On the Road with Keith Mott...
‘Lion Brewery’ Mid-Week Club
The ‘Lion Brewery’ Mid-Week Club are holding a very special race from Merville in France on 6th June in aid of the Parachute Regiment 9th Battalion Memorial Fund to celebrate the 65th anniversary of the D-Day landings. The secretary of the Battalion has requested that 750 birds be liberated as 750 men fell at Merville that day and on the race day the French TV cameras and local Mayor will be in attendance to witness the pigeon release. The London & South East Classic Club have put up the use of their transporter free of charge for this wonderful event and their convoyer, Fred Healy, will be liberating the birds. The race will be self supporting and all profits will go to the old solders of the 9th Parachute Regiment. The entry fee is £2 per bird and the event is National with marking stations at Bromley, Whitstable, Northampton, Manchester, Exeter, Chichester, Bideford and the ‘Lion Brewery’ PH at Ash. The club held a very successful Merville open race five years ago, which attracted an entry of 1,035 birds and I remember Reg Whenman of New Malden and ol’ mate Tony Dann of Leatherhead were both on the same yard, with Reggie winning the race on a decimal.
The Mid-Week Club has its HQ at the ‘Lion Brewery’ PH set in the wonderful Surrey countryside at Ash and it is common knowledge that the pub has been run for the last 25 years by the premier pigeon racing partnership of Mike and Lindsay Armitage, who have won both the BICC and L&SECC in recent seasons. The pub is a marking station for the NFC and BICC, and has been the home of the ‘Lion Brewery’ Mid-Week for many years. Mike’s wife, Lindsay, has a great interest in the pigeons and works very hard for all the clubs who are based at the pub in Ash. The very smart lofts are sited in the pub garden and Lindsay has her loft of all white racing pigeon in the garden of the Armitage’s house next door to the ‘Lion Brewery’ and these are all bred down from gift birds from Brian Stansfield, which are thought to be the old Logan strain. Her best bird is the white hen, ‘Lottie’s Luck’, and she has won one 1st, two times 2nd and three times 3rd in the very strong mid-week club, and at the start of this season her son, another pure white pigeon, won 1st ‘Lion Brewery’ Mid-Week from Portsmouth. Well done to Lindsay!
The ‘Lion Brewery’ Mid-Week is very keen to encourage young fanciers in the sport and runs a policy of letting youngster race in the club on a free of subscription. The club has a strong membership of young fanciers, who work hard in the club and win races. Tyron Buggy of Kingston, aged 10 years old, won two Mid-Week races in the 2008 season and at the time of writing this article has recorded 65th open (provisional) in the L&SECC Alencon race with a record 2,500 birds competing. I had a phone conversation with his dad, Barry, the evening after the race and his star bird was his good blue chequer cock, ‘Steptoe’, bred by Chris Slight of New Malden and was sent to the Alencon classic feeding a six day old youngster.
Two young fanciers who fly as Woodhouse Brothers won their first race ever this season from the first ‘Lion Brewery’race from Portsmouth. The partner’s winner was a Mick Worsfold blue white flight cock sent to Portsmouth driving his hen to nest and he also won 2nd ‘Lion Brewery’ from Portsmouth as a young bird in 2008. John and Anthony live in Bisley and started racing in the Sunningdale and ‘Lion Brewery’ clubs in 2002. The partners have two small lofts, one two section 10ft x 8ft loft for the old birds and the young birds have their own shed with an aviary, and race their 12 pairs of old birds on the natural system. The ‘Lion Brewery’ secretary, Mick Worsfold, lives near the brothers in Bisley and he gave them their first birds to start them up and these were mostly of the Kirkpatrick and Van Loon bloodlines. John tells me he pairs up in mid January and breeds 25 babies, which are raced well to the perch. Dave Robinson of Normandy and their uncle Steve Glew in Scotland have gifted the brothers with some good stock, but on the main the loft is made up with Mick Worsfold pigeons. John says he likes sprint racing but later on when he has some more experience he would like to have a crack at the long distance racing. The brothers feed a good ‘Irish’ mixture, which they get free of charge from the Normandy ‘ace’, Dave Robinson, in exchange for work they do around Dave’s loft and garden. Well done to John and Anthony on their Portsmouth win!
‘ON THE ROAD’ article updates
A few weeks ago we had an article on the fantastic sprinting Staf Van Reets of Keith & Sue Arnold of Leamington Spa and since then the Warwickshire partners have won four times 1st club and three times 1st Federation in their first four races of the 2009 season. Their Federation positions so far this season are: 1st, 8th Federation (1179 birds) Bath, 1st, 5th Federation (1884 birds) Bath, 6th Federation (2000 birds) Wincanton and 1st, 3rd, 12th Federation (2044 birds) Taunton. Keith & Sue’s three Federation wins were won with the same widowhood cock and when I asked Keith about his latest ace he told me, ‘The star performer so far this season is ‘23’, a three year old cock who was bred from the early Mardon / Staf Van Reet lines, with his sire being retained for stock and his dam won the Federation as a young bird. His nest mate was put into the Federation breeder/buyer and purchased back, and went on to win the race’.
The Esher & Dist. RPC enjoyed another brilliant season in 2008 racing in the Three Borders Federation and winning the Federation Points Shield for the third time in four seasons. As you could imagine the competition in this brilliant club was red hot! Bob and Danny Carter won the Federation three times, lifting the Individual Points Trophy and other Esher 2008 Federation winners were, club chairman Chris Slight (three times 1st Federation), club secretary Allen Palmer (twice 1st Federation) and Roy Barnett. Roy who races his birds to his loft in Kingston won the BHW ‘The George Slade Swing Clear Trophy’ for the bird making the highest velocity on the weekend of 28/29th June 2008. Esher club premier prize winners were John & Danny Barrett, who race their pigeon to their loft in Ewell and they recorded several top positions in the Federation, finishing the 2008 season third for the Individual Point Trophy. Some of the best positions won channel racing in 2008 were: 2nd Three Borders Federation, 3rd open SMT Combine, 2nd Three Borders Federation, 7th open SMT Combine and 3rd Three Borders Federation, 9th open SMT Combine. Brilliant pigeon racing!
The Esher club has started the 2009 season in great style and at the time of writing this article are leading the Three Borders Federation Championship by 6 points! John and Danny Barrett have won several of the club’s early races, including taking the first six positions in the Kingsdown race, and have a hat full of Federation positions, including 2nd Three Borders Federation, 2nd open SMT Combine (provisionally) Fougeres (213 miles). Bob and Danny Carter won the Yeovil race in the Esher and recorded 1st & 2nd Three Borders Federation (1837 birds). Well done lads!
The London & South East Classic will hold its Tours race this weekend and good luck to all our members! Packer & Clarke of Grays recorded their third L&SECC winner from Alencon two weeks ago and to see Derick Packer at the top of the classic result sheet again is brilliant, as he is one of the really worker in our club, being I/C and clock setter at the South Ockendon marking station. This station is our second biggest, sometimes processing over 500 birds and he has run it since it started up about six years ago. Derick has been on the classic committee for many years and has a hell of a journey from Essex to Leatherhead to attend meetings in the winter months. A great fancier! Derick visited my home today to have three pigeons photographed, including, ‘Michaela’, his Alencon Classic winner, so watch this space for his article in a couple of weeks! That is it for now, I will see you next week! My telephone number is: 01372 463480.
TEXT & PHOTOS BY KEITH MOTT.
