THE LATE DENIS GLEAVE
OF MIDDLEWICH
by Les Parkinson
Denis & Gill Gleave
This is an old article that was published many eyars ago and after a request I am going to go back in time starting this week with the late Denis Gleave who was one of the very best pigeon fanciers in the UK. I am not going to change anything unless I know it to be wrong.
Denis with Bob Hall
Can enough ever be written about a fancier is a question that I was asked a few months ago, the answer was easy, no, as long as they are winning consistently because everyone changes their ways of doing things at some time or another. Also new pigeons are introduced that will in turn change the fanciers' views on pigeon racing through their performances. Over the last twenty years I have visited many winning lofts, some I feel have been one or two season wonders whereas others have continued a winning sequence for many years.
Denis with Roy Harding
Denis Gleave is one such fancier who has never let up in his quest to be top of the tree in the pigeon world, a few lean years maybe but those lean years have been better than most have had at their peak. Winning with racing pigeons is not all that easy but when it comes to a good stock man such as Denis the wins come far easier than someone with no real knowledge at all of how to breed good sound stock. Being a livestock farmer has obviously helped Denis along the way to making definite decisions on what to and what not to breed from. Many articles have been written on Denis by scribes from various parts of the country who have ventured into Cheshire where the land is flat and the farming is at its best and the pigeon fanciers are as keen and competitive as anywhere in the country. Through this article I am hoping to delve deeper into the knowledge that Denis has to offer to the pigeon fraternity. It has very often been said that Denis will tell you nothing; I suppose that depends on how much you talk to him and how deep into the archives we can go. I remember being at Blackpool a number of years ago talking to a Irish fancier who enquired where I came from, as soon as I said Cheshire he replied George Stubbs and Denis Gleave country, when it comes to sport, trust an Irishman to know where the best are.
Denis & Craig Wilkinson
Denis is but a short journey from where we fly our pigeons so it is easy to visit, no spending hours covering mile after mile of roads which appear to be going nowhere as many scribes will tell you. Denis has been at the top for more years than I care to mention so he deserves his status as a top fancier. There are many fanciers who get to the top to receive the accolade of a winner but then fall into the also ran’s category as so many do. This falls down when the fancier who gets to the top then slips and still receives the same accolade as that of a champion racer of pigeons. Unlike many, Denis has never slipped very far from the top, in fact if he has slipped one place then that is all.
Denis with Dave Allen
Denis' racing goes back some 40 years to when he first obtained pigeons from the late Harry Mather of Northwich that were at the time his base strain. To those he added others as so many do including a few from odd local fanciers. This is the pattern that many new starters do and for Denis the new introductions from the locals worked but for many it is their downfall from the word go. As always time goes by and Denis brought in the old Jack Mansfield lines that soon brought success followed by pigeons in the late fifties from the legendary Hughie Cropper closely followed by the Tom Lightfoot pigeons. It was a hen from the Lightfoot lofts that turned out to be an early gem, especially when crossed with the Cropper pigeons which made the name of Denis Gleave a household one in the pigeon world. Other pigeons to come along were from such strains as the Le Producer Dordins from Brian Jones of Crewe and previously mentioned the Busschaert’s that have taken so many fanciers to the top of the tree.
Denis with Ron and Lillian Woodward
Then there's the highly successful Janssen’s that have been so wildly used around the world in winning lofts, Stichlebauts, Krauths, Verheys, Desmets, George Josefs, De-Weerdts were all brought in to test. More recently the Meuleman from Beverdam and Janssen from Piet Manders. Many visits to the continent where the Van Wanroys also came from. The Staff Deysldoorf the winner of 16x1st Dutch National. This fancier is known to have supplied pigeons to many of the top continental winning lofts over the years just one more to mention and that include the Kypers plus the Decroix from Colin Harrison of which have been crossed with the Van Wannay and Staff Deysldoorf only ever bred 1 good one winning many prizes but has since crossed with other families included Busschaert’s. They have flown very well, in fact the 1992 hard Nantes Northern Counties the winner was Van Wanroy x Decroix. There is no sticking to one family here the theme is move with the times by bringing the present day winning families leave no stone unturned. Even though all those strains have been tried the Busschaert’s & Janssen’s have produced many winners, probably more than any of the others. No doubt if Denis had not brought in so many families he could very well have had the right to name his pigeons after himself after so many years of winning.
Denis with Eddie Froggatt
There have been many pigeons housed at these lofts that could well have bought record prices, pigeons such as 'The Bomb' a Great Northern winner to name one of his classic race wins. Then there’s 'Ringo' out of Harry Mather stock whose dam is a first open Great Northern 1963 when Denis was 1stx2nd with 2nd being “HC” who in 5 consecutive years racing with the strong Middlewich 2 bird which at the time had a competing membership of anything up to 138 collected 3 x 1st and 1 x 3rd and 1 x 4th all being channel races We must not forget 'Jodie' 23 x 1st and there are no doubt more that would be worthy of a mention with these pigeons that have won so well over the years. 'Jodie' is one of the Busschaert’s that have reigned so long in these lofts, which originated from Colin Harrison of Norwich who actually bred 'Jodie'. The Busschaert lines consist of 'The Broken Toe' 'Little Black' 'The Rosten' 'Jupiter' 'The Favourite' 'The Lady Bird' and not forgetting 'The Klaren' lines that have been such a dominant force in the winning Busschaert’s over the years.
Denis with Frank Howard
Feeding Moulting mix and Breeding mix from the local mill then depurative through until they hatch and back o breeding until racing-then continental mix for racing. Denis has tried Dufky, Verselaga, De Sheemacker and Bosmolen and has found that there is nothing between them. He also uses a bit of red band and Hormoform and pointed out that when feeding it is not wise to give young birds red band when racing. It is also not wise to overdue the red band and Hormoform when rearing he has found that too much tends to make the young birds grow too big. Minerals, grit and Picksteen blocks are also used. When racing they get depurative until Tuesday morning, not really bothered as long as the pigeons have at least a couple of days on Depuratives.
Denis with Les & Elizabeth
Young birds race on Dufky feed plus vitamins in the water every other week but does not give them too much because you can give them vitamin poisoning. Treat’s for canker, worms and coxi around Christmas and after the course is finished he takes samples of droppings to the vets just before racing. He likes to worm them once every six weeks during racing. Does like to keep wild birds from drinking in the water especially starlings which are reported to be well infected with salmonella plus many other diseases. Denis is also a great believer in Widowhood but still likes to race the hens. The intentions are to race a bigger team on the natural because of the different hens, which have performed very well over the years.
Denis with Jane Aspin & Rhoda Groom
The lofts at Byley have not changed in a good many years, which could well be one of the reasons that the pigeons are so content. The main racing loft which is 32ft x 8ft has stood there for as long as I have raced pigeons, that is with the exception of the night the wind decided that both pigeons and lofts were in its path therefore it ended up on its back in the field. After that happened posts were put behind to strengthen it just in case the same thing happens again. Each section in 8x8 and contains 9 widowhood boxes that are not all used otherwise there would be nowhere to put clock. The widowhood loft is 12x6 with fourteen boxes again not all filled, all twelve have won in this loft and it is a bit more closed in and this is also the loft where ''Champion Jodie'' raced so successfully too. Then there is the old hut that Denis had was converted to house a team of fifty youngsters. This year Denis admits that 1992 was a bad year for his youngsters ending up with only 15 which is something that has not happened before, he does believe he had too many and blames overcrowding for the heavy losses.
This racing loft has a good Veranda and is well off the ground allowing a good circulation of air underneath around the front of the loft is a fenced in lawn where the pigeons can peck around at their leisure and are not bothered by intruders to any great extent. There are generally around 28 pairs housed in the big loft with a few in a small widowhood loft to the left, which is where many of the great racers were housed. The stock loft is ideal as it has a aviary that would house a few eagles with ease never mind our beloved racing pigeons. This is probably another reason why such strong stock are reared because the pigeons that are rearing them are as good as flying out and therefore open to the elements. There is a noticeable difference between pigeons that have such a aviary and those stock that are kept up at all times and have no way of getting out into the weather at all. At the end of aviary is where Denis keeps his trusted guard dog that is certainly not to be messed with. If we are going to win with pigeons that the loft should be dry and have adequate ventilation that takes out the stale air and leaves the loft fresh at all times. The type of loft means nothing to Denis as long as it has the above, it's the pigeons and the man that should be looking at to get results not the big fancy lofts. It’s the same with the distance that we fly our pigeons, it is not necessarily the pigeons but more the way the individual fancier prepares them. It doesn’t say that because Fred down the road wins with his pigeons at such a distance not everyone will do the same no matter who has the pigeons. If they have a completely different method then they are more than likely going to win at another distance with those very same pigeons. The only variation that we are likely to get is when it comes to the very long distance because no matter what we do with some pigeons they are not going to fly 600 miles +. On the other hand when a fancier purchases a distance family he may well not get results because at such a distance the fancier concerned must be well versed in the art of distance racing.
Over the years there are more many fanciers who have changed and gone for more short to middle distance races but after a few seasons of reading they have reverted back to the distance which is where a great deal of satisfaction can be gained from pigeon racing. Not many fanciers have the ability to race the distance pigeons unlike Denis who can win from all distance without too much effort. Denis has won the Cheshire 2 bird on ten occasions, Northern Counties 2 bird three times which is also the number times that he has won the Great Northern.
Denis with Mel Bratt
The wins go on and including winnings the competitive new North West Classic and not forgetting topping section L 3 times club and Fed winners are too numerous to mention as are the many averages. A point raised, Denis never sends all his pigeons in any one week. Never mind how many races any particular week-end he competes in one section must always stay at home, which are fed on depurative from when they return on the Saturday into the following week until about Tuesday during this time they have a training toss of 13-14 miles. For this toss they do not see the hens and only have the bowl on the Friday, which is two weeks since their last race. The hens stay with the cocks for about 2 hours after each race. By the way the older widowhood cocks do not always see their hens on Friday, as they are well aware of what is happening.
Footnote. I compiled this report many years ago and have used some of the photos with fanciers who are still racing today. Denis was one of the very best fancier that I have ever come across and although he played things close to his chest there were a few fanciers who got a bit more out of him.
