I was talking to Bobby Walton recently and asked him about Les Dunn who he introduced me to many years ago. Bob was saying that he has lost trace of him and does know that he packed up pigeons many years ago. “Les Dunn Of Hagley. The Feb 69 edition of this magazine saw an article by Homer on Jack Dunn of Lye as a centre page spread. Well for Les while his father was alive it was a case of being known as Jack Dunn’s Lad not as Les Dunn the highly successful pigeon fancier in his own right. However the tag has now dropped and Les is recognised for his own capabilities with the pigeons and is never afraid to compete against anyone, a point that was shown when he organised a clock station in the Midlands for the Ramsey Oxon Open Race. Les and the rest of the Midlands really made there presence felt at this race with Les taking top honours along with the £500 that went with the 1st prize.
How did Les first start in the sport of pigeon racing this is what he had to say “Dad had pigeons 60 odd years and right up to the day he took ill I was not a bit interested. With this happening the Doctors said that he would have to give up his beloved pigeons. So I told him not to worry as I would go down and clean them out and help as much as I possibly could and that is how I first became interested in pigeons but I never really raced on my own until I came here 7 years ago. I had never rung a pigeon and could not tell a hen from a cock, then as I say I moved here and things started to happen. Until dad died I had not got a name in pigeon circles because I was always known as Jack Dunn’s Son, I thought I new my father but when we went to church I was amazed because there was not a seat in the place as they had come from all over the country. I didn’t realize that my father was so well liked and known, to me he was Jack Dunn my father but for so many to turn up at the church Jack Dunn must have been something else. When I walked into church I thought, dad I wish you were here to see for yourself grown men with tears running there faces for you. I well remember dad having tears in his eyes it was one Sunday morning when I happened to call while he was waiting for the Pau pigeons. One dropped just before 6.30am he picked it up and his eyes filled up, he stood there looking at the pigeon so I said are you going to clock the pigeon, he was not interested in taking the rubber off he was so happy to see the pigeon arrive home. I have grown up with pigeons but they were a bird to me because it was a case of go and fetch a barrow of sand for which I got sixpence. So I had a mate up the road who I used to give three pence {old money} and he would bring the sand. It was a bird to me at that time because I would clean out and bring the sand when I wasn’t in the least bit interested. The first time that I took any interest was when Dad became ill in 1975 he died in 1977 so I had 2 years to get used to the general management even though I had done the cleaning out on many occasions I had never taken any further interest”.“I was fortunate in one way that Jim my present general help in the lofts and gardens etc used to help my father in many ways; Jim is still with me helping out wherever possible. We kept the pigeons at Dads place until I bought this place 7 years ago at which time we moved the pigeons here. When we put the bungalow up for sale it was in the hope that a pigeon fancier would buy it so that we could leave the loft and the pigeons. But a pigeon fancier didn’t come along so we brought a few pigeons here and killed between 50 and 60 birds”. Les admitted that he did not know enough about pigeons to look after them and get the best results so he made the trip over to the Louella stud where he handled the best of the champions housed there so that he would have some idea as to what he should be looking for in the making of a champion.
This is how Les first came to have Jan Wees of the Motta bloodlines, which were raced with considerable success the following year winning 10x1sts plus many other prizes, so Les Dunn was now on his way to the top of pigeon world. Les Dunn then became friendly with Bobby Walton and Wally Taylor at the time when they had arranged a visit to Belgium and Les was invited along. Les was that impressed with the Vermotts and he asked Andre what it would cost for a full round off the stock birds, which was how Les first became interested in this family. LJP “So you brought a full round back with you” Les Dunn “No they were late breds I had to go back for them as he would not sell any pigeons out of his stock loft until he had finished racing. We could not really do anything with these pigeons in 77 because they were so late bred in 76. The first full years breeding was 78 since then they seem to have gone from strength to strength in fact Vermott himself has told visiting fanciers that Bob Walton and myself have got the best of his family in this country” That is how Les became to have the Vermotts since, which time they have gone from strength to strength for himself and his good friend Bobby Walton. Les went for these pigeons because it was the longer races that he had by this time set his heart on winning, which is the main reason why he has never gone all widowhood even though he has raced the system with success. The hens are generally preferred for the longer racers and with the longer racers come the National events where the final satisfaction is gained. Les Dunn “My father was always interested in the distance so I should say that I have been brainwashed to some extent. Widowhood had not properly come about in dads day although he probably new a little about it but he just wasn’t interested, maybe as little as I say I was brain washed he was always interested in the distance races. But like everyone else we all like winning, if you happen to be lucky enough on training you may win a Bath race. I do enjoy winning if I won from Bath, which is 69mls yesterday I should have been glad but today its next weeks training I am looking forward to” At these lofts there is a rather large team with 30 pairs of stock plus a team of 42 racers. Les is one of the most respective fanciers around for his honesty, if you want to know anything all you have to do is ask him and he will not beat about the bush he will tell you a straight truth which is what I wanted when I asked how many youngsters do you rear. “As many as I can came the reply because you need a lot to get a champion” When I made this 93 visit there were something like 150 youngsters perched. Les did not try to hide the fact that he bred a big team of young birds, I have seen fanciers who have reckoned to rear around 40 young birds but when it came down to hard fact they had bred more like 60. As Les said you have to breed a lot of youngsters to get just one champion, this suits Les because he does like breeding in fact this part of pigeons is enjoyed as much as the racing its self. On the law of averages the more you breed the more likely you are to get that champion that one is striving for. Les did point out one does not breed a lot to suit the pocket but the lofts space that one has.
A big team suits Les because he races in 3 Saturday clubs, which are the preparation races for the Nationals or the open events. Les Dunn “I think there is more of a honour by winning in the National and opens because the good local widowhood flyers can win 20 x 1sts in a season but if you go 30mls away then not many have heard of them. But if you win in a National or a big open far more people know you”To feed his team Les mixes his own for racing by buying the grain required in bulk mostly from the farmer, by doing this Les can make up a mixture far cheaper than buying already mixed corns. Basically the end product is similar to the widowhood mix that one can buy. Les does like to try anything such as a mix he picked up from the late Tommy Buck who was a great friend of the family. The mix is made up of Kerbal, Maize, Groats and Puppy meal in equal parts to, which is added cod liver oil, Les has however added some calcium. This mix is given in galley pots in each nest box and with this Les has found that this stops bent keels and gives the youngsters a better feather texture. Tom’s idea was that they eat the puppy meal, go for a drink it all swells up inside them, so they get rid of it they keep pumping it into the youngsters, Les’s opinion is that Tom was the best breeder of youngsters anywhere. Also added to the water is the vit energy, which Les saw and liked it so tried it and has used it since. Les admits to being a peculiar fancier because he is always swapping and changing things around the loft as well as the system that he uses. If an item that concerns pigeons on the market catches his eye Les is always willing to try, as he does not believe that everything can ever be perfect, one must always strive to improve. Les defies everything with pigeons because one is always given the impression from top fanciers that to get to the top one must get a set routine and stick to it but this man defies the odds on that score. A good point that Les made was how does he know if his pigeons are better than any one else if he does the same as they do.
For training Les uses “Sky Rider” one of those flyers one usually finds on the beach whilst you are sunbathing and all of a sudden you see a flying saucer, anyway that is how exercising is done around home. However they are trained down the road anything up to 4 times a week. One year all the cocks were poisoned so were not fit to race so Les quickly prepared the hens. The exercise for these was done around home 3 times a day with them receiving 1/3 of there daily feed after each exercise. They were then thrown into the first race where they were 6th Fed. On this method the 14 hens won 25 prizes from across the water.On eye sign Les said that he once bought a son of Blue Gold from Keith Platt and it had the most peculiar eye he had ever seen, the only problem was that he could not find out about the eye so he put it in the eye sign show. When I did the pigeon was 2nd so Les asked the judge to explain the eye which he told him it was called the Golden Eye. This judge told him that if the winner was paired to his pigeon they would breed winners. So Les waited until the owner of that pigeon came along who was Ernie Birch and explained to him what the judge who was Arthur Beardsmore had to say. Then Ernie told Les that the mother of his pigeon came from his father but he was not prepared to sell the pigeon but would lend it to Les, which he did and he bred him, 2 young birds. Les ended up with one, which had 3 young bird water races, then the following year topped the fed from Nantes. So there is something in eye sign if you want to believe in it but you have got to have the pigeons to go along with it. Les then told Eddie about the win he then told Les that he had also won Nantes on the same day with one off the same pair. Les like’s good eye sign pigeons in the stock loft but he does not think that you can re produce the line. However les does think that you can change eye sign if you want to depend on how you feel. Les said that he has changed some of the Vermott eye sign because they are all one colour; Emily DeWeerdt purchased a good pigeon from Vermott to improve the eye sign in his own loft. There was another fancier in Belgium who went to different fanciers for different things to try and breed the perfect pigeon with the eye sign of the Vermotts as his main aim, so there must be something in it somewhere.The loft is rather a large affair as can be seen from the photos it is in an L shape Les likes to give the pigeons plenty of room. There is a corridor the full length with at one end a water tank so that fresh water is always at hand. Ventilation like practically all top lofts nowadays is well controlled, there is no letting the elements in all the year around, and the number of open lofts is now reduced greatly to what they used to be. This loft is short of nothing, heating, lighting and constant water plus an office with a telephone, there is also a formation of deep litter which one does not see very often in winning lofts, but as I say les admits to being different from the recognized pattern. On fly a-ways Les said, “I don’t have many but I did have one last year with some 30ybs but they were the later youngsters. My early ones are almost ready to have their rings on the 10th/12th of January, if I lose one or two of them, that is until I start racing. The cause of fly a ways is probably the area some people live in, they get caught up in trainers. We have friends in Droitwich that is the one spot that pigeons hit when coming into the midlands. They appear to lose more youngsters that anywhere I know, they have tried turning these youngsters out at different times of the day but they always seem to hit racers or trainers, and before they know where they are the youngsters are 30 miles up country.”“Since moving to my present address I have seen pigeons that fanciers believe are exercising. One chap down the club said that his pigeons were flying for two hours not likely they are going to the fields. I do not consider seeing mine flying for two hours just exercising unless I can see them. If they disappear for an hour or more I come to the conclusion that they are not flying. Some fanciers will never visit the prize table because they stick to the same old routines, you can tell them but they don’t listen because if they do they cannot go down to the pub, they are not 100% pigeon men. You must be totally dedicated if you are to succeed with pigeons”Les is very keen with the social side of pigeons along with his wife go everywhere possible when one of the bigger events are being held. Blackpool is one of the most favoured events when a foursome is made up with the Mr and Mrs Bobby Walton. The Olympiads are frequently visited as long as it is not to one of the colder countries because he admits to not liking the snow and ice; Les said that he should definitely be going to Portugal was well pointed out. Mr and Mrs Dunn would still have a social life even if he weren’t a pigeons fancier. Since being a pigeon fancier he has made many wonderful friends in all walks of life which has made pigeon racing that much better. But on the shows Les said “I used to show my pigeons and I have had best of sex out of 600 birds I have won eye sign classes and have had B.I.S. since I have got more interested in national racing I do not want my pigeons handled and knocked about so much. I would like to put my mealy hen in the Olympiads but having them in quarantine when they came back put me off when I want to race her”
Well I should have to finish there for another report. I have tried to give you items as Les Dunn sees them to try and alter the ordinary loft report I hope you enjoy reading a few of Les’ opinions as I did on the visit. I have spoken to several fanciers about Les Dunn and I can honestly say that I have not heard one bad word said against him. Les is one of the premier gentleman of the sport, one who could give a good lesson to a great many others in how to be a gentleman as he was saying he always thought that pigeons men were gentlemen from what he had to do with them before his father passed away but now he finds that as soon as they get into the clubhouse they are changed men. Changed men could do with taking a steady look at Les Dunn, one of the sports best.
