Keith Mott writes...

The Champions of Yesteryear - Part 2

ALEX FLEMING

OF ESHER

Alex Fleming was in the sport of pigeon racing for over 70 years and said that at the age of five he used to wait at his dad’s loft for several days, while his dad was at work, to clock in birds from 600 mile races. I n those days he raced in his native county, Durham and the only breaks he had from the sport was during the war. Alex was premier prize winner in the Esher & Dist. R.P.C., winning six firsts in 1979 and finished up a great season by winning 1st. open S.M.T. Combine Plymouth (young birds). His Combine winner, a Busschaert dark chequer cock called, ‘Mick’, was a gift egg from Matthews & Longman of Ashford and had won 1st. club, 9th. Surrey Federation Exeter, the week before the Plymouth Combine win. Alex had his own family based on Gooters, Gits and Alf Bakers, which were good right through to 500 miles. His 18ft. three section loft was set in his fantastic prize winning garden and his birds alighted on to low drop boards, being trapped through drop holes. The loft was kept spotless, being cleaned out every day. His wife, Anna, was very keen on the pigeons and was the brains behind the incredible garden. Alex never used deep litter and said from what he had seen, it could cause trouble in the loft. On my visit to the Fleming loft I noted the nest boxes which had a small perch in the corners so the hens could get away from the cocks when pairing up. The smart loft had a fence along the front to ensure that the birds alighted directly on the drop boards. The 1979 Plymouth Combine winner was Alex’s second 1st. open Combine, previously winning from Penzance in 1968. At that time, in 1968, the Fleming loft made history in the very strong Surrey Federation by winning: 1st. and 2nd. club, 1st. and 2nd. Federation Exmouth, 1st. and 2nd. club, 1st. and 2nd. Federation, 1st. and 2nd. open S.M.T. Combine Penzance, 1st, 2nd. and 3rd. club, 1st, 5th. and 6th. Federation Exmouth, in three successive weekends. A brilliant loft performance! Alex always said his most disappointing experience was in a race when he should have taken the first four positions, but his clock stopped.

Alex maintained that the key factor behind success with racing pigeons is to look after the birds every day of the year and not just in the racing season. He raced on the natural system and trained very little with the old birds getting a few tosses up to Petersfield (40 miles) and youngsters getting about ten training tosses from 6 to 40 miles before the first race. He fed on a mixture of beans, peas, maize and wheat, with Red Band for trapping. When selecting producers he looked for good eye, feather and body and liked one or two latebreds for stock. He always line-bred and his family were a wonderful type of pigeon. Alex kept 20 pairs of old birds, which raced up to longest old bird race from Bergerac, and bred 20 youngsters which raced up to 180 miles. The highlight of Alex’s season in 1979 were: 1st. club, 1st Surrey Federation Exeter, 1st club, 5th. Surrey Federation Weymouth, 1st. club, 9th. Surrey Federation Exeter and 1st. club, 1st. Surrey Federation, 1st. S.M.T. Combine Plymouth. Many fancier had outstanding success with the Fleming pigeons, including Nora Major of Putney, who founded her fantastic loft in the 1970’s with his pigeons. Alex Fleming and his pigeons were one of the most respected teams in the Surrey pigeon fancy.

TOMMY WOODOCK

OF WIMBLEDON

Tommy Woodcock’s birds were mostly dark blue chequers and blues, with some pieds and were of the Sheppard strain, which Tom rated second to none. He said he tried other strains including Belgian and Dutch, but they couldn’t keep up the pace like the Sheppards and have fallen by the wayside. Tom was a hard taskmaster, giving the birds the best and he expected the best. If a bird was fit and well it had to fly the programme and Tom maintained that at the end of the year only the best were left. The team was trained hard in the three weeks before racing and then training stopped as the birds got two races per week, on Wednesday and Saturday.

Tommy won 1st. open London & South Coast Combine Nantes (4007 birds) in 1979 and added yet another great performance to the many he recorded in his many years in the pigeon fancy. Tom’s combine winner, a yearling Sheppard blue chequer pied hen called, ‘Dids’, was a daughter of his famous, ‘White Tail’, stock hen, which was the dam of countless winners, including four 1st. Federation winners. ‘Dids’ was flying to chipping eggs when she won the combine and previously had won many other positions including 2nd. and 4th. club Weymouth as a young bird. One of Tommy’s all-time best seasons was in 1976 when he left devastation wherever he raced. Total cash winnings for that season was approximately £1,500 and he was top prize winner in the London Coly, Wimbledon & Dist. F.C., Mitcham Two Bird, London Federation and was third highest in the Merton & Morden H.S. The Woodcock loft won 18 x 1st, 16 x 2nd, 15 x 3rd. at club level and 4 x 1st, 3 x 2nd, 2 x 3rd. at Federation level in 1976, with 1st. Hersham Open Weymouth and 2nd. Sandhurst Open Guernsey being the icing on the cake. Tom’s performances go on and on, but one worth a special mention was his performance in the 1978 Young Bird National when he recorded 9th. open (9708 birds) Guernsey.

The pigeons had an open loft most days. They were very tame and Tom had picked up birds from the lawn on race days and clocked them in. Tom thought the most important thing is a good team of yearlings and not to many pigeons over two years old were retained. He was a 100% eyesign man and all pairings were made by their eyes, also they were inbred very closely. Tommy had two lofts, a 15ft. x 6ft. racing loft and a 12ft. x 4ft. stock loft over his garage. The very neat lofts were dressed with deep litter of sharp sand and a little lime and the birds were trapped through open doors and bob holes. The feed was a mixture of beans, peas and maize, with some wheat added when racing. The babies were not separated from the old birds, all being together through racing, but were weaned in a race crate. The eight pairs of stock birds were paired on 14th. February, the 18 pairs of racers at the beginning of March and 36 youngsters were produced each year.

Tom started in the sport in 1934 and won his first race that year from Exmouth with a gift white cock from Alf Tomlin of Wimbledon. The new starter, Tommy, was disqualified as he had forgot to transfer the birds to his name, with the R.P.R.A. He always looked up to the late Harry Branch of Mitcham. Tom always told novices to stay out of the pub on Saturday afternoon as he had lost many a race by standing at the bar, when the birds were due home. The Sheppard pigeons were bred down from the Savage Barker strain and when the late Mr. Sheppard died he left his pigeons to his loft manager, Mr. Bacon. Tommy obtained his first Sheppards from Mr. Bacon and never looked back. The daddy of the Woodcock loft was the Sheppard blue cock, ‘The Hoppity Cock. This great cock had smashed his leg, hence his nickname from Tommy. He won on the road and was responsible for countless winners, including three in the combine. Tom’s wife, Dids, took a big interest in the pigeons and clocked in many winners in Tom’s absence.

Well, I hope you have enjoyed this look back at two great London champions of yester year! We will be looking at some more very soon. I can be contacted on Telephone: 01372 463480. See yer!