The Green’s of Runcorn
with Les J Parkinson
This report is probably not as old as some I have resurrected but nevertheless it is over 20yrs since I wrote it on a family who were always dedicated to pigeons whether racing them or on the official side of the sport. With bringing out these reports there may be the odd one that I have done since I first wrote them.
Part one. Lol Green of Runcorn
The heading might seem a bit odd to some but there is always madness in the method as they say because on this occasion there is a good reason for doing it. The reason is that Lol Green has flown a good pigeon for many year’s and during the last 8 yrs or so when we have clocked one on the result from Pau you can bet your life that Lol had one in front of us and when you consider that our best was 45th Open you can appreciate how good his results have been. Then when you think that you only have the one to beat up pops his brother Jim who along with wife Margaret have also got in on the act with some excellent results in recent years. It is now a toss up which one is going to get one in the clock first so for this report I shall cover both even if it means that the Ed has to use two editions to get it all published. I did not anticipate a loft report on these fanciers until I was in conversation with Mike Shepherd regarding future loft reports. Mike asked the question “How far do you live from Lol Green” to which I replied “Not all that far, it’s maybe 30 to 40mins away”. So after talking about not just Lol but also Jim & Margaret the decision was made to compile a complete report on the “Green’s of Runcorn”. This was by no means my first contact with the family because Jim & Margaret are members of the Western Region and over the years have been seen in many places where the action is in the pigeon world. In fact it was Mike O’Grady of Meadowbank with whom I first met Jim & Margaret because they have known each other for many years. Then over the next few year’s we crossed paths for various reasons and got to know each other better so with this report I shall be in a much better position to pass comment on how successful the Greens of Runcorn are when it comes to racing their pigeons or even their other interests within the sport.
Lol, Margaret Jim Green
Let’s start with Lol whose father Richard and his Uncle Ebb kept short distance racing pigeons which were better known in those days as short diggers. In the 1930’s and were very successful at winning lot’s of races. Green Snr died in 1937 after a long illness which left Uncle Ebb and brothers George and Jim to form a partnership just after the war, they carried on the winning form that had been with them for many years. Lol has always been involved with pigeons since the early age of nine, keeping his first pigeons in orange boxes on the back yard wall, that is something I have heard on many occasion’s. Along with Brother Jim they started a partnership in 1952, flying as Green Bros when they purchased pigeons from a well-known fancier called John Molloy these being from the old Logan Strain which at the time was very successful. John was a very successful and respected fancier and it was from him that they gained a lot of knowledge on how to prepare pigeons for the long distance events, namely Pau. After finishing his Army service Lol purchased 3 pigeons from the entire clearance sale of Mr Clarance Cole who had passed away. These three pigeons were of the W/T Rimer Barker Strain and the blood still runs through Lol’s loft to the present day. Lol like every other fancier has made lots of mistakes over the years, but like any good fancier keep’s going and along the way tries not to make the same one’s twice. His most important lesson learned as a novice was not to keep to many pigeons in one section. I was quite pleased to call in on Lol because these lofts are so well known for the distance performances and when you enter the rear garden you can see that nothing else is considered other than the pigeons and their welfare. That isn’t to say that the rear of the house is not looked after because it is a very tidy set up that any fancier would be pleased with. Near enough the whole area is flagged and kept very clean with a rather large bath set into the flags. The pigeons all looked so well and I was pleased to see that Lol still had the odd pigeon in his loft down from “Elimar Joe 90” one of which is a cracking Blue w/f Hen that Lol rather fancies. It is also evident that Lol is a pigeon fanatic and even admitted that his good lady does comment from time to time about the time that he spends with the birds (pigeons). I passed comment about this being a distance loft but we must remember that Lol has had his days with the sprinters and does have the odd VDB in the loft that he has sent to the 400ml plus races. It was fascinating to hear some of Lol’s stories and his time in the sport, which goes like this.
“In 1956 I was demobbed from the army. On returning home I found my brothers George and Jim had decided to go their own separate ways, and divided the team between them. I joined forces with brother Jim, but I was determined to create a team of pigeons that could win any competition. Brother Jim was married by this time and had a mortgage, so cash was very tight. I myself was single so was able to afford to buy quite a large amount of timber from Bob Rhodes a friend of ours, who worked on the railways. I paid £12 for enough timber to build a 12’ x 6’ loft with 3’ x 3’ spars and 6’ x 1’ boards, what a great shed this was. We had asbestos corrugated sheets on the roof, the ventilation was perfect. We decided to erect this shed in brother Jim’s back yard. I purchased pigeons from the late Wilf Bowden of Mossbank, Widnes, these being the Ghost Strain. These birds started to win the first year we purchased them. I became good friends with Wilf and rated him a top class pigeon man. One day I went to see my old friend John Molloy who had moved house from Hough Green to Highfield Road in Widnes. He had erected the most beautiful loft I had ever seen, behind the Horse & Jockey pub. I decided I would have a loft like that one day. Well in 1958 we also had to move house that being my mother and sister, the area was under redevelopment. In early 1959 I heard Mr Molloy was leaving the sport so I immediately went to see him and made an agreement to pay him £50 for the loft and two pair of pigeons. I paid this off £10 a month. I was working shift work at I.C.I at the time so I started working as much overtime as I could to pay this £50 off. I wanted to erect this loft at our new house, but to my dismay found it much too large for the garden. I was at this time making friends with one of the nicest pigeon men you could ever wish to meet, his name was Mr Frank Riley, a true gentleman. This man helped me in securing an allotment next to his and this is where I erected my new loft at St. Michael’s Road in the Ditton area. Frank and I became good friends over the years, and we spent many happy hours in the shed by the fire talking pigeons. Two other fanciers I had high regard for were Jos and Ted Williams, who had an allotment a few hundred yards away. These two brothers and Frank Riley put up some great performances. Jack Riley another great pigeon man (Frank’s brother) put us all to shame one year by taking cards in every inland race with 6 yearling cocks, he was dabbling in Widowhood method, and he got it off to a fine method. He paid attention to detail and done very well. A little story that may be of interest to some of the old Ditton & District Homing Society members about Frank Riley’s Moscovey Ducks.
About August 1962 I was in conversation with Arthur Mellor and his friend Tommy Eustace who came from St.Helens, sitting by his side was a beautiful black greyhound bitch. It came about that Tommy wanted rid of her, but also wanted her to go to a good home. I ended up taking her home with me. I took her to the allotments one Sunday morning and let her roam free inside. I decided to let the pigeons out for a bath, I was sat down on a bench with the dog lying down at the side of me, suddenly she was u p and had one of the birds in her mouth and killed it. She was so quick, I was taken by surprise. I never let her near the pigeons again. Anyway, Frank’s two ducks used to fly from the allotments every day to a pond half a mile away, staying on the pond all day and flying back to the allotments at night. One Saturday night, I decided to leave Daisy the dog at the allotments, so I made sure she has a nice straw bed to lie on and plenty of water and then I headed for the New Inn pub to have a few pints of medicine. Next day I was up early and went straight down to the allotment when I unlocked the gate and went in I couldn’t believe what I saw. There were four webbed feet sticking through the soil, Daisy had killed and buried them. I just couldn’t believe it. Well I waited a few days before I broke the news to Frank, he was a bit upset at first, but came round a bit later on, saying “you’ll have to get rid of that bloody dog, it will have the pigeons next’, little did he know it already had. I put the choker chain on Daisy intending to go back home and feed her, but she slipped the chain and was away like a black flash up St.Micheal Road, she couldn’t half move. I never saw her from that day on. By this time brothers George and Jim decided to get rid of the pigeons and bring them up to my loft, at the same time John Molloy had sent 22 birds off his old strain back to him, so he brought these up to my loft. John told me to keep what I wanted and give the rest to the fanciers in Ditton. Well you can imagine the only place I could put them was in my loft, which was already over crowded. It was the biggest mistake I ever made, after sorting them all out over a period of weeks, and reducing the numbers, I went into the loft one morning and found a lot of pigeons had contracted the dreaded pox. It was the first time I had seen this and wasn’t sure at the time what it really was. So I sent the Old Bricoux Mealy Cock to Harkers Hospital, this cost me £6 which was quite a lot then, they sent it back after 4 weeks supposed to be cured. After a couple of days the growths in the mouth started growing again, so I killed the Mealy Cock ignorant to the fact that I could have cured it knowing what I know now. Brother Jim still kept coming up nearly every day, and I started to see that all the hard work I had put in with them was starting to show through. We started showing form over the Channel by taking 2nd Rennes and 3rd Nantes.
The young bird team flew very consistent, and I could tell that something was on the boil. I think it was in 1964/1965 or early 1966 we got notice to quit off the allotments. I married my lovely wife in February 1963 and purchased our house in March 1964, thinking I would be left in my pigeon man’s paradise forever more, what a blow this was to me, because I really knew the birds was ready to do business. I then decided that brother Jim could take everything and acquire an allotment at West Bank, which he did, directly behind the Swan Pub (how convenient). He carried on with them and we flew as Green Bros. I couldn’t get down to West Bank as often as I would have liked but I kept in touch with everything by being voted secretary, which I thoroughly enjoyed. I was tutored for this post once again by John Molloy. What a loss this man was to the sport when he definitely made up his mind not to have anything more to do with pigeons.
I came to live in Runcorn in 1976 and started racing pigeons in 1978. I have had some great pigeons while I have been in the sport but none like my champion ‘Lol’s Pride’. When he won club Niort and 3rd Cheshire Plains Fed, he dropped in as if he had flown Hereford not a feather out of place. I marked him down for Pau the following year. I sent him NFC Nantes 1986 in between eggs, he obliged by taking 102nd Open Nantes 10,032 birds 12th Sec 1278 birds 424 miles. I then left him to complete his cycle hatching one egg up and sent to Pau feeding a 14 day old youngster, and looking at this hen again, this in my opinion is the best condition for any cock flying long distances. I prefer this condition more so than widowhood, even though I have good results flying widowhood. While he was on his cycle hatching up I let him free fly every morning and late evening, replenishing his galipot with fresh food morning and evening. This being a racing mix with beans added. After his youngster hatched up eight days old his ceres used to turn a deep pink, he then used to change colour, the Cheq used to turn the deepest black, he looked entirely different. This is when I knew he was ready for the job. He was truly a Champion. I could tell you lot more about him but people may think I am exaggerating, maybe one day I will write a book about him. I do know for sure, behind every successful fancier is a very understanding wife like mine. One of the saddest days of my life was this year in April when I found “Pride” dead on his nest pan. I cried my eyes out. There was some sort of bond between the two of us. The most respected fanciers I have met were my Uncle Ebb and John Molloy. I will close now wishing everyone all the very best”. Lol brought back a few memories of when I was about ten years old because he got on about the old orange boxes that he used to use. I think in those days it was a case of make the most of what was available and fanciers obtained a few of those for their nest boxes or as in the case of George Walton a few old tea chests.
Lol also pointed out that he graduated to an old set of drawers that his mother threw out, these were converted into a home for a pair of pigeons who appeared to think it was the best home any pigeon could have they were so contented. The main racing loft Lol now has is L shaped made of wood with four sections, two sections for 24 widowhood cocks, one section for widowhood hens and the other for youngsters which is split into two, all with open door trapping. Lol also have a 14 x 7 Petron loft with an aviary for a team of 24 pairs of stock this loft is ideal and the aviary has a grilled floor. Loft Design, this should be of good sound construction made of wood and proper four-wall ventilation are all important factors for a good winning loft.
Lol stood outside the lofts
These lofts did not smell of pigeons like so many that we have visited and I was not even wearing a mask which I usually do and still did not taste the pigeons. The stock birds are paired up the 2nd week in December while the race team are left until the 14th February or the nearest Saturday to that date. The breeding methods that Lol likes to use are to inbreed and line breed, crossing in sometimes with a new introduction. Over the years Lol has cultivated his own strain of birds a period spanning over forty years, so they are now like peas in a pod, once you have handled one you have handled the lot as the saying goes. What he looks for in a long distance racing pigeon is a medium size with plenty of length, apple bodied long cast with a nice tight vent and balance but the most important feature the pigeon must have is plenty of feathering on the keel, so you have to dive through the feathers to see the keel. This he feel is very important and as we are all well aware it has stood the test of time with this loft so who can argue. The race team consists of 24 widowhood cocks, 12 going alternate weeks most of the team have three to four channel races. The one’s’ selected for the long distance events has one club channel race then sent to the big one. They all have 6 training flights up to thirty miles then no more training; this may alter slightly if Lol considers it necessary to get that bit more fitness into the birds. Young birds are always a different proposition as they are trained as often as Lol can get them down the road. If the youngsters are too advanced in the moult they are held back so that there is no damage done. To check if the pigeons are in form Lol always looks at the ceres which turn to pink and the pigeon changes colour (think about that one). The feeding systems that we use are very important and to help him reach his goal Lol feeds Bosmolan Super PLX via the hopper. In keeping with the rules of our governing body Lol vaccinate all birds every year for P.M.V. Just before I started to compile this article I was in conversation with a fancier regarding the vaccination programme and our thoughts are much the same with the question arising on how many fanciers vaccinate all their birds. Or do we need to give them a yearly dose, do we need to vaccinate the stock birds or in fact how many fanciers do that in the first place. Now that the subject has gone much quieter with fanciers getting used to the idea of the yearly vaccination anyway that’s another story lets get back to the loft report. The birds also get the addition of the Gem Products range that are proving so successful i.e.Trikanox, Gemthepax & Strike plus Norvet’s P.L.G. (but Lol does stress that there is no way that you can get winners out of a bottle). The lofts are cleaned out twice each day during the racing season but only once a day in closed season. As fare as his work is concerned Lol is employed as a day service man on the Giant CM2 plant at I.C.I Rocksavage with his hours of employment being 7.40am till 3.50pm. This working pattern allows Lol to have the birds out at first light during racing with all the chores that Lol has around the lofts being finished by 7.15am.
With regards to EYESIGN Lol does like to see a nice nut brown eye, however Lol is a firm believer that it is what’s between those eyeballs that is more important that is what makes the winners.
On the WING THEORY Lol likes the racers going to big events carrying a full wing, but after saying that his good “Champion Blue Boy” cast two fights in each wing on the morning he was put in the basket for Pau.
Most fanciers would not entertain sending a pigeon in that condition but Lol had faith in the pigeon to send him and was rewarded with 34th Open, 1st Sec L. He was then sent back 10 days later to Bordeaux scoring 23rd Sec L. Lol believes that casting two flights in both wings is a sure sign of the pigeon coming into super form, but does point out that this is his humble opinion but then again how can you argue when the job is successfully done. To be successful you have to be dedicated and pay attention to detail and not to be afraid of hard work because that is what pigeon racing entails. The pigeon that really made the name Lol Green famous is of course “Lol’s Pride” whose performances are, 2nd sec 114th Open NFC Pau 698mls 5,465 birds, 47th sec Nantes NFC 1134 birds 424mls, 9th sec 296th Open NFC Pau 4502 birds, 2nd sec 86th Open Nantes NFC 10,573 birds, 3rd Sec 32nd Open Pau 5333 birds, 1st sec 3rd Open Pau 4585 birds, 12th sec 102nd Open Nantes 10,032 birds, 1st club 3rd Cheshire Plains Fed Niort, 2nd Rennes, 4th Rennes and this great pigeon could also get in amongst them on the land races with 1st club 2nd Fed Chepstow, 3rd Hereford, 4th Weymouth, 2nd Chepstow, . Also a winner of diploma of Distinction with the NFC and in fact was the first bird to gain this award over 650mls. Winner of single performance and Dual performance award at the Western Region and also r/u to the Queens Coronation Long Distance Award. Total winnings for this all time great pigeon are £5,000 and a record that will take some beating. Lol said that “Champion Lol’s Pride” is the best pigeon he has ever owned and who can dispute that. All of his present day birds are bred round him and Lol is very proud to have owned and raced a pigeon of his Quality. He has given him many hours of enjoyment and does not think that he will ever get another like him. (He was a once in a life time pigeon).
As well as racing with the NFC Lol is also a member of the strong Runcorn & District H/S being in the Cheshire Plains Fed. The Beeston Castle 2 bird club, the British Barcelona Club, Midland NFC and to make sure that everything is up to date all records are kept on the computer. The computers are coming more and more as a tool of the pigeon world and through the internet you can talk to fanciers from all over the world at a much cheaper rate than the phone. Lol is also considering the Internet where he can see what other fanciers are doing around the world. We at Elimar now have everything for pigeons on the computer and also a web site gives us a wider scope in the pigeon world. This is where the sport is going and over the next few years there will be more and more fanciers gaining access to the computer systems that are available to the fanciers in general.
Part two the Green’s of Runcorn.
Jim & Margaret Green of Runcorn
This is part two of the story we started in the last issue and we are now bringing Jim & Margaret into the story and with them more insight into the Green’s of Runcorn and their years in the sport, there may be areas where we talk about the same things which I feel we must do to keep the story in its true context. Jim has been involved in pigeons for as long as he can remember and is not the first in the family to have pigeons because when he was born his family were already keeping them. His father and uncle Ebb raced ‘short Diggers, these short distance birds were raced with considerable success in the 20’s and 30’s until Jim & Lol’s father died in 1937. One of their best-remembered birds was ‘The Old Ruffled Un’ (which would be known as a frill these day’s). This bird won several races for them and when it died it was actually stuffed & preserved but unfortunately over the years this bird has been lost. With the passing of their Dad, Richard, Jim’s eldest brother George and Uncle Ebb formed a new partnership and they continued to fly the ‘Short Diggers’ to George’s home for some time with Jim becoming the training lad. It was his job to cycle 2 3 miles, 3 4 times a day along the ‘cut’ (canal) bank after school. This was toward the late 40’s and after the Second World War the sport of the short diggers died out in the Waterloo area of Widnes due to the redevelopment of the area. At around this time Lol (Brother Lawrence) obtained some homers from a friend of the family and these were housed in Orange boxes on the back yard wall of the family home in Nelson St, in the Waterloo area of Widnes. In 1952 when Jim became involved with Lol and the pigeons once more and the partnership of Green Bros was formed. Pigeons were purchased from a well known local fancier by the name of John Malloy who was also a very good friend of their Uncle Ebb, as Ebb & John started work together at the I.C.I. in Widnes. John flew the old Barker Logan strain with a lot of success and was also a good administrator for the sport. He won the very strong North West Nantes Club in 1951 from Nantes with a Dark Cheq Cock called “Sir Galahad” and he also took 9th position with his second bird in this 2 bird club. John also had another good well-known pigeon called “The Old Holland Cock”. The first birds Jim purchased from John Were 6 young birds of the old Barker Logan lines, the price was £5 each which was an awful lot of money in the 50’s, in fact some men’s wages were less than £5 per week. He also purchased a pair of Dr. Andersons Briouxs from this source, these were being sold via John for a Mr Perryman of Leicester and these birds which Lol purchased were the bases of the Green Bros loft.
Margaret & Jim Green with LJP
John went on to give the brothers more birds when he got to know them better and was also a great asset because he helped them all he could. He taught then as much as he could about flying distance pigeons and as the friendship evolved he told them why he had made them pay for their first birds that they had had off him. It was John’s theory that if you paid for something you would take better care of it than if it was given free of charge which is a true fact in the pigeon world. Later on as Jim got married and Lol went into the army the birds were moved to Jim’s new home in Church St and then to the allotment in Lower Church St, conveniently behind The Swan Pub. The loft remained there until 1977. It was while flying to this allotment that Green Bros. Had many wins including topping the North West Combine in 1961 from St Malo. This Blue yearling Hen won from 6107 birds. In 1972 the Bros. Were 3rd North West Combine from Rennes (2) when all the first 3 birds were on the decimal and in the same race they also took 6th place from 2,238 birds. In the early days of racing the pigeons there was not the transport available as there is today and all the training was done either by bicycle or on the train. The birds would be put on the late trains in the evening and then liberated by the station personnel early in the morning. Depending on what shift Jim was working and of course the weather allowed, if special races were coming up the birds could be re-basketed and taken back to the station to go down the track again for a second toss. After the Bros. Joined the National Flying Club in 1966 some birds would be sent by train to Weymouth and would be privately singled up down there for a small charge. A telegram would be sent of the liberation times so that their flying time could be logged. It was only in the Mid 70’s that the Bros. started any private training by road. In the 60’s there were several flyers in Widnes that had transport and would do communal training, In those days they did try to help one another and as most work in Widnes was shift work this was appreciated. Then in 1966 when Green Bros. joined the National Flying Club the birds were marked at Oxford and so it meant a day off work to take the birds to the marking station. But this did not deter them and the in first race they sent to the Nantes National they were 12th Section with a velocity of 1193 there were 7013 birds took part in that particular race. The same bird was then sent to Pau and it took 5th Section and 232nd Open from 3838 birds, doing 808.5ypm and so the thrill and love of the longer distance races was born. In 1969 the Bros. Were 10th Section, 155th Open from the Avaranches Young bird National in a North East Wind. Their success with the club continued in 1972 when they were 8th Section Vel 592ypm from Pau with a Blue Barker Cock who went to Pau 3 times. While flying in Widnes they also had a cock which called ‘The Old Light Un’ and during his racing life he was a little gold mine. If he didn’t actually score in the races he was entered in he would still win the pool money he was 9th North West Combine from Rennes from 5107 birds. At their peak in Widnes every box in the racing loft held a winner and in most cases 2 in each box because Jim’s theory was to pair winners to winners as he believed that blood will always bring out the best through re-production. After racing Pau and reading about how testing the race was they decided to make further introductions to keep their ever improving channel team fresh for the task and ahead of the game. It was 1975 Jim was able to introduce Van Bruaene birds into the loft, these were purchased from a sale in the Midlands off A.H.Bennett who actually won the Nantes national and it was the “Midas Line” that they bought to strengthen their team. At about this time they also attended the sale of Nobby Hughes of Handwood and bought 3 birds. These were the old Barker lines and were bought as seen with no pedigrees and the 3 birds purchased were actually quite old birds as Jim could not see an old respected fancier keeping older birds if they had not either raced well or bred some good birds. These new birds were crossed into their own birds with great success. It was during 1976 & 1977 that a great deal of redevelopment was taking place and the heavy industries were dying out and both Lol and Jim lived and worked in these redevelopment areas. It was Lol’s home that went first and he decided to move to Runcorn but he also decided to leave the pigeons alone for a while as he was still working shift work and he had a young family who obviously wanted their father’s attention in his spare time but circumstances decreed otherwise. In the spring of 1976 the lofts on the allotment were broken in 3 times in 6 weeks and several birds were taken, including most of those that had been purchased to strengthen their team. Jim always believed that the thieves were only after one bird and that was ‘Soldier’ the blue Barker Cock that went to Pau 3 times because all the birds that were taken were all blues and all bore the old metal rings but they never did get him the reason being that he was always kept in his own box in the racing loft, fortunately he was never moved to the stock loft. Of the 12 birds stolen they only ever got one back and this was a blue Barker Heavy wattled cock which was purchased at Nobby Hughes sale. Although this cock had never been broken to the loft he had always had a box right in front of the stock loft door which had an inner netting door so that the birds could see out and they could have plenty of fresh air. After the third break in which occurred over night on Good Friday/Easter Saturday the loft was so badly smashed up, birds had been taken and swabs were left to die in the nest pans. The brothers decided enough was enough and that if the birds were not removed from the allotment there would be none left for anyone to fly, so Lol’s loft which was still at their Mother’s home in Widnes was quickly moved to Lol’s new home in Runcorn. In this last break in the robbers also took drinkers, nest pans, gallipots, baskets and corn and even an old stool that they used to sit on while waiting for the birds. In fact the thieves had everything to start up in pigeons apart from a loft. These birds that the brother’s raced were of such a calibre that with in 6 weeks of the birds being moved and broken into their new loft at Runcorn they were still winning from across the Channel. All the winning in Widnes was done on the Natural system and although they have only pointed out some of the cock’s performances, Hen’s were also flown with considerable success. This was how the Bros were able to pair winners to winners and the young birds were only ever flown to their perches. The loft was ‘L’ shaped with the main racing loft and young bird loft being some 6-foot off the ground. This had to be done because in front of the loft was a 6ft sandstone wall with a 6ft chain link fence on top. The stock loft was underneath and to the side of the young bird section so that when the young birds came out of their trap they could drop on to the stock loft roof and see all around. On the allotment the Bros. had open hole and so the birds would be exercised constantly. In Widnes the Bros. Started flying in the strong North End Club against such good North West fanciers as Billy Beesley, Freddy Andrews, who went on to be a very successful conveyor. Tom Mckeon, Arthur Mellor and Tommy Haslam & Sons from Thatto Heath who was the father and founder of Haslam Bros who are still very well known today. In fact the first clock that Jim ever bought was for £5 in the chip shop in Mersey Road, Widnes from Tommy Haslam who was a gentleman of the old school. Later on the Bros. Joined the Ditton v District Homing Society and in fact for a time Lol was secretary of this club. It was from this club that the Bros. had to finish as the Club was wound up when only 5 members all N.F.C Members were left when all the other club members voted to join the North West Homing Union for cheaper racing. It was at this time of moving to Runcorn that first Lol and then Jim joined the Very strong Runcorn v District H S. Lol decided that he now wanted to fly on his own so he joined as Mr.L.Green and when Jim & his wife Margaret joined the same club 18 months later they joined as Mr & Mrs J.R.Green and so both brothers have continued to fly on their own until the present day. The first year of 1978 Jim & Margaret only flew young birds but the following year started flying the old birds which were all yearlings bred from the stock birds of Green Bros. There were only stock birds taken from Lol’s when our loft was transferred from Widnes to our new home in Weston. Only a couple of racing birds were taken to our loft these were gift birds that had been given to Margaret prior to the break in’s. Jim & Margaret have flown in the Runcorn v District H.S ever since and are also members of the N.F.C, the Beeston Castle 2 bird club and the Cheshire Plains Championship club. In 1998 they joined the Midland National flying club so that they can get the birds approximately 380 400 miles a month prior to the N.F.C.’s Pau race.
In 1984 in the 30 odd strong Runcorn & District H.S, Lol won 5 out of 7 inland old bird races and as the birds hit the Channel Lol took 3rd Sartilly (1). With Jim and Margaret taking 7th Sartilly (1) and then they went on to be 2nd & 3rd Sartilly (2), 1st Rennes (1) in a North East wind & 1st Rennes (2) in a North West Wind with the same bird ‘Jo 90’, she flew these two races in seven days covering 365 miles each time. They were then 3rd Nantes and 1st & 3rd Niort, the first bird was only a yearling and it topped the very strong Cheshire Plains Federation. Also in 1984 one of their young birds finished a credible 598th Open, 41st Section in the national flying clubs young bird race from Sartilly. It was flying for 14 hours 49 mins to record a velocity of 634.55ypm. In 1984 Lol was top prize winner with Jim & Margaret being runners up. Jim always uses Niort 495 miles as a pointer to the better distance birds. He likes to give his yearlings at least 2 trips over the Channel but if possible prefers to get 3 races under their wings. In the 1985 season out of 6 birds timed in on the day from Niort Jim & Margaret had 4 of them and of the 4, two of them were yearlings. The race was actually won by Lol with ‘Lol’s Pride’ but they were 2nd, 4th, 5th & 6th. In the 1985 N.F.C.’s Pau race they were 17th Section, 320th open with a velocity of 921.67ypm. It was in the early eighties that Jim & Margaret’s good friends Michael & Margaret O’Grady of Winsford took them to Bank’s near Southport and introduced them to one of the old Maestro himself namely Tom Ryding. Although they had already flown some of the Tom’s birds which the O’Grady’s had given to them they had never met Tom himself, we must take into account that Tom was the expert at the Pau race which was also the race Jim set his season out for so this meeting was important for the future of racing for Jim & Margaret. What a revelation this was to learn that Tom actually prepared his Pau birds in very much the same way as they had been doing for years. This helped to confirm in their minds that they were definitely on the right track with the distance birds. Another of the most remembered things discussed with Tom was about the young birds, with Pau not being flown until July you tend not to want young birds bred this late but Tom maintained that any eggs or young birds in the nest at the time of Pau, particularly off his performance birds should always be reared because obviously the birds that flew this race well were at their fittest and therefore their young ones would be at their best. It was from a pair of these Rydings birds that Michael & Margaret gave Jim & Margaret that the Dam of their first Section winner and N.F.C certificate of merit winner was bred. It was also at about this time that they met Paul Clements of Heswall and his family his Mum was a smashing person, very down to earth and always with the teapot on the go. Paul came to be a good friend he flew the A.H.Bennett birds and he gave them some very good distance birds. In 1987 Jim & Margaret sent 3 birds to Pau and all were timed in to take: 8th Section L 92nd Open, 25th Section L 259th Open, 27th Section L 291st Open. In Section L there were 506 birds with 5333 birds in the Open. The following year the bird that was 8th Section 1987 took 29th Section J, prior to the Pau race he had been to Nantes with the Beeston Castle 2 bird club where he took 7th place with a velocity of 1013.883ypm. Picking up £305 on the way. It was in 1988 that their Section L winner ‘202’ began to come to the fore. He had always been a consistent bird but after racing 7 inland races and 4 Channel races with the Runcorn v District H.S and the Cheshire Plains Federation his last one being Nantes where he took 4th Club he was just exercised around the loft for 2 weeks and then he was sent to the Beeston Castle 2 bird race from Saints and what a race this turned out to be. There was only one bird home on the day of liberation and ‘202’ was timed in early the next morning to take second place. The race virtually finished one day racing for ‘202’ because he never returned from a channel race on the first day again his velocity in this race was 841.14ypm. In 1989 this blue Cheq Cock again flew every inland race to the coast then went to the N.F.C Nantes race, then was just exercised around the loft twice a day until he was sent to Pau where he took 5th Section L and 147th open returning with a pellet in him from being shot. 1990 saw him doing the same programme again but this time he was 1st Section L from 424 birds & 25th Open from 6213 birds flying 697 miles 665 yards with a velocity 1032.51ypm. In 1991 two birds were sent to Pau both had followed the same regime but this time ‘202’ was 5th Section L from 333 birds and 72nd Open from 4992 birds with a velocity of 1034.632ypm. This was good enough to win the N.F.C certificate of merit and their other bird was 31st Section L and 340th Open. As stated earlier the dam of ‘202’ came out of the Ryding bird’s but the Sire was a grandson of A.H.Bennett’s “Champion Midas”, he was purchased from a Mr.Mawdsley of Southport. The next outstanding bird for Jim & Margaret was a Blue pied Cheq hen that was bred out of the Ryding pigeons crossed with the Van Brueanes. She has been 2nd Chepston, 3rd Sartilly, 4th Rennes and in 1993 she was 1st Niort when the loft was 1st,2nd,5th & 8th. In 1994 after going to 3 inland races and a couple of channel races with the club she went to the N.F.C Saintes race and she was 61st Section. The same year a son of ‘202’ was 15th Section L, 126th Open from Saintes flying 532 miles on the wing in 15 hours 37mins on the day. His dam was also the Dam of this years Section winner from Pau. In 1994 a blue hen was 71st Section from Pau. In 1995 The Cheq Pied Hen was 20th Section L out of 388 birds and 532nd Open out of 5482 birds from Pau. In 1996 she was again sent to a couple of inland races then to the Nantes National taking 37th Section 136th Open out of 10,123 birds, a month later she was sent to Pau but because of adverse weather conditions the birds were brought back to Saintes where she took 43rd Section out of 380 birds and 1194th Open out of 4976 birds. She also won with her performance from Nantes an R.P.R.A. Western Region Meritorious award for the best performance of a committee member from Nantes. In 1997 the pied hen was on course to be sent to Pau again but after her inland races she was again sent to the Nantes National where she was 153rd Section, 418th Open from 9536 birds but then Jim took ill again and they were unable to send to Pau so the Nantes National was her last race as she has now been retired. In 1998 their 3 year old Red Cheq Hen did them proud. Jim had had his eye on her and a 4 year old Red Cheq Cock the same way bred. The hen is the perfect racing hen with a wing that we would class, as a good long distance wing to carry a good apple type body, that she has, her eye is a solid but light old gold. This hen has the perfect breeding for the distance being a g.daughter of “Lols Pride” Unfortunately the Cock got smashed up at Weymouth and hasn’t flown since but the Red Cheq hen seems to have gone from strength to strength. She was 4th from Niort in 1997 so Jim had her programme for 1998 mapped out. She was sent to 3 inland races with the Runcorn v District H.S and then she was sent to La Ferte Bernard with the Midland National and although she wasn’t fast enough to make the sheet she was bouncing when she dropped. So to give her a few more miles under her wing she was sent to Sartilly (2) with the Club. After this a month later she was sent to Pau with the N.F.C. She was sent 10 days sitting and after a 2 day hold over the birds were liberated at 5.45 into a light north wind. Well with past performances in mind they were up bright and early on the 2nd day, Monday morning. Jim was pounding the floor because he was due at the hospital for 9.50am, while trying to help Margaret on the Saturday he had slipped down the loft steps and broke his elbow so he had to attend the fracture clinic at Whiston Hospital so it was Margaret who was being left to wait for the birds. Jim was sat patiently waiting for the brother in law to take him but he was also sitting where he could see the loft and suddenly at approx. 8.30 all hell broke loose. He was shouting the Red Hens here time her in and because I timed her in on the landing Jim thought Margaret was going to lose the rubber between the planks on the landing. But obviously this did not happen as she went on to be 12th Open, 1st Section L from 3817 birds in the Open & 302 in the Section. She covered the 697 miles 665 yards in 19 hours 45mins with a Vel 1035.107ypm. The Dam of the Red Cheq Hen is a daughter of Lol’s Pride and full nest mate to his champion “Blue Boy” and the Sire is a Red Cheq Cock given to them by Baz Fletcher of Elton as a late bred in 1993 this cock is a nice handling pigeon but does not show the strength of wing for the distance as his famous Meritorious award winning daughter.. It was bred after his sire took 4th Section from Pau in 1993. Since 1995 although the birds have been raced, they have not been raced to their full potential because through failing health due to Emphysema & a heart attack Jim has not been able to give the birds the attention they require to bring then to their racing peak. The cleaning out and general work around the loft has now to be carried out by Margaret who has her hands full with looking after Jim and trying to keep on top of the loft work. Margaret is secretary of the Runcorn & District H.S and Vice President of the Cheshire Plains Federation. She represents both the Club and the Beeston Castle 2 bird Club at the Western Region. Jim is chairman of the Runcorn v District H.S & represents the R & D. H.S. 3-bird club and the Cheshire Plains Championship Club at the Western Region and both are Western Region Committee members. On the subject of their membership to the Western Region which is an area where they have enjoyed going and meeting new faces for many years and also the other positions and jobs that they have done. Because we are on the same wavelength as Jim & Margaret we all took note of the fact that many fanciers are getting disillusioned with the sport because of the continual knocking that they receive when they are trying to move things forward. They also think more or less the same about how many of the genuine workers of the sport are continually knocked back when they are working to take the sport forward. We all have our little stories and here are a couple from the partnership. In 1966 when Green Bros first joined the N.F.C and they sent to their first ever Pau race, the birds were liberated on Friday lunch time and on the Saturday the weather turned very bad and there were no English birds liberated in France that day. Jim did not know quite what to expect but even so he refused to leave the loft on the Saturday afternoon and evening and although the weather was fine and clear up here in the North West. 3 or 4 of the Widnes Fanciers called at the allotments to see if anything had come and they told him to give up and come for a pint instead but he could not be persuaded and so you can imagine his joy when just before 9.15pm he saw not 1 but 2 birds approaching the loft. Sure enough it was his Blue Cheq cock and he had brought a young bird home with him, he really could not believe it as there were not so many fanciers in the North West in the N.F.C I n those days. But although the Cheq cock had arrived home he would not go through the trap as he would normally, instead he started strutting around the standing crowing up as if to say ‘Here I am, look at me, haven’t I done well’ so Jim had to open the loft doors and walk him into the loft. In those earlier days of the National when you had timed in your verification had to be sent by telegram to ‘Pigeons Manchester’.
It is funny how History repeats itself because in 1990 when ‘202’ won section L from Pau bad weather on the continent had prevented a Friday liberation and the birds had not been liberated until the lunch time on Saturday. Very early on Sunday morning the Cheshire Plaines race controller Bob Lloyd rang to say there would be no liberation from the federation birds that day as there was fog from Kent to Cornwall and Jim’s first reaction was ‘God what will happen to the poor Pau birds’ to which Bob replied ‘We will be looking for them’. However the weather is, you still look for them and about late afternoon Jim & Margaret were sitting In the lounge, Jim on his usual perch just inside the lounge with a full view of the loft through the dining room window and Margaret on the settee looking through the lounge window towards Frodsham. Alan Cooper had just called round and was sitting chatting about the race asking what they had heard and so forth, when all of a sudden Margaret spotted “202” coming up the road. And quickly shouted ‘he’s here’ then ducked round to look again. Jim’s response was to say stop winding me up but when both Alan and Margaret jumped up and ran through to the back garden Jim quickly realised Margaret was not having him on. But as he reached the garden Jim could not see him because “202” had gone round the trees on his usual lap of honour. He was quickly timed in and as previously stated was 1st Section L, 25th Open but although it was not the best of National races if “202” had decided to do a second lap of honour they could have been piped to the post for 1st Section as W.A.Gough & Son of Lymm were close on their heels that day. Strangely enough when “202” won the Section they had not put the clock into the loft as they would do normally and in 1998 when the red hen now aptly named ‘Maggie’ won the section they again had not put the clock in the loft although everything else was in place and Jim on his usual perch was waiting to go to the hospital with a broken elbow. Yes even his broken elbow had to wait while the pigeons were clocked.
About 10 or 11 years ago Margaret used to work on a Saturday which really did get up her nose and her Dad used to come and wait with Jim for the birds to arrive home. One Saturday afternoon as normal they were waiting when all of a sudden their dog set off barking, neither of them could see what she was barking at so Jim went to the front door to see if someone was about. As he opened the door he came face to face with a burly fireman with an axe in his hand just about ready to break down the door because they had received a 999 call reporting a fire at their home. Letting them In Jim told them that there was no fire and no one here had phoned from their address. No sooner had the fireman gone than on the door step were two police officers arrived trying to find out where the Hoax call had come from and with all this happening the birds were arriving home. As they pointed out you can laugh at this now but at the time it wasn’t so funny when you are trying to time the birds in. Their birds are housed in a wooden loft which is 23 foot long and 10 foot wide with a two foot corridor running the full length of the loft, which is split into 3 sections. One section houses 20 natural boxes, the next is the young bird section which has just box perches and the third section has 12 widowhood boxes although they do not fly widowhood. The loft is raised about 3 feet off the ground and is approximately 30 yards from the house, nearer to the house, at the side of the garden is a small 10’ x 6.6’ wooden stock loft. This now tends to be used not for stock birds but for old birds which lose their partners at the races or are late returning. They have tried widowhood a few years ago with some success but Jim found it too much for him, carrying the hens up and down the garden with his health deteriorating, so they now keep to the natural system. The birds are paired up on the full moon in late February or Early March but not later than 20th March, in fact looking back through past years records the most successful seasons have been when they have paired up around St. Patrick’s Day, 17th March. The birds are fed the same corn all the year round, a top quality No.1 racing mix, this is supplemented with a top quality breeding mixture at breeding time and a special moulting mixture at the end of racing. Both garlic and lemon are used in the drinking water throughout the year and when the birds return from racing there is glucose in the water. The old birds are vaccinated, wormed and coxied prior to pairing and the young birds prior to training. The birds are cankered at regular intervals through out the year. Jim & Margaret try to do our own training but sometimes this is not always possible and they appreciate any help that they can get. In addition to the distance family they do have had some sprint birds presented to them by T. Hulme & Son of Sandbach and R.Houghton of Frodsham but admit that they don’t seem to have much luck holding them so they are back to relying on their old established long distance birds. Jim & Margaret do send their thanks to both Tommy & Robbie for their help. Having said that they have put up many excellent performances with their birds and they are not a one bird wonder loft at the distance because there are a few here that have done the job from 700mls. When you consider the performances of this partnership through to National level they have had very little publicity over the years. I hope through this report we have brought fanciers in general up to date on a winning channel team that have won more than they have been given credit for. Margaret has written in the papers for many years but she always neglected to publicise their own winnings. Let’s hope that we have now put the record straight on this winning family of pigeon fanciers “The Green’s of Runcorn”. Elizabeth and I would like to thank Lol, Jim & Margaret for taking time out to not only show us their birds but also tell us some of the stories that have been part of their pigeon world for so long. It was a very cold day and Elizabeth said that the whisky she had at Lol’s certainly warmed her up.
