Derek Hurst (Mr & Mrs Hurst)
“The Duke of Bidston”
Set back half a mile south west of the Bidston Lighthouse, Birkenhead is the racing lofts of Derek and Lainy Hurst. Derek will look at the heading and either cringes as his club mates will be queuing up to have the craic or because he is quite a humble gent. With an air of charisma which probably follows Derek from his teenage days. There is an aura around Derek with his pigeons and a sense that when people tell you pigeons race to the man you can see exactly why this loft has put up some tremendous performance over the years.
Derek Hurst with one of his 2017 darkness youngsters
Not coming from a back ground of pigeons Derek was brought up locally, his first recollection of pigeons was a local fancier Jimmy Kilpatrick, and then he visited the lofts of Peter henry of Leesowe. Derek’s teens and early adult life would work (and play) locally being employed at both Vauxhalls and later at the Associated Octel Company (Now Innospec), Derek would retire in 2012 having then worked for the local council for over twenty years as a joiner.
Derek would have to wait until 1973 before he set up his first loft which would be a small affair, being a newlywed and in his first house the loft would small of some twelve feet by four feet, “that loft filled the garden” Derek recalls “I had a four feet by four feet young bird section and an eight by four feet old bird section, the house was a two up two down but didn’t suit racing pigeons, I knew I would have to move to improve”. It would take him some time to get a larger set up, but this was a start and that is the year that Derek commenced flying in the large Birkenhead HS club.
The Birkenhead HS is one of the strongest clubs on the Wirral peninsular and racing into the Bidston area itself is a hot bed, Derek in his first season and with broken pigeons managed to take a third Rennes In a club that boasted fifty plus members in those days. Over the years that Derek lived at these premises he managed to top the North Wirral federation who in those days would send up to four thousand young pigeons weekly.
It would be when Derek moved to Merritt Avenue some three quarters of a mile west of where he resides today and nearer to the famous Birkenhead docks which has been a huge sauce of employment locally. This house was bigger but so was the garden and with a larger garden came larger lofts and more birds. Derek would then commence buying pigeons to fill his larger lofts. Having worked with a lad in North Wales (Derek can’t remember the lads name) he procured some new pigeons S & B Cooper pigeons, these birds were from federation and combine winners into North wales and to be honest Derek says they performed for me there winning federation and combines for me.
Derek then went north to Blackpool to buy pigeons from Bert Hession, these were “Staff Van Reets” he reminisces, “these birds would go on to win me thousands of pounds”. One race that Derek remembers and is stuck in mind for life wasn’t a win but it was a good second to Frank Wheadon in the Catteralls Nantes Race, there were literally thousands of birds in that particular race and this 1987 hen “52” would in 1990 would take some great positions not just locally but nationally by winning the Royal Racing Pigeon Association Western Region Meritorious Award.
Having then gone through a divorce Derek would need to move his pigeons if he wanted to continued racing. And so anther move was on this time to Sumner road which is slightly North West of where Derek races today. The down side of the move was back to a smaller garden and although there was some success at that address problematic neighbours soon motivated Derek to move to the house where he has been living and racing ever since.
Derek remembers before buying the house that he jumped the back wall and saw the large garden and told his now new wife Lainy I’ve put an offer in just by looking at the back garden (a true pigeon fancier). It would be the start of an adventure that would take the duke to the top. Some of the results that this loft has achieved have been tremendous and although this scribe is not a results fanatic I need to put some here to give the reader a flavour of the calibre of this loft.
2006 First Section First Open Lulworth Young Bird Midland National Flying Club 3924 pigeons with Galaxy Jack named after the proprietor of Galaxy Lofts Jack Cornes. Derek has also won the prestigious Chester Two Bird Club, the Shotton Gold Ring Race, The Bird In Hand Gold Ring Race, the Prenton Open Race, the Birkenhead HS Breeder Buyer race twice, the Bebbington Open race, the Birkenhead open race. The huge North West Combine and the North Wirral federation.
Galaxy Jack winner of First Midland national Lulworth 2006 beating 3924 pigeons
Having retired in 2011 Derek has relaxed and downsized his lofts considerably which invariably has reduced the work load in the garden which Derek really does now enjoy. The loft itself has been made bespoke by Derek having previously raced to specialist made pigeons lofts he sold them to put this homemade loft in its place and swears this is now the best loft he has ever race to.
The ventilation is great and that is reflected in the condition of the pigeons. The loft has fifteen cock boxes in the cocks section and twenty seven hen boxes in the hens section. On the side of the old bird sections is an eight by eight young bird section. Derek has also reduced his stock birds and now houses these in another loft which measures some ten by six accompanied by an eight by six aviary at the end.
The side of the racing loft with its bespoke aviary
The racing loft is cleansed every single day or as Derek stated “no deep litter here, just clean bare boards”. The water is changed daily all around each loft. The old birds are fed the Cosworth Stud feed when racing and all training is done on the federation training wagon two or three times a week.
On marking days the hens are let into the cocks for fifteen minutes and then off to the club for marking. Young Birds are bred in December and fed on Bamfords Breeding mix until they start flying around the loft; they are then put onto a lighter mix. The youngsters are trained hard (according to my local and club fanciers). “I like to take them to the first race point which in my case Hereford some ninety two mile to my loft a week before the first race”
Derek has been that keen that he has even gone the night before and stayed in the car over night to liberate the young birds at first light at Hereford. But the last two years they have just been trained on the federation training wagon. Derek believes of you get the feed correct with young birds you can get up to 30 tosses at 10, 20, 30 and 40 miles. The young birds are darkened and training starts early when everyone else is busy channel racing Derek has already started his babies off.
The trapping area to Derek’s racing loft (old birds to the left and young birds to the right)
Derek races his birds in his beloved Birkenhead Homing Society which is based at the Bidston Hotel just off the M53 on the Hoylake Road. This club is by far the largest and the most competitive club on the Wirral peninsular, if you win this club actively sending 600 birds a week you know your winning pigeon is something special.
The home of Birkenhead Homing Society, The Bidston Hotel (the club house can be seen to the right)
To sort his young bird team out Derek likes to send good quality teams to both the MNFC young bird nationals one inland and one channel race usually 200 and 300 mile, these races really do sort out your youngsters says Derek what you get home are good pigeons.
When asked about Medication, Derek has no issue talking about this subject, Derek approached Dutch Vets Schroeder Tollinson in 2016 and says they are best he has dealt with especially their products his words “they are the best you can get”.
Derek always treats his stock and racing pigeons before pairing, treating for Worms, Canker, Respiratory and Fungal complaints. He will also religiously vaccinate for Paramyxio virus. During racing the old birds will get a three day treatment for canker on a Saturday, Sunday & Monday. The following week the same. Three days for respiratory, and the same again for fungal infection etc. This cycle is then repeated through the season.
When racing young birds Derek likes to keep the antibiotics away from his young bird race team until they start racing. Prior to racing they get a two day treatment of Coli Killer in their water this helps keep the dreaded young bird sickness at bay. All young birds are inoculated against paramyxio virus when they are weaned into the young bird loft, they will also be given a half tablet of flagyl for canker the day after inoculating and the other half two days later.
The youngsters will get nothing else until they start racing. All Derek’s birds are given matrix and normal grit five days a week, “it’s the best there is” says Derek. Derek will spend a lot of time in his young bird loft sat on his small fisherman’s stool getting his young birds tame to him this is also an aid for motivation.
The results that stand Derek shoulder to shoulder with the best have been stated but add to that five times first section in the MNFC and seven times second section MNFC along with one first open and one second open MNFC with a total of seventy four prize cards from the MNFC since 2004 to 2016 and in 2017 again scoring in the section and featuring in this year’s MNFC old bird programme flying a maximum of twenty pigeons Derek has gained a top ten open position and has timed in every race he has sent.
Derek has two special people within his competitive club which are not just part of the competition but close friends and drinking partners they are local ace and fellow MNFC National winner and ex son in law to Derek, Gary Atherton (known affectionately locally and nationally as Addo (and probably 2017 club champion) and Tony Anderton affectionately known as Swede due to his blonde locks.
Derek has no real ambition other than to enjoy his pigeons and compete, now settled in his final home with his wife Lainy and with the pigeon lofts as he always wanted them and remembering those immortal words he was once told by Gary (Addo) Atherton “you need a loft on wheels”.
When you meet and sit with people who have been around this hobby for a life time many can go back generations, Derek Hurst is a man who came into pigeons without the back ground, breeding, or the guidance of adults as a child to nurture a feeling or a touch or even an association with anything avian. This local lad who admits to enjoying his younger days far too much is now enjoying his retirement and his relaxed fashion with his new look garden, new look lofts and with the pigeons that are proven where ever they are sent. He sits in his domain and has an empathy with his pigeons that only those who know and feel this will understand.
I was once told by a great fancier Arthur Atwell, and then reiterated to me by another great fancier Brian Kaid (whom I was fortunate to call both my friends). “Pigeons will race and home to the man (or woman)” when you visit Derek in his element you can see that there is an aura between him and his charges and although his garden is not as big as the duchy of Bidston he certainly is the Duke.
