Keith Mott

Writes about winning fanciers past and present

The Champions of Yesteryear - Part 14

NIP HEALEY

of Bedfont

In January 1977, I visited the home of Nip Healey, near Heathrow Airport , after hearing so much about this well-respected fancier. Nip had a great season in 1976, as he did every year, winning many 1sts and 11 trophies in the very strong Feltham NRHS. The Jenkins Points Trophy was presented to the club in 1970 and Nip won it every year up to 1976. He also won the Best 2-Bird Average Thurso in the Thames Valley Federation in 1976. His Kirkpatrick and Barker pigeons had won the Thurso race (508 miles) 4 times in the last 5 years. In the Feltham Club, recording 1st, 3rd, 4th in 1975, and repeated the same performance in 1976. At that time Nip said his good friend, George Childerhouse, was a great help to him around the loft, seeing the birds in from training etc.

In Nip's very neat 14ft x 6ft racing loft we inspected the cocks first and how well they looked! He cleaned the lofts out every day and used a handful of lime on the floor after cleaning, and told me this helped to keep the birds free from bugs which soil the birds' feathers. The racing loft housed 16 pairs of old birds and 24 young birds, with 7 pairs of stock birds being housed in the small stock loft with an aviary. The first 3 cocks we looked at were full brothers of the Kirkpatrick family and all 3 were winners, with premier federation honours. This loft housed so many winners it would be impossible to list them all, but we looked at most of the racing cocks and they were all true to one family, all being medium size and apple-bodied, with nice wide flights. His racing hens looked the kind of picture any fancier would be proud of. Nip had flown north and south

road and said he preferred north because the racing was steadier. He did a fair amount of judging during the winter and said he was not eyesign minded, but liked to see a nice yellow eye. While in the hen section we looked at many outstanding Thurso pigeons, including the 1976 500-mile winner, a Barker blue chequer hen 73 F 63191 and her feathering was like silk. This great hen's full performance was 1975: 3rd club Thurso; 1976: 10th club Berwick, 1st club, 4th fed Thurso, only pigeon on the day of liberation In the Feltham club, flying 16 hours and recording a velocity of 943. A really magnificent hen! We looked at the dam of 63191 and she was one of Nip's main stock hens, a nice large, roomy type dark chequer at the Barker strain. Nip's great family were bred down from pigeons obtained from his good friend, Sam Payne of West Drayton. The birds were raced on the natural system and training was only given when needed, as the birds exercised well around the loft every day. They were fed a good sound mixture and grit was given twice a week, as Nip thought that if the grit was left in the loft, it tended to get damp. To my mind the premier pigeon in Nip's stock loft at that time was a handsome 19971-bred red cock, who was an outstanding racer before being put to stock. This good cock recorded many fine performances on the road and in 1975 10 winners were bred through him. Nip said the thing that stood out in his mind was when a red hen bred off this cock was 1st club, 2nd fed Fraserburgh and the old cock was right on her tail to record 2nd club, 3rd fed. Great stuff! Nip said at the time every pigeon in the stock loft had bred winners. He had a nice drop in with plenty of open space around the loft, but had trouble with people with guns in the area. He has had many pigeons shot and said that some pigeons had won on the Saturday and returned home shot on the Sunday. His home was very near to Heathrow Airport and the planes came in so low that they almost took the roof off the house. He had many good performances on the south road, flying with the National Flying Club and British Barcelona Club. In 1966 he scored 4 th open London SR Combine from the La Reole race, which was a very hard event. 1975 was another good year for Nip in the Feltham Club, winning 11 x 1sts and 10 trophies. Nip's brother-in-law Jacky Newell, of Feltham, started him up in the sport in 1939 and he won the first race he entered. The race was from Lymington and the blue cock which won it was lost at the same racepoint the following year. The Kirkpatrick and Barker pigeons were introduced in 1969 and Nip said they flew well at most distances. When I asked him if he looked up to anyone particular fancier, he said no, but he admired a successful small team man. Nip Healey - a brilliant fancier!

A. CAMIS & SON

of Ashford

Archie Camis started pigeon racing in 1952 with birds obtained from his brother-in-law, Joe Parker of the Ashford South Road Club. Archie began by joining the Sunbury Club, which is the club he flew in until the early 1980s. In the early days, he had some help from his mate, George Quigley. His son, Andrew, came into the partnership after Archie's other son, Fred, had dropped out in 1975 and he said the pigeons always kept his boys out of trouble. The successful family flown in the 1970s were bred down from 4 original birds and are based on their good Dutch stock cock and the birds of the late, great, Bill Steeles. The 4-compartment loft was 23ft x 7ft, with a corridor and the birds were trapped through an open door on to a feeding platform. Sharp sand was used on the loft floor and the birds were paired up the second week in February. The loft housed 8 pairs of racers,' 2 pairs of stock birds and about 25 young birds were bred each year. The partners flew on the natural system with what they called 'Gee-ups', like semi-widowhood. The racers were trained 3 times a week from 12 miles and this started after the young birds were weaned. The first bird I handled on my visit to the Camis loft in 1978 was the 14-year-old Dutch stock blue cock called The Dutchman and he was still filling his eggs. He was medium sized in the hand, the daddy of the loft, and was the sire of countless winners, including the partners' 1978 North Thames NR Combine winner Wayside Blue. Next

to hand was the 2y blue cock Wayside Blue and what a gem this pigeon was! He handled medium to long. cast and was a really good racing type pigeon, which his performances proved, winning: 1977: 1st club, 11th fed, 41st open combine Thurso, 3,334 birds; 1978: 1st club, 10th fed, 23rd open combine Berwick, 5,441 birds; 1 st club, 1st fed, 1st open combine Fraserburgh, 3,775 birds. A real champion! Another gem I looked at was a 10y dark chequer hen named Carol, this hen was a nice type with a great eye. She was retired from racing but was a hot 'un when on the road, winning 1st club Nottingham (twice), 1st club Worksop, 1st club Leicester and 10 other cards. Archie's ambition was to win the combine, but after the event it leaves you a bit flat, he said, so the next thing to do is to win it again! The partners said sitting 14-day-old eggs is their favourite racing condition, although the Wayside Blue scored 3 times in 3 different conditions. They said the most important factor in management is to keep it regular and to a fixed system. The racers flew all races and were fed on a good mixture of peas, beans and maize. Andy said he liked the idea of line breeding, but didn't like deep litter on the loft floor.