Keith Mott writes...

Liberation Site Report

I had six very enjoyable years as convoyer for the London & South East Classic Club and this week we are going to have look at some of the liberation sites I visited. It looks like the National Flying Club have seen the light, pulling out of Pau , and are flying the Grand National from Tarbes in the 2006 season. One of my main concerns is that there is four clear weeks between St. Nazaire and Tarbes , for the natural fanciers, which some other clubs don't seem to bother about. I suppose that why the N.F.C. is the premier club in the U.K. , it looks after all it's membership! The National race programme for next season is spot on and we have the extra short race from St. Malo, to start the birds off, which is great.

PAU (CODE 1621)

The 2002 season saw me visit Pau with the L.& S.E.C.C. pigeons for the fifth time and I think it's common knowledge that I don't like the site. The car park site, in my opinion, is far too small and it is sited next to playing fields which have large light staunching, with thick wires strewn between them. On my first visit to Pau , I pointed out how bad the site was and was told that I could liberate on the playing field, which I did in the 2000 season, but this was far from perfect, with birds flying near the staunching and wires. Big liberations, including the National Flying Club liberate on the playing field and not in the car park area. This site must rate as one of the most important liberation sites on the Continent as many National and International races are liberated there. I don't know how they liberate more than a thousand pigeons in comfort, as the site is far too small and has all those obstacles. In every other aspect, the site is first class, with full watering for the birds and facilities for the convoyer, although in recent season there has been a few problems with gipsies. About 300 yards down the road there is a massive car park, which serves the local sports stadium and this would be a brilliant new liberation site. London fanciers fly about 560 miles from Pau .

BORDEAUX (CODE 1844)

This site must rate as one of the best I've visited. It is very spacious and has full facilities for the pigeons and convoyers. This site is the main lorry driver's stopover car park in Bordeaux and has a truckers hotel and petrol station, so it's easy to water the birds and for the convoyers to get a meal and shower. This site is very near to a river and, like Pau , is prone to early morning mist. There were reports that the site was getting overcrowded as it is the main trucker stop, but on the four occasions I have been there, there were only ourselves and the British Barcelona Club on site. We always went to Bordeaux in July, which is usually the start of the holiday season in France and lorries are not allowed on the road at weekends, so might be the reason why the car park was nearly empty when we were there. When we went to Bordeaux in the 2002 season we were attacked by Spanish gipsies, but nevertheless I think this is one the best sites that we visited. Bordeaux on the west coast of France , is a good 450 miles fly for the fanciers in the south east corner of England .

LE FERTE BERNARD (CODE 1810)

This site is off the R.P.R.A. list of liberation site at the moment, I believe, but not for long I hope! I really rate this liberation site and was the London & South East Classic Club committee member who proposed that the Classic went there. In previous seasons the Classic started their season at Alencon (220 miles) which has a good area for liberating the birds, but the car park site has no water to top up the transporter tanks in the case of a holdover. We used to mark the birds on the Friday, arriving at the Alencon site in the early hours of Saturday morning and had to sit outside the site because the gates were locked, until the agent unlocked them, sometimes quite late. Back in the summer of 2000 I was asked to be assistant convoyer to Peter Willcox for the Alliance of Specialist Club's Millennium Le Ferte Bernard race and was very impressed with the site. Both, Peter and I thought this site was the one of the best that we have visited in France , with a brilliant area for liberating and full facilities for watering the birds and for the convoying crew. There was a water problem on the site the last time we visited, but was soon sorted out by Monsieur Pierre Boutall, who was the site agent. Le Ferte Bernard is more easterly than Alencon and the London lads fly about 230 miles from this race point.

TOURS (CODE 1652)

The London & South East Classic Club came out of Nantes and flew the Yearling Derby from Tours for the first time in the 2000 season. The Nantes site now also off the R.P.R.A. list and that was a good site. It was a big grassed area, adjoining the Nantes horse racing course and had full facilities for the pigeons and convoyers, but had big problems with the gipsies. The liberation area at the Tours park complex is brilliant, with full facilities for the convoying crews and watering for the pigeons. The original liberation site at Tours looks like a massive military parade ground, with no obstructions, but when we arrived there the first time, we were turned away. The manager of the site spoke good English and told me that the area normally used for pigeon liberations was being used for a special exhibition and the liberations were to take place at the back of the parks site, between the lakes. I was not happy with the new arrangement as the birds seemed frightened on liberation, having been forced to fly straight out over the vast area of water, having been liberated on the road between the two lakes. The site is in the middle of nowhere and, in the case of a holdover, there is no facilities for watering the birds or for the convoyers. The new arrangement, with the liberations on the road between the lakes, is now permanent. I liked the site at Nantes , but going by recent reports, there was a big gipsy problem there, with them stealing pigeons out of the visiting transporters. Tours is a lot more central in France than Nantes , which is on the west coast and the London fanciers fly 280 miles out of Tours . In the 2000 season we witnessed a brilliant spectacle, when the Dutch Southern Combine liberated 30,000 birds at Tours whilst we were there.

GUERNSEY (CODE 1611)

Many Federations and Classics race their young birds from Guernsey each season and, in my opinion, this race is a great education for the birds in later life in channel racing. The only draw back with going to Guernsey is it's very expensive on the Ferries and much cheaper to take the birds in to France . I went to Guernsey eleven times with the Classic youngsters and it's not the easiest place to race from as mist and rain can cover the island in just a few minutes, with no warning, but on a good day it is second to none for racing young birds across the channel. The liberation site is a big sports field and has full facilities for watering the pigeons and convoyers. On race days the site has a good atmosphere, as the local fanciers come to watch the liberations and many yarns are exchanged. The site agent is my good mate, Albert Harley, and he is always ready to oblige and help in any way he can. Once again, I think this is one of the best sites we went to, as it is spacious and the birds can clear easily. The London lads fly 170 miles out of this Channel Isles racepoint.

FALAISE (CODE 1387)

I stopped off at the Falaise liberation site three times, while on my convoying travels in France . I think National and Classic racing should be a test for our pigeons and Falaise is a perfect race point for the young bird National races. The site is a one hour drive from Caen and I must say, I think it is first class. It is situated between the castle and the hospital at Falaise, and is very spacious for the liberation, with a specially installed water stand pipe for the pigeons. Being near the hospital, it is nice and quiet at night and is about the same flying distance as Guernsey . This one gets my vote for a good French racepoint for the young birds.

ANGERS (CODE )

I went to Angers once and once was enough! It was in my first season as a convoyer for the L.& S.E.C.C. and we went there for the yearling derby in 1997. In that season one of our great convoyers, Doug Went, was the chief convoyer for the L.& S.E.C.C. and I was his assistant. The week before the Angers trip, Doug, broke his arm and couldn't go to France , so the club asked me to be chief convoyer for the 260 miles race, which I was very happy to accept. The Classic president, John Tyerman, came along as my assistant and on our arrival in Angers we were amazed that the liberation site was a supermarket car park. The Super Monoprix supermarket in Angers is very much like one of our big Sainsbury's and has a constant stream of cars coming and going out of the big car park. I have criticised some liberation sites on the Continent, but Angers took the cake! They expect you to liberate with countless cars driving close to the transporter. I managed to liberate early, beating the rush of shoppers and enjoyed a good race. If I had left the liberation for another hour, I would have had to hold over, because the car park was too full with shoppers cars. This site is rubbish!

SENNEN COVE (CODE 4100)

The Classic went to this liberation site in the wonderful county of Cornwall , in 2001, when the foot and mouth problem stopped us racing from France , and we had to hold over until the Tuesday, because of heavy sea mist. From the time we arrived on site, we were fogged out with dense sea mist coming in off the Atlantic . Sennen Cove is three miles along the coast from Lands End, at the southerly most tip of England and is a 250 mile fly to London. The liberation site a massive grassed car park on the cliffs above Sennen Cove and has water for the birds, but the convoyers have to go down into the Cove for what they might need. A wonderful place to go, with rugged coast line and wonderful views. This site has it all and will produce good racing, with the right weather conditions.

PERTH (CODE 4084)

Perth was another liberation site we used in 2001, with the foot and mouth problem, and it was nice to go north into Scotland , for a change. The liberation site at Perth is a car park next to the wonderful River Tay and I must say the town was a smashing setting, with it's old church steeple and building next to the river. The car park is ideal for releasing the pigeons, although it gets busy with shoppers later in the day, but had no facilities for the convoyer crews. In fact, at Perth if you need to answer the call of nature, it will cost you 30p in the public W.C. down the road, which closes at 6pm. That's not bad, as some of sites in France have nowhere to go! The liberation site is next to a night club and we were bothered most of the night by noisy drunks, with one trying to get in the back of the transporter, in the early hours. Before I went to Perth , I was told that the town was situated in a deep valley and the birds have problems getting out and clear the site, but our convoy formed two batches and cleared very nicely. The flying distance to London is about 375 miles and enjoyed a good hard race out of Perth .

Catteralls Pigeon Transport

I worked with a Catteralls transporter for four years when I was convoying, with Doug Went and I driving the Classic's own transporter for the first two years and I must say, they were the very best. I was very sad that Catteralls stopped their pigeon transport service at the end of the 2005 season. I think this was a major set back for our sport, as they have given pigeon racing in the U.K. a wonderful service for nearly 50 years. The National Flying Club and many other major organisations have enjoyed many years of Catteralls' service, with their pigeons being transported in baskets. Baskets are the best form of transporting racing pigeons to the race points and now with the demise of Chris Catteralls pigeon transporters, we are on the slippery slope, to our pigeons being transported to the Nationals in those terrible metal crates. I don't like to see pigeons in metal containers, but having said that, I think the design of the new N.F.C. transporters are the best I've seen, in the metal design. The National have put a lot of thought into their new transporters and I think they have learnt from the mistakes others have made on their metal transporters. Catteralls offered the very best in pigeon transport and will defiantly be greatly missed!

TEXT & PHOTOS BY KEITH MOTT