JOHN GAUVAIN of MAERDY

           LONG AWAITED NATIONAL SUCCESS

by Gareth Watkins

At 05.57 a.m. on Sunday  24th June  2007 John Gauvain clocked his single entry in the Welsh South Road National race from Pau  and realised his lifetime’s ambition of winning  a National race. For those of us flying pigeons into the Rhondda Valley this came as no surprise, the only surprise being that John had not won a National race long before 2007, such has been his consistency in long distance National races here in Wales. What is even more amazing in regards to this National win, is the fact that John underwent open heart surgery just nine weeks before clocking the National winner!!

John's National winner.

Thus it was, that on a cold, wet, blustery Sunday morning, more akin to October than early July, I made my way in the company of Darren Morrissey, up to the top of the Rhondda Fach [little Rhondda] to view the 2007 Pau National winner.

By the time we got to John’s house the rain had relented enough for me to take some photos and so we settled down to view the lofts and pigeons situated in a secluded compound at the rear of the Gauvain home. The lofts are home built and range around two sides of the garden surrounded by high walls which are masked by the greenery of fast growing Leilandii. The main racing loft measuring 20 ft x 8 ft has two sections for old birds plus an 8 ft x 8 ft section for the young bird team. In addition there is a small section for just six hens tucked in at one end and it was to this small section that the Pau National winner raced. This is not a massive set up, but it is professionally organised, so that John gets the maximum results from his small team of just 13 pairs of old birds and 50 or so youngsters augmented by a stock bird team of just eight pairs. I should also point out that, following a heart attack in 2002, most of John’s birds were put up for auction and sold. However, some birds could not raise a bid and so at the end of the sale John was left with 11 cocks and 3 hens. What was he to do? This is where John’s wife Mair, and good friend Glyn Foster step into the story. Mair convinced John to carry on racing with just a handful of pigeons and Glyn presented back to John a young hen that he had bought in the sale. Guess what – this proved to be the Pau National winner. One of the young cocks that could not find a bidder in the sale also went on to leave his mark, when in 2006 he was clocked on the day from Bergerac at over 500 miles to win 1st section 3rd Open National, beating the vast majority of all other convoys liberated simultaneously at Bergerac that day. It reads like a fairy story I know but it is absolutely true.

At the start of the season the Gauvain race team amounted to just 27 old bird racers. The majority of these are raced on the roundabout system with just six hens raced on almost pure widowhood as their mates are not raced. The birds are raced most weeks and are then re-paired so that they are sitting when entered for the long distance specialist races that take place towards the end of the season. Just prior to Pau basketting John was concerned that his single candidate for the race was getting a “bit frisky” and might go into egg so he placed a pot egg in her nestpan which she took to immediately and followed this the next day with a second egg. She was therefore entered for Pau sitting one day eggs.

Her race preparation for Pau was races from Lyndhurst, Littlehampton, Picauville and Lessay and then jumped straight into Pau at more than 590 miles. John has found that whereas his cocks will fly freely for 45 mins – 1 hour twice daily, his hens are reluctant to fly for more than 20 minutes at a time and so they are trained twice weekly from 40 miles on Chris Jones’s transporter. The sexes do not see each other on basketting night but are always allowed free time together when they return home. All birds are fed individually in their boxes with a breeding mixture obtained from Court Farm Feeds and this is diluted slightly by the addition of a small proportion of barley. Peanuts are also used as an incentive in the build up to the longer races. The race team is treated before racing with a 3 in 1 treatment for cocci, canker and worms and also receive regulsr repeat treatment with the same product throughout the season.

The birds that John now races are a combination of bloodlines. Van Loons and Jan Loots from Freddy Edwards and family of Penywaun; Taffy Bowen Kamikazes and Westcott/Hansenne/Vanbruaenes from Roy Thomas of Maerdy. The Pau National winner is a lovely strongly built black chequer W/F hen containing the very best of Bowen Brothers of Porthcawl double Lerwick National winning Westcott-Hansenne-Vanbruaenes family on her sire’s side via Roy Thomas, combined with Louella pigeons of Fallahill Superstar  x  “Champion Gladys” x Kuypers on the dam’s side. The Pau winner is in fact related on her sire’s side to the Dax National winner of Ray Strawbridge of Newport. It certainly is a small world as far as top class long distance racers are concerned.

I will finish this report by highlighting some of John Gauvain’s wins over recent years. Take for example the 2006 season when he raced a modest team of just 7 cocks and 6 hens backed up by a 22 strong young bird team. Competing with the Welsh South Road Fed the Gauvain team won 13 x 1sts section and 2 x 1st Open Fed. In National racing over recent years they have won  amongst others 10th, 13th & 18th Open from New Pitsligo 420 miles on the north road. In south road National racing, again, the last few seasons only:- 4th, 10th, 19th, 31st, 36th, 36th Open Saintes 420 + miles; Nantes 15th Open; Pau 1st and 51st Open; Bergerac 3rd, 20th, 31st, 32nd Open; Picauville 11th Open; Cholet 32nd & 36th Open. Add to these 1st section Messac and 9th Open Anglo/Welsh National from San Sebastian and you have a record to match most.

Before finishing this report I should, on John’s behalf, thank local fancier Gerald Griffiths for his help with the birds before, during and after John’s hospitalisation. Gerald no longer races pigeons but he readily stepped in to help when John was poorly and it is Gerald who undertakes the manual side of the loft management whilst John concentrates on the feeding, exercise and race preparation.

Congratulations on achieving your lifetime’s ambition John, it’s well deserved.

23/7/07