Keith Mott Writes...

KEN HANBY

OF MEXBOROUGH

Ken Hanby is a life vice president of the National Flying Club, following on from being the President from 1996 to 1998. This soft spoken Yorkshire man is an N.F.C. fancier through and through, recording many premier positions through the years, including 1st. Sect K. 16th. Open Guernsey old hens in the 2002 season. Ken is a true Yorkshire man who speaks his mind and never holds a grudge.

Ken’s father was a fancier in the 1930’s and on his retirement in 1962 started to race with Ken and his other son, being very outstanding in the long distance events. Ken says he has won all his best positions from the distance, including 1st. Open Amal. (12,000 birds), 14th. Open N.F.C. Saintes (536 miles) and won five R.P.R.A. awards. He told me that Saintes is his favourite racepoint, which he maintains is a good distance for a day’s fly. One of his top racers in recent seasons is his good Blue widowhood cock which has won 36th. Open N.F.C. Saintes, 1st. N.E. 700 Mile Club Saintes and many other prizes on the widowhood system. He is off Ken’s old family and was tried once on the natural, but didn’t perform at all well on it.

Ken has raced widowhood since 1968 and has always raced cocks but, in the last few seasons, he has raced a few hens, with outstanding success. If the weather is warm, his 25 widowhood cocks are paired up on 14th. February and they normally rear one youngster before going on the system. He feeds his own widowhood mixture and never breaks down because he is only interested in long distance racing, saying if you want a car to run, you have to put petrol in it. Ken has two 60 mile single up training tosses every week and uses a few inland races to get the birds fit. Ken’s smart, self built 40ft. loft has three sections for widowhood cocks and three for the young birds. He has ‘sputnik’ traps when training, which convert to open door for race days. Each widowhood section has nine nest boxes and he uses a sand litter on the loft floors.

The Mexborough loft houses 15 pairs of stock birds which are mostly retired racers and these are kept in a brick garage, with a nice flight. These birds are locked in the flight for 23 hours a day in the winter months, only being allowed in the garage for one hour a day to feed. Ken has 50 young birds each year and these are raced to the south coast (200 miles) for education as he is not a great lover of young bird racing. The youngsters are trained three times a week, from 35 miles, and are fed the same as the old birds, on widowhood mixture. Ken has won Section K. in the N.F.C. several times in recent seasons.

MICK McGREVY

OF ROTHERHAM

If I was to start this article by saying, that Mick McGrevy had enjoyed a wonderful old bird season, this year, it would be an understatement. He has had one of those ‘magic’ seasons, when nothing seems to go wrong and everything seems to turn to gold. Mick told me, that his management has been the same as ever, but the pigeons have been coming brilliantly and won everything in front of them. Highlights of the old bird season have been: 1st. and 2nd. section K. 91ST. and 124TH. open N.F.C. Nantes (434 miles), 1st. open Northern Classic Fourgeres (358 miles), 1st.,2nd., 3rd.,4th. Versele-Laga Yearling Championship over 400 miles band, 1st. and 2nd. open Northern Classic Nantes(434 miles), 5th.,13th.,15th. section K. 252nd. and 334th. open N.F.C. Saintes, 1st. 2nd.,4th.,6th. in his local club from Le Ferte Bernard (379 miles) and 1st. club, 2nd. open Federation Poitiers (485 miles), only two birds home in the federation on the day of liberation. Mick calls it his ‘lucky streak’, I call it brilliant pigeon racing!

Mick is only interested in long distance racing, and concentrates on N.F.C., M.N.F.C. and Northern Classic events. He kept pigeons when in his teens, but really started racing in 1983, with pigeons obtained from local fanciers. These bloodlines still go through his loft today, with outstanding success. When I asked Mick what his best positions were, he said he had recorded many premier prizes through the years, but thought 2nd. open M.N.F.C. Nantes and 18th. open N.F.C. Pau (704 miles) were his best.

Mick races 13 pairs on the roundabout, on a very simple system of hens in, cocks out. He maintains that pigeon management should be kept very simple and says it’s a case of getting some good birds and keeping them fit and in good health. He breeds off the stock birds and some cocks in the racing section. The rest are allowed to pair up as they like. The racers rear a youngster and are put on the roundabout system when sitting 10 day on their second round of eggs. The racers fly out around the loft twice a day with the loft doors closed and when training starts they get 60 mile single-ups twice a week. The birds are broken down, being fed on a quality widowhood mixture, with extra maize being added at the end of the week. Mick’s wonderful loft is 48ft. long and has five sections, open door trapping and the roundabout system has 24 nest boxes. As I said, he only keeps 13 pairs and says with the number of National and Classic long distance races he competes in, he could do with a few more, but maintains that, good distance birds are not easy to come by.

He is not interested in breeds and says he just races good pigeons. When he brings in stock birds they are just good performance lines and not any fancy strains. The McGrevy stock loft is 12ft. long and houses ten pairs, many of them being his retired champion racers. One of his champions, now in the stock loft, is the blue pied hen ‘The National Hen’. Racing on the roundabout she won: 2nd. open M.N.F.C. Nantes, 121st. open M.N.F.C. Saintes, 77th. open M.N.F.C. Saintes, 148th. open M.N.F.C. Saintes, 579th. open N.F.C. Nantes, 4th. open Northern Classic Nantes, 65th. open M.N.F.C. Nantes and 324th. open M.N.F.C. Bergerac. A once in a lifetime hen! His young birds are trained three times a week and have raced on the darkness system in recent seasons. They are fed on a heavy mixture which contains 20% turkey pellets and are raced though the card, down to the south coast. Mick is a member of the N.F.C. committee and is a great worker for the sport!

EDDIE FROGGATT

OF ABBOTTS BROMLEY

Edward Froggatt is a N.F.C. life vice president and runs the Crewe marking station with his wife, Julia. He has been a great worker for the national, over many years and has enjoyed outstanding success in long distance races. The 2002 season saw him win 9th section. 87th open N.F.C. Pau (658 miles) and be runner up in the B.H.W. Pau sporting challenge.

Edward is a farmer in Staffordshire and his great lofts are built into the ‘olde worlde’ buildings in his farm yard. He started up in the sport in 1952 and says through the years he has flown all the sprint races but is now only interested in long distance racing from Saintes, Bergerac  and Pau (658 miles). He has won countless premier positions in the national, including the N.F.C. ‘Langstone Gold Cup’ twice, 16 times 1st section in the nationals and 1st open in the mighty Midlands National Flying Club. Edward likes national racing best because he says you are flying against the best and says that his best performances in recent seasons were when he recorded 4th and 10th open N.F.C. Pau (658 miles), in a very hard race, and won the national averages.

Edward races 12 cocks on the widowhood system for club races and these are paired up in March, and his 12 pairs of long distance racers are paired in April for the natural system. The birds used to have an open loft all day, but because of the very bad hawk problem this is no longer possible and they are trained hard from the south. Edwards farm is mainly dairy and the pigeon sections are in the roofs of the farm buildings and are dry, and vermin free. He says he has won the section with widowhood pigeons but likes the natural system for the long distance channel events.

The stock loft has small sections, with 3 nest boxes and these house different blood lines in each to make sure they stay pure. Edward pairs his 18 pairs of stock birds in December and feeds them on a mixture and horse beans. He keeps the pairs locked up in there nest boxes until the hens lay, to make sure the youngsters are from that pair of pigeons. He races his old red family and two other strains from Belgium, with out standing success.

The old birds are trained down to the south coast and Edward likes hens on their first round of youngsters for the long distance races. One of his top racers, which flies to a youngster is a granddaughter of Edward’s champion ‘Double Gold’, winner of 2nd and 6th open national. She has scored from Saintes and Pau to chip in eggs and young birds in the nest. Edward has no problem with sending yearlings to 500 miles and he breeds 100 young birds, many of these are going to France with the national.

He races cocks and hens in the young bird events, not saving them for the widowhood system, and he races 235 miles from Guernsey which is a good lick for young birds. The young birds are trained most days and are raced well in the Federation to teach them the ropes. Edward feeds his youngsters on the hopper with beans and maintains his only interested in good development and not young bird prizes. Some of Edward’s best pigeons are – ‘Queen’ 1st open M. N.F.C, ‘Motor’ 3rd open M.N.F.C, winning a motor car, ‘Willy’ 3rd open M.N.F.C. Nantes, ‘Golden Coin’ 4th open N.F.C Nantes, ‘Double Gold’ 2nd open M.N.F.C, 6th open M.N.F.C. Nantes, £1,000 nomination an the N.F.C. Nantes, ‘Lady’ 1st section 4th open N.F.C. Pau, £1,000 nomination, ‘Handy Cap’ 1st section 13th open N.F.C. Pau, £500 nomination, ‘The Chequer Hen’ 10th open N.F.C Pau, ‘The Red Cock’, 55th open N.F.C. Pau (658 miles). A brilliant loft of pigeons!

We have featured three of the best this week! Three great long distance pigeon racers and workers for the N.F.C. My phone number is: 01372 463480. See yer!