LES J. PARKINSON'S
NEWS-REPORTS-ARTICLES
I was talking to a fancier only the other day and he was telling me that he was getting ready to pair up and has had the stock pigeons together in boxes on a couple of occasions and November is not out yet. Mind you I suppose that there are a lot of fanciers in the same position by getting their pigeons ready to breed an early round of young birds that will be bought up on a natural form of darkness. I have said before that when I used to pair up at this time of the year in the 70s the more established fanciers were telling me it is a waste of time yet many of those same fanciers are doing exactly that now. The reason many pair early is because there is so much to be won with young birds. It is a fact that there are many fanciers about who are keen on young bird racing and not greatly interested in old bird racing so if they blow the young birds out in the first year of their life the fanciers concerned are not really bothered. I know that when I have bred early or had them on darkness I have lost far more pigeons than those bred at a more natural time of the year and that is when the wild birds are pairing up.
Names in the sport
I was talking to Philip who now has my stock birds and he likes young bird racing and if all goes well will be racing a few in 2014 but is not greatly interested in racing old birds. He does have the problem of work because in his business of landscape gardening he is limited for time during the summer months when he needs time to spend with the race team. Because Philip was going to race with me we did join the other local club but I think I will be resigning because one weekly club race is enough for me and with Philip contemplating racing on his own just for young bird racing that is. We have discussed this and with ETS and the training system that I now have he will not be tied down to the lofts. At the end of the day he has pigeon racing in his blood with 4 generations that I know of and I think that there is even one further back than that. I have seen fanciers who come from a line of fanciers leave the sport but it is very often there on their minds year after year and when the racing comes around they think even more about the pigeons in their family in years gone by but having said that, only a small percentage come back into the sport. From time to time I see Ken Cookson who said that he very often watches our pigeons flying round but would not contemplate coming back into the sport. Mind you Philip is a different matter because he’s family mum & dad racing as Peter & Dawn Latham, then there’s granddad and aunty Joyce are still into racing pigeons. Sid Latham & Son & Daughter all preceded by John (Jack) Latham & Son who was of course Sid. But now Philip has my stock birds, who knows what he will do in the future?
There is another family in Middlewich who have generations that go back a long way to Slogger Wilkinson who was a real good competitor in the 1920s, then there were Wilkinson Bros plus John Wilkinson who raced on his own and then his son David who now races as DJ&CJ Wilkinson plus we now have another generation with Dickens & Wilkinson. Yet for me as far as I know I am the first in our family but there is one of my sisters whose son Wayne is very keen and he races in Royston. We do have other fanciers in the town whose name has been part of pigeon racing but not as far back. They might do but I don’t know about them but no doubt someone will tell me.
Colostrums
Every now and then there is a line in an article that I write that attracts attention and one such line came up in the report on Rob Bebbington of Winsford. "I don't get young bird sickness. My young birds from when they hatch to when they finish racing are fed colostrums mixed on their food 3 times a week and it’s free from the farmer". This is something that has been used off and on for quite a number of years and is once again in the limelight. "Colostrums" mixed on the feed is and always has been good for the pigeons. There is never going to be year go by without something cropping up for one reason or another and something that has been the subject of pages from the past. Having spent many years farming I have for many years been aware of just how good "colostrums" are as a supplement. The problem we always have is getting hold of it at the right time and keeping the goodness in it for the youngsters. There are plenty of farms about and I dare bet that Rob is not the only fancier who uses this very good product.
Club/Fed news
In the latest show in the Moulton club Mike O'Hare judged an excellent class of young hens that saw Ken & Mike Lamb collect three cards with their team of Dordins, the cards were 1st 4th & Res. Mike always did like a good looker. It was a field day for the Dordins because Mr & Mrs Chris Herbert were 2nd and commended with Reg Sant being 3rd. Very highly commended went to Tracy Molyneux and yes Mike did manage to give the codding card to fellow club members at Middlewich Carol & Robert Carson. The shows are going in a similar direction as the racing and they are reducing in numbers. The local Middlewich club’s have had good show’s over the years and this year it has all come to a head and they have decided that they are only having one show on the 8th December and that will be for the local members and those pigeons entered will be eligible to compete in a race for additional prize money during the racing season. This club has had a good series of shows for many years that have been well supported but times do change and this year they are changing for this club. Where there are fanciers to run events then they will carry on but finding workers to continue is hard work and there are spells where some fanciers do their part and then hand over to others. Taking any job on is easy but keeping it up is another matter because the average age of fanciers are rising but there are still fanciers coming back into the sport when they are getting a little older. These are the ex-fanciers the sport needs to target, the fanciers who are getting nearer to the retiring age and therefore have a bit more time on their hands. We all need something to do otherwise we sit around watching telly and vegetating but there are people who are always looking for something to do and this is where the governing bodies of the sport could do something for the sport. It would be a good idea for the powers that be to task someone to gather names of ex fanciers from clubs around the country. Then for a period of 6 months send them a free copy of the BHW through the post and see if they could get them to regain their past interest in the sport and eventually come back into the fold. In every club there has to be fanciers who know of someone who has raced pigeons and are now looking for an interest in their days of retirement. There are also a lot of disabled people who have had pigeons in the past who could be targeted. Such members could have a free membership or even a part membership to the clubs to help them along. There are always spare clocks clubs in clock cupboards and with the ETS there are members not using many of them. We have to do something for the sport and not work on the basis that some do and that is “The sport will last me out”. Yes it might and it will last me but that is not good enough because I feel that there are still people out there who could enjoy the sport long after we have gone to the racing pigeons up above. Wishful thinking?
Talking of?
As I was writing about missing fanciers from the sport, a text arrived on the mobile from Carl Turner after a phone number. A few texts later he sent me a piece to add to these notes. “Ok, so you are bored of putting fingers to the keyboard for the pigeon fraternity then?? (That I will never be). Well, since my divorce in 2009 and the forced sale of all my pigeons to help line the pockets of my dear ex-wife I had been living out at Woore, on the Cheshire/Shropshire borders, a lovely village and from the rear of our house we had a good outlook south across the fields! I very often sat in the garden watching the racers go over on a Saturday and saw them splitting in the shorter races into Cheshire. Also watching the late arrivals later in the evening whilst often having a BBQ and a few ciders especially in the summer months! I often thought about having a loft down the garden as we had outbuildings that were not used much but then it used to cross my mind about the hassle that may be ahead of me in trying to be accepted into a club because of my previous success in racing when at the farm in Crewe. We all know how unsupportive of new members our 'sporting' colleagues can be when they think that someone is going to take a few prize cards away from them?? I've never understood this because for many years when I first started with my Granddad, John Heath, I used to always listen to the 'best time on the cards', usually read out each week by 'Nobby Clark' after the strike on a Saturday and several flyers were always up there!! I used to look at the trophies on the table before presentation night and I remember the 'Points Trophy' in Coppenhall FC had Mellor Bros engraved on it year after year!! This never deterred me, it only made me want to learn more and so I did. I went to Belgium, Holland and France and spoke to many fanciers and took tips/loft design/feeding techniques etc from each of them. Also from fanciers over here too including the late Stuart Hart, younger brother of my good friend Wilf, Stuart being one of the most unorthodox fanciers you could ever meet; more about Stuart later or another time. From this I created a system and designed my own lofts which went on to be arguably the best in Cheshire at the time. We broke all the club and federation records for both local federations and went on to represent Great Britain at the Ostend Olympiad in 2007, winning RPRA awards and more important to me was to have our name on this club points trophy repeated several times after the Mellor Bros and to accumulate the most points ever in a season in the clubs history!! This because the Mellor Bros for me were the most consistent fanciers in our clubs and so were fanciers I wanted to aspire to. So, since the sale of my birds I've stayed in touch with some fanciers, been to the Blackpool Show, a couple of One Loft Races and still call over to Mick Barlow up in Blackpool a few times each year. He's another top back garden fancier who works and tends his pigeons with some good success, well he sort of works?!?! Spins round Blackpool in a taxi now and then and did you know he delivers a lot of drugs all over Blackpool too!!! Yes he does but only legal stuff from chemists to people who need them most and not to the local crack heads!! Have I missed having pigeons you may ask? To be honest the true answer is yes and no!! I miss the closeness of them, the loyalty of them and the calming nature they gave to me after a stressful day at work. Loyalty beyond belief and better than most women can ever offer you! But I don't miss the training!!!! Racing pigeons are so fearless, so courageous and have to endure a tough life when you think about it! Rigorous exercise, sent off in wagons, bumping about for hours on end before having to fly back home, avoiding predators, inclement weather and other unpredictable occurrences just to fly back home to their beloved and a tray full of corn?!! I hope I don't come back in my next life as a racing pigeon that's for sure!!? Maybe one day in the future I will set up again and have another dabble with our feathered friends but for now I want to spend more time with my kids, my new partner and enjoy more holidays and have a bit of time for myself. Speaking of holidays, we have just booked to fly to Dubai soon and then onto Mauritius for 12 nights, bring it on!! All this whilst you lads and lasses prepare for breeding, letting one pair out then another, ha ha whilst I have one cocktail at the pool bar and then another and maybe another!? All the best anyway to you all and I will maybe follow this up with another little letter for you to read when I have the time?! Cheers.”
Thanks Carl, so you do still have pigeons at the back of your mind and more time to think about them. A fancier many years ago once said to me that since he left the sport he had thought about them more than ever and realised where he had made mistakes. Those mistakes he rectified in his own mind but sadly he passed away so never came back into the sport that he had thought so much about. Anyway Carl, we are always here for a few words while you are sitting down with a glass of wine.
Photo
Had a good photo sent to me by the now husband who had waited 20yrs to marry Michelle. The wedding was even planned outside of the racing season so that it did not interfere with racing the pigeons. This is Ann Smith as the vast majority will not have seen her before and not likely to see her again with daughter Michelle. I am also told that there were a few tears with now son-in-law not knowing if they were joy or disappointment. He has also said that he will suffer the consequences of a rare photo of Ann appearing in the magazine or in fact anywhere from what I can gather. All the bets to the happy couple for the future.
See text
Les J.Parkinson. Elimar, 11 Rushton Drive, Middlewich, Cheshire, CW10 ONJ. Tel/Fax; 01606 836036. Mobile 07871 701585
