Keith Mott writes...

The Best of the Up North Combine - Part 5

 BRIAN PEARSON

OF GATESHEAD

Brian has had pigeons most of his life and started racing with all the fashionable strains over 20 years ago. In the last 10 years he has settled on the Busschaerts and Smits-Van Winckel bloodlines and has never looked back, with success after success, including: 1988 - 6th UNC (17,960 birds) Lillers: 1992 - 1st open UNC (18,948 birds) Lillers and 1995 - 1st open UNC (21,389 birds) Lillers. In my opinion he is a master at the art of racing pigeons. The loft’s performances over recent years, racing in the hotbed of the Up North Combine, are fantastic and he only races a very small team of pigeons. What is also amazing is that his loft is only a few yards away from and facing main railway lines.

When I met Brian on my visit to Newcastle, I found him to be a very pleasant gentleman. I asked him if the trains bothered the pigeons and he said not really, the pigeons are quite used to the passing trains, but if one comes by when they come home from the race, they can’t trap through the open doors, so have to fly around until they’ve gone. The passing trains have never hit the exercising birds, but the big coal trains do make the loft shake.

On my visit, Brian’s two Up North Combine winners were paired together in the stock partings and were typical of his ideal type of pigeon, small to medium in the hand. The 1995 Lillers Combine winner is a yearling blue white flight cock, ‘The Fonz’, whose sire was bred by Brian Clayburn of Yorkshire and his dam a Busschaert from Pearson & Dransfield of Barnsley. ‘The Fonz’ is a small cock in the hand, raced on Brian's own widowhood system and was rung with his last ring of the 1994 season.

Brian's main base family is Busschaert and he says that in the last 20 years this great strain has been second to none for the base family in major Up North Combine winning lofts, in day races up to 500 miles. He says that when he won the UNC from Lillers (345 miles) in 1992, it was the greatest feeling in the world and his then champion Busschaert dark hen, 'Charlie's Angel', has not raced since she won the combine. She won on what Brian calls, his 'reverse widowhood system'. Her sire was a Busschaert pigeon bred by Arthur Wilkinson of Toft Hill. Brian isn't really a strain man, he just likes good pigeons and enjoys racing from 250 to 450 miles.

RON EVANS & SON

OF SUNDERLAND  

On a recent video trip to the North-East, I visited Sunderland and the fantastic loft of Ron Evans & Son, who have raced with outstanding results for many years. Ron Evans was born in Sunderland and his father was a successful fancier, winning the federation many years ago. Ron Snr and Ron Jnr started racing together in Castletown

HS in 1972 and their loft is sited at Fulwell Pumping Station in Sunderland. The father and son partnership had a lay-off from pigeons in the early 1980s and say that T. Laskey put them on the right track when they started to race pigeons again in 1988. They obtained Busschaerts from him and they hit on straight away, winning the Young Bird Average in 1989. On their re-start in the sport, they joined the High Southwick HS and flew to a standard wooden, wire-fronted loft. The Evans partners used to race on the natural system and feed on the hopper, with training every day. They now race on widowhood and do not train in the first part of the week, keeping the cocks on break down morning and night. They go back on widowhood mixture from the Tuesday night and all depends on the distance of the race the following Saturday. The cocks get a bath on Friday and are always shown the hens before going into the basket for the race.

The partners' present loft is made of fibreglass and sited high above a river bank. With no windows in the front, it has a full length corridor with open-door trapping and an apex roof, with ventilation in the sides of the roof. Ron likes to see a dry loft that should be light and draught-proof, with plenty of space for the inmates. The loft houses 20 pairs of stock birds and 44 pairs of racers which are all paired up in early

January. They breed an average of 80 young birds each season. The loft's best performance is 2nd open UNC with 27,500 birds competing. Some of the loft's best racers are: 'Rags', a Busschaert who won 17 cards including 5 x 1st club, 3 x 1st federation, also winning the 2-Bird Club six times and now at stock; 'Deacon's Boy', who won 5 x 1sts club, 1 x 1st federation, 2 x 2nds federation, 1 x 3rd federation and many other positions; 'Grumpy' - 5 x 1sts club, 3 x 1sts federation, 1 x 2nd federation and 1 x 3rd federation; 'Vauxy' - 3 x 1sts federation and won the section with 3,500 birds competing. The loft houses two Van Loons which have both won 4th open UNC. and won the section.

High Southwick HS races on the south route, starting at Selby, 78 miles and going through to Bourges, 568 miles. The loft houses Busschaerts as the main family, with introductions of Janssens, Van Loons and Lefebre Dhaenens, with the Busschaerts being outstanding up to Provins, 483 miles. The old birds and some yearlings are sent through to Provins and the youngsters are raced through the full programme to 262 miles, with fancied birds being stopped at 170 miles. The partners like a good widowhood mixture and say it is ideal in its make-up for racing pigeons at any distance. The birds are given a seed and Hormoform mixture every time they come into the loft from training and exercise and the partners maintain this keeps the birds in good feather. The racers get multivits and pigeon tonic in the water during the week. The widowhood cocks and yearlings get tosses while sitting their second round of eggs and once racing starts, only fly out twice a day for regular exercise. Young birds train up to 30 miles, up to the first race, then they exercise around the loft every morning and have a 20-miletraining toss in the afternoon. Ron says that after a couple of loft visits with Brian Vickers he realised there is definitely something in the eyesign method. 

In the club, the two Ronnies have won countless averages and trophies and top combine positions since 1989 have been as follows: 2nd open UNC Folkestone (27,878 birds), 4th open UNC Maidstone (23,338 birds), 4th open UNC Lillers, 342 miles (21,347 birds), 5th open UNC Folkestone (22,375 birds), 6th open UNC Provins, 483 miles (8,756 birds), also winning 1st section in these five races including 7th open UNC, 2nd section Young Bird National (23,548 birds), 8th open UNC, 3rd section Provins (6,250 birds), 21st open UNC Folkestone National (23,740 birds), 22nd open UNC Lillers (19,867 birds). A really fantastic loft performance!

JOHN & MICK LILLEY

OF NEWCASTLE

John Lilley and his son Mick formed their successful partnership in 1975, although John has been in the sport since 1948 and won many top races in his own right. In 1990 they won the Sealink Trophy for best pigeon in the NEHU with their blue chequer Frans Van Wildemeersch cock 'Champion Sealink', who recorded 13th open UNC Clermont, 17th open UNC Provins and 227th open UNC Lillers to lift the trophy. Since then this fantastic widowhood cock has chalked up 1st open UNC Provins (5,462 birds) in 1992 and is now at stock breeding club and federation winners.

The main racing loft is 24ft long and has three sections housing 40 widowhood cocks, which are raced in Saturday and Wednesday clubs. The hens are shown on marking night and the cocks are only broken down on Saturday on their return from the race. Mick says, with the northeast winds and the climate in the north-east of England, birds can't be broken down for long and so his are always fed on the very best widowhood mixture. They like races over 250 miles. As the distance gets longer, more maize is added to the birds' diet. The cocks are flagged around the loft twice a day for one hour and are not trained after the first race.

In 1994 John and Mick won the Friendship Trophy for Best Two-Bird Performance in the UNC Beauvais race and in fact, they had three on the clock to record 10th, 28th and 39th open. First on the clock chalking up 1st club, 1st federation, 1st section, 10th open UNC Beauvais (400 miles) was the blue chequer widowhood cock 'Sealink Grand'. This Wildemeersch is a grandson of 'Champion Sealink'. What a family of pigeons!

The smart, 30ft young bird loft has a pantile roof and a louvred, closed-in front. The loft houses 80 youngsters which are raced through the card to the young bird national (250 miles) and are trained twice a day up to 30 miles. John and Mick never send all their youngsters to a race, always keeping half back in reserve.

 RICHIE STEPHENSON

OF GREAT AYTON

We go to great lengths for our last Up North Combine-winning loft this month and feature the widowhood loft of Richie Shephenson & Son. Richie's champion widowhood Van Riel blue cock was 1st open UNC Bourges (537 miles) in 1997 and 12th open UNC Bourges in 1998. This cock was raced on the widowhood system with a difference, being teased with a tumbler pigeon. Richie has been involved with pigeons all his life, starting racing in 1991 and in 1995 only raced six cocks on widowhood to win several top positions, including 1st and 2nd open federation. He has always liked sprint racing but is now mostly interested in channel racing with the UNC. Richie says his normal build-up for the long-distance races is to race them down to the south coast, then two short Channel races, then into Bourges. He pairs all his racers and stock birds 64 days before the first race, so some eggs can be floated, and only a small team of 16cocks are raced. The cocks are fed on a first-class widowhood mixture and are only broken down if the racing is fast, with the main corn being beefed up for Bourges. The widowhood cocks are only normally trained before he first race and are sometimes repaired for the Bourges race, being sent driving to nest.

The Shephenson set-up consists of three very smart lofts. Richie only keeps eight pairs of stock birds, mainly of the Van Riel strain and when bringing in a new breeder, he likes medium-sized birds with good balance in the hand. The top stock cock is a blue Van Riel, bred by Tony Reed of the Midlands, and this cock has bred many premier pigeons, including the Bourges Combine winner. Ritchie races his 40 young birds on the darkness system and keeps the sexes separate, running them together on Friday night before going to the marking station. The young hens race the whole programme down to the south coast and the young cocks are stopped at the 120- mile stage and saved for the widowhood system later in life. The youngsters are trained up to 30 miles and are raced to the perch.