Keith Mott writes about winning fanciers past & present

SMT COMBINE WINNERS

OF 1979

Over the next few weeks we are going to have look at some of the S.M.T. Combine winners of years gone by, which I had the privlidge to report on. This week we are featuring the very hard 1979 season.

Despite the S.M.T. Combine's reduced size in 1979, members enjoyed a hard, but successful season racing for over £4,600 in pools and nominations. Most combines flying South Road suffered hard channel races in 1979 and in the four S.M.T. channel events only 29 pigeons recorded over 1000 y.p.m. A hard season it might have been, but many great performances were recorded, with one club, Mitcham F.C. recording three combine winners.

The late, Alec and Molly Martin of Godalming won the M. Finestone Trophy (old bird continental average) and the S. Creasy Shield (best average all combine races). Winning these two trophies has put the cream on a fantastic season for the Martins, apart from winning 1st Surrey Federation Exeter and Weymouth, they have won 2nd Combine Le Mans, 42nd Combine Angers, 5th Combine Niort, 23rd Combine Bergerac, and 6th Combine Plymouth (Y.B.), which really is consistency. Alec was a great lover of the continental strains and his loft houses most of the Belgian families including Bostyn, Denys Bros and Janssens of Arendonck.

The 1979 season got off to a great start by sending 4,753 birds to Plymouth and to find a combine winner it turned out to be a nail-biter, with the top pigeons being divided on decimals. Plymouth was a last minute substitute racepoint as the haulage contractor failed to get his traffic permit owing to a civil servants" dispute and Vire had to be dropped from the programme. Don Day and John Murphy won the Combine, which was the first for the Mitcham club, with a Janssens blue cock bred by the partners' good friend, Freres Vangrunderbeek of St. Steven's, Woluwe, Belgium. This little apple bodied cock is no stranger to winning, having previously won many major positions including 1st club, 4th Croydon Federation Seaton 1976 and 1st club, 1st Surrey Federation Exeter 1977. The partners named him 'Day Return' as he has never had a night out, even over the channel. His nestmate is also a good winner.

Over 3,000 birds were sent to Le Mans for the first channel event and after a three day holdover the convoy was subjected to a very tough race. The Godalming club took a grand slam by lifting the first three positions in the combine, and in great style, recording the only three pigeons on 900 y.p.m. Bob and Gladys Wilson won the combine with a five year old red chequer cock called 'Scots Fusilier' which recorded 910 y.p.m. This McDonald cock had previously won 1st club Oxford, and 1st club Thurso on the North Road in 1978.

The combine suffered another tough race from Angers and from this 275 mile event, the winners were split on decimals for the second time. The first birds clocked eight hours on the wing after the 1,630 birds were liberated in a N.W. wind. The father and son partnership of Jack and John Newell of Feltham won doing 1011 .77 y.p.m., with a three year old blue cock named 'Gary', which was sitting overdue eggs. He is down from Jack's old family which he has had since 1937, 'Gary' flew Bergerac in 1978. Jack Newell has been a winning force in the West Middlesex area since he entered the sport in 1937. The Newells had been top prize winners in the Feltham S.R. Club for many years and have never been out of the first three flying their Delwiche pigeons.

The Mitcham club's second combine winner of the season was a Westcott blue chequer hen named 'Little Ten' and she won the Niort event. She is owned and raced by John Cox and was sent to Niort sitting 12 day old eggs. Members sent 1,809 birds to this the second longest old bird race and once again the convoy had a hard push home, with only five birds recording over 1000 y.p.m. Mitcham club members, Gilbert Bros, won the combine's longest old bird race from Bergerac which was much the same as the three channel races preceding it, being hard with poor returns. The 1,973 birds were liberated on Friday morning at 5.45 in a strong west wind and were competing for £1,120 in pools and noms.

Gilbert Bros' winner, doing 1072 y.p.m., was a yearling blue cock called 'Billy' and he was bred from stock birds of the Bernard Miles' Stichelbauts and Bill Stevens of Wandsworth strains. 'Billy' was sent to Bergerac sitting chipping eggs and from the 1979 Le Mans smash he returned home with a note in his ring after dropping into a loft in France, which turned out to be a good single up training toss. The brothers had two lofts, a 12ft. racing loft and an 8ft. stock loft with an aviary, and they like plenty of good ventilation in their set up. When they started up 28 years ago, their loft was a converted canary aviary which belonged to their father and this was stocked with birds from several local fanciers. The main family kept were Stichelbauts crossed with the Bill Stephens of Wandsworth pigeons. They always flew natural and said the old bird races have to be planned, with the youngsters being raced to educate them. They trained as much as possible and feed on high carbohydrate, with Red Band for trapping.

The last race of the season was the young bird Plymouth event and the Esher ace, the late Alex Fleming won, doing 1111 y.p.m. thus recording his second combine winner. Alex's winner, a Busschaerts dark chequer cock called 'Mick', was a gift egg from Matthews & Longman of Ashford and had previously won 1st club, 9th Surrey Federation Exeter the week before winning the Plymouth combine race. Alex raced on the natural system and has been in the sport over 60 years, helping his father with his birds at the age of six. In 1968 the Fleming loft recorded history in the Surrey Federation by winning 1 st & 2nd club, 1st & 2nd Federation Exmouth; 1st & 2nd club, 1st & 2nd Federation, 1st & 2nd Combine Penzance; 1st, 2nd & 3rd club, 1st, 5th & 6th Federation Exmouth three weeks on the trot. Alex had his own family based on the Grooters, Gits and Alf Baker strains, which were good right through to 500 miles.

I have heard some real bad luck stories since I started in our sport, but Terry Goodsell's 1979 racing story of being beaten twice for 1st S.M.T. Combine on decimals must take the cake. The tragic thing about Terry's plight was the fact that he was twice beaten by clubmates and was thus pushed into 2nd club, 2nd Surrey Federation. Terry is highly rated by many of the top Surrey fanciers and although he is widely known as a sprint ace, he chalked up 2nd S.M.T. Combine Bergerac (455 miles) in 1979.

I hope my readers have enjoyed this look back at one of the hardest season in the history of the S.M.T. Combine, with only 29 birds recording over 100 y.p.m. in the four channel races. What a season! I can be contacted on telephone: 01372 463480.

TEXT & PHOTOS BY KEITH MOTT (FEDERATION PRESS OFFICER)