Keith Mott writes about winning fanciers past & present

JOHN McGEE

OF WORTHING

In the 1998 season members of the London & South East Classic Club sent a record, 2,905 birds to the first race of the season from Alencon, which is a good 200 miles fly to the home lofts from the race point in France. Because of the high birdage the club’s transporter wasn’t large enough, so a ‘Rolls Royce’ of pigeon transporters was hired from Catterall’s, ably driven by Garry Haslem, one of very best guys ever to steer a wagon across France. With bright sunshine on the baskets the club’s convoyer, Doug Went, cut the strings and liberated at the car park site, at 08.00hrs. in an east wind, turning north east in mainland England. The weather at the home end was wonderful and early birds were clocked on the south coast just after noon. The winning pigeon, a Janssen blue hen, owned by John McGee of Worthing, was clocked at 12.06hrs. and trapped like a bullet, being raced on the Roundabout system. The day after the race I made the 60 miles drive down to the south coast to have a chat with John and see his latest champion. His Alencon hen was medium in size and apple bodied, and had previously won several firsts and 4th. open Tours Yearling Derby in the L.& S.E.C.C.    

John McGee won the 1990 Pau Grand National with a Janssen blue hen on the widowhood system and in 1998 he won 1st. open London & South East Classic Club from Alencon with another blue widowhood hen bred down from the same lines. The 1990 season was one of his best, winning 1st. open Pau National, 33 times 1st. club and several times 1st. Federation. A brilliant season! John has recorded some outstanding performance in the N.F.C. in recent seasons including: 1st. section A, 67th. open Pau, 19th. section A, 84th. open Sennen Cove, 4th. section A, 89th. open San Sebastian, 2nd. section A, 102nd. open Guernsey, 7th. section A, 102nd. open San Sebastian and 8th. section A, 216th. open Guernsey.

John started up in the sport in 1975 and has enjoyed outstanding success every season, racing from all distances. The McGee loft has won the Federation countless times through the years and John says he enjoys any race, from 60 through to 600 miles. He races mainly cocks and hens on the roundabout system, with a few cocks on the widowhood, all of which are paired up in mid-February. The sexes are trained separately, but are often sent to the same race, with no real problem with trapping if the cocks and hens arrive home together. John has two smart racing lofts and both are closed in for the roundabout system. The old birds loft has a pan tile roof, three sections, and the old birds are trapped in a corridor and through open doors. The young birds loft has sputnik traps and the inmates are raced on the light system. His wonderful team of youngsters are on the light 20 hours every day and follow John around the garden, like a flock of sheep, looking for their peanuts. John’s pigeons are 90% Janssen, with a few Jan Aarden and are bred down from Belgium Gold Wing champion bloodlines. He has the ‘Houdini’ bloodlines and says his best racers including his Pau National winner are from these lines. His 16 pairs of stock birds are housed in a nice big stock loft, with a wire flight. One of John’s stock birds, which I looked at on my visit to his Worthing lofts, was a handsome blue chequer cock, a retired champion racer which had won 20 times 1st. on the road and he was half brother to the Pau National winner. His full brother was the sire of the 1998 London & South East Classic Club Alencon winner. A wonderful family of pigeons!

I recently had a phone call from John, telling me, he and his wife, Lou, planned to move to France and set up a loft, with the view to racing other fanciers birds in the International races, through to Barcelona. It is going to be a joint venture with our good friend, John Tyerman, and will be run on the similar lines of the ‘one loft’ race, but the birds will be worked up to the Barcelona International, over a three season period. The partners are calling the new venture ‘McGee – Tyerman International Lofts’. John said, ‘With the continuing uncertainty of long distance channel racing in to England and the likelihood of again being unable to compete in the B.I.C.C. International races, here is a unique opportunity for British fanciers to test their pigeons against the finest in Europe. For the first time racing on equal terms to a loft situation in Northern France, Pas-De-Calais, near the town of St. Pol, a distance of some 630 miles from Barcelona’.

The plan is to accept a daft of 2007 young birds that will be trained and raced to 125 miles, then as yearlings will be raced from St. Vincent, Bordeaux, Narbonne and Bergerac. As two year olds all remaining pigeons will be entered in the world’s most prestigious race, the Barcelona International, competing against some 26,000 pigeons. A month later those remaining will go on and compete in the Perpignan International. The McGee & Tyerman loft will accept young birds annually over an initial three year pilot scheme and the emphasis will be on International racing. ‘Ace’ pigeon awards and good prizes are anticipated for pigeons that compete in all the races. Bearing in mind that the Barcelona pigeons will be in the French loft for three racing seasons, with feeding, training and racing, the costs of entering a bird in the scheme is likely to be £165 per bird, with any lost young birds may be replaced prior to racing. When the birds are yearlings it is hoped to breed a round of young birds that will be offered for sale, with proceeds allocated to a loft prize fund. After the Barcelona and Perpignan races entrants may request to keep their pigeons in the team, or allow them to be sold at auction on a 70% to the owner and 30% to the loft basis.

John Tyerman has agreed to assist John and Lou in this exciting new venture and he has been an out standing fancier for many years, winning premier positions in National Classic and B.I.C.C. International races. He is a founder member and past President of the L&SECC, and is well versed in the administration on International racing having been involved with the N.F.C. Dax negotiations, when the U.K. won the event in 2004 / 2005. John Tyerman tells me, ‘This is a ‘Golden’ opportunity for the British fanciers to compete against the very best in Europe, on an even playing field, in the form of a loft on their side of the English Channel. Can we excel and achieve a team performance that will show we have some of the best birds in Europe?’

Well that’s it for this week! Any comments to me on Tele: 01372 463480. See yer!      

TEXT & PHOTOS BY KEITH MOTT.