ALAN WINSTANLEY

of Congleton

by Cameron Stansfield

7 x 1st at 500 miles in the last 7 seasons

Alan Winstanley of Congleton sets his stall out each year to clock on the day (and hopefully win) at 500 miles, which means he makes Saintes, 517 miles, his target. The shorter racepoints of Niort, 479 miles, and Nantes, 409 miles, also come into his reckoning but for Alan they do not have the same magic. Neither does Pau, for reasons which Alan expands upon in this article.

Alan is now retired and has spent a lifetime in pigeons, though up until 1979 when he went it alone, he flew as the 'junior' in a partnership with his late father Frank. Alan says that during those years his role was mostly one of 'fetch and carry'. The partnership very much held their own in local and national competition, indeed in 1971 they were to become the first winners from Pau of the newly-formed Section L of the NFC. Liberated on the Friday, they clocked their blue cheq hen 'Jacqueline' at 5.54am Saturday, flying 681 miles.

Cut now to 1992 which saw Alan have his first go at the Saintes National. Alan entered 8 birds (to this day the most he has ever sent to 500 miles) and amongst them was a 2-year-old blue cock which had only had one prior Channel crossing. Liberated at 6.50am, this cock fairly rocketed home at 1359ypm to win 1st Open NFC. Christened 'Olympic Blue', Alan unsurprisingly retired him to stock and today it is this cock's bloodlines which dominate within the Winstanley loft. 'Olympic Blue' came down from the base pair of the loft, both Ko Nipius, presented to Alan by his long-standing friend Roy Barton of Whitchurch in Shropshire. From around this pair Alan bred a very consistent 500 mile hen, 'Janet' (named after Roy's wife), which he paired to the 'Kuff Cock', bred by Marcel Braakhuis and lent to Alan by Joe Frodsham, and the result was 'Olympic Blue'. The other line which Alan has enjoyed success with and which has knitted quite well with the 'Olympic Blue' line, is that of his 'Old Northern Hen', a beauiful blue hen who scored three times in the Great Northern Marennes race at a time when that race was the race to win in Alan's locality. In 1984 Roy Barton sent Alan a young bird, a cheq cock rung 84N22167, which Alan named 'Roy'. It raced well winning 1st Weymouth and 1st Nantes before on a training flight for a 500 mile race it returned badly cut by wires. Alan decided to retire him and, when paired to a daughter of the 'Old Northern Hen', he produced good pigeons. This bloodline is still in Alan's family and performing at the distance.

For a listing of Alan's successes at at the distance from 1991 through to today please see the accompanying roll of honour, though note that this list is incomplete as it does not include many of his successes with the NFC as these were not to hand. In short you will see that in this period Alan has won Saintes/Angoulême 9 times (not including his national win), Niort 4 times and Nantes 6 times. This to a modest back-garden loft with his own family of pigeons. Here are some of Alan's thoughts on various aspects of pigeon racing.

Love of Home

I often ask myself when I clock at 500 miles on the day why that pigeon has put in the effort and I think it is, in great part, down to the bond I have created with it in the loft, by talking to it and so on. I remember George Stubbs telling me that he was once asked why he thought I had won the Saintes National and he said it was because of my pigeon's love of home. You can go to some lofts and see that the fancier does not have this bond with his pigeons. I would not necessarily say that this means tameness, however. It boils down to knowing your family and those odd ones which do not want to be handled and fussed with. You have to get to know what they like.

The Thrill

I get a great thrill when a pigeon drops out of the darkness and I have been fortunate to experience this many times. Sometimes you can tell that it has given its all but I have also had situations where pigeons have dropped and I couldn't tell that they had been to a race. This kind of thing astounds me. The ideal day for my family of pigeons would be a steady day or a hard one, even. I have never liked fast days. I think that this is more down to my family of pigeons than the condition in which I send them. The thrill I get when I clock on the day at 500 miles is greater than ever. People say to me: 'Alan, you must know you are going to get one', but I don't. When you have that special pigeon, you do, but most of the time I don't pick the right one. For example, I sent two hens to the Saintes National last year and I got them only the next morning (winning 6th and 11th Section L, 241st and 329th Open). In my heart of hearts I knew they weren't ready for the day job as they weren't fit enough. The thing with clocking day birds at the distance is that you can't do it all the time, although I have been fortunate in the last 10 to 11 years (excluding the foot-and-mouth year) and I have nearly always timed on the day at 500 miles with the North Staffs Fed. At the same time, however, I haven't won a lot of the middle-distance races. Quite a few people have urged me to have a go at the Pau race but, with it being an extra 200 miles, it is a different kettle of fish. I sent two last year and I am still looking for them. I think I failed because of the way I prepare my pigeons, the way I instigate motivation. There is only so much petrol in the tank and that is it. Was winning the National my biggest thrill? Well, it was tremendous but my biggest thrill had to be getting my 'Old Northern Hen' to score for the third time.

THE RIGHT BALANCE

I know that a lot of people try to win at all costs but for me it is not like that; taking part is what I enjoy. I am not longing to win all the races. Don't get me wrong, I was at one time, but for many years my satisfaction has been seeing them come home from 500 miles, preferably on the day. Quite a lot of fanciers don't seem to get simple contentment just keeping pigeons but enjoyment is what it is all about at the end of the day. My dad was a good land flyer but we had many disputes over how to handle the pigeons. He could not get them regularly out of 500 miles and it was because of this that I made it my objective to concentrate on the Blue Riband in this area, which at the time was the Great Northern. 500 miles is the only thing that grabs me now. I do get some satisfaction from shorter Channel races but I look for hours on the wing and races which reveal the guts of the pigeon to keep on and on. There aren't many that will do it. It all comes down to motivation and fitness in the end.

MY PHILOSOPHY

It is hard enough for even experienced fanciers to win, let alone new starters, so it is not surprising that some get downhearted. When you weigh up the cost of keeping pigeons it is frightening. I don't buy all those products that you see advertised. I just give them clean water and my own little oddments. The other striking change is that fanciers are now breeding 50 to 100 youngsters, whereas they used to breed just 20. In other words, they are breeding for losses. In years past there were always people who spent a fortune on pigeons and if they didn't win they got rid of them but now people tend to flog pigeons right, left and centre. As regards my own situation, I have made do with what I have, to create my own family. I have never been one to spend much on pigeons, although I do recognise that initially people do have to go out and invest, but the problem then is recreating good pigeons. Unless your pocket is bottomless, you can't keep going out buying. To tell the truth, I haven't bought pigeons for about 10 years and if I was to do so again I would go to someone with a small, back-garden loft who keeps only a few quality birds.

I know pigeons are flying faster in the short and middle distance races than years ago but these fade when distance and hours on the wing increase beyond 10 hours. I still think that 40mph on a no-wind day is about as much as pigeons are capable of in the long distance races but the wind and the weather will decide the pace of the race. Endurance and the will to get home comes into play.

Type

The type of pigeon that is winning nowadays has changed a lot. I went to the recent sale of the late Brian Beardmore's pigeons and in it were one or two of the old, noble-headed George Stubbs (Barker) type of pigeons but these are the exception nowadays, as pigeons have become more streamlined and the cocks 'hennier'. I like a one-tailed pigeon and have to admit that is a 'problem' with some of mine at present but, there again, the first 500-miler I ever had (she did it three times) had a poor tail and used to fly around like a fantail. I will not, however, keep a pigeon that sticks its tail up, at any price. I remember the Vandies of my father years ago had that weakness and they were only good up to 300 miles. I like to see character in a pigeon's head and try to breed a type. I like my pigeons to look nice. I always remove those I don't like, based on type, preferring not to give them the chance to get lost. I won't keep pigeons where the balance is not there, or where the eye is not something I like (an eye that gives you no feedback, no expression when you look into it and has no colour). I always think that with the eye it's not the be-all and end-all but I do think that the make-up of the eye puts me a certain way down the road. I also don't like latebreds that don't have the right handling qualities. I may possibly be jumping the gun sometimes but I have to keep the numbers down.

A friend of mine said that pigeon racing is like gardening - you have to keep weeding and weeding. If an exceptional pair of pigeons produces youngsters that don't come up to my standard I won't keep them. I don't get too wrapped up in theories, however, because if you looked into everything - vent theory, wing theory, throat theory - you would never send them. It can be mesmerising. The quality of feather is most important, which is why oils are so essential. Mine always get a bit of linseed. I boil it up and put it in the water and always have done. When I was in the army I remember the guard-dog men used to do this to put condition into the coats of their dogs. Years ago I used to use a tonic given to me by Dr Rigg, called Tonseen, and it was a tremendous thing for pigeons. You could see the difference straight away but unfortunately, you can no longer get some of the ingredients over the counter.

The racing loft

Losses

I don't lose many pigeons and don't have them reported. I tend to have only pigeons that can get home under their own steam. I have never had young bird sickness and about five years ago, I remember a good widowhood man saying to me that I never would, the reason being that, in his opinion, I don't put my youngsters under stress. I do race them, however.

Natural versus Widowhood

I fly only natural. Really, I should have a go at widowhood but I am a stick-in-the-mud and anyway I am not longing to win every race. I know that most widowhood fanciers are pairing up for the far-end races anyway. As far as weight goes, I think I have a tendency to overload my candidates, in a sense, and that is perhaps a problem, but I take into account weight loss in the basket. This could be where widowhood can come unstuck. Widowhood pigeons tend to be much lighter and more buoyant. I think weight loss in the race basket is perhaps down to families. A couple of years ago I race-marked a team of widowhood cocks in gorgeous condition for a 500-mile race but they didn't come in even on the second day. I got some of mine, however, and some next day. In the lead up to a 500-mile race I believe in oil seeds and a few peanuts and I have always fed 'Old Hand' Golden Boost.

Work

I never rush pigeons but, having said that, I did have a yearling at 500 miles on the day - in thunder and lightning, when many fanciers thought they wouldn't be able to get through. I usually wait until they are 2 years old. Typically, they will have four races down to the coast, a 300-mile preparatory Channel race, then go into the 500 miler. I don't overwork them and, in fact, have never tried working them harder. My own pigeons will fly for an hour in the morning and an hour at night - proper exercise, not lolloping around chimney pots. I am also quite happy to rest some pigeons for a year, always looking for others to do it rather than relying on just one or two. I tend to keep up this home exercise until basketing time; I don't rest them because I don't want to switch them off. When I said earlier that the two pigeons I sent to NFC Saintes last year came only the next morning, I think it was because I departed from my normal policy and gave them rest and they were not tuned up sufficiently. In the last three or four weeks before the 500-mile race I also give them a 20- to 30-mile chuck. I believe you can sicken them by taking them down the road too often - at least that's the impression I get.

Fine Tuning

Does their condition change in the last three to four weeks before the 500-mile race? Actually, it alters throughout the year. My pigeons always put on a lot of weight through the winter and it takes me ages to get it off. I have always been a heavy bean feeder. When they go to a 300-mile race they are sent fit but it will still put them on. You can see them come on over a period of time. Even when I think I have got them right I am still watching. A lot depends upon transportation and the obstacles in a pigeon's path. For example, last year I had one return with its leg up. Because of this I have never gambled much on pigeons.

Finishing Touches

I also like to feed rapeseed and peanuts in the lead-up to the big race. I have never been a big one for hemp, as I always thought it was a bit dear and, although I like maize, I have never gone overboard on it because it can be fattening. Hormoform is one product I haven't used - I have stuck with Golden Boost - but I have heard many good reports about it. In the last few days before basketing for the 500-mile race I always give them an iron tonic - nowadays Johnsons. My favourite nesting condition is 8 to 12 days sitting for both cocks and hens. Years ago I read about the Scots flying well to youngsters in the nest and I have tried it but it has never given me any results. I would like perhaps to have a go at celibate or roundabout, although I don't know much about either. Mine is the old-fashioned way, based on the nesting cycle, where you take it out of the pigeon and put it back in, although the celibate system, where the pigeons have less exertion, should, in theory, be better. Only on odd occasions will I break the nesting cycle because I don't like to disappoint the pigeons. When I do, it will be for the nest they actually go to the race on.

Always Learning

Pigeon racing is a fascinating hobby and I am always learning. I like to think that if I knew when I started what I think I know now, that if I'd been allowed to go to a good loft and choose some pigeons to take away I could have taken years off my apprenticeship. I now have a good idea of the type I want and could cut out the long, long road of learning. Am I a good judge generally? That's a hard question to answer. I pick the ones I like and I would not be far wrong but I would definitely have to handle the bird. I couldn't just pick it off a perch. I remember Joe Shore saying to me a few years ago that if every show class was a handling class we would all progress a bit and I know what he meant. I don't really go to many other lofts. I used to run around a lot locally until one fancier said to me that my time would be better spent in my own loft. What else have I learnt? Perhaps that you can't line-breed to a female. 'Old Hand' wrote to me in the 1960s, telling me this, and I find that, yes, it's true. His solution was to line-breed to the outstanding male and I agree.

Numbers

If I had double the birds I wouldn't fly twice as well but half as well. You need only half a dozen good, hand-picked pigeons to create your own family. Even now I have too many. I can't work with numbers. I would not be able to test them all and therefore I'd be unable to find the lines that were working. People who keep a lot of pigeons must love them and they deserve their success because of the work they put in but it's not my way. My loft is a 'closed shop' and I'm happy just doing my own thing.

DAX INTERNATIONAL

If I had the money I would send some this year to Pau and Dax. Really I should venture out and have a go at them both. I like the idea of International racing but I think it will take a while for me to sort out the birds that will cope with it. You don't know until you send them, though. The late Colin Brough used to say to me that to fly a National you have to have National pigeons, yet when I won it I sent 8 pigeons and none had ever been in the National. The reason I sent 8 was that someone else said to me: 'Alan, don't go with one in a paper bag'.

Percentages

How many good pigeons do I breed? Not many but I'm slowly creeping up, breeding more pigeons capable of scoring at 500 miles. I tend to breed about 30 youngsters a year. Last year from Saintes I clocked three of the only four birds home in one club and one of only three home in another club a week later and this was a hard race with only 5 in the fed on the day. I finished 3rd club, 4th fed.

Mistakes

I generally allow one mistake, even for pigeons I had previously thought looked and acted the part. Perhaps one thing I have learnt, after years of observation, is that there are breeders and racers and knowing which is which and which you need to keep at home is very important. With my dad, everything went but that is not necessarily the best way. I stopped one hen eight years ago, based on her shape, body feather and the 'topping on the coffee' - her eye (it was the 'queen' of eyes) - and she bred me three sisters who all scored at 500 miles. Don't send the one laying the golden eggs.

'OLYMPIC BLUE'

When I won the National I retired 'Olympic Blue' and in the last few years it is his sons, daughters and grandchildren that have been winning for me. In a sense, because he won the National, I felt I had to keep him at home and breed around him but, to tell the truth, I wish I had raced him on - he was made for racing. I do still have within my family the line of my 'Old Northern Hen' but it is gradually fading away. These pigeons had to have a hard day to show themselves.

HEALTH

Innate health is crucial and I can't do with propped-up pigeons. I don't give any antibiotics. I want general health and birds that can survive in the basket. I have not had canker for 30 years and that was when I bought a pigeon and everything off it developed canker so I eliminated them all. I do, however, go through the formality once a year of giving them canker treatment and, although I have never seen worms, I do worm them: for the last two or three years I have given them One Spot at the back of the neck. I don't do them for coccidiosis. You can tell fanciers that you give them just fresh water and clean food and they don't believe you but it is a fact.

500 MILERS VERSUS 700 MILERS

The late Colin Brough of Congleton had some successes from Pau, including winning the Section in a really hard race with what was known as his grizzle family but I remember him saying to me that if you expected the same pigeons to win for you at 500 miles on the day, they would break your heart. They were out-and-out stayers. He knew this and kept persevering with them, whereas the culture around here and in a lot of other areas says that if a pigeon comes next day from 500 miles (providing there have been day birds) it's no good and has to make room for others. The first time my father and I sent to Pau we sent two pigeons - a 500-mile federation topper and a steady pigeon that would come the next day, and it was the latter which we got. We never saw the federation topper again.

HARD OR EASY?

Time and again the pigeons which have left their mark through their breeding are those which have won at 500 miles on steady to hard days doing 800ypm to 1000ypm, not those which have won doing 1200s. People sometimes dismiss only-bird-on-the-day type performances as a lottery but is it beggary! It's the ultimate!

ROLL OF HONOUR

  Saintes (517 miles)/Angloueme* (530 miles)     Niort (479 miles)     Nantes (409 miles)

  North Staffs Fed         East Cheshire Fed     North Staffs Fed     East Cheshire Fed

1991   1st, 2nd* (6th, 16th fed)       1st, 2nd, 4th (2nd, 8th fed)   4th, 5th       3rd, 4th, 5th (8th, 9th, 15th fed)   

1992   3rd, 4th* (1st Open NFC)       3rd, 4th, 5th     1st, 2nd (12th, 15th fed)   3rd, 5th

1993   2nd, 3rd, 5th, 6th* (20th fed)       2nd       1st (10th fed)     3rd, 4th

1994   2nd, 3rd, 4th* (30th fed)       1st       3rd, 4th, 5th     4th

1995   1st, 3rd, 5th (17th fed) (3rd Sect, 25th Open NFC)         2nd       2nd     

1996   1st, 2nd (19th fed)         1st, 2nd, 3rd (10th fed)   4th       2nd, 3rd, 4th

1997   1st, 2nd, 4th, 5th (3rd fed)       3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th     1st, 2nd (6th, 10th fed)

1998   1st, 3rd, 4th (30th fed)       1st, 2nd, 3rd, 5th, 6th   (8th fed)   2nd, 5th, 6th     2nd       

1999   1st (26th fed)         3rd, 4th, 5th           1st (10th fed)     

2000   1st, 3rd, 4th (2nd fed)/1st, 3rd, 4th (7th Moorlands Fed)         1st Fougeres (2nd fed)   1st       

2001   No Channel racing

2002   1st, 2nd, 3rd, 5th, 6th club/3rd, 5th club (4th Moorlands Fed)       3rd