LES J. PARKINSON
The climate change could very well be a part of the trouble in the pigeon world because instead of the cold weather over winter killing bugs off, we have mild weather and growth where we don’t want it. Most of the winter is spent in comparatively mild damp weather and that sees growth in many things, that should be killed off over the winter months such as we used to have. Nature has always looked after itself and with the changing times I don’t think it is coping. I do feel that this is affecting our pigeons and they are sometimes suffering health wise. When we had the cold frosty weather with lots of snow on the ground, we didn’t have some problems with pigeons like they do today. We might think, is that a coincidence or not, when in fact we will probably not know but it does make you wonder. When I used to breed early, I watched young birds grown well in cold snow-covered ground. Even “Elimar Joe 90” probably the best pigeon I ever owned was bred on a ledge next to the bob wires and 6 inches of snow. I still feel that the cold weather killed a lot of the things that cause health problems but now we don’t have that then we are stuck with problems with our pigeons year after year. Anyone born this side of say 1963 missed out on the winters of snow and how we used to make slides in the snow on the road. Might sound bad but in my school days in the 50’s there were not so many cars about, now the roads are jam packed all day long.
Days gone by.
Talking about the past when I was rooting out some items that were no longer required, I came across some good old photos. One being of a prize presentation when I was secretary of the Mid Cheshire Fed. Compared to most of today’s club and fed presentations they were in a different world. We would have in excess of 200 for the Fed presentation and a TV artist to present the prizes. Yes, there were more fanciers about then than there are today, having said that there are still plenty about, but the majority don’t appear to want to go to such events. We had one of the top presenters from Granada Reports, plus a comedian known as the Matchstick Man. We were also lucky to have the excellent comedian George Roper living in Holmes Chapel, so he came along to one presentation. We had some real good events the RHM Club, but the event was moved from there to our local headquarters when it shouldn’t have been, but it was. Talking about our presentations I came across one of the late frank Garner who was a very good fancier and worked for the local clubs. The Social side of pigeon racing has always been good in some areas and to be fair to the ladies who put up with fanciers running around after their pigeons throughout the year.
This is from the Mid cheshire Fed taken in the early 80's.
Ponderosa
Many years ago, we were invited to the Ponderosa in Holland and what a good trip it was. This was where we had the pleasure of meeting a real nice fancier, if my memory serves me right, he was the manager for the Ponderosa. His name was Frank Dokman seen in the photo handling one of the best pigeons that has ever been in my hands, the pigeon being the original legendary “James Bond”. Frank was treated as a member of the Eijerkamp family and dearly loved by Mrs Eijerkamp. It was a sad occasion when he was killed in a road accident, a similar also saw the youngest member of the Eijerkamp family leave this world a few years later.
The late Frank Dokman from the Ponderosa.
BBC
We went down to the BBC marking one year and they had advertising on baskets which is a good idea, I was asked if I wanted one, so I did. At each marking event they have a draw for the advertisers I think it was £100. The draw was made by the then General Manager of the RPRA Peter Bryant. As Jim Hooper called the winning number out, I looked and at Elizabeth and said it was mine, I had won on my first attempt and won the £100, I must admit I did wonder what the rest thought of my winning.
Jim Hooper and Peter Bryant at the BBC draw which your's truly won.
Moving on to Malta.
The Island of Malta is the place we have visited most times after Belgium. While out there we became good friends with the Micalef family and visited them several times. Head of the household at the time was the late Freddie (see photo) who was such a nice chap as was his good lady, real nice people. Freddie was very good for racing pigeons on the Island, at the time many attributed the success of the sport on such a small Island to what Freddie did at the time. We had some real good times while visiting Malta and met many genuine people who made us so welcome.
LJP and the late Freddie Micalef of Malta
BICC Barnton
Had a call from Geoff Bebbington about the inclusion of the Barnton marking station for the BICC. Although it is early in the year, he has had a few calls about it from fanciers who wish to complete in the club. I also had a call and a good conversation with a fancier who is looking to join the club. He was saying is it worth fanciers in the North West joining a club whose aim is International racing. I was pointing out to him that no matter where you live in the country there is every chance that there will be a race one day that will suit you. When that day comes you need to have entered their birds into the race and receive your rewards. You only need look at the National, over the years there have been winners from most parts of the country. I have also heard fanciers saying something like, “Wish I had entered the winners was down the road from me and I beat them most weeks” Yes, exactly, they have competed while you have left your birds at home, they have achieved what you could very well have done. This business of not competing in the Nationals because you think your birds are not good enough is just an excuse. If you don’t venture out of your own back garden, you are never going to know how good your pigeons are. If you are in the North West here is your chance to compete at least have a go at the International races. Always remember if enough fanciers have a go, one or more of those fanciers is going to achieve results that they have only been dreaming of for years. If you are interested in this worthwhile venture they are having a meeting on the16th February at the Barn Owl, Barnton commencing at 2pm.
SWC&DF
My last look for this week into the past is the South West Cheshire & District Federation. I don’t know where it came from, but I have a membership card for the fed from 1958. The race programme was Hereford, 2 x Bath, 2 x Templecombe, Christchurch, Dol, Rennes, Nantes, Rockfort which was an open. The young birds went to, Leominster, Hereford, 2 x Bath, Templecombe and 2 x Christchurch. From those race points Hereford and Bath are still used today but none of the others. Syd Latham was once telling me about Dol and Rochfort and we used to race Rennes & Nantes where I had a few good races from. The words that made me laugh were, “Then forward to Crewe Station” I remember being on the back of a van taking the 2B to Elworth station but don’t remember them going to Crewe. For the open race they used to mark them with one rubber at the club and then when they arrived at the station, they were rubbered a second time. They had to time both rubbers.
Success.
Here in the UK if you are successful you can very often be on a loser? Before going any further this question arose during a conversation with one of the most knowledgeable pigeon fanciers I know. We were discussing how success can bring you trouble, “WHY” because there are some “Green Eyed Monsters” out there who are jealous of your success and they will go out of their way to knock you. You are not successful at anything without putting a lot of time and effort into what you have chosen to do. Look at what has happened to some fanciers, birds stolen, lofts burnt down, not what we want in the sport. A lot of the problems we have are caused by “Keyboard Warriors” you know, the people who sit on their PC with a lot to say, hiding away, mostly because they are not achievers themselves. Over the years we at Elimar have had our fair share of this but we just put up with it and carry on. We hear a lot in the news about what has or hasn’t been said about someone and it is about someone who is successful. Someone has seen the £££ signs rolling along and either want a bit of it or they are jealous, and usually get their figures wrong. This does affect our sport because many don’t like to see winner’s which is a shame because most pigeon fanciers are genuine people who just want to carry on racing their pigeons and enjoy their hobby. What I say is, “Anyone can be successful if they work hard at it and don’t expect everything to go their way without putting the effort into whatever they choose to do. Success can be there for everyone; all you need to do is earn it” The one thing I like about America is they want the Dream and work for it. They get on with it, they like success. Racing pigeons is a great hobby that is seeing a decrease in numbers on a yearly basis, don’t spoil it for others, enjoy the sport, it is worth the time and effort you put in. Whether you win or lose if you enjoy doing what you are doing, what else do you need. Although I no longer have pigeon’s myself, I still talk to fanciers on a daily basis and get to know what’s happening in many lofts. You can bet your life that if one is having problems then others are also going to be in the same position. There are always “the have” and “the have not’s” those who are having problems in the loft and those who are not. I talk to a couple of fanciers on a regular basis and I have seen fanciers pulling their hair out for week’s because their pigeons are not performing as they would like them too. One has the pigeons looking in top form, but they are not performing on the road, he started the season being within a few minutes of the winners and considering the size of his set up and numbers kept was, in my opinion flying a good pigeon. But as the races progressed, they went further behind and he became disheartened. Through our conversations I gather the pigeons were healthy, he had them tested in Colchester and the reports were good, a slight problem that would not stop the pigeons but nothing major and that was soon cleared up. He was only racing a handful of pigeons to a small loft so kept the same pigeons on the go. Probably through inexperience he had not picked up on them needing a rest for a couple of days in the early part of the week. Through inexperience many fanciers push their pigeons too hard when they could probably do with a break. This is something that we have all done it at some time or another because we want to keep racing the pigeons. I would suspect that next year when he has the new loft that he promised himself, and a few more birds he will be in a better position to build up a team as long as he is patient with the young birds. This is where some fanciers never get a team of old birds together because they push the young birds too far too early on and then never have enough to build a team for the old bird season. The other fancier is of long standing and knows what the game is all about but cannot get his birds to the top of the list. He has his pigeons tested on a more than regular basis and they are nearly always in good health and no problems. The only thing that I can put his lack of consistency near the top is because there is a problem within the lofts. He has spent a lot of money on testing, to find next to nothing, they have been trained and they are looking a picture of health. With that in mind the only other reason that comes to mind why they are not right is the loft. I have watched and spoken too other fanciers who are the opposite, their pigeons are in good health, they never have them tested and are winning or in the prizes nearly every week. Pigeon racing is a funny old game, you never know when you are doing the right thing, even when they are winning, because at some point they will fall behind and leave you scratching your head.
Let’s have a few more ideas on how fanciers race their birds starting with a past National winner Nobby & Michael Henley.
(Michael) When l won the y/b Nat one of our club members who has now passed away said to Nobby he had seen a batch of 400 going over dropping out everywhere. (Nobby) Well where they went, I have no idea they must have disappeared because Michael was miles in front. The next bird to Michaels was 15mins behind and that was in Bristol there were no pigeons about. (Michael) Like Nobby’s bird when he was 8th open in the Nat the next to him was 200 miles east the bird was completely on his own. David May pointed out that what made this that bit more special was the fact that this was the fancied pigeon, the one that was pooled and won £2005. l have got two performances of my loft when l raced in the Wales and West y/b race Nantes 250mls to us called the Cabanna Sponsored by a drinks firm. l sent 2 birds it was a West gale so l thought they would disappear, and l would never see them again. I stood in front of the bungalow and 2 birds came over the roof and one hit the first sputnik in the y/b section and caught himself on the corner and ended up in the old bird section he was blown over. One was a Blue and one was a Cheq and l had sent these colours, then suddenly realised that the Cheq was my pigeon. In the end l got the bird in and timed it Brian Shepperd in Wiltshire had 8 in the first 12 and one bloke in Bristol and l was beaten by 1yd a min and l won the T V Video and all pools £250. (Les) They are obviously very good pigeons. We have always been pleased with the pigeons and it is reflected in the fanciers who have had them from us over the years. LJP. When I was at the Henley lofts, I took a tape with me and recorded a lengthy conversation. I got one of the girls to type it out and when I read it and sent it to Nobby & Michael they asked me to leave certain parts out which I did. The conversation was based on how they saw the sport and the way it is going, what they were saying is how the sport has gone and as they said there are a lot of changes that need doing. Some fanciers have good ideas and can foresee the way things are going but people don’t want to know so they keep their views to themselves which is not what we want to happen in pigeon racing.
The next fancier is Chris Knowles.
How do you race your pigeons and how many do you have and in what design and size of loft.
All my best achievements have been with widowhood cocks and youngsters, where the youngsters were flown on a controlled light system, with the odd success with celibate hens at the 300 to 400-mile mark. When I say widowhood, the cocks racing in top distance events would not see their hens before a race, nor would they be in the box on return. Hens are a reward for the cock after his return home, a drink and a little seed. Cocks for distance are always prepared on fitness and the love of home. This same principle is applied to young birds. When it comes to the numbers flown, when in partnership I had 36 race cocks of which 12 to 14 would be yearlings and the rest of the team experienced and proven performers. Now I have 16 widowhood cocks of which 6 to 8 are yearlings. All the best distance results have been achieved with cocks that did not rear a youngster and in most cases were not paired before racing. To practice this type of system you must have a strong stock loft with a sound breeding plan in place.
Chris & Karen Knowles see notes from reports of the past
I asked the same question of Mike Staddon
I race mainly widowhood cocks and hens. In fact, in 2004 I will be racing all my hens for the first time over the last few seasons. I have gradually disposed of all the hens I couldn’t race and reduced my numbers by over half. I also race roughly six pairs on natural, not for any particular race or races but because they are exceptionally keen on the nest and for no other reason. In fact, a good natural cock or hen are a match for any widowhood pigeon in their day. I don’t pair up pigeons for distance races. If they are good at widowhood, they stay on it for all races and likewise with the widowhood hens I don’t race cocks or hens every week, on average every two week’s maximum. The hens I race are on pure widowhood, not on roundabout although you can race widowhood cocks to the bowls and no contact with their hens. I have found it is quite the reverse racing hens on widowhood as I have found they certainly need to see their cocks before any race. I decided to race hens for two reasons, one being breeding. I found I was breeding out of too many untried hens and the quality of young birds out of the racing hens was, in my opinion, much superior. The young birds from the racers are now, in my opinion superior and race well, the other reason I was wasting too many good hens. It got to the point that I thought the hens were superior to the widowhood cocks so it was in a way forced on me, but I will say it’s not easy racing hens on widowhood. You must exercise them every day or toss them regularly which means twice as much work what with the cocks to exercise as well, not to mention the youngsters, but I have found a system that works well. I exercise the hens in the morning for 11/2 hours to 2 hours or they have a toss. The young birds have an open loft from approximately 9am to 4pm and then I exercise the cocks for 11/2 to 2 hours in the evenings and overall it works well. I must emphasise that they go out in virtually any weather. I will also mention that the naturals and the widowhood pigeons are in the same section. They are raced separately, which will make a few fanciers raise their eyebrows, but it works. This season I will be racing 30 cocks and 30 hens in the old bird races. I love racing young birds as I think it’s the farthest racing for novices or top flyers a like if you are prepared to work at it. I personally fly young birds on the darkness system; it’s the only way in my opinion. I will keep 50 youngsters to race in 2004. I darken the youngsters from March 1st to June 13 hours in the dark, 11 hours of daylight.
Les J Parkinson. 11 Rushton Drive, Middlewich, Cheshire, CW10 0NJ. 01606836036 Mobile 07871701585. Email
