with his pigeon racing son, Adrian, is always up for a laugh. I for one was over the moon to hear the great news that he had won the greatest prize in long distance pigeon racing in the 2007 season, 1st open N.F.C. Tarbes Grand National and did it in fantastic style. His wonderful champion, ‘Any Distance’, won 1st open Tarbes (540 miles) with 3,477 birds competing and won the strong Section B. by 133 y.p.m. clear. A brilliant performance at the highest level! This game five year old Cattrysse blue chequer hen was sent to Tarbes feeding a nine day old youngster and has won a N.F.C. Certificate of Merit Award, previously winning: 8th section, 70th open N.F.C. Bordeaux and 11th section, 71st open N.F.C. Pau. Champion ‘Any Distance’ has had a brilliant racing career, winning other premier positions including: 1st. section, 16th. open N.F.C. Chale, 15th section, 251st open N.F.C. Fougeres and 19th setion, 369th open N.F.C. Sennon Cove. A champion racer in the truest sence of the word, winning at at the very highest level and as her name surgesses, at any distance! Derek says she was sent to Tarbes in her favourite nest condition, feeding a baby, and the squeaker she was feeding when she won the National was donated to the N.F.C. Young Bird Auction and raised £470 for the club. In the early part of the season she was seperated from her mate to hold her moult and then was sent to the very hard C.S.C.F.C. Cholet race, where she scored in the first few in the open result, and then was repaired so she had a youngster for the Tarbes National.

Adrian told me about the early days and said, ‘I have always had an interest in the long distance races and the first birds I had in the beginning were the Cattrysse and black Krauths. When I first started with young birds, all those years ago I had a great start, but it didn’t continue. It was my lack of knowledge not the birds! My first ever training toss was a disaster, taking 40 young birds from two miles and I let them go, and watched them go over my loft and away towards London. Three hours later I had one pigeon back and by the end of the second day I had them all back in the loft. My first loft was brick built, with a tiled roof out of material I managed to acquire from various sources.’

Adrian is a builder and always has been since leaving school. He says, ‘my wife will feed the pigeons while I am away and let them out if I ask her, and one time she clocked a hen from San Sebastian, which ended up 13th open from a disastrous race. My son, Jack, likes to go to pigeon club and has a few young birds to follow, which I usually loose for him! My best performances are; 1st section, 8th open BBC Bordeaux, 2nd Section, 5th open BBC Bordeaux, 5th section, 46th open NFC Bordeaux, 8th section, 47th open NFC San Sebastian, 5th section, 11th open BBC Bordeaux and my best achievement in pigeons is my ‘Spanish Diploma’ winner ‘Ramsdean Reliance’, whom has gone on to win a Gold Salver for four times Palamos, and a Crystal Vase for four times Palamos at 10 years old. He holds no offices in the sport, but likes to help at marking stations. Adrian maintains, the management of the sport has its downsides, but it is in a no-win situation with most pigeon people and thinks the sport has progressed despite there being fewer members. He thinks fanciers are more dedicated and professional these days and tells me the top fancier in his area must be his dad, putting up phenomenal performances with only a very small team of pigeons. Two other fancier he rates very highly is Dave Wells of Bordon who can get pigeons from any distance with no fancy methods and Jimmy Wearn whose dedication is beyond belief! Late breds are only taken from the best racers and parts his pigeons after the last young bird race to get the moult under way. There you have it, Adrian Human, the British Barcelona Club 600 mile specialist!

TEXT & PHOTOS BY KEITH MOTT (www.keithmott.com)

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