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A TRIBUTE TO PAT MACKETT

by Keith Mott

 

I was very sad to receive a phone call from Vivienne Mackett recently to tell me her mother, Pat, had passed away on 13th February 2012 at the age of 66. She had only been diagnosed with cancer twelve weeks ago and passed away in a hospice in the early hours of Monday night.

Pat was a great worker for the old Surbiton Flying Club and was their hard working secretary for several years. Pat had a great personality and was a very independent person who would help anyone in trouble. She raced very successfully in partnership with her then husband Barry and was the main worker in the management of the birds. Only a year ago Vivienne telephoned me to tell me her dad had passed away and now her mum has gone! Barry stopped racing his pigeons a few years ago, but kept a few pairs as pets right up to the end. The last time I saw Vivienne, prior to Barry’s funeral last year, she was about six years old and now she is 37, married and is a nurse where she lives in Wales. Condolences to Vivienne and the family from Betty and myself.

 

The phrase ‘overnight success’ was very fitting to Barry and Pat Mackett as they seemed to storm to the top of the local pigeon racing overnight, in the mid-1970s. The partners had been racing pigeons for a number of years, winning their first race from Exmouth in 1971 with a plumb red cock obtained from the late Jack Taylor of Kingston. Not much success came Barry’s way as he was a train driver and had to work some funny hours, which didn’t agree with pigeon racing. Pat took an active part and got some routine into the set up, and they never looked back after that. They flew in the Surbiton FC and in 1975 were second highest prize winners, winning four 1st and five trophies. In 1976 they were highest prize winners with four 1st and eleven trophies, and in 1977 they had a fantastic season and were premier prize winners again with nine 1st and fourteen trophies.

On my many visits to the Surbiton loft we looked at quite a few outstanding racers, including their 1977 Bergerac (450 miles) winner, a nice blue chequer hen named ‘Vivienne’, and she recorded in 1976 - 1st club, 13th Federation, 20th SMT Combine (5,820 birds) Plymouth; 1977 - 1st club, 29th Federation, 85th SMT Combine (3,984 birds) Bergerac.

In those days Bernie Chandler of the Surbiton club was a great help to Barry and Pat and he bred one of their best birds, ‘Bernie the Bolt’, which won 1st club, 3rd Federation, 5th SMT Combine Niort. That was probably one of Barry and Pat’s best loft performances, from Niort in 1977, recording 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th club and doing well in the Federation and Combine.

The Annual Cancer Research Amalgamation race was the idea of Croydon fancier and RPRA London Region secretary Vic Farrant and was formed from three South Road Combines, the SMT, London & South Coast and Middle Counties. The 1987 event from Nantes saw 5,420 birds entered and the Mackett’s had a ‘banger’ home to record probably their best performance, 2nd open Amalgamation.