Alan Hunniset of Dover
For many years the Janssen family of pigeons have been much sought
after for their qualities whether for racing or as a cross into any
family that came along. I say family but if we look to the base of most
modern day strains they originate back to the Janssens. At times I become
fascinated by the families that are around and the names that they go
by on the continent when they are basically the Janssen lines. When
I was in the infancy of my writing I remember the Janssens were again
becoming one of the most sought after pigeons in the British Isles.
We were on a visit to the "Regency Stud" which at the time was in full
swing with the Dordins and Bruce was keen to bring in some Janssens.
To me the Janssens were not a particularly popular strain but Bruce
saw the potential in them and it was through his keeness that I first
took any real notice of the family. Then as I began to look around the
name of Alan Hunniset was being linked with them more and more and he
was becoming the dominant fancier with the top pigeons of the strain.
With this in mind we have set out to complete a question and answers
article with The River Valley Lofts proprietor Alan Hunniset who has
possibly one of the biggest studs of Janssen pigeons in the Country.
Before going into too much depth I would like to point out that Alan
has had two major strokes and to still be able to look after the pigeons
the way he does is certainly a great feat on his part because he was
a very active person. When he lived at the old home in Dover not too
far away from his present address he used to have to go up and down
steps 74 in all, he has an amazing will to look after the pigeons. We
shall commence the article by going into a bit of his past history starting
from his younger days and work through his life and opinion's with the
sport. Some of these pigeons go back to the very best of Janssens Bros
top pigeons such as "Bud". We shall start off by asking Alan how you
start racing pigeons at the tender age of 13yrs and was he involved
with anyone else.
Answer No.1
I started keeping pigeons at 13 years old as boy's do, after 4yrs I
knew that I would have to do my National Service so with this in mind
for the future the pigeons had to go. At 17 and a half I volunteered
because I knew I had to go so I went as a regular and was fortunate
enough to join the lifeguards so I left home and have never been back
there since. All in all Alan has quite a number of pigeons that are
either famous themselves or are out of famous pigeons such as son of
"Rocky" when "Rocky" was paired to a sister to "05". Alan purchased
the famous "Lucky Luke" one of the main stock birds for Herman Beverdam
in the late 70s. A son of the world famous "Goulden Bol" sold to Japan
for �20,000. A g.son of "White Nose" the Meuleman Ace. Not forgetting
such top pigeons as the daughter of "Stamvater", five brothers or sisters
to "Over Lord" and Alan also had 4 G.Children from Heinz Willy Ritz
famous "Vos 74" sold to the USA for over �20,000. Alan also had a cock
from his good friend Roger Persoons stock loft bred from Felix Pauwles
best stock pair these being the "Lady Di" lines. So you see Alan has
always gone for the best of the Janssen family which has proven good
for the stock lofts at Dover which have produced so many good pigeons
over the years.
That's enough on pigeons lets get on with the questions and answers.
Question: By that you mean when you left the lifeguards you
never went back home you went to live in the Dover area but was born
in Maidstone?
Answer: Yes and then I got married and went to the Isle of Man for a
couple of years, unfortunately the marriage did not last so I came back
to Dover. I used to keep pigs in the early days, one of my colleague's
father kept racing pigeons just over the back from where I kept my pigs.
This led me to asking the question whether or not it would be possible
for me to watch the pigeons come on a Saturday. This was fine and so
I went over to watch them and when I saw a pigeon fold its wings about
a mile away very high and glide in to open her wings and land I was
sold and the bug hit me once again. I have now kept pigeons for over
30 years.
Question: Many years ago I remember that you had something
to do with the docks at Dover, did you start that early in your life
or was it something you got into much later?
Answer: No I was a sub contractor steel fixing. When I first left school
I worked in a nursery then I went into the army, then when I came out
of the Army I went to work for my father who was a butcher. Then I left
home because my step mother gave me aggravation and I didn't want to
know. I packed my bags and went over to the Isle of Man because I was
married by then with 2 children and as I said that did not work so I
came back to my father at Dover. Then I just got involved with pigeons
Question: Did you get involved with the docks at this time?
Answer: I was outstandingly fortunate while I was at the docks
because they made me a regular. At that time the dock workers were all
casual labour so when I got the job I never moved and I worked there
until I had two strokes 12yrs ago and I have never worked since. I did
a spell of about 8yrs as a shop steward at the docks but gave that up
because as docker's are I got a lot of hassle.
Question: I suppose you saw a lot of pigeon traffic going backwards
and forwards?
Answer: No funnily enough that was down the Eastern docks I was down
the Western docks where all the cargo boats came in. Up until a short
time ago when Dover was perhaps the main docks in the South of the Country
I remember myself going over to Belgium and Holland quite a lot. In
fact on one of my return trips I met David Coward-Talbot and Roger Carr,
David had a very good cock off me that bred him over 30 x 1st prize
winners, that was in 1979 and we have been good friends ever since.
Question: What were the first pigeons that you can remember
having in the early days?
Answer: A load of rubbish which is the same with most people who get
interested and every Tom, Dick & Harry gives you stock, lets face it
when you begin there are very few people who will give you good stock
birds. I paid good money and got rubbish so they all had to go which
led to me bringing in the Cattryse they did exceptionally well for me,
can't moan with the performances that they put up, I also brought two
pairs from Dr Herman.
Question: Where is he from and did you collect them yourself?
Answer: He was from Belgium and no I did not go and collect them myself
Dr Herman sent them over. He had a famous "Black Hen" and if my memory
serves me right I was one of the first fancier to have any in the UK
from her. The youngster was a Black Cock and he bred me many good pigeons,
he was unbelievable. There was also a pair of Chequers, whether they
were a nest pair or not I do not know but the numbers were consecutive
but I still paired them together and they bred me a lot of good winners.
Question:Were they sprinters or could they fly all distances
and do it successfully?
Answer: I flew them at all distances on the North Road that was the
route that I raced my pigeons in those days. I had one yearling cock
that won five first's for me before he even dropped a flight as a yearling
and after that the Cattryse had to go because they could not live with
these Hermans.
Question: So the Cattryse family were sold out even though
they had won?
Answer: Yes, that was when I introduced the Janssens.
Question: What made you particularly attracted to the Janssens
after so much success with the Hermans, did you hear about the Janssens?
Answer:There were six Americans who came over to London, I met them
at an Auction in London, I invited them down to see me as they wanted
a trip over to the other side and would be in the area. So they called
in and then again on the return trip and they were talking about the
Janssens. Then in the meantime I knew a Dutch gentleman by the name
of Jack whose father-in-law was a pigeon fancier so I asked him to enquire
who was the best fancier who raced the straight Janssens in his area.
He came back with the name Dankard Rijk, so I asked Jack to see if he
could buy me a couple of pairs of Janssens from this fancier. The next
question was could Jack send them over, he said no the Englishman would
have to go over and collect them himself because he didn't want Papa
to have them, he was a very clever man, he was a miller with the windmill
in the garden. Anyway I went over and bought two hens and one cock.
He then lent me one cock for two years and he was the original Janssens
stock cock that I had and was Janssens Van Den Bosche. There are many
fanciers who say they were the first to bring the V.D.B over here, I
do not think so, his number was 67H39289.
Question: This probably started you interest in the Janssens
Alan and things went on from there. Over the years you have had some
very good Janssens and you had a very successful pair of Janssens from
a daughter of from the "Old Merckx" that were brought by the Ponderosa
in Holland, in fact a nest pair?
Answer: Yes these were "092" & "093" A lot of very good pigeons all
around Germany from these lines, in fact around the world they are responsible
for so many winners. The Coward-Talbot cock that we mentioned earlier
was bred down from these hens because he was a great g.son of "092".
They bred an awful lot of pigeons and I had a nest pair direct from
the Ponderosa, I think they cost me �35 pounds each which was a great
investment in those days. Alan McQuillium from Enfield had a son out
of the original pair and just to recall the "Honeyset Cock" of David
Coward-Talbot, he was out of the brother to the "McQuillium" Cock. The
"Honeyset Cock" of Coward-Talbot is probably one of the very best to
come out of these pigeons because he bred over 30 different winners
and 10 x 1st Federation winners. I was talking to David recently and
he has started racing again with the basics of the same family and in
his first race back in 1996 he had a brother and sister to "Dillon"
who is a son of the "Honeyset Cock" immediately won. The "McQuillium"
cock bred over 20 x 1st Federation and I am not certain whether it has
been reported how many club winners, I think 39 comes to mind. So if
you mention two top breeders like that there will obviously be many
more that have proven their worth at stock but not been reported back.
These particular lines are either line bred or inbred to the "Merckx"
lines and they run all through my present day team on the one side or
both.
Question: Alan you say you line breed and in-breed to the "Merckx"
lines that are your present day team. But lets take a step back a few
years to the days when you were renowned for your wonderful team of
stock hens that were breeding multiple winners. You had hens that were
breeding 5 or 6 first Federation winners that are on top of the two
that we have already discussed. In your present day team you have a
lot of Slatey pigeons where did they come from, were they from the same
bloodlines?
Answer: The original Stock cock I had on loan was a Slate Cheq I tried
to buy but it was not for sale, then two years later he sold it to Germany
for twelve hundred pounds I was disappointed to say the least. Yes I
do have an awful lot of Slate pigeons and there was a Blue W/F cock
a son of the original Janssen/V.D.B. Then there was the "Violet Eyed
Hen" hen that Rex Doe borrowed which he called the "Eight Hundred Pound
Hen", the name came about because Donkard came to England and offered
me that sum for her to take her back. She was one of the hens that I
had purchased from him and I didn't know what I had got, as I said he
offered me a price to take her back but I would not part with her, that
kind of money was appetising in 81/82. The other hen that came I later
sold to Ries & Moore which was named "Honeysuckle Rose" and became their
famous stock hen. She was a half sister to the hen. Now this must sound
sour grapes but Reis & Moore purchased at least 34 pigeons from me over
a period of time, they paid good money I have got no quibble over the
money at all. If you read their adverts they have been winning from
day one and they give me no credit whatsoever which I am a little bitter
about.
Question: You mean because they have used a little bit of your
name and obviously pigeon fanciers have got confused?
Answer: Well I had a phone call recently from Wales from a gent who
wanted to buy pigeons, he said "Honeysuckle Lofts", which means that
they were going to phone Ries & Moore and I could hear a friend of his
say no "Honeysuckle Lofts" is a different organisation altogether. So
there has definitely been some confusion and of course a lot of their
pigeons have been very successful over a period of years. "The Lady
Bange" was my pigeon as were "The Bertie Cock" "Foxy Feelings" and "Billie",
all of which I either bred or owned at some stage. As I said they paid
good money for them but I have had no credit for them.
Question: Alan you once had a good Le Bon yearling that became
famous?
Answer: Yes that was a Red and had the most beautiful green eye that
I had ever seen up to that time, the pigeon was sold at auction for
�460 at 11yrs old. It was a Charles Le Clerq Janssen that had won over
80 prizes up to 550mls, how many racers can you say win at 11yrs old.
Question: He was a lovely stamp of pigeon and perhaps again
if we talk about your Janssens today quite a few Reds and Mealies amongst
your pigeons. Would you suggest that quite a lot of them go back to
him or are there other Red Janssens that you may have introduced such
as "Rodie Apple" & "Rocky" lines from the Ponderosa?
Answer: A percentage of them definitely go back to him, I have "Roodie
Apple" bloodlines and those from the Ponderosa where I have had some
good pigeons from over the years but none as good as those first two
out of "092".
Question: Alan we have spoken about a few other fanciers who
have done extremely well with your pigeons is there anyone else you
would like to mention that have perhaps done very well with your pigeons?
Answer: There are many but one gentleman is Tony Cotterell from Dorset,
the sire of "Overlord" which won 17th International Pau a few years
ago. The sire of that pigeon I sold to Tony at Blackpool and was again
from the Donkard Rijk family. Might I add that pigeon was and still
is the only pigeon to fly into Great Britain from the Pau International
on the day. The Irish boys are also doing very well with my pigeons
which pleases me because they have to fly across two channels which
makes it probably the hardest route to race pigeons on. We have a laugh
with the South Road boys because it is much easier, I do consider flying
out of Scotland is difficult because we have much more difficult terrain's.
Different areas and climates, all sorts of things can happen while in
Scotland. Although we are not going to make a big point of that I do
think that the Irish boys flying across two channels do have, I am most
satisfied with the Irish buyers because they are proving that my pigeons
can do it no matter what the obstacles. I also have a stock loft in
Ireland and the gentleman who keeps it should have had 1st NIPA a couple
of years ago, the pigeon was way out in front and he put it in the wrong
clock. That was Jeff Cranston from Balleyhench and he comes over from
time to time and takes a few birds back with him to keep the stock up
to scratch.
Question: Alan you are very interested in eye sign, what type
of eyes do you like and do you have a policy when pairing the pigeons?
Answer: Many fanciers condemn the theory but I have never seen a good
pigeon with a bad eye, that is not to say that all pigeons with good
eyes breed goodies, that's a fallacy. I try to pair up opposites, I
look for the best because I am most certainly interested in breeding
good pigeons more than racing. All my best pigeons go into the stock
loft, I call them creams, when I find the creams I put them to one side.
Question:What areas of the sport take up most of your interests
now Alan?
Answer: I go more for the breeding side of the sport which has given
me a lot of pleasure to see so many other fanciers winning with my birds.
Because of the breeding interest I do keep more pigeons than the average
fancier, to be honest I have around 100prs mainly for breeding pigeons
for other fanciers. Mind you I also race myself which means that the
pigeons are tested on the road and if they do not come up to a certain
standard I replace them, even though I have a lot of pigeons they must
all prove their worth otherwise they have to go. As many fanciers will
know it is difficult enough looking after 30 pairs so you can appreciate
how hard it is looking after my team and with my continued illness,
I am finding it increasingly hard. With working no longer I do have
a bit more time to look after the birds that the everyday working man.
Observation: Even though there are so many birds in
the loft Alan can still tell you which they are and where they originate
from even down to their ring numbers and to make sure that the records
are up to date he has everything on computer. Because of the intensive
breeding programme he has nothing is left to the mind, all is logged
onto the computer so that no detail is forgotten. Even though Alan has
had two strokes he still gets about and looks after things himself and
no doubt with the pigeons and knowledge that he has the vast majority
of fanciers would have a hard job keeping up with him. The quality of
pigeons has shown through the winning fanciers who go to Alan year after
year for their future stock.
Question: Have you always stuck to the Janssen bloodlines or
do you bring in new blood?
Answer: I have only recently acquired some very good Verheyes, as I
said earlier Rex Doe had a number of my stock birds down there in the
early 80's and he bred an awful lot of Combine winners out of them.
Now he's sold up as you can appreciate and I purchased half a dozen
pairs off his very best and I do mean the very best. I could not afford
to buy the original stock birds but bought a select team of youngsters
from them. I also have 4 youngsters from Henry Gonzales from Bristol,
we did a swap off his best.
Question: So you are pleased with those at the moment and they
are the only introductions that you have made are the Verheys and therefore
if we looked out there the majority of pigeons housed are Janssens?
Answer: Oh yes this is a Janssen stock loft, have only got 10prs of
Verheys that I am pleased to house.
Question: If we move on a little bit now and perhaps talk about
you thoughts on feeding and training. I remember last year you had one
particular youngster that won how many races on the trot?
Answer: She would have won 4 if I had put her in the clock first when
she picked up the second prize. I had two drop together and I put the
wrong pigeon in the clock first so she was relegated to 2nd on that
occasion, she was a hen that was way out in front. For feeding I am
a great believer in Barley for the youngsters when they are first weaned
for about one month to six weeks I feed them protein then they go on
to sprouting Barley, as much as they like. The hen won 2 x 1sts Newark
162mls 2nd Doncaster two dropped together 191mls and 1st Pontefract
207mls..
Question:What do you mean sprouted Barley?
Answer: I soak the Barley for 24hrs then pour the water off and wait
until the little knob comes out and then I start to feed it. I usually
do about half hundredweight at a time which means that some of the roots
are quite long before I feed them. You can feed them right up as much
as they can take because in reality your only giving them two thirds
of a crop full, needless to say they have a little bit of good corn
as well which is always Bosmolan. This feed is continued right up until
they start racing then they have PLX for the last three feeds before
they go into the basket. The first training toss is about 30mls and
they all go up together. I do not believe in this 2 or 3 mile tosses,
if they are running for up to one hour plus then they should do no harm
at a 30ml training toss. By then they have had a good sight around home
and your not rushing to basket them for short tosses. When I do start
to train they have been running for a number of weeks, when I haven't
seen them for one hour is when they get their first toss. Then when
they have had their initial training toss I go up most days and give
them tosses two at a time. The yearlings are exactly the same they are
tossed at 20 to 30mls then tossed in two's which sorts the men from
the boys. I work on the theory first lost best lost because we all lose
pigeons and if they are going they may as well go first as last.
Question: How do you race your old birds?
Answer:I race all widowhood and have 48 boxes for this system. I do
like to start the season with the 48 but it is inevitable that you are
going to lose some along the way. Yearlings have a nest box but are
not paired, they have to fly to the box but feed the same as the widowhood
cocks.
Question: What about feeding the widowhood cocks, do you have
any special thoughts in this area?
Answer: Not too much protein, there are far too many people who are
definitely overfeeding pigeons, if they give the same amount of feed
for twice as many pigeons they would be far better. There are more pigeons
that get lost from being overweight than underweight and of course they
must be healthy.
Question: Have you got any advice for anybody or anything that
you would like to say regarding the health of a racing pigeon?
Answer: I start work on the pigeons 6 to 8 weeks before they go to the
first race before hand, bearing in mind that they are healthy most of
the year.
Question: Talking about keeping healthy would you do your cocks
at this stage or would you treat the birds for the usual ailments?
Answer: Yes definitely and again respiratory problems. Most pigeons
suffer from micro-plasmosis and I think only a very small percentage
of pigeon keepers ever think about that and I am told that 80 to 90%
of lofts have it but they do not treat for it.
Question: The fact perhaps Alan is that they do not know that
they have it and perhaps they should be more vigilant watching everything
and perhaps they would pick up on these things. Respiratory to me is
something that is hard to define. People would suggest that they had
got respiratory when their pigeons are actually rattling like a rattlesnake?
Answer: That is quite right and I think that this is where experience
comes in, observation will tell you what is wrong with your pigeons.
Question: As we have already pointed out you are not involved
in racing as much as you would like to be but what we must remember
is that when Alan was winning the Fed. and at that time you must have
had some really good pigeons?
Answer: I had two cocks that won 5 x 1st Feds for me both North & South
road racing and I have had a few that have won up to 3 x 1st Feds for
me. I have one cock in the loft at the moment that should have had two
first Combines but it would not trap. Over the years I have had more
than my share of winners in the lofts and still do today but not quite
as many. I have always stuck to the one family of Janssens because they
have won so well for me but more importantly have bred many winners
for other fanciers.
Question: Some people were not very successful with the early
Janssens, why do you think this happened?
Answer: I think it's probably fair to say that some of the early Janssens
were not the goods and it wasn't until people like myself went over
and started buying the good one's that the Janssens made a name for
themselves in England. I find that there are two types of Janssens,
the big deep keeled ones and the apple bodied lines that are a pleasure
to handle. I keep the apple bodied type because I don't like the big
deep pigeons. They are to put it mildly built like brick s__t houses.
Question: How have your pigeons flown for other fanciers?
Answer: Because I have always purchased the best lines available I have
been in a position to pass then on which has allowed me to further improve
the stock loft because the genuine Janssens are expensive pigeons to
buy. John Patterson as I recall won 2nd Open in the Skibberene (not
sure of the spelling) Irish National that was bred from a g.son of the
original stock cock when paired to a g.daughter of the stock cock and
I still have pigeons the same way bred in my lofts, you will see them
in my pedigrees. This line of Janssens have the ability to pass on the
winning genes all along the line. As anyone who visits me knows there
are still some 84-85-86 bred cocks in the lofts filling eggs, they are
a strong line that seem to go on forever. There are still hens from
the same era still filling eggs, they have been well looked after because
they are so hard to replace. Longitude of life is so important with
stock birds because if you haven't got it they do not last long but
if you have this in the good stock pair you have as much as 20yrs out
of their children and that is very important with racing pigeons.
Question: When you find a good pair of stock birds do you
keep them together or is it your policy to swap them around a bit once
you have found that good cock and hen?
Answer: I do split them because then I have half brother and half sisters
to pair together to keep the winning genes running. If by chance one
of the 2 or 3 year old hens go baron or even canker in the rear end
and you have not got sons and daughters from that hen you have lost
the lines. So if you pair half brother and sister together you can almost
re-produce. I have also gone full brother and sister in the past to
get back what I want. As long as you dispose of any sub standard youngsters.
Question: Do you buy many pigeons in?
Answer: No but last year I did buy 6 from Jeff Corby of Doncaster who
has had to pack up now. I went and bought the six of his best stock
pairs, he had a cock bred from my stock cock that bred him, well lets
put it this way, he had a section with 14 widowhood cocks all bred round
this one cock that's how good he rated him, they were a team of winners,
this top stock cock was called "Sherpen of 51". He was bred from a cock
that won 5 x 1st feds also bred and in turn he bred 24th & 48th Open
Pau National for Gregory & Attrill of the Isles Of White. I had that
cock back from them and a son from that cock was sold at auction but
I cannot recall the price but there was a �2,000 reserve on him. Again
he is down from the old original stock cock. Nicky Bundy bought another
cock when he moved that had bred him a lot of good ones again from the
same cock. The 092 & 093 are two of the good pigeons in the Ponderosa
books and I have at least 10 g.children still in my loft from them.
The D.R.Cock from Tummly Lofts the best stock possibly up to this day
was bred by me, they used to call it the eye-sign cock, he bred so many
winners and I believe that those bloodlines are in Malta winning well.
Question: The only worry that you have had with your pigeons
is what to put into them or you have been very cautious because you
haven't wanted to put anything into them, you have always wanted to
keep them pure and it's not as you are breeding bad types?
Answer: With breeding you have half brother half sister mating you can
go out an awful long way within a span of 5 or 6 years. So when you
put them back together, say cousins or even further away you have got
almost a cross within the family. So again I buy from time to time good
pigeons. Now after many years of breeding to good pigeons I have gained
a good reputation so I cannot afford to buy pigeons now that would alter
the family. What I do is to buy a pigeon that is from my own family,
pigeons that I have previously sold to fanciers who in turn are sending
me back good pigeons from these proven stock. Take David Coward-Talbot
who has had good pigeons from these lofts and borrowed some of my good
stock birds, David has paired them to the best of his and sent many
back to me which are then selected for my own stock loft. I had pigeons
from David's Tyson which was from a direct son of "Bange 77" which was
one of the famous Janssen stock birds. So if they go out of your loft
for 2 or 3 generations and kept pure it's almost like a cross when they
are brought back in.
Question:Does your wife Sue take any interest in the birds?
Answer: We have been married for nearly 27yrs and if I have needed the
help she has been great. She has been only too happy to look after the
pigeon fanciers when they have visited us she makes a good cup of tea
and through my illness I do not know what I would have done without
her. After I had my stroke I had a friend who was also a good help to
me and volunteered to help a couple of weeks after because I didn't
have a clue of one end of a pigeon from the other. I was most grateful
for this help. When I go to Blackpool Sue will look after the pigeons
or if we have a separate holiday or even when I nip over to the other
side for a couple of days she is always there to look after them.
Question: Alan you have a very good Staley hen, what has she
bred?
Answer: She is G.dam of over 30 x 1st prize winners and again she is
a g.daughter out of "093"so you see we are back with the original two
sisters "092" & "093" bred by the Janssen Bros and out of the "Old Merckx"
lines. Everywhere these pigeons go they breed winners. What you must
remember is that the pigeons I now have at stock are very inbred so
when fanciers take them from here they make an excellent cross as long
as they are to good stock. What you must also remembers is that through
inbreeding they lose a bit of vitality which is put back in the best
possible way by an out cross as pointed out earlier. There are many
fanciers who have had success with these pigeons including the Kings
Cup winner for E.Roden, 'Shotton Mining Community' won the Kings Cup.
You see when a fancier writes to me about the success they have had,
I log it because there are far too many ready to shoot you down if you
are slightly off track. Another NIPA winner was Graten, Belfast, Reg
Merchant he won first out of my stock it appears to go on which pleases
me because it has been hard work building up this family. For the fanciers
interested the dam of the famous "Merckx" I understand was a Slate with
white flights.
Question: Do you think pigeon racing has changed over the
years, what's your feeling about it?
Answer: It's going down hill fast with all the rabbit hutches being
built without gardens that isn't doing the pigeon fanciers any favours.
Then there's the Peregrine Falcons which is another story because during
the war years they were all killed over Dover on the Cliffs because
they were killing the pigeons that were coming back from the other side
with messages, if that was good enough then why isn't it now?. For the
fanciers in Wales and the Cornish area seem to be having the brunt of
the trouble with the birds of prey. Having said that some people have
put a pair of Falcons over at Folkstone so it won't be long before we
are have trouble with them in this area. These are now at St.Margaret's
Bay and are reported to have bred 5 youngsters this year, we have seen
them flying around but fortunately they have not touched these pigeons
yet. We do not even see the song birds. blackbirds the song thrushes
that we used to, they are not even protected. What do we want all the
small song birds or the birds of prey.
Question: What about the politics of the sport?
Answer: I think it's time the Union took their finger out, all the older
members of the Committee need kicking out and start again with younger
fanciers who are looking towards the future, not from the past, the
future is where we are going. A younger committee could not do any worse
than these have done for the last 20yrs. As I say I can't see people
taking up the sport because of these rabbit hutch houses with no gardens,
the future does not look bright. Even the allotment holders in many
cases do not want pigeons put on them so where can a pigeon fancier
go. The majority of houses do not have enough garden for a pigeon loft
and with them so small the loft would be too near the house and the
neighbours would complain.
Question: Alan are there any theories that you would like to
talk about in the pigeon world?
Answer; I have found that over the years the last three flights of my
pigeons in the majority of cases are almost the same length. I keep
trying to produce one with the 4th which is the 6th flight the same
length because it's the last three or 4 flights where the power comes
from. When you have got three flight feathers all the same length you
must have more power. I also like the small winged pigeon by this I
mean the wing itself, the first joint from the body when I put my finger
there I want it tight. Alright possibility that is not the ideal bird
for the distance but it certainly is for sprinting.
Example on the wing: now when you pick up a broom
and hold it at the other end to the bristles how many times can you
lift it up from the ground. The theory is that if you hold the same
broom in the middle which is nearer to the bristles you can keep going
much longer and it must go back to the wing. The shorter wing pigeon
will find it easier to flap for a longer period of time. On theories
I used to train the youngsters in short tosses wasting time until I
was talking to Dankard Rijk who said to me why do you bother because
if you are going to lose pigeons you may as well lose them with the
big ones. It took me the best part of 2yrs before I realised what he
was saying was true.
Mind you I think a lot of guts comes into it because for the young
fancier to be told that the first 20mls. toss they lost their youngster
it would break their heart, but this certainly pays in the long run.
