Les J Parkinson - What’s going on this week
I thought we would have a change this week and look at a few recent photos plus the odd ones from years gone by. As the saying goes, every picture tells a story, and I bet a couple of these could very well do just that. I have been writing about how tame young birds can be or in my case until recently, not tame. I suppose in my case they are far better now because I have been handling them a loft for training and now racing purposes. Got a couple of photos of Noah and Oscar Wilkinson with dad Craig’s young birds in the garden, plus there is one of them with their fancy-colored ones. There is also a photo of the boys with the fish they have caught, think that one’s a porky.
Noah and Oscar Wilkinson with dad Craig’s young birds in the garden, plus there is one of them with their fancy-colored ones.
Noah and Oscar Wilkinson with the fish they have caught, think that one’s a porky.
Talk about keeping it in the family Lizzie’s son Philip has been caught feeding the strays at what looks like Lake Windermere. Philip and his brother Reece were brought up around pigeons and they were on both sides of their family. But, like most of the younger generation neither took to pigeons even though they would go to and enjoy the many functions that we attended.
Philip has been caught feeding the strays at what looks like Lake Windermere
Yes, functions for pigeon fanciers, those events we see too little nowadays. I suppose we are all getting older and clubs don’t seem to put the same value on presenting trophies anymore, like they used to do. Having said that there aren’t anywhere near as many clubs as there used to be and we no longer have the members in numbers like there used to be. Racing pigeons was a bit of a heyday in the 60’s 70’s and 80’s when clubs like our own the Middlewich FC, a town that has probably more than doubled in size and probably have less than a quarter the members. I remember one year we were marking for Avranches and I don’t know what happened where the rest of the members were, but I was the only one putting the pigeons through and there were over 200 entering the race, everyone disappeared. I said to Arnie Buckley that they, being Buckley Bros would win the race with I think it was a mealy cock. He asked why that one, I went on to tell him that I had sent my pigeons. As they did in those days on the Mid Cheshire Transporter for a training toss on the Tuesday which was when I saw this cock chasing a blue hen of mine home. As I watched them, they went straight through the bob wires and into the loft and before I could get into the loft he was treading her. I picked him up, obviously after he had enjoyed the company, checked the number and let him go. Like myself he knew where he was going, he never even circled; he went straight home, I think that was in the early 70’s when we were marking at the White Bear, which was probably the best headquarters we had because there were out buildings for marking, no getting wet. The pub also let us have a room inside to have a series of shows. Going back to photos we have the BOP making their presence felt with the young bird team.
Bird of Prey attack at Elimar
There is one of grandad Alan talking to grandson Harvey about the pigeons.
Alan & Harvey
Not sure whether I have used the one of Peter Latham and Mark Smith warming their hands, no doubt taken at the Blackpool show, I wonder if they got any tips (careful).
Good worker.
Every now and then I come across a photo that takes me back a considerable amount of time. One such photo is of, probably, our most efficient and correct official to be at the helm of the Middlewich clubs. The man is the late Alan Groom who was as good as they get when it came to running a club. When I joined the Middlewich FC in 1969 Alan was joint secretary with Roy Smith, two fanciers I did learn a lot from in those early days. In fact, 3yrs later I, along with Bob Machin took on the secretary's position until Bob dropped out a couple of years later. I then took it on for a couple of years before Alan's wife Rhoda took on the job for many years, with Alan as Chairman, positions they held until Rhoda passed away. Not only was he a good official, including being secretary of the strong Middlewich 2B, who boasted some of the best fanciers in Cheshire. In those early days the 2B would attract as many as 100 members with at the height of the club’s glory years there would be 200 plus birds entered for channel racing and when you consider each member could only send two that was some entry. I remember when the late George Stubbs from Sandbach won a race in the club, he said to me, "It's taken me 21yrs to win that race" Anyone who knew George will tell you he was one of the very best whether in the club, fed or National racing. Mind you, there were some good clubs about in those days and top-class fanciers to go with them. Many of today’s fanciers don’t know what they have missed in pigeon racing. As I have said before, times started to change in the 60’s with the glory days for pigeon racing in the 70’s 80’s and part of the 90’s. Again, repeating myself, the sport is more professional, and we have lost most of the fanciers who kept and raced pigeons as a hobby, the fanciers who we needed to keep us going. It takes as much work to win club races today with only a few members as it did in the days of 40/50 members.
The late Alan Groom
National
Almost there and my plans are still to send them to the Old Hen’s National, and I am following my plan to have them to have between 2-to-5-day old youngsters in the nest. How many I will end up sending is another matter. I have ended up with 14 cocks and 23 hens in the old bird team so can afford to send a few hens and if the race is a disaster, I can work the rest into the right sections as pairs. I must admit that the hens have flown much better than the cocks and their exercising around home has been spot on. However, know that the system is being changed for the hen race, they are not exercising anywhere near as good. That’s not too much of a problem because I can train the hens with the young birds, so they are still getting their share of time on the wing. Although everything is still going to plan I am starting to worry that this might not happen, the reason being the hens are dropping flights one after another.
Les J Parkinson. 15 Rushton Drive, Middlewich, Cheshire, CW10 0NJ.
Tel: 01606 836036. Mob: +44 (0)7871 701585.
E-mail:
Web site: http://www.elimarpigeons.com
