Keith Mott's The Champions of Yester Year (Part 48) 

TERRY GOODSELL OF MITCHAM

I have heard of some bad luck since I started up in our sport, but Terry Goodsell’s 1979 racing story of twice being beaten on decimals for 1st. open S.M.T. Combine must take the cake. In fact Terry had been 2nd. open Combine three times in three years as in 1977 he was 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th. club, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th. Surrey Federation (3,060 birds), 2nd, 3rd, 5th, 6th, 7th. open S.M.T. Combine (7,787 birds) Plymouth. The sad fact about Terry being 2nd. open S.M.T. Combine twice in the 1979 season was that he was beaten twice by club mates and was thus pushed into 2nd club, 2nd Surrey Federation. He was premier prize winner in the very strong Mitcham Common Flying Club in 1974, 1976, 1977 and 1978 and had lifted the highly rated old bird points trophy three times. Terry won the Surrey Federation points trophy in 1977 when he was the Federation top prizewinner and was third highest in the 1978 season, when he won the Inland Average Cup. Terry was highly rated by many premier Surrey fanciers and although he was mostly known as a sprint fancier, he chalked up 2nd. open S.M.T. Combine Bergerac (455 miles) in 1979.

The Goodsell pigeons were raced on the widowhood system and Terry said he liked to keep the widowhood cocks warm in the loft. The families raced then were Roosenbroeck and Janssen of Arendonk, with the Janssens being obtained from the Ponderosa Stud in Holland. Terry said he was going over to the Janssen bloodlines and more pigeons of this strain were being obtained in 1979. He maintained the Janssen were good right through the programme to 455 miles, although the Roosenbroecks were very good up to 250 miles.

When I visited the Goodsell lofts the birds looked really well, despite the moult which had just fallen on them. Terry was very keen on gardening and the lofts and garden were a real credit to him. His daughter, Vicky, was very keen on the pigeons and she trapped then on their return from training. She clocked a 3rd. Federation winner for Terry in the 1979 season. The Goodsell’s had two lofts, the old 16ft. x 5ft. widowhood racing loft and a new three section 24ft. x 5ft. loft which housed six pairs of stock birds, young birds and the widowhood hens. All trapping was through open doors and the loft fronts were closed in for warmth. Terry was very keen to have warmth, a good dry floor, together with good ventilation, with no draughts in his lofts. He told me overfeeding was the biggest mistake a fancier can make and was totally against fat pigeons at any time of the year.

Terry started keeping pigeons at the age of ten, at which time he used to help his friend to clean out his father’s pigeons and became interested. His uncle built his first loft which was 8ft. x 6ft. and his first birds were obtained from the late Alf Neal of Mitcham and some youngsters of the Sion strain from G. Lay. Terry told me, Alf Neal gave him a lot of help to get started and Bill Shepherd’s great performances always stood out in his mind as brilliant in those early days. He had been racing ten years, being a member of the Mitcham Common Club from the start. Terry had raced widowhood for five years, beginning with a basic system according to the book and along the way the finer points had been picked up through trial and error. He said, many fanciers make the mistake of overexciting their birds and feed them too much hemp. The Goodsell lofts housed some of the Billy Shepherd of Mitcham pigeons and Terry told me that Billy had been a great help with advice since he started up.

Terry was only really interested in the sprint races and paired his racers up the third week in February, with the West Croydon and Selhurst open races in mind. These opens took place before the Federation programme started and Terry sent eight birds to the Selhurst open (300 birds) in 1979 and recorded 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 8th, 9th, 16th, 22nd. open and lifted £337. The Selhurst open winner was a yearling blue chequer cock named, ‘Capitol’, which had previously won three firsts. He handled medium long cast and was a Roosenbroeck / Janssen cross. The first pigeon in my hand on my visit was a seven year old blue chequer cock, ‘Mr. Nice Guy’, another cross, this time Roosenbroeck / Billy Shepherd. This long cast cock had won five times 1st. club, twice 1st. Federation and over £1,000, with his best performance being 3rn. Open S.M.T. Combine (7,787 birds) being beaten by a loft mate. ‘Mr. Nice Guy’ was the sire of blue chequer cock, ‘Terry’, the 2nd. open S.M.T. Combine Bergerac winner in 1979. ‘Terry’ was a late bred in 1976 and was sent to Bergerac driving his hen to nest, as Terry let the widowhood cocks have their hens three weeks previous. This cock had a fantastic season in 1979 recording 2nd. Combine Bergerac and 4th. Combine Plymouth and had previously won 1st. club twice. ‘Wizard’ a yearling Roosenbroeck / Janssen blue chequer cock won 2nd. open S.M.T. Combine Plymouth in 1979 and his sire, ‘Janssen’, won 1st. Surrey Federation Weymouth in 1979.

Terry fed the birds according to the temperature in the loft, using a good racing mixture, but with more carbohydrate when it was colder. The old birds were trained before the season started, up to 50 miles as often as possible, then it was regular exercise around the loft when racing started. Young birds were trained twice a day, a 20 mile toss in the morning and a five mile single up in the evening. Terry liked to see a nice rich eye, but his family were mostly ‘pearl’ or ‘gravel’ eyed and said some fanciers would call them anaemic eyed.

Terry maintained that fanciers should be dedicated to their pigeons 52 weeks a year and not just in the racing season. He rated the C.H. Besant & sons partnership of New Malden very highly in those days. He didn’t like deep litter as it affected his breathing, but said it’s a good idea if kept dry. Terry scrapes the widowhood loft out every day and is a believer in the old adage that prevention is better than cure. The birds were regularly given preventatives against coccidiosis, worms and canker. The birds were kept 100% healthy at all times and were paired together in such a way to keep the family intact. He reckoned selection should be severe at all times and the basket takes care of the rest. Terry mentioned one little trick with his widowhood system, which is throw in a handful of nesting straw about an hour before basketing to go for race marking, which he said, keys the birds up without over exciting them. He thinks there are many little tricks with racing widowhood, but the main one is not to let them get bored. Terry likes the young birds to be as tame as possible and spends a lot of time in the loft last thing at night, getting to know the birds and their temperament, which helps him to select his future widowers.

Another ‘star’ of the Goodsell loft was the six year old Roosenbroeck blue cock, ‘Billy’, a brother to ‘Mr. Nice Guy’ and ‘Capitol’. This handsome cock had won many major positions including 1st. club, 1st. Surrey Federation, 2nd. open S.M.T. Combine (7,787 birds) Plymouth in 1977. The principal pigeon in the stock loft was a four year old Janssen blue chequer hen named, ‘The Duchess’, and she was a tiny pigeon with a very light eye. This little hen had bred nine 1st. prize winner up to that time and was obtained direct from the Ponderosa. Terry paired the stock pigeons up in early January and he breed about 50 youngsters each season. He maintained that a limit allowed on clocks should be tightened up and his motto is look, listen and be patient.

There you have it Terry Goodsell of Mitcham! Here we are all these years later and Terry is racing in Mitcham, and winning the Federation out of turn. He must rate as one of the all time great in the London area! I really enjoyed doing this one, Terry is a great worker for the sport and deserves all the praise he is given! Any comments to me on telephone: 01372 463480.

TEXT & PHOTOS BY KEITH MOTT.

22/11/06