L&SECC PAU

by Keith Mott

Spencer Noble and I had a great week in the South of France convoying the London & South East Classic Club pigeons to Pau. If you think not having a cooked meal or sleeping across two lorry seats with the hand break and gear stick stuck in your back for a week is having a great time, then we had a great time. I’m not moaning, we love it and I must say this season the end product was well worth all the pain! I think with the help of Steve Appleby, our race advisor in Guildford, we produced one of the best Pau Classic races ever, with about 100 first bird phone verifications on the day of liberation!

I convoyed with Doug Went the first two times I went to Pau and we had good south winds and produced day pigeons both years. For my next three visits to Pau I was Chief Convoyer and had stiff North winds and never got any pigeons clocked on the day of liberation, being three really hard flies. I was looking to beat my ‘duck’ this time and did we do it in brilliant style, by getting the perfect 550 mile racing day, with a bit of South in the wind, to produce 100 birds clocked on the day of liberation. On my drive through France, coming home from Pau my mobile was ‘red hot’ with news that the race was a storming success and all four of the organizations in my convoy recording many day pigeons. Brilliant stuff!

On marking day Spencer and I left my home in Claygate at 07.30hrs and as always the traffic on the M25 was desperate, with massive hold ups at the Dartford Tunnel and the road works at M2 junction. We picked up pigeons at South Ockendon, Gravesend and Maidstone, arriving at Leatherhead at 12.50hrs. for the final pick up. All the birds were watered at the marking stations. We set off for Poole to pick up the Central Southern Classic Flying Club, Welsh National Flying Club and B.B. & O. Federation birds at 13.40hrs. and arrived at the Hamworthy Liberal Club at 16.50hrs. I must congratulate Clive Merrill’s and his band of worker, who transferred all their birds into the L.&S.E.C.C. baskets in double quick time. The whole convoy were fed and watered at Poole and we sailed for Cherbourg at 23.45hrs. Docking in France at 05.30hrs, we were soon on the road and arrived at St. Leger motorway services for our night stop at 14.30hrs and the birds were fed at 16.00hrs. Next morning we were on the road at 04.30hrs and arrived at the Pau Camping Municipal liberation site at 10.20hrs, to the welcoming site of blue sky and sun shine, in fact the weather condition for our whole run through France was brilliant. The convoy had several water changes on their stay at Pau and were fed at 13.30hrs every day.

I awoke at 04.30hrs on the Friday morning to a clear blue sky and sunshine at Pau, but after receiving a bad weather report of heavy rain in the English Channel and Northern France from Steve Appleby back in Guildford, I decided to hold over. The holdover sparked Spencer into gear and he cleaned the transporter! We had a problem with dead batteries on the transporter and they had to be renewed at the Pau site. On the Saturday morning we were getting the transporter ready for liberation at 04.30hrs in anticipation of a good weather forecast from Steve and when I phoned him at 05.15hrs he answered all my prays, with first class conditions right through the whole race course. With a clear sky and the sun coming up in the East, I cut the strings and liberated the convoy at 05.30hrs in no wind. The birds spiralled up in the cloudless sky in one big batch and were soon heading in a northerly direction. The weather conditions on our drive back to Caen docks were perfect for 550 mile racing and the wind picked up to be West / South West en route. Thanks to Spencer Noble and Steve Appleby for their help in making this Pau Classic one the best we have ever had!

This season saw me visit Pau with the London & South East Classic Club pigeons for the sixth time and I think its common knowledge that I don’t like the site. I can hear all the lads saying, ‘Motty has been to Pau and he has come back moaning about the liberation site again!’ I can answer that with my hand on heart and state that I’ve never seen a good liberation in the Pau Camping Municipal car park. What I have seen is pigeons hitting wirers, staunches and trees on liberation. My assistant convoyer, Spencer Noble, was shocked when he saw our liberation at Pau this time! We position the transporter so as the pigeons get a clear fly out and some always seem to turn and head for the obstacles, but once they get above the trees the convoy batches up and clear Pau. The car park site, in my opinion, is far too small and it is sited next to playing fields which have large light staunching, with thick wires strewn between them. On my first visit to Pau, I pointed out how bad the site was and was told that I could liberate on the playing field, which I did in the 2000 season, but this was far from perfect, with birds flying near the staunching and wires. Big liberations, including the National Flying Club used to liberate on the playing field and not in the car park area. This site must rate as one of the most important liberation sites on the Continent as many National and International races are liberated there. I don’t know how they liberate more than a thousand pigeons in comfort, as the site is far too small and has all those obstacles. In every other aspect, the site is first class, with full watering for the birds and facilities for the convoyer, although in recent season there has been a few problems with gipsies. I noticed there is a new traveller’s caravan site about a mile away from where we release the pigeons, sited next to the Palais des Sports complex, but we had no bother on our visit to Pau this time.

About 300 yards down the road there is a massive car park, which serves the local sports stadium and this would be a brilliant new liberation site. In fact the International were at Pau that weekend and they liberated in that car park! Why can’t we go there? They had three massive transporters containing 7,500 birds and they enjoyed a brilliant mid day liberation in the comfort of a car park ten times bigger than the Pau Camping Municipal. We have to liberate on R.P.R.A. Code 5034, but even if we were allowed to move, we couldn’t get on the site, as the International were on the car park behind locked gates. While Spencer was on guard at our transporter, I had a quick look around the International lorries and it was pleasing to see the Dutch transporter was kitted out with wicker baskets. The Belgium pigeons were on a Martens transporter, who seem to be the main firm transporting the big races in Belgium these days, and I noticed all the feeding was 100% Maize. I personally think the feeding in transporters should be a more universal mixture, with lots of different corns, as individual pigeons like different feeding. My good hen, ‘Foxwarren Complete’, leaves all the maize at home and would tend to not eat properly, and break down in the basket. With a universal mixture every one would be happy!

I would like to congratulate Peter Coles (Classic Secretary), Gordon Marsh (Classic President) and Brian Doick (Classic Chairman), who all recorded day pigeons from Pau and were all well up in the open result. Well done to you all! It’s nice to see the workers being successful, especially in the premier race of the season.

On a personal note, I would like to see the L.& S.E.C.C. hold its longest old bird race from Tarbes next season and come out of Pau. I haven’t any first hand knowledge of the Tarbes liberation site, but the National Flying Club has used it several times now and surely it can’t be any worse than the Pau Camping Municipal. All the best to our members for our next Classic race from Bergerac on Friday 13th. July.

That’s our ‘ON THE ROAD’ article for this week! I hope my readers have enjoyed our little in site into the Pau Classic. I must add it was nice to meet up with Albert Casarre again at Pau, he has been site agent for many years and is a very nice French character. I can be contacted on telephone number: 01372 463480. See yer!

TEXT & PHOTOS BY KEITH MOTT

27/6/07