Keith Mott's The Champions of Yesteryear (Part 67)
MR & MRS HUNT OF REIGATE
At the age of 14 years, Dave Hunt, saw a man shoot a racing pigeon while out walking one day and as it was still alive he picked it up and ran home with it. This was the event that got the young Dave interested in pigeons. He doctored the bird and it recovered. He obtained some birds from John Peel and raced them in the Coulsdon & Caterham Club with very little success, due to being a novice to the sport. In the early days he had a lot of help from Stan Witts of Whitchurch and Cyril Skilton of Warlingham who sold him his first Davenport / Cattrysse pigeons which were the basis of his family. Dave and his wife Jan had been racing 12 years and had been top prize winners in the Dorking Coly (Surrey Federation) for the past four years. Dave said that in the early days he tended to over feed and over train.
His first loft was a standard three section 18 feet x 6 feet and in those days his attention was drawn to the racing performances of C.H. Besant & Sons and the great Les Davenport. The Hunts' home and lofts were set in the wonderful Surrey countryside, as Dave had been a gamekeeper most of his life. There were rolling hills behind their very neat lofts which were at the bottom of their garden. The main loft was a two section 12 feet x 6 feet and the old birds race to that. The 25 youngsters which they breed each year race to a neat 8 feet x 6 feet loft. Dave said pigeons on natural need quietness and seclusion, so he thinks the nestboxes are the most important factor in good loft design.
The 1980 season was a good one for Dave and Jan winning: (old birds) 4th Kingston Open (640 birds), 1st Monkshill Open (429 birds), 1st club Blandford, 1st & 2nd Addington M/W Weymouth, 1st, 2nd, 4th club, 10th, 14th Federation Blandford, 1st Addington M/W Weymouth, 1st club Weymouth, 1st Addington M/W Weymouth, 2nd, 3rd & 4th club Weymouth, 1st & 2nd club Exeter, 1st, 2nd, 4th Addington M/W Weymouth, 1st Addington M/W Weymouth, 1st, 2nd, 3rd club, 1st Surrey Federation Plymouth, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th Addington M/W Weymouth, 1st club Weymouth, 1st Addington M/W Weymouth (young birds), 1st club Weymouth, 1st & 2nd club Weymouth, 1st, 2nd, 3rd club, 1st, 2nd, 5th Surrey Federation Blandford, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th club, 12th Federation Weymouth, 1st, 4th club, 13th Fed. Exeter, 1st, 3rd club Plymouth. Dave and Jan won six of the seven young bird races with the Dorking Coly and sent one to Palamos with the B.B.C. and recorded 86th Sect. 168th Open.
The partners' old bird Federation winner was the Cattrysse blue hen 'The 13 Hen' and she had to her credit: 1st club Exeter, 1st club, 1st Surrey Federation (2,513 birds) Plymouth. The Hunts only kept 12 pairs of old bird racers and two pairs of stock birds which were paired up at the end of February. They mainly had a go at sprint racing, but said their birds were good up to 450 miles and liked to have a go at Bergerac and Palamos. Dave said he was disappointed at losing his bronze hen which was a daughter of Stan Witts' dark chequer cock 'The Old Man' which won Best in Show at the B.H.W. Blackpool Show of the Year in 1980 and a Spanish diploma with the B.B.C. They said the secret of natural racing is to find out each bird's best condition and work on that to get the best out of them. Dave and Jan's young bird Federation winner was another blue hen called ' The 222' and she won 1st club, 1st Surrey Federation (3,860 birds) Blandford. The loft housed 20 first prize winners and most have won two or more races. One of the loft's stars was the two year old blue cock, 'The Streaker', and he has totted up: 1st club Weymouth (twice), 1st club Blandford, 1st club Exeter, 2nd club Weymouth, 2nd club Blandford (three times), 3rd club Weymouth (three times), 3rd club Exeter, 1st mid week single up Weymouth, a great sprint bird!
The birds were fed on a good balanced mixture and Jan said the birds get no stimulants, but they get Red Band regularly. The young and old birds were trained the same up to 50 miles and the youngsters start slow and steady in 5 mile jumps up to 50 miles. Dave liked to see a nice rich eye sign, as he said, with inbreeding a weak eye shows a weakening trend in the quality of the bird. He said if he had the power he would like the R.P.R.A. to organise liberations to stop clashing and reduce the number of birds in crates for inland races. The partners maintained the biggest mistake made by a lot of fanciers is that they treat their birds like machines instead of flesh and blood, whilst a lot of young bird flyaways are down to overcrowding. They rate C. H. Besant & Sons and the late Gerry Byrne, both of Kingston, as the best Surrey flyers at that time, as they are consistent, which they say is the name of the game. The partners didn’t show much as it seems to affect the birds' performance the following racing season, but Dave was always in demand as a show judge.
That’s it for this week’s article. See yer!
TEXT & PHOTOS BY KEITH MOTT.
9/7/07
