Keith Mott Writes...

PHILIP & MARIA DUNSTALL OF TAPLOW

The partnership of Philip and Maria Dunstall have enjoyed some wonderful success in recent seasons, racing in National and Classic events, with their young birds. They had a brilliant season in Federation in 2000 and from the London & South East Classic Club young bird Guernsey race had ten drop on the loft together to record 2nd, 4th, 6th, 11th, 12th, 15th, 18th, 19th, 20th and 22nd open. A brilliant performance! I visited the Buckinghamshire loft in the winter of 1999 after the Dunstall’s had really set them alight that season with their youngsters, including winning 1st section E, 1st open National Flying Club Vire (5,850 birds); 1st open Berks, Bucks & Oxon Federation Weymouth (3.403 birds); 2nd section, 2nd open L.&S.E.C.C. Guernsey (1,723 birds), all with young birds. The partner’s 1999 Young Bird National winner is a Hartog blue hen named, Champion ‘Misty’. She is bred down from the ‘Green Ring’ lines, which have been very successful for the Dunstall loft. On her build up to her Vire National win, Champion ‘Misty’, was trained with the young bird team, put into Guernsey with the L.&S.E.C.C., to record 80th open, then in to the National, after a few short training tosses. She was sent to the Vire National playing around with some young cock birds. This game hen was a darkness youngster and took 3 hours 40 minutes to fly the 185 miles from Vire in France, to win the premier young bird event in English pigeon racing. On the day of the Vire National, Philip was working and his wife, Maria, had the job of clocking the bids in. She says, Champion ‘Misty’ took for ever to trap on her arrival, flying backwards and forwards, from one loft to another, trying to get a drink of water off the roofs. Little did Maria know that she was clocking the National winner!

Philip’s father, Frank, was a fancier. Once, while on holiday at Selsey Bill, he caught a stray on top of the caravan and presented to Philip, who was only 4 years of age and since then, Philip has always had pigeons, flying in partnership with his father for many years, with outstanding success. The Dunstall’s are very much a pigeon family, with Philip and Maria’s children taking part in the hobby. Maria’s parents are Mr. & Mrs. Czaplewski, the highly successful Slough racing partnership. Philip likes to race sprint and middle distance, winning the Federation many times, although he has had good success in the long distance races including; 1981: 17th open N.F.C. Pau (6,066 birds), 1982: 61st open N.F.C. Pau (6,928 birds) and 1994: 140th open N.F.C. Pau (5,976 birds). He races 24 cocks on the widowhood system and 20 pairs on the roundabout system, with all the old birds being paired up at the end of January, if the weather is good.

The partners keep 80 young birds each season and they are all put on the darkness system, when weaned, and off just before the first young bird race. Although Philip is very successful with youngsters, he says he is not a great lover of young bird racing, but likes to send them all the way to 190 miles. They are not paired up, but if they want to, they are allowed during the racing season. The babies are trained every day and fed twice a day on breakdown and widowhood mixtures. The main family kept is Hartogs, obtained from Brian Hawes of Hendon and Roger Lowe of Berkshire.

MR & MRS BELLCHAMBERS

& SONS

OF BRENTFORD

Members of the N.F.C. sent 6,873 birds to the Guernsey young bird National and with a strong westerly element in the wind, a lot of the leading pigeons were in the London area. The Bellchambers family crowned a brilliant 2002 season by recording 1st., 2nd. and 6th. open in the Guernsey National. Bill has named his winner ‘Nelly Bell’ after his late wife. The pigeon a Staf Van Reet / Meulemans cross blue hen, which is a cross that has been very successful in classic and national racing for the Bellchambers loft in recent seasons. ‘Nelly Bell’ was a darkness youngster, sent to the national sitting 14 day old eggs and is bred down from a long line of good winners. She was one of a team of 60 youngsters in the Bellchambers loft last season and had four club races on her build up to the national win, being rested for one week before the national. Bill and his two sons, David and Derek, put 40 youngsters on the darkness system and keep the sexes separated until the first young bird race, then they are let loose together, to pair up if they wish, in a big young bird loft. The young birds have three 30 mile training tosses every week through out the season. The Bellchambers youngsters don’t exercise around the loft in the racing season, only going out the day after the race for a walk around the garden and a bath. I had a good chat with David at the N.F.C. prize presentation in December and he told me he is very hot on the young bird management and spends hours in the loft with them. In the Guernsey national the partners had three pigeons flying around the loft together and although ‘Nelly Bell’ was the third pigeon to the loft, she was the first bird on the clock and became the national winner. The 2nd. open winner was a pencil blue Van Reet / Meulemans cock called ‘Bill’s Lad’ and he was also a darkness youngster. Their fourth pigeon in the Guernsey national, which rated very highly in the open result, previously won 1st. sect, 3rd. open Guernsey in the London & South East Classic Club, three weeks earlier. The four pigeons clocked in the Guernsey national were all bred down from one blue white flight Van Reet stock hen purchased at the Rod Baxter clearance sale.

The Bellchambers young bird team were on fire in the 2002 season winning: 3rd., 4th., 46th. and 50th. open L.& S.E.C.C. Guernsey (1,376 birds), 1st., 2nd., 6th. and 16th. open N.F.C. Guernsey (6,873 birds), 2nd., 6th., 13th., 26th., 47th., 78th., 82nd. and 92nd. open L.&S.E.C.C. (2,145 birds). Young bird racing at it’s very best!

The Bellchambers partners started up in pigeons in 1969 with a few streeters in the garden and their first racers were obtained from Billy Sando, and the old West Middlesex Federation convoyer, Roy Perkins. The partner’s first winner was from Bournemouth in 1970 and they always enjoyed club and federation racing up to three years ago, when they started to concentrate on national and classic racing. The Bellchambers loft has won the federation countless times and in races from France have recorded 1st. open S.M.T. combine Nantes in 1999 and 2nd. open S.M.T. combine Nantes in 2002. Bill told me that the grandam of their national winner, ‘Nelly Bell’, won 12th. open St. Milo young bird national in 1994, for the Brentford loft.

They race 20 cocks on the widowhood system and pair them up in February each season. The cocks rear a pair of youngsters and are on the system at 12 days on their second nest of eggs, when the hens are taken away. The widowhood cocks are not trained, just exercised twice a day around the loft and are not broken down, being given as much corn as they want. The birds are fed on Versele-Laga super widowhood and Bosmolen corn, and the widowhood team race through to 300 miles. The main family they keep is Van Reet and the eight pairs of stock birds are put together at the same time as the racing birds so that their eggs can be floated in the racing sections. Bill says he likes latebreds for the stock loft and the partners national winner, ‘Nelly Bell’, was bred from two latebreds. Congratulations to the Bellchambers family on their wonderful Guernsey national win!

Two of the best young bird racing partnerships in the U.K. today! I can be contacted on telephone number: 01372 463480. See yer!