KEITH MOTT
Three Borders Federation Blandford
On the original 2014 race programme the Federation was to start the new season with two races from Wincanton, but because of problems at the liberation site, the programme was amended at the eleventh hour, with substitute Blandford and Yeovil races being included. Members of the Federation sent 1,397 birds to the first race from Blandford and really they could not have had a better flying day, with the convoy being liberated at 09.00hrs in a west wind. The birds fell in with the helping wind and ‘first blood’ went to Frank and Sue Carson of the Mitcham & Merton club, who recorded 1st, 2nd, 6th, 14th and 16th Federation. Brilliant pigeon racing! The partners Federation winner was their champion blue cock, ‘Alan’, and he has won a list of premier positions, including three times 1st Federation and 1st open SMT Combine Yelverton in the 2013 season. His nest brother is the Carson’s champion blue pied cock, ‘Mr. Stoner’, winner of 1st open L&SECC Guernsey and 1st open SMT Combine Yelverton in 2013. What a fantastic nest pair of widowhood cocks!
The first ten in the Blandford Federation result were: 1) Frank & Sue Carson 1843: 2) Frank & Sue Carson 1842: 3) Bob & Danny Carter 1834: 4) Vic & Lew Emberson 1833: 5) Rookledge & Mearns 1831: 6) Frank & Sue Carson 1825: 7) Rookledge & Mearns 1825: 8) Allison & Ibrahim 1824: 9) Malik & Khan 1823: 10) T. & G. Dye 1818.
Frank & Susan Carson enjoyed a wonderful 2013 racing season and won 1st open L&SECC Guernsey (old bird), and long list of positions in the Three Borders Federation, including 1st and 2nd Federation three weeks on the trot, plus 1st and 2nd SMT Combine. I had a week’s holiday in the south of France in mid-June and on my return I visited the Carson’s home in Sutton to update Frank and Sue’s pigeon racing story. I last visited their loft for an article 30 years ago and although I’ve seen Frank about at pigeon functions, I think I’m right in saying I hadn’t seen Susan since that visit 30 years ago. She is now a busy grandmother and looked really well. Susan takes an active interest in the running of the loft, for example she has trained youngsters while Frank is involved with the widowers. She kept records, cleaned out and anything else that needed doing. To get the best out of pigeons, Susan said, it's a matter of 365 days of dedication every year.
The star pigeon of the Carson loft in the 2013 season was the yearling blue pied cock, ‘Mr. Stoner’, and he recorded 1st open London & South East Classic Club Guernsey (800 birds), and 1st club, 1st Three Borders Federation, 1st SMT Combine Yelverton (1596 birds), being raced on the widowhood system. A nice little extra to ‘Mr. Stoner’s’ success story was the fact that his nest brother, ‘Alan’, was with him on the very same velocity from Yelverton (179 miles) and was joint 1st open SMT Combine! This wonderful cock has won other premier positions in the 2013 season including 13th Federation Honiton (1172 birds), being beaten by a loft mate. The widowhood blue cock, ‘Alan’, has a brilliant racing record in his own right, winning: 1st Federation, 1st SMT Combine Yelverton (1596 birds), 1st Federation Exeter (938 birds), 1st Federation Blandford (1397 birds), 2nd Federation Honiton (1149 birds), beaten by a loft mate, 3rd Federation Newton Abbot (985 birds), beaten by loft mate, 8th Federation Wincanton (1149 birds), 14th Federation Yeovil (1106 birds) plus several other premier positions including 1st club Taunton. This fantastic nest pair of cocks were bred by Frank’s good friend, John Stoner of Mitcham, from the very best Willie Jacobs and Gaby Vandenabeele bloodlines. Another top racer last season was the Willie Jacobs blue chequer cock, ‘The 15 Cock’, and he beat ‘Alan’ twice in the 2013 season for top honors in the Federation results. This brilliant widowhood cock has won seven times first club and 1st Federation Wincanton (1995 birds), 1st Federation Honiton (1149 birds), 2nd Federation Newton Abbot (985 birds), 3rd Federation Wincanton (1701 birds), 3rd Federation Yeovil (1506 birds), 4th Federation Honiton (1172 birds), 6th Federation Yeovil (1106 birds).
Frank told me the main families raced at the Carson loft are mainly Willy Jacobs from Ernie Goodyear of Barnsley and a few Gaby Vandenabeele from Mark and Dickie Evans, and they race about 16 cocks on the traditional widowhood system. The widowhood system is very basic and Frank tells me he exercises the cocks around the loft for one hour only every day and feeds twice a day on Mabdor widowhood mixture and a light mixture on their return from a race. The widowhood hens are kept in boxes and are shown to the racing cocks on marking night. The widowhood cocks get the hens for an hour on their return home from the race and no training is given once racing starts. His main interest is Saturday Federation sprint racing, but competes in races up to 450 miles, having won at all points up to Bergerac (450 miles) and is very careful with his feeding, breaking the cocks down in the first part of the week. Frank told me, ‘our pigeons are raced on the conventional widowhood system, with the cocks being kept on grills in their nest boxes. We use a ATX Radiation heating system throughout the loft and we have never used deep litter, having slatted floors in all the lofts’. The partners have two very smart lofts, the main one being 40ft long and this houses the widowhood racing cocks, young birds and the eight pairs of stock birds, which also live in a nice spacious flight. The stock birds are paired up the same time as the race birds in January and their eggs are floated in the race section. The breeders are fed on Frank’s own premier breeding mixture, which is three top quality mixtures knocked up together. When bringing in a new stock bird the partners look at the premier performances already achieved by the family. The big main loft has slatted floors, heaters for winter breeding and the trapping is designed for ETS clocking. Their small loft houses the widowhood hens and is a store for their corn and baskets. The old birds, stock and racers, are paired up in January and the partnership breed about 50 babies to race each season on the ‘darkness’ system. The partners like young bird racing and the babies are trained well and race the Federation programme. The babies are trained once a day through to 60 miles and the Carson’s young bird policy is home, fed and left to rest. Once they reach the 30 mile training stage they are no longer exercised around the loft. They are darkened for 12 weeks from April to June and from the day of their first race they are put on the ‘lightness’ system. They race through to 170 miles, occasionally sending the one or two to France and all are flown to the perch. Frank and Susan brought their Gaby Vandenbeele pigeons from Mark and Dickie Evans in 2003 and 2004, and were direct out of their champions, including the great ‘Shadow’. The partners won the Three Borders Federation Individual Points Trophy in the 2011, with 53 points, and they have always been regarded as one of the better racing outfits in the London area over the last 30 years, always being at the top of Federation and Open race result sheets. They enjoyed a brilliant 2011 young bird season racing in the Three Borders Federation and their two Federation winners that season were both Willy Jacobs pigeons raced to the perch.
Frank is a used car dealer by trade and has been in the sport 35 years. He told me, ‘Susan is a major worker with our pigeons and must take a share of the credit for our success over the years. Our youngest daughter Kimberley lends a hand when needed. I prefer sprint racing and have owned some really good widowhood cock in the early 1990s, which won up to 17 firsts each racing Saturday and Wednesday. Years ago we won the Kingston Open, when that was the main race to win with the best racers in the South of England sending their best. That was a great buzz! Over the years Susan and I have held most of the offices in the club, including Secretary and Chairman, but I personally think the modern day small clubs should amalgamate and create bigger clubs for better competition, to lift the sport out of decline. In my opinion John and Darren May are two of our best local fanciers, having put up some brilliant performance in the Combine, Classic and National over many years. Two great pigeon racers! Susan and I used to use the eye sign method in our stock loft, but as time has gone by we have gained a lot of experience, which has told us that breeders of winners come in all shapes and sizes, and some with not so good eye sign. In the stock loft we pair winners to winners, or breeders of winners to breeders of winner together! We are great believers in working the pigeons, but we also know they need rest and as soon as the last young bird race is over, we part all the birds and the loft is completely shut down for two months of the moult period’.
Frank was born in Battersea, South London, and his grandfather was a fancier flying as J. Carson & son in the Chelsea & South Lambeth club. Frank spent a lot of time with his grandfather and as a result became interested in racing pigeons. When his grandfather died in 1978 he moved in with his grandmother and took the pigeons over. In the early days Frank got a great deal of help from J. Langbridge who at the time flew in the Carshalton club. Frank's interest prior to pigeon racing was football for a local club as a boy, and just prior to taking over his grandfather's birds he successfully showed boxer dogs. Frank had then been in the sport six years and the first club he flew in was the Hackbridge DHS. His grandfather's stock were mainly Andre Vermote and Rene Boizard and Frank's performances were fairly good considering the knowledge and resources that he had at hand. At the end of 1981 the Carson’s decided that they wanted to fly the Widowhood system, so they went to their now good friends, Peter & Geraldine Hookins of Wimbledon. The Hookins were very successful Widowhood fanciers and Peter gave all the help and advice he could. Frank said he had gone from strength to strength since then. In the early days he made all the typical novice mistakes, overcrowding and over training. Penning several articles on Frank and Susan over many years, I can remember in 1984 the partners had the season of a lifetime winning twenty seven 1st, nineteen 2nd, twelve 3rd and twelve 4th, flying in two Saturday clubs and a midweek now and again. The Carson’s raced the Widowhood system and in 1984 the eighteen cocks won twenty three 1sts, the other four winners were young birds. Frank once told me the high points in his time as a pigeon fancier were winning the Old Comrades eye sign class and the first time he won the Federation. Frank Carson is a born pigeon racer and has always been successful!
That’s my lot for this week! On a personal note and looking down the Blandford Federation result I see my club, the Esher & District RPC, had 14 birds in there, with Bob & Danny Carter at 3rd Federation. What was especially pleasing was to see Rookledge & Mearns up there at 5th and 7th Federation after Ray Mearns recent shocking and untimely passing. Well done to Jimmy Rookledge!
TEXT & PHOTOS BY KEITH MOTT (www.keithmott.com)
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