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HORSHAM RPC PRIZE PRESENTATION by Keith Mott Betty and I recently had the great pleasure of being invited as guests of honour, to the Horsham club’s 2007 prize presentation, which was held at the YMCA Football club in Horsham. It was a Friday night ‘gig’ and the town was buzzing, as the Horsham football team were playing in the FA Cup in the main stadium a few hundred yards from the YMCA and managed to get a one all draw. I consider several pigeon clubs to be very special in our sport and the Horsham RPC is one of them! It’s a quality pigeon club, with quality fanciers and has a good long friendly and family orientated tradition. These day’s it seems to be an achievement for a pigeon club to hold a prize presentation, but Horsham club did it in great style and had good sit down formal dinner, the like of which we enjoyed years ago. The club holds the now famous CHASE Charity show every January and have raised thousands of pounds for the children’s hospice at Godalming over the last ten years. It is run annually by the Horsham club, under the leadership of Gordon and Delia Marsh, who were recently made life vice presidents of the club, for all their good work for the CHASE Charity over the years. The club is currently celebrating its 60th year, being formed in 1947, with founder members including Dave Francis, Jim Sweet-Escott and Henry Light, grandfather of the club’s present secretary, Adam Light. In the early days the club basketed their birds at the goods inwards bay at Horsham Station as they went to the race points by train and the clocks were set at a near by pub called ‘The Bedford’. When pigeon road transport came in the club moved its H.Q. to a pub. One the club’s earliest members is Ralph Foreman, who is in his 80th year and he still comes to the club on marking and checking nights, with his son, Peter, who is a current member. The club has been at the YMCA Football Club for approx. 30 years and enjoys the first class facilities there, including a nice bar and hall to hold their prize presentation and pigeon shows. I’m told that member have up some good performances through the years, including three times 1st open London & South East Classic Club, 1st Section NFC, 1st Kent & Sussex Palamos BBC and many premier positions in the Federation and Combine. The YMCA has a good hall and the tables at the presentation were nicely decorated with 60th birthday balloons. The 60 members and guests present enjoyed an excellent four course turkey meal, after which the club President, Geoff Foreman, gave a short speech and introduce us to the members. I said a few words, congratulating the club on its good performances in the 2007 season and on their wonderful work they do on the CHASE Charity Show, which I attend most years. I must say it was refreshing to see a younger member at the presentation, in the form of Adam Light, who is a great worker for the club and has been the secretary for about 4 years. What a great young lad! After the dinner and presentation the club held its annual breeder / buyer raffle, which is made up with donated quality youngsters and flown for every season from an inland race point. The members pay £5 each for tickets and get a blank envelope with a donors name in, if their number comes up. The £240 breeder / buyer race prize money was flown for from Exeter in 2007 and first prize of £180 was won by Alasdair Muir and club chairman, Richard Brunger. One of the club’s founder members, Dave Francis, recent passed away and a ‘Dave Francis Memorial Trophy’ has been put in place, which will be won by the fancier of the year annually, and the 2007 recipient was Alfie Clout, who is a great worker at the Horsham RPC. Horsham RPC 2007 prize winners in alphabetical order are: Richard Brunger, four firsts and six trophies: Alfie Clout, three firsts and three trophies: Peter Coles: P. & K. Foreman: B. & J. Gumbrill: A, M. & L. Light, three trophies: Gordon & Delia Marsh, four firsts and four trophies: T. Millis won the ‘Novice Trophy’ and congratulations to him: M. Richardson: M. Sheppard: Mr. & Mrs. K. Smith, one first and three trophies: Clive Turner, nine firsts and ten trophies: Steve Vizor, one trophy: F. Wadmore & son. Richard Brunger is the club’s chairman and was the club’s top money winner in the 2007 season. He had pigeons as a lad and at the age of 15 went in the horse racing profession, and is now the manager of a stud farm that produces top class race horses. He travels around all the premier race courses in the UK and tells me his top horse at this time is a filly named, ‘Dolores’, and she has won several top races and was 4th in one of the classic races. Richard started up with pigeons again at the age of 30 and has been racing 24 years. He told me, his pigeon management is based on his horse management, with feeding and training, which has proved very successful. Richard says he is lucky to have a wife like Catherine, as she is interested in his hobby and will help out when needed. He has a 50ft loft, open door trapping and although he has good success in sprint races, he prefers middle to long distance events. Richard races 30 cocks on the widowhood system and pairs up in mid January. The main families raced are Mathews and Busschaert, and says he never trains his old bird racers, only giving the two hours exercise around the loft every day. He is a great believer of treating the birds as individuals and feds a good widowhood mixture in pots in the nest boxes, and breaks down from Saturday too Tuesday every week though the racing season. The hens are shown to the racing cocks for an hour on marking night and on their return home get the hen from two to five hours, depending on how hard the race has been. The Brunger loft has about 35 young birds to race every year and race them natural to the perch, as Richard is not a great fan of the dark system, although he has tried it a few years ago. The babies are fed on a widowhood mixture and are trained very hard down to Winchester, and are raced through to 200 miles, with a channel race from Guernsey with the L&SECC. Richard likes to breed winner to winner and most of his 14 pairs of stock birds are retired premier racers. The Brunger loft has won many good prizes through the years, including 1st Federation several times, but Richard told me that one of his favourite performances was having the best bird in to Sussex in the L&SECC Pau Classic. The star pigeon at the loft is the blue cock called, ‘Turkey’, and he was named that by the markers at the club because of his big size. This widowhood cock has won seven times 1st club, plus twice 1st Federation and is the sire if Federation winners. Congratulations to Richard and Catherine on their great 2007 season! Clive Turner is some one who I converse with a lot with during the racing season as he maintains and garages the London & South East Classic Club transporter at his yard in Capel, and I go there to pick up the lorry when convoying for the Classic. Clive is a great pigeon racer and was the 2007 second highest money winner in the Horsham club. He tells me he is a pigeon lover and races his 30 pairs on the natural system, but has a few cocks on the widowhood. He doesn’t keep the widowhooders for the sprint races, the whole old bird team race through to 450 miles and he pairs up on 14th February. He has three lofts and says the pigeons fly well around the loft, ranging the Surrey countryside around Capel. When I asked Clive what family of birds he kept he said, years ago they started off as the Busschaerts, which are the base family, but now he could call them ‘Turners’ as he has crossed in over many years and has now created his own family of pigeons which excel from 80 miles through to 450 miles. He says some of his original birds were purchased in Guildford market for £2 each! He has won many premier positions over the years, including 1st Section in the National Flying Club and 9th open L&SECC Pau (550 miles). Clive races about 50 babies each season to the perch and only gives them minimal racing for education purposes only, but likes to train them well down to the south coast. Steve Vizor won the ‘Best Performance Specialist Trophy’ for recording 3rd open L&SECC Tours in the 2007 season and this was won with his good dark Busschaert cock, which races on the widowhood system. Steve says he has only raced the widowhood for three years and he has never looked back, thanks to Richard Brunger showing him the system. His 24 racing cocks are paired up the weekend after the BHW Blackpool Show and like Richard; don’t train the old birds, just exercises around home. The Vizor loft only races the Busschaerts and these are mainly the Corbet dark lines. Steve has been in the sport 23 years and maintains he likes all racing through to 450 miles. Gordon Marsh and I have become good friends, working together for last ten or so years for the London & South East Classic Club, and I was thrilled to meet his mother at the Horsham prize presentation. Phyllis is 84 years old and gets about like a 30 year old! She has had a life time in pigeon racing with her late husband, Robert, and his two brothers all being good pigeon racers. The Marsh family originate from Wales and Gordon tells me his grand father was also a pigeon fancier, racing in the valleys. Robert Marsh started racing in Sussex after the Second World War and Phyllis was a great worker for the pigeons, and often clocked in on the long distance races when the men folk had to go to work. The Marsh family were very successful in the races from France and joined the Horsham RPC in the late 1950’s, and also flew north road with the Brighton & Hove club for a few years. Well that’s it for this week! It just leaves me to thank the member of the Horsham club for inviting us to their great ‘do’. The thing I personally liked was the fact there was no music, that was great. No loud disco, just good pigeon talk! I can be contacted on telephone number: 01372 463480. See yer! TEXT & PHOTOS BY KEITH MOTT. 31/12/07 Report
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