Les J Parkinson.
What’s on my mind this week.
Early days.
When I first started racing there were names in the sport that I took to for one reason or another. One was the legendary Geoff Kirkland who was the one who I saw most featuring on the National results, and he had 11 x 1st Nationals to his credit. I was fortunate enough to be in this gentleman’s company to discuss pigeons or did have a conversation with him on the phone many times. Everyone I spoke to about Geoff had the same view of him and that was he was a true Gentleman of pigeon racing in the UK. When Geoff passed away earlier this year many would have thought that the Kirkland name would not be seen on the National results again. I was pleased to hear that was not the case because wife Barbara is going to continue to race the pigeons which is good news because the legend remains a part of our sport. As many will know, for many years National racing has been my aim which is why the Kirkland name stood out to me. Someone to aspire to, someone who had been at the front for so many years, someone who did not let the fame of National wins change him, someone who helped me on many occasions through the fund raising that we have done over many years, someone not to be forgotten.
Another name that was prominent when I first started was that of Eddie Froggatt, a known National flier and one who attended evenings on the panel for me when I held functions. I don’t know why but from day one his name stuck in my mind and has never gone away even though he is no longer with us. As is the case with the Kirkland name, the Froggatt name will appear in my mind for many years to come. A part of that is because Eddie’s wife Julia is going to carry on racing, and will no doubt continue to keep the name on the results of the NFC where it has appeared so often in the past.
I had heard that Barbara and Julia were going to race together but I suspect they are too far apart for that to happen, so I look forward to seeing the names appear on the results of the Nationals for the 2025 season onwards.
Decline
Pigeon racing cannot keep on the downward spiral that it has been experiencing for many years, but I like many more in the sport I cannot see the trend being reversed. Paul Dewsnap called me one night and we were talking about the sport and how we had the best years of racing pigeons in the 70/80’s. I say that period because that was when we all started to be on a more or less level playing field. The working man was no longer being left behind, more and more were having cars that allowed them to train their pigeons. The days of pigeon baskets on the back of bicycles were on their way out. The late Alan Groom took his training on the back of his moped until the police stopped him one day and told him the baskets on the back were not safe. That was about the time Fred Hollinshead started to help Alan out and train them for him.
I think the downfall came when the price of everything to do with the sport started to increase and racing pigeons started to hit the pockets even harder. This brought about a change of direction for many, especially those with a growing family. At this stage many decided it was time to leave pigeon racing behind and move on. On a brighter side there are fanciers who have since rejoined the ranks of pigeon fanciers since their family have grown up and moved on. We see this with Elimar where a few fanciers are coming back into pigeon racing now that they have time on their hands. This is where the sport needs to press forward and encourage past fanciers to rejoin our sort/hobby.
Regarding Elimar, a few years ago we were being pressured into increasing the starting bid of pigeons for sale to a minimum of £100. That was never going to happen because we are always trying to keep everyone involved and buying pigeons should be within their pocket range and a staring bid of £50 gives everyone a chance. At the end of the day whether you pay £50 or £500 for a pigeon they both have the same chance to breed winners. We can’t always select pigeons to breed winners no matter how good we think we are.
I have spoken to many fanciers about breeding, and most are honest and say it is more luck than judgment. I was once told that you need to breed at least 6 off a pair to have a chance of finding that good one, the exceptional racer/breeder. There are of course the times when we hit gold and that one from six comes in the first nest, so we breed more off that particular pair and never find another winner.
Racing pigeons have become big business with hundreds of thousands of pounds spent every year on bringing in new stock. Fanciers in the UK who spend that kind of money are few and far between thankfully. The vast majority of UK fanciers are levelheaded and aware that through hard work with the pigeons you can find the good ones without moving into the millionaire’s bracket. I need to add that we at Elimar have had more than our share of big sales and supply pigeons for and from both ends of the market. I strongly believe that helps a lot of fanciers and keeps a few in the sport, they can afford the lower end and that’s where many good pigeons are found.
Anyway, that’s another story, the sport needs all the help it can get to keep fanciers racing their pigeons.
Photo
Elizabeth’s grandson was up in the Lake District and experienced the number of pigeons in with the wild birds that are wanting to be fed. Not sure whether they should be fed as it encourages more to appear. Looking at it from another point of view and that is as long as they are being fed there is less chance of them falling ill and spreading disease.
Philip feeding pigeons.
Les Parkinson. 11 Rushton Drive, Middlewich, Cheshire, CW10 0NJ.
Tel: +44 (0)1606 836036. Mob: +44 (0)7871 701585.
E-mail:
Web site: http://www.elimarpigeons.com
