Arthur Coxon & John Guard

We lost the great Arthur Coxon of Surbiton in 2005 and when I write that the sport of pigeon racing has lost one it’s nicest characters, with the passing of this great champion, it is an understatement on my part. I’ve known Art ever since I started in the sport over 35 years ago and before that, he knew my father when they were school boys and played football together. He was a first class fencer by trade and had to retire from the sport, as in recent years he couldn’t manage his pigeons. Arthur Coxon was the premier pigeon racer in the Surbiton area for all of the 1970’s and many seasons before. He came in to the fancy in 1951 and won scores of first prizes at all distances, but was outstandingly consistent in the long distances races. He won his first race from Weymouth in1952 and won his first major long distance award from Bordeaux in 1952, taking 2nd. club and the Continental Average Cup. Art won the Young Bird Average six years on the trot from 1956 and had his best year in 1962, winning eight firsts, three of which were from France. The pride of the Coxon loft was his famous 1970 black cock, ‘Cyrano Di Bergerac, who had to his credit, 1972: 2nd. club, 5th. Surrey Federation, 11th. open S.M.T. Combine Bergerac, 1973: 1st. club, 15th. Surrey Federation, 25th. open S.M.T. Combine Bergerac, 1975: 1st. club, 14th. Surrey Federation, 30th. open S.M.T. Combine Bergerac (451 miles), and in 1976 this great pigeon peaked to early and won 1st. club Exeter the week before Bergerac. A fantastic pigeon! In 1972, ‘Cyrano’ was beat from Bergerac by his loft mate, ‘Stevie Boy’, who recorded 1st. club, 1ST. Surrey Federation, 2nd. open S.M.T. Combine, with a punchy velocity of 926 ypm. ‘Stevie Boy smashed him self up on some wires in late 1975 and was put in to the stock loft. The 1967 dark chequer cock, ‘Simon’, flew the channel 23 times for the Coxon loft and won 12 diplomas, including 1st. club Bergerac and 1st, club Nantes. Another ace racer at the Surbiton loft was, ‘Elliot’, who won 1st. club Niort (twice), 2nd club Rennes and 4th. club Bergerac. A wonderful loft of pigeons!

Art was always ever ready to anyone and was always keen to give a gift pigeon to a novice. Many pigeons bred at the Coxon loft done well for other fanciers. A dark chequer, half brother to ‘Simon’, won three firsts for the outstanding Trussler Brothers partnership of Molesey, including 69th. open N.F.C. Nantes, 1st. club Niort (352 miles) and bred winners. I remember talking to Dick Trussler in the 1970’s and he really rated Arthur’s dark family, which were based on a 1957 dark chequer hen. We used to call Arthur Coxon, ‘Mr. Bergerac’, and no wonder, he was the number one fancier at that 450 miles distance in the Surrey area for many years. His achievements over the years are far to many to list in this article!

Arthur wasn’t much of a strain man and said his birds were many strains, with his original birds being obtained from many premier south of England flyers. He was a firm but not ruthless basket fancier, when proving the quality of a bird. This being the only pedigree that he was interested in, the basket and not paper. The birds were mated up the first weekend in March, with birds wanted for the longer races held until the end of March. Arthur’s 25 pairs of racing and stock birds were housed in his two self built garden lofts, consisting of a 12ft. x 6ft old bird loft and an 8ft. structure for the young bird team. He flew the natural system and fed on a good sound mixture of 50% beans, 30% maize, 20% wheat, when racing and fed mostly barley when resting in the winter months. Art was a self-employed fencer and liked to take his birds to work every day for training, but when this wasn’t possible he gave them a 25 mile toss twice a week. He liked his young birds to fly the full programme and then slow them up as yearlings. An interesting point is that he never raced latebreds until they were two years old, and he maintained by using this method, he produced some good pigeons. His advice to novices was always the same, get some stock from a consistent loft and be patient.

Arthur’s ‘golden’ memory was, when in 1972 he and two club mates returned to his loft after clock checking to verify ‘Stevie Boy’, when he had won 2nd. open Combine Bergerac. They were standing by Art’s back door to his house, in the dark, talking, when one of them thought he saw a pigeon pitch on the loft in the darkness. Art went to the loft to investigate and there was ‘Cyrano’ hanging on the front wire of the loft! He clocked him, having had a reset and he was 2nd. club, 5th. Federation, 11th. open Combine, and the rest is pigeon history. Arthur had so much respect for that great old black cock, ‘Cyrano De Bergerac’ and he said he had so much guts, and was a once in a life time pigeon. Arthur Coxon’s black family were all small to medium in size and very nice in the hand. They were handsome looking pigeons, with wonderful feathering. He kept the two families of birds, the darks and the blacks, and both were outstanding from 80 miles through to Bergerac, 450 miles. Although Arthur had brilliant pigeons in his loft, he was always willing to introduce a good bird and give it a try. The late, great, Arthur Coxon of Surbiton.

JOHN GUARD

OF MARAZION

I had the good fortune to visit the Cornish long distance ace, the late John Guard, in 1976, while on holiday in Cornwall, with my wife, Betty. Cornwall isn’t the best place in the world to live when racing pigeons, with fogs and mists that close in in seconds and freaky rainstorms, which pelt down without warning. One man who mastered and used these conditions to his advantage was John Guard. Many a Cornish man has said, ‘When the birds are a long way from home and the chips are down, with bad weather, you can bet your life, John Guard has got one home’. The longer the race and harder the weather, the better the Guard loft performed.

I visited the Guard’ Marazion home by arrangement made by my late friend, Johnny Winters of Penzance, at the end of August 1976, midway through the young bird racing. On our arrival we were taken in to the 17ft. x 5ft. loft by John to inspect the ace team of long distance racing pigeons, I had been told about so many times. The self built loft was very neat, with the back wall covered with nice, airy nest boxes, and the birds trapped through bob holes. The floor and nest boxes were dressed with nice, clean, fine sand collected once a week from Marazion beach, and the birds were fed on a good mixture of beans, maize and barley. The loft housed four pairs of stock birds, 20 pairs of racers, a 24 strong young bird team and every birds had to be proven before it was bred from. The birds were paired up the second week in February and only one round of youngsters were reared. Then the racers were put on pot eggs, ready for racing. John and his son, Brian, were very keen on eyesign and all pairings were made by the bird’s eyes. The birds got very little training as John was a very busy gardener and hadn’t the time, but gave them an open loft all day long.

John handed me a dark pied hen saying, ‘This is my best hen and her name is, ‘Twiggy’. This fine hen was big, with a deep cast in the hand and her eye was nice and rich. ‘Twiggy’ had to her credit, 1st. club, 1st. Federation, 3rd. open Combine Luxembourg (519 miles), 1st. club, 2nd. Federation, 8th. open Combine Antwerp (442 miles) and many positions inland. John said that the late A. R. Hill of St. Just was always trying to purchase this great hen. The main family kept was made up from pigeons obtained from N. J. Southwell of Petersfield and the Kenyons of P. Cook of Wendron. These pigeons won at all distances, but were devastating at the long distance, winning scores of firsts through the years. John said 1967 was his best year for the long distance, winning 1st, 2nd. club Antwerp (442 miles), 1st, 2nd, 4th. club Luxembourg (519 miles), 1st, 2nd, 3rd. club Hanau (638 miles). What performances! This fine team had made John premier prize winner in the very strong Penzance R.P.C. for six years on the trot. John showed me many, many 1st. diplomas won at the long distance. The loft’s performance must be described as fantastic, second to none. The second pigeon he put in my hand was a dark chequer hen named, ‘Hat-trick’, and she was medium sized, with long cast and light eye. This is the sort of pigeon you would give your right arm for, having won 1st. club Antwerp (442 miles) four years on the trot, as well as many club cards inland. To my mind this was the pigeon of the loft, because she had bred many winners as well as being a great racer. I handled eight hens bred from ‘Hat-trick’ and all were prize winners, with two being outstanding. The first was a very nice dark chequer hen, being big and long cast in the hand. She had to her credit, 1st. club, 1st. Federation Cranleigh, 1st. club, 1st. Federation Margate, 1st. club, 3rd. Federation Antwerp. This wonderful hen was a bit under the weather, having hit some wires a few days before my visit. The other hen was a red chequer, with a medium apple body and she had won three firsts inland. John showed me his best overseas racing cock and he was a red chequer, winner of three firsts overseas, including 1st. club, 6th. Federation Hanau (638 miles), only bird in the club in race time. Another outstanding bird at the Guard loft was the only blue he owned at that time and this game hen recorded 1st. club Hanau (638 miles) twice.

John was a Vice President of the West Cornwall Federation and was the convoyer for the W.E.C.A. and Cornish Combine for many years. His wife, Kathleen, always clocked in the birds on race days, when John was away at the racepoint, liberating. He was very keen on showing his racing pigeons and had won scores of local shows. Once while judging a show at Camborne, he entered the raffle for a pigeon, presented by Gordon Air. The tickets were 2/6d each and John said until then, he had never won a raffle in his life, but that was his lucky day because he took the dark chequer cock home with him. This big handsome cock turned out to be John’s best stock cock, being the sire of many winners at the long distance. John started in the sport in 1945 and smashed his novice status in a Plymouth race. Many a good Guard pigeon won for other fanciers, including a gift grizzle, which won 2nd. open S.N.F.C. for Darock of Gennoch. John Guard of Marazion was indeed one of Cornwall’s greatest pigeon fanciers!

I hope my readers have enjoyed reading about these two great fanciers, I’ve certainly enjoyed writing it! My Telephone number is: 01372 463480. See yer!