NEWS FROM DOWN UNDER
by Doug McClary
Autumn and Winter
We watch the sunset most evenings from in our lounge or outside on the decking area and witness the movement of the sun as it moves along the edge of the bay with the time of the year. At the moment it is more or less directly across from us and will be soon out of sight to our right. In high summer it sets to the left or West out of sight and this is proof that winter is about to descend. We wait until the shortest day at the end of June to see the sun moving back again but at the moment that seems a long way off. The evening feed has had to be adjusted forward to late afternoon.
My Book
I note that Len Griffin appears puzzled that Norman Perry is not mentioned in my book. Len, I must advise you to look no further than the second paragraph in the book for explanation. You might also refer to the opening lines of the chapter on Noted and Notable fanciers. The book is a history of the show racer and not an up to date appraisal of the showing sport. Being Welsh he only mentions a Welsh fancier but there are many others throughout the British Isles who would have equal claim. I selected fanciers who I knew to have been in the showing sport prior to the 1980s and I can be corrected, but I do not think that the flying postman was about in those days. I avoided using up to date names partly because I am nearly a decade out of date but offence could be caused to anyone missed out. I suggested that someone may like to take up the story after 1980 so perhaps Len Griffin is the man to do it. As for Norman, I am well aware of his performances and have respect for him and his birds. I also tried to include fancier who have worked for the sport in the development. Did Mr Griffin not think of Alan Spedding, Colin Bullard,Colin Carter and other top and long lasting fanciers beyond the Welsh border who also have long lists of achievement. Does he think that the performances of Greenshields, Thornton, Worton, Dr Rigg, Simmonds, Record, Snow, King and so many others are of lesser value than a current fancier? Of course it is impossible to know the full lists of their performances as they are shrouded in time and lack any written record other than detail I was able to find. For another example I thought long and hard about John Lock who I consider as one of the very top Welsh fanciers and who did a huge amount of winning but his entry to the showing sport came just after 1980. I agonised over who and what should be included but how could anyone obtain so much detail of total wins and how boring would that be? I am pleased that Mrs Griffin bought my book and I trust that Len will enjoy it and continue to find interest in it. However, reference to the introduction will help him understand the aims and if he commences to keep a record of current exhibitors and events, he might like to produce the sequel in due course. I hope to be around to see it.
Jeyes Fluid
How envious I am of you in Britain in being able to purchase Jeyes. It was god seeing Jeyes being advertised in the BHW and it was always a stalwart of my pigeon fancying and gardening in Britain. I always had a hand sprayer charged with Jeyes to be used on perches and any other ledge. It was particularly affective against moths. There are many British products that I miss such as Jeyes, Red Band and Harkers Hormoform.
Showing Again
After nearly two years there was an open show held at Dandenong in the form of the Southern Young Bird Pageant. It proved to be a most enjoyable occasion with so many fanciers catching up on friends after the enforced break owing to PMV. The show racers were judged by Frank Hayes of Albury, a former show racer enthusiast but who now keeps Australian Show Pen Homers. Best in the section went to Gerard Thorpe of Shepparton with an excellent dark chequer cock and well worthy of the win. I never mind being beaten by a better pigeon. I won seven of the nine classes I was able to enter and took out best opposite sex with a mealy hen. A computerised show programme was used for the show which enabled prize cards to be printed off and displayed and judging slips, pen labels and pen number lists to be done electronically. It is such a difficult task to do this bearing in mind that the schedule contains hundreds of classes. The show was well displayed and presented, a good advertisement for the showing hobby and must have been most satisfying to those who worked hard for the event. I judged the pigmy pouters and gave best to Ian Austin formerly of Yorkshire and fellow Pom.
American Show Racers
I heard a disturbing rumour that some show racer fanciers are resorting to the use of American Show Racers to produce stronger faces. I hope this is not so for it will destroy remaining likeness to the genuine racing pigeon and will completely destroy the balance of the birds, so necessary in what is a handling breed. The American Show Racer is an ill-named bird with absolutely no similarity to a racer and is large and wedge shaped with no balance. Any good judge will discard anything which resembles one and this is why I keep suggesting that more use should be made of good racing men for judging who will strive to keep the show racer as a good looking form of the racing pigeon.
Bumsy - top winning opal mosaic cock
This year during my breeding, I received an experience I had not known before. A powder blue in the nest appeared quite bald with deformed feathering and looked simply dreadful. The bird appeared content and not suffering but clearly there was something amiss. I treated the little bird with a spot of Ivomec and rubbed an anti-fungal cream into its body. The treatment worked for by time the bird emerged from the nest, it was looking better but was still a rough-looker. The bird has turned out to be an excellent looking powder blue cock with hardly a trace of feather defect. The only feathers which are fretted are the first secondaries in each wing, and the first primary in one wing. I was reminded of Don Spedding and Bumsy. I always considered Don to be a top breeder and knew that he was a hard taskmaster in keeping his numbers down to manageable numbers. Therefore when I heard of the story of Bumsy I was surprised that Don kept the bird but also knew that he would have seen something in the cock to have interested him. I contacted Don for some detail and received the following: ‘In reply to your email Re Bumsy. I bred him out of the big Cheq Cock, HARRY, bred by Harry Spratt and a Silver Chequer hen I had from Bill Meader. That year I bred quite a few from them and suddenly this Mosaic turned up and as it grew I noticed it had no tail, only stumps. It looked a complete freak. I somehow decided to give it a chance.
One day I had a visit from Jimmy Fitz and I said "You can take that Mosaic if you want it" Later that year Jimmy came down again and took this lovely Mosaic out of a box and gave it to me. He said, "Here's that Mosaic back I canna keep it, it’s too good" He was moulted through and with a full tail.
I took it back and at one of the early shows Jimmy told me he was short of Cocks so I sneaked it in his basket and as he went home I told him what I had done as he was leaving. The next thing we knew he was B.I.S. at Comrades. (First time I had seen Jimmy in tears.) I don’t know his other wins but he won everywhere and bred some great pigeons. Jimmy would tell you what they were. We had decided to call him Bumsy by then. Harry was bred by Harry Spratt out of a hen I sold him and the Dam was a Silver Chequer hen I had from Bill Meader.
As I have been typing this Jimmy has been on the phone and given me a bit more info on Bumsy. He went on to win at Edinburgh. / Gretna / Ayr Dam Park .and many other shows. Also on the day he won BIS at Comrades his sister won BIS at the Ayr Show.
Actually Jimmy says I bred 17 pigeons from that pair that won a Classic show somewhere. He said how I came to mate those two pigeons together he will never know. He also won at Blackpool, and later on Jimmy Fitz tells me he was called "Don's Delight’. I hope that readers will find these aspects of the showing interesting. My powder blue had little or no tail and really did look like a bird that had no future. However its parentage was excellent in my best powder blue hen and a white fronted mealy cock and I wanted to retain some of their produce. Like Don, I gave the bird a chance and I look like being rewarded. As to the cause of the problem, it could have been internal problems or some sort of mite but the treatment provided seemed to work quite quickly. As for the story, it is further proof what influence on British showing Harry Spratt had. Harry, the dark chequer cock was absolutely amazing and produced a dynasty of winners for the Speddings. I first saw the cock at Blackpool prior to judging and marked the pen number in my book with every intention of speaking to the owner. Don beat me to Harry Spratt and obtained the cock. I last saw him in the class for veteran pigeons at Louella where he provoked considerable interest and of course anxiety for the Speddings to ensure that the bird was kept safe. Unfortunately I have no photo of either Bumsy or of Harry.
Fanciers I have Known C.S.J. (Bert) Hutchins
Bert and I were friends for many years. It was probably because we shared the same sort of career in police work and our love of pigeon showing and administration. He had been a constable in the Newport Borough police where for many years he worked in the enquiry office where I would imagine that he provided good and compassionate service to his public. I first got to know him when he advertised his complete stud of shows racers and was just too late to obtain anything. However, he kept in touch and eventually came back into showing. He was a founder of the Monmouth Show Racer Society and a mainstay for many years, all at a time when the famous Newport International shows were being held. His steadfast administrative skills came to the fore where he controlled the budgets and accounts and to some extent controlled also the exuberance of the late Bernard Bowden who was the ideas man. Bert loved judging and was always prepared to travel for this.
Bert Hutchins
His main love was for the dark chequers and opal mosaics and I always remember one dark chequer cock which won and won for Bert. His loft at Maindee was compact and never overstocked. He did not keep large numbers, partly because of the cost for a stringent lifestyle brought about by low wages and sending his son for good education had kept the spending power down. However he was generous with his time and energy and provided wonderful service to the pigeon showing side of the sport. Bert had been born into pigeons because his father, Stanley, was a famous figure within the fancy pigeon ranks and mainly in respect to the show homer. When he first came into pigeons himself he tried fancy breeds but fortunately for us all in show racers, he settled to be able to offer great service to his chosen breed. He loved his cricket and had played, then umpired for many years. In my early writing days I had a running story about Bert and his bike. He was known throughout Newport by his reliable old bike and this association provided many good laughs all appreciated by Bert. He once related a story about attending a Glamorgan cricket match and while walking to his seat, heard a voice from the back of the stand asking ‘Where’s the bike Bert?’. He hated cheats and cheating and was most forthright on the subject. He wrote letters demanding that flown certificates should be displayed on the pens for all to see and check and generally wanted a tightening of this aspect of pigeon showing. He used to say that fanciers used flown certificates to cheat and reckoned that he could be at a show enjoying a drink with a fellow fancier, who through gaining advantage by such certificates could be cheating him in the show room. A fuller report on Bert can be found in Pictorial No.116 of August 1979 in which his philosophy for the sport is recorded in detail. Here was a man who gave much by his work to others and believed in enjoying his hobby and not to allow winning to become the aim to the exclusion of all else. I valued his friendship and his advice and counted him as a secure and sure friend. Photo of Bert judging at Kennford for Devon and Cornwall SRS.
Bert with his trusty bike
Our President
Going through my photos under ‘H’ when looking for photos of Bert I came across this one of David and Lesley Higgins pictured at the GYA in 1985. Further comment is unnecessary except to ask, ‘Who’s a lucky boy?’
David and Lesley Higgins
Concluding Thoughts
Another article for the BHW so I can now relax for a while and get out to look at my own birds. I am due to put baths in for them following a show so hopefully the weather tomorrow will be sunny and warm. I am still at 3 Kunyung Road, Mount Eliza, Victoria 3930 and on email at
Douglas McClary
Kemyel Lofts of British Show Racers
douglas-mcclary.blogspot.com.au
