Steve Marsh

The North West Classic Club has seen a few new faces in the premier positions this year and one of those is Steve Marsh of Bolton who won the clubs race from Poole. The new members are creating new interest because if new names appear then more are likely to have a go in what is tough competition.

The NWCC has many of the top fanciers in the North West competing for excellent prize money and the pool money is getting better so another incentive to compete against the best in the premier club in the North West. When you compete in this type of competition the recognition is also there so another reason to have a go at these top fanciers. Steve is one of those fanciers who is looking to compete against and beat the best which is what he did in this race. Steve first started with pigeons when he formed a partnership as Taylor & Marsh but at a later date he decided that he wanted full control and decided to race pigeons on his own. The main reason that the partnership did not continue was the work commitments that Steve had and he could not put the time in required to achieve the success that they were after. However he still does maintain a vested interest in the birds that he was part of in the partnership and did not bring any away when he left because they agreed that the loft would stay in full contention. This was not the first introduction to pigeons for Steve because his father did have them but retired from the sport quite a few years ago.

With a new start there were new pigeons and Steve made his mind up to purchase some very good selective Janssen's that would be the foundation of his future racing team. Steve obviously did his homework when he bought in the Jan & Karen de Haan pigeons that are bred around the top lines of "24MG" a super all round pigeon who is responsible for many winners. The de Haan partnership have also been an influence in the pigeons of Bert Camphius which is probably something that very little is known about in the UK. De Haan and Camphius have been friends for many years and the car winners 01 and 02 were pigeons presented to Bert by the De Haan team. Jan De Haan has been an influence in pigeons for many years and it was he who arranged the loan of "Wandalaar" who is a son of the great pigeon "Verbarth 46" who was a winner of 15 x 1sts. This pigeon came from Krouwel-Pollman to Bert to pair to the "007" of 78 who in turn bred the dam of the legendary "Wonderboys 05 & 06". The 01 was later sold to the Eijerkamp family after he had sired the National winner "Golden Boy" against 10,940 birds for Bertie. Steve bought in an excellent hen from de Haan that is expected to be a top breeder for the future. The cock to go with the De Haan hen is from Page Bros out of "King Kong" a g-son of "Verbarth 46" an exceptional racer and breeder. "King Kong" was paired to "Roxanne" also from the "Verbarth 46" lines and a winner of 2 nd against 20,299 birds. 1 st Royon 6,680 birds plus other prizes. Another pigeon is from G & S Verkerk from a son of "Peter Pan" 3 rd World Champion SD. 2 nd Ace Pigeon Short Distance WHZB. 2 nd NPO Ace Pigeon Short Distance. 5 th National Ace Cock. 8 th Nat Ace Cock WHZB. The dam is Kimberley a C.Leijtens V.L Krasspat full sister of Lammert 1 st Olympiade short distance NL 2001 5x1sts. The top breeding goes on with "The Picture Hen" from Marlborough Lofts, a top hen being a sister and half sister to combine winners. "The Picture Hen" is out of "The Classic Cock" 6x1sts 1 st North West Classic Nantes. 2 nd fed Sartilly beaten by loft mate. "The Classic cock" is out of "Top Gun" and "Gold Bond" who is a direct daughter of the legendary "James Bond". The dam of "The Picture Hen" is the top breeding "Marvel Hen" dam of many prizewinners including 9 x 1 st different prizewinners. "Th Marvel Hen" is a direct daughter of "Grey Marvel" dam of 28x 1sts etc. Steve also purchased a Slatey cock from Steve Maylett that has most of the same top bloodlines and like those already mentioned has produced winners.

The loft is 26ft x 8ft split into 4 section's with a 2ft corridor along the front which has mesh doors to allow a good flow of air and unlike most of the modern day lofts has a flat roof. The loft is always kept clean with a daily routine of cleaning out and a good hoover to keep the dust to a minimum. Steve likes to give the birds good corn so feeds them on Versele-Laga widowhood mix plus Red Band and Hormoform with the addition to the water being a general vitamin. With Steve's working hours the training has to be fitted in as and when possible but he does have help from his father-in-law and Alan Wicker who has been a good help so some does get done. Steve started the season with 12 racers and at the time of penning these notes 5 had not made it. There are also 8prs of top quality stock birds that are nearly all related and they rear 20yb's with pairing done in December for all the birds. Very few local club races are competed in plus the NWCC there are only two clubs where Steve raced in 05 the later because his friend Alan Wicker takes them to Middlewich. Steve is not content with working the birds in the summer because he also likes to show them in the winter months with his son Lewis who it appears prefers the show side of pigeons. There is only a limited amount of young bird racing done so they break no ice for that part of the season, preference is looking after them for the following year as yearlings. It is hoped to get the birds to 400m ls but that is the limit after that Steve leaves them at home.