DUTCH SPRING FAYRE, HOUTEN 2013
by Tom Harris
Thursday 28th February saw the Welsh fanciers’ annual four-day pilgrimage to Antwerp, Belgium for the Dutch Spring Fayre and Lier Market trip.
Everyone met up at the Seamans Mission club in Newport from 8pm for a few drinks and a bite to eat before departing at 12 midnight for the journey to Dover for the early morning ferry to Calais. The trip to Antwerp was uneventful with most taking the oppportunity of catching a few hours’ sleep and we finally arrived at the hotel at 11am (10am UK).
With the bags dropped off, everyone dispersed and made their way into the town centre to have a wander about before checking in progressed from 2pm and with all the rooms sorted it was into the local Irish bar for the remainder of the afternoon and night. It was there later that evening that a friend and local Belgian fancier, Clement Dhonte arrived with his wife to meet up with myself and Gaynor and after introducing them to other fanciers of our trip, we all finally got down to discussing the Sunday morning loft visits that he had arranged for us at Paul and Jelle Rozziers and Aerts Bros and other topics relating to pigeon racing in general.
Sat morning and after a good night’s sleep it was a 7am breakfast before boarding the coach outside the hotel for a 08.15 departure to the Dutch Spring Fayre held in the Eurotec Centre, Houten. This trip took us around an hour and half and after sorting out the tickets, which was 10 euro each we finally got into the show just before 10am.
The show itself has grown annually since we first started to visit some ten years ago and this year was no different with pigeon fanciers from many countries being present on hearing the different accents around us. This annual event caters for everything that the modern day pigeon fancier wishes for and was once again spread over three large halls. Hall one seemed to cater for all pigeon tonics and medications , hall two loft equipment ranging from the smallest item to complete lofts and hall three mainly consisted of stands selling 2013 young birds and a few older pigeons. These were once again present in there hundreds, priced for everyone’s pocket from 30 euro onwards.
With mid-day approaching it was time to retreat to the bar area where once again we made our headquarters for the afternoon; with a few tables and chairs gathered we settled in. It is here that any purchases bought by our passengers could be dropped off and watched over in rotation, instead of carrying them around all day. Three-thirty was soon upon us and it was time to make our way to the coach for the return journey to the hotel, arriving back around 5pm.
At 6.30, Carlo arrived at the hotel, offering his annual batch of youngsters to the party on offer for a mere 20 euro each. These, as you could imagine, were soon gone as hands appeared from everywhere hoping to grab a bargain, with just seven youngsters remaining as these would have been a little young for the journey home. We said our goodbyes and it was back into the town for the night, finally turning in around 1.30am.
Sunday morning and it was once again an early start with a planned 7am departure to Lier Market. This took us approx 30 mins to get to and on our arrival there were already a few coaches present and the trading was well under way. The youngsters on offer this year were once again looking in good healthy condition and were of various ages, and a few of our passengers were soon there negotiating a deal on a few of their choice. By the time we departed at 0900 the market square was quickly filling up as more and more coaches arrived, mainly from the UK, Netherlands and Germany so once again we timed it right by getting in and out before it got too busy.
From there we headed north of Lier to the village of Bevel to the home and lofts of P & J Rozziers whose home and garden is totally pigeons. Jelle introduced himself to the passengers and directed them on a tour of the set up heading first into the adjacent garage where all the principal stock pigeons are housed. Each pair are individually housed so as not to incorporate any unwanted pairings.
(Use of PIPA pictures agreed by pipa.be)
After showing off the current breeders, it was then onto the young bird loft where their 2013 ybs were housed. When we visited in 2012 the lofts were a work in progress due to the house move, however this year everything was finished. The fanciers were invited into the loft and given a breakdown of how the Rozziers raced their youngsters and the methods they use to justify their success. From there we headed to the hens’ aviary where the group was welcome to handle the pigeons, which included many sons and daughters of the partnership’s famous "Queen L".
After a good hour at the Rozziers home, it was time to say our goodbyes and thank them for their time and in depth introduction of the partnership’s pigeons and methods that has kept this loft at the top of their game for the past years.
From there we made the short journey to the loft set up of Aerts Bros where once again we had the opportunity of handling many principal pigeons and were given a breakdown of their years of achievements and experience which stemmed back generations. Nothing was too much trouble. Anything the group wished to see or handle was once again presented to them. You could see by the set up that this partnership had been formed and successful for many years and by the family of pigeons that were handed around the group. As Jelle Rozzier openly admitted, these were the boys to beat on a weekly bases; if you time in before this partnership then you have a "good un".
From Bevel we made our way to the Natural Breeding Station and after getting over the roadworks we had a good hour there before returning to the hotel at 1.30. On our return, the women were also back from their shopping trip so we all made our way to the local bars to watch the football for the afternoon. This was to be our last gathering as preparations were being made for our return journey home. At 9.30 Monday morning the coach was loaded and we departed for Calais,,stopping off at the cash and carry en route as always for chocolate and wines etc, which also gave us the opportunity to feed and water the birds on board before reaching the Channel Tunnel. The return jouney also gave us the opportunity of drawing the raffle which consisted of three youngsters obtained from different sources over the weekend with the proceeds going to the driver for his services.
With everything going to plan we finally arrived back in Newport at 7pm. All that remains is to thank everyone again this year for their support in booking on this trip and with no complaints over 80% of this year's passengers have already confirmed interest for next year, resulting in only a few spare seats being available on a first come basis. Rest assured the best price will be achieved for you for the next visit to Holland and Belgium in 2014.
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