L&SECC FORUM

with Keith Mott

RON BALL

OF NORTHCHURCH

Members of the L.& S.E.C.C. sent a nice tidy convoy of 2,145 birds to the last young bird race of the 2002 season from Guernsey and enjoyed one of the largest payouts of the Classic’s young bird races. It seemed like we had just started the 2002 season and I found myself going to Guernsey for my eleventh time and convoying classic young birds for the last race of the season. From the outset, this event was always going to be a hard push for the youngsters, with the strong north east wind forecast for the whole weekend. However, I’m happy to say that our members enjoyed a good hard race. I think National and Classic racing should be about testing pigeons and this event was classic racing at it’s best. A good finish to a great season for the London & South East Classic Club!

Ron Ball of Northchurch won the race, flying 180 miles, and recorded four of his seven entries on the day, lifting a nice £1,390. He told me that his young birds had been coming well all season, but not trapping well and the weekend prior to the classic he won 5th. open N.F.C. Guernsey (7,190 birds), winning another £2,000. Brilliant pigeon flying! Ron has a team of 60 youngsters every season, putting half on the darkness system and the other half are kept natural. The natural birds are wanted for future years and are trained well, but only given two races. The darkness youngsters are weaned into a basket for seven days, being fed on maple peas in the same pots they had in their nest boxes and are put on the darkness system straight away. The youngsters get as much training as Ron can give them and are fed twice a day on a good mixture, with plenty of maize. Ron’s Guernsey Classic winner was a handsome blue Staf Van Reet darkness cock, now named, ‘Ring of Gold’, because he won the first prize in the Gold Ring of £1,000. He was sent to Guernsey driving to nest and feeding an eighteen day old baby. His parents were obtained from Ian Stafford in the North East of England and Dean Pallatt. ‘Ring of Gold’ had three races on his build up to his classic win, which was interrupted at the beginning of the season when the loft contracted Young Bird Sickness.

The base of Ron’s loft is Busschaert and he brings in outstanding pigeons of a family to cross with them. He says he is not interested in strains of pigeons, just good winning bloodlines! The loft is raced on the widowhood, with 24 cocks and 12 hens on the system, and these birds are raced through to Pau (561 miles) without being paired up. Ron’s previous performances in the National Flying Club have been outstanding, including 3rd. open N.F.C. Pau (£2,500), 4TH. open N.F.C. Nantes, 4th. open N.F.C. Saintes, 3rd. open N.F.C. Vire (old hens) and 4th. open N.F.C. Herstal. Ron says he is only interested in National and Classic races and his whole system is geared to these events. His lofts measure 80ft, including stock flights, and he has six sections set aside for the widowhood racers. The loft is paired up in stages starting at Christmas and finishing in March. The birds are fed two sorts of widowhood mixture, only being broken down on the day of the race. Ron has 12 pairs of stock birds and when a new one is introduced, it mast be from top winning pigeons.

LEWIS WELSH

OF BURGESS HILL

The August of 2001 saw the L.& S.E.C.C. send 1,910 young birds to the first of two Guernsey Classics. For the first time the club held an old hens race to be liberated with the youngsters. When we arrived on Guernsey it was raining and with no view to an improvement to the weather that day, I decided to holdover. The weather conditions developed perfectly on the Sunday, so I liberated at 12.00hrs in a strong south west wind and anticipated a good fast race. The convoy cleared the island instantly and with the tail wind the youngsters tumbled in, with some fanciers getting all their entries in a short space of time.

The winning pigeon was clocked at 14.07hrs. at the Burgess Hill loft of Lewis Welsh, who only started racing pigeons that season, with young birds. When I visited Lewis’ loft he had five races in the Horsham club, prior to winning the Classic, and he had won all five of them. A brilliant performance!

His Guernsey Classic winner, which is now called, ‘First Bay’, is a handsome Snowball / Shepperd blue pied cock and the classic was his first race of his life. He was a darkness youngster and was raced to thee perch. Lewis raced 22 youngsters during the season and all were on the darkness for nearly three months, being taken off six weeks before the first Federation race. They are fed twice a day on Lewis’ own mixture and living near the south coast, he trains twice a week from some where like Bognor, in the west. He races west to east with the Horsham club and told me, he really enjoyed them few months, when starting up in the sport.

Lewis comes from near Newcastle in the North East of England, and maintains he has always been interested in pigeons, but has not had his own back garden, until then. He says he owes his success to his good friend, Stefan Malenczak of Portslade, who had set him up with pigeons and ’know how’. Lewis works his birds to Stefan’s methods and maintains that he is his mentor. The main families kept are Janssen, Herman and the highly successful Snowball / Shepperds  and the Welsh old birds are raced on the widowhood system. His smart loft is 20ft. long and has sputnik and open door trapping.

DENNIS ABBOTT

OF BASILDON

The L.& S.E.C.C. had another record birdage for the last Guernsey race of the 2001 season, when members sent 2,319 birds. This event finished a very troubled season, brought about by the foot and mouth epidemic, which resulted in a ban on our racing from France. When we arrived at the Guernsey car park liberation site, it was a nice morning, with blue skies and bright sunshine, but my main concern was the high winds in the English Channel forecasted for later that day. So opted for an early liberated and released the convoy at 07.45hrs in a fresh north west wind, with bright sunshine on the transporter and anticipated a good race.

Dennis Abbott of Basildon in Essex clocked his Marcelis blue hen, ‘Tara’, at 12.23hrs, flying nearly 198 miles, to win the Classic. She was bred from stock obtained from Richard Mosses of  Darlington and being a darkness system youngster, was sent to Guernsey with a full wing and sitting 14 day old eggs. She had all races on her build up to her Classic win and had three training tosses from Sevenoaks in Kent in the week before the race.

The Dennis Abbott loft races mainly widowhood with 16 cocks, but also keeps three pairs of natural racers and six pairs of stock birds. His main racing loft is 26ft. long, with four compartments and a small aviary, and the 40 young birds are housed in a two compartment 12ft. loft. He pairs his racers and stock birds in January when he returns from the Blackpool Show and maintains he likes the widowhood system because it means less training and he has always liked diving cocks. Dennis races all south road and keeps mainly Marcelis, Hartog and Soontjen pigeons, which have all been outstanding for him racing from France. He has put up many good performances through the years, but says winning the L.& S.E.C.C. from Guernsey was his best to date. He feeds the old and young birds on mainly widowhood mixture, Red Band and Garlic is put on the mixture once a week. The widowhood cocks are given six 25 mile training tosses before the first race and then are just exercised around the loft twice a day during the season. He likes his old bird racers to go all the way to 500 miles and the yearling to 400 miles. The young birds get about 15 training chucks from 25 miles. Once racing starts they get three tosses a week and race the programme, through to 250 miles. Dennis rates David Hales of Hockley as the best local fancier and says he is very consistent in the race results. Dave finished up 2nd. open to Dennis Abbott in this Guernsey Classic. It’s a funny ol’ game!