Keith Mott writes about winning fanciers past & present

 CUDMORE & SON

OF HANWORTH

Charlie and John Cudmore have been outstanding pigeon fancier for many years in the Middlesex area, formally racing their birds in Richmond. I have admired their great performances for many years and finally my ol’ mate, Brian Goodwin, bought John to my Claygate home in November to have their two 2007 Berkshire Federation winners and UBI Combine winner photographed.

The partners won the Federation once with an old bird which also topped the UBI Combine and the other was a youngster. The young bird was a Willy Thas blue hen named, ‘Katie’, which won the Federation from Kingsdown and she was bred by Brian Goodwin from direct Belgium stock birds. She was March bred and was raced natural to the perch. John had 38 young birds in 2007 and says he races very natural and never puts them on the dark system. Their training starts short, working then up to Dummer on the M3 motorway and then they get Frimley, junction 4 on the M3, three times a week. They are fed as much as they want on good mixture twice a day. John says he is very much a natural flyer and doesn’t believe in murdering youngsters with light feeding and heavy training, as he wants them fore channel racing in later life.

The partner’s old bird UBI Combine winner was a Willy Thas blue chequer hen named; ‘Christine’ and she won the combine from Fougeres in France, being sent sitting 12 day old eggs. She was also bred by Brian Goodwin and on her build up to her Combine win she had a couple of inland races, recording 2nd club Kingsdown. John has always raced the natural system and he told me, the birds race so well on it he would never change it. The Cudmores have brother to ‘Christine’ and he has been to Bergerac (450 miles) four times with the Classic and has been home four times on the day of liberation, flown natural. The Combine winner is named after John’s wife, Christine, who helps out with the birds and he says it is very much a family participation hobby with his pigeon, with his children, John, Carl and Katie taking a big interest in the birds.

The partners race 16 pairs of old birds on John own natural system and they are paired up at the end of February, with racing from France in mind. They are fed a heavy mixture of Maple Peas, Maize and Wheat, and after their pre season training they are given an open loft every day. John says his birds fly so well around the loft for 40 minuets each day, there is no need to train then, although once the channel racing starts he will give them the odd toss off the south coast at Worthing and Brighton. The Cudmores like channel racing, the longer and harder the better, and use the inland events to keep the birds fit. The loft is 18ft x 8ft, two sections for old bird racers, one for the youngsters and all trapping is through the open doors. They have one or two stock birds in Charlie’s garden, mostly original Brian Goodwin birds, but John says there is no need to keep stock birds, as Brian breeds him between 10 and 16 babies every year. John likes a medium sized pigeon in the hand, with strong back and eyesign, and the main families raced are the Emiel Deweerdt and Willy Thas birds from Belgium. When I asked John what their best performance was, he had a problem thinking of one as there has been so many through the years, but the Cudmores have won the Federation from Bergerac (450 miles), won the first five positions in the club from Bergerac and won Federation Averages. Brian Goodwin has bred the Cudmores a team of young birds from his Belgium imports every year since 1979, starting with his original Emiel Deweerdt pigeons, which won Bergerac at that time for Charlie and John, five times on the day of liberation in six years. John maintains a new starter in the sport should go to good local fancier to obtain his first stock and says from his experience his best birds have come from friends as gift birds.

Charlie has been in pigeons all his life and has been racing over 65 years, and says there is pigeon racing to beat channel racing. The Cudmores have been 2nd and 3rd open Combine many times through the years and it gave Charlie a great thrill to finally win 1st open UBI Combine in the 2007 season. The Cudmores are very much in to Rugby Union, with John being a second row forward for many years and is now a coach for Ealing Rugby Club, who plays in the National League. His brother, Mike, is full time in the sport and is director of Rugby at Ealing. Well done to Charlie and John on their wonderful 2007 performances!

“Drowning Maggots” (Part 5)    

Peter Sharman of Old Woking.     

I’ve know Peter Sharman, through our common interest of pigeon racing, for many years and although he is first class fancier, he is also a brilliant Angler. Years ago he came close to a sea fishing record with his 4lb 2oz Whitting and in recent years has caught some very big Carp, with his heaviest being a fantastic 33lb 4oz. Mirror from a Surrey lake. Peter says, he is very lucky to have a very under standing wife, as he has know lots of dedicated Carp fisher men finish up in the divorce courts! Carp fishing can get a hold on you and can become obsessive to the degree that you want to spend every minute in a ‘bivy’ tent on the bank of a lake, waiting for big Carp to pull your string. He used to fish every weekend, from Friday night through to Sunday evening and then again one night during the week, going straight to work next morning from the lake! He did this for five years and tells me he caught eleven fish one year and twelve the next, that’s how hard big Carp fishing is. He says in those days he was nutty! An old friend of Peter’s was the 27lb 8oz. Mirror Carp named ‘Girty’, who resided in a lake near his home in Old Woking and he caught this whopper four times, but she has since died of old age.

Peter was born in Woking and has been an Angler since he was a school boy, when he used to catch Perch with worms from his local River Wey. He used to be keen on sea fishing and his big Whitting, which appeared in the ‘Angling Times’, was caught off Brighton beach and was only 2oz. off the British record at that time. He used to go wreck fishing in the English Channel with his brother and they caught some 50lb Conger Ells, and on one occasion boated 1,000lb of Ling. The main baits they used for drifting under wrecks were Squid, Sand Ell and Mackerel.

 He started Carp fishing at the age of 16 and used to ride his motorbike down to Britons Pond in Guildford, and used the original ‘Herron’ buzzers, which he has still got in his cupboard at home today. Although his number one quarry is Carp, he has done some river fishing in the past and has had Barbel up to 11lb out of the River Thames at Weybridge, which took him nearly two hours to land on 2lb line. That day he was fishing for Roach with Hemp and Tares, and had thirteen Barbel on, but only landed three! His 33lb Mirror Carp was caught on 5lb bottom braid, which in those days was only coloured white, but Peter used to blacken it off with a freezer pen. He always used big boilies as bait for his Carp fishing and caught his big Mirror when he first used the new mini 12mm boilies. When I asked Peter if he had any favourite flavour boilies, he said he had caught big fish on all flavours, but did make his own boilies out of  Koi Carp pellets. The most important fact with Carp baits is to try something new, something the fish have not had before and are not familiar with. He used a simple kit, in the form of two 12ft  2lb test curve Carp rods, ‘410’ reels and open bail arms to bite indicators. He says these days fishing tackle is more technical, with bait runner systems and electronic bite indicators, but the most important thing is to be in the right place at the right time.

Peter enjoyed a good 2007 season racing his pigeons in the very strong Guildford club, winning six firsts, including the longest old bird and longest young birds races.      

Peter tells me he had a bad training toss this season and his good racer, ‘The Dark Cock’, came home smashed up having hit some wires and is now in the stock loft. The Three Borders Federation sent 1,212 birds to the first Combine race of the 2006 season from Yelverton and with tail winds on the day; the members enjoyed a good race with the leading pigeons recording nearly a mile a minute. Clear winner of the Federation and 2nd. open S.M.T. Combine, was a handsome blue chequer widowhood cock owned by Peter Sharman. This two year old, now named the ‘The Yelverton Cock’, is bred down from the very best Janssen bloodlines obtained from Derek Squire of Addlestone. Peter’s loft was certainly on top form that day as his second pigeon on the clock from Yelverton, a yearling Van Loon widowhood cock called ‘The Dark Cock’, recorded 2nd. club, 10th. Federation, 18th. open S.M.T. Combine. A wonderful loft performance!

Peter has been a good worker for the sport for many years and is basket steward with my good mate, Peter Taylor, cleaning out and sealing the Guildford club race crates every week. He is not to keen on the E.T.S. and told me he is one of the old school, and likes to wait and clock his pigeons in from races. He likes to show his birds in the winter months and says the sire of ‘The Yelverton Cock’ has won many firsts in the show pen. His pigeons are a good type and his friend Kevin Wells of Leatherhead has a blue hen, sister to the Yelverton Federation winner and she has won every thing in the show arena. Although he is a widowhood racer, he told me he likes a natural hen sitting eggs for the long distance races over 500 miles. He maintains his good friend Derek Squire is one of the best pigeon fanciers he knows, saying, ‘Derek is a small team man, but a big winner’.

Well that’s it for this week and indeed for this year. A happy New Year to all our friends in the sport, from Betty and my self! See yer!

TEXT & PHOTOS BY KEITH MOTT.  

21/12/07