DAVE JENKS

of Crewe

by Les J. Parkinson

The year was 1994 when the channel results for the Crewe Premier all followed the same theme with Dave Jenks topping the list for all four races. These results stood out because they were also prominent in the local Federation and Combine results reaching the top of the list. Then the following year the lofts of Dave Jenks were there again to top the newly formed Three Counties Combine. These results have continued for Dave, which we shall highlight later in the report.

We shall start by going back to the beginning when at the age of 13 Dave acquired 4 half bred fantails/racing pigeons from strays at a poultry farm where he helped out at weekends. He then set about converting an old meat safe to house his 2 whites and 2 blues which was then fixed to the back of the garage wall. Dave had a great uncle George who lived in Birkenhead and raced with his son-in-law as Cox & Groom in Prenton Social H.S. On occasions Uncle George and his family would visit my folks at Wistaston Nr.Crewe and the first time he saw the birds that Dave had obtained promptly told him to get rid of them and he would fix him up with some proper racing pigeons.

A short time after birds started to arrive by rail from Uncle George plus some of his friends who he sent Dave to visit, namely Arthur Wright from Ashton on Mersey, Syd Dobson Thornton Hall Poultry Farm & Don Scott of Wallasey. Syd Dobson visited Dave's lofts one weekend, bringing some of his racing brilliants (a Delmotle/Barker family.) which eventually led to him designing Dave's new loft. Dave by this time had some well bred birds for stock, one a grizzle cock was from a half sister to Arthur Wright's famous "Ghost", a top winner. However Dave did have a set back when a stoat visited his small stock loft on a couple of occasions and killed 6 of the best birds. This did not deter Dave in any way because he continued to gain more interest in the sport over the next few years where he has made a good name for himself. In the early days he received help from local Crewe fanciers especially Walter Buckley, Mush Walton (now there are two names that I remember very well because where we lived in Crewe was only a few yards from Mush Walton's lofts and in those days Walter Buckley's son Terry was a good friend who I used to go night fishing with, now that's another story) There was also Brian Smith who with the two previously mentioned fanciers soon had Dave stripping and setting toulet clocks. Dave's Uncle George really set him up when he gave him a 24 bird toulet clock which was about 14" in diameter and he remembers Jack Bennion, the Club Secretary had to send to Belgium to purchase dials for it, my how times change.

Dave's interests prior to the racing pigeons was sport in general, playing in Nantwich Grammar School's Football & Cricket teams and athletics and I always thought at that age young men were also interested in the girls. Went off line a bit there lets get back to the pigeons which is far more interesting especially from such a good winning loft. Dave was really impressed when in 1953 he first saw Arthur Wright's widowhood cocks and always remembers thinking that they looked like little lions roaring on the front of their boxes which is a sight that he has seen many times since in the modern days of the widowhood racing systems that are now about. After 47 years in the sport with a break for three & half years Army Service Dave has seen a lot of changes as well as the widowhood systems. It was during his spell in the army that his father carried on racing the birds which meant that there was not really a lot lost from the team. Dave served three & half years in the Army (R.E.M.E. 1959 - 1962). When he was stationed in the South at Gosport, as with any budding fancier his weekends were spent visiting lofts in the area. A few names that come to mind were Cyril Medway and Mr & Mrs Morris of Southampton, Bill Self & Bert Roberts of Alton and Brian Thornton of Basingstoke. He also regularly visited Bill Storey of Portsmouth who was the Groundsman at the United Service's Sports Ground and kept his birds on the edge of the sports field. Dave served with 24th Fly Out Brigade in Nairobi for 12 months and kept in touch by having the monthly Pictorial sent out to him and is now heading into that same magazine with his own top rated performances.

As with any new starter Dave's first birds were a collection from his Uncle and his friends, whose strains included Proctor Smiths 501 blood, Delmotte Barkers, Lang Miller & Arthur Wright's grizzle family. Although this mixture raced well winning a few minor prizes they did not break any records. The first 1st prize came in 1953 from Christchurch with a Red Cock from Uncle George's No.8 pair. Later Dave also raced the John Lovell birds via Owen Keeling of Crewe and then introduced the Dordins which were one of the prominent winning families in the Crewe area for several years and in fact we still see the odd ones getting in amongst the prizes. After visiting Bill Mather's Rose Villa Lofts at Blackpool Dave became very interested and was also impressed with the performances of Claude Hetru of Lomme, France, who became the first fancier in France to knock Pierre Dordin off the top spot. With this in mind Dave managed to purchase a few direct Hetru birds from Gordon June of Doncaster. These were Desmet Mathjys & Stichlebaut's lines to which he added a few more through going to the sales and then a hen from Geoff Kirkland to pair to the Hetru cock which was a direct son of "Chephren" winner of 2nd International St.Vincent. It was that visit to Geoff Kirklands that started a good line of winners arriving in the Crewe area and later more birds were purchased from Geoff Kirklands top winning loft, strains being Desmet Mathys, Alfons Bauwens & Santens Bros and these have flown extremely well on the Channel races.

At this point we must also mention that Dave purchased at a Charity sale in USK (South Wales) on advice from a fellow scribe, Ray Swain, a direct son off Billy Maloy's (Tottenham) "03" cock which was mainly responsible for Billy winning 23 Trophies, beating one of the all time great fanciers, Alf Baker in Wood Green H.S. This cock went on to produce many prize winner's and his blood runs in most of Dave's Desmet Mathys birds today along with the old Hetru Cock. Going back to the bit of the fellow Scribe, Dave also used to dabble for some time in the columns of the BHW for a few local notes. The first Club that Dave joined was the old Crewe Central H.S. which was the only club he could join at the time and he had to learn to be a good loser early on as he was the most Westerly loft in the club and the shortest flyer. He quite often had the best time on the clock but had to give everyone over fly up to four & half miles to Walt Noden over at Warmingham. A few of the fanciers who helped Dave on the road to success include George Cox of Birkenhead who helped most of all, plus members at Crewe Central H.S. Walter Buckley, Mush Walton. Billy Baker and Secretary Jack Bennion who was the local Secretary and went on to run the old South Cheshire Federation before the Mid Cheshire Fed., where he spent some 15 years making a total of something like 30yrs as Federation Secretary, he must have been a glutton for punishment.

Dave does not hide the fact that he was like every other fancier first starting in the sport and made some early mistakes which included the dreaded overfeeding and trying to race fat pigeons that would have made the Sunday dinner plate. Also sending birds to races when fitness and condition was in doubt which is something that does not happen any more because now it is a case of "If in doubt leave them out". As mentioned earlier Dave's first real racing loft was designed by Syd Dobson measuring some 10ft x 5ft with one compartment for old birds and one for young birds. The front was the usual for that period having half the front dowelled and had box traps with the ever present bob wires. Even today with the new loft designs and tiled roofs Dave's is something different because it is made out of a couple of old railway huts purchased on a scrap wood order for a few quid. It is 36ft long with 6 compartments, 3 for widowhood cocks, 1 widowhood hens, There is also a spare section which is used as a corn store. The loft has a full length 18" wide asbestos landing board with bob wires which are clipped open on race days. there is also another loft 10ft x 6ft for young bird's and a 10ft x 6ft stock loft. What I must add at this point is that although it all sounds rather a lot to house; that is not the case, because for the loft size there are not any great numbers of pigeons, just quality.

Dave served an apprentership at Rolls Royce Crewe but was later employed after Army Service by British Rail as an Electric Loco Inspector where he enjoyed 2 years experience on the A.P.T tilting train, on trials between Preston & Euston. He always had interests in most sports especially football and played for Whitchurch Alport and later Nantwich Town under Alan Ball Snr. winning the Mid Cheshire League, the League Cup and the Cheshire Amateur Cup. Also while he was in Nairobi he played 12 representative games for Army East Africa and in the European Civy League for the Caledonians FC.

The main loft requirements in Dave's opinion are dryness with a grill at roof level to allow stale air to escape and the loft at least 1 ft. off the ground to stop the damp getting into the floor. Ventilation can vary depending on how many birds are housed and Dave is a firm believer that consideration should be given to neighbours and once his birds have finished exercising they are called in and not left to hang about on roof tops which gives the sport a bad name. Lofts and gardens should also be kept respectable so that there can be no complaints from neighbours regarding the loft area. Some fanciers are happy to just keep pigeons for pure enjoyment and do not put themselves out to win races. Before Dave retired he would exercise the team at 6 to 7am and then leave for work at 7.30am with most of the evening also being taken up by pigeons and their needs which would probably finish at around 8pm. It is a fact that Dave spends no more time with the birds now that he has retired with the big difference being that the times are more to suit him and he is generally finished and locked up for 5.30pm. As we said earlier the size of the lofts does not have a bearing on the number of birds housed, because there are 9 pairs of stock; 24 widowhood cocks, which usually see 30-40 youngsters reared. Stock birds and racers are paired at the same time usually after the Blackpool Show towards the end of January. They are paired together so that the eggs from the stock can be floated under the racers and the stock birds are then separated for 1 week and before being repaired at which time they are allowed to rear their own young. Some racers rear 1 y.b, some 2 y.b. If they are late laying they rear one, Dave follows this line becausehe finds that they all go down on the 2nd round of eggs at a similar time.

It has never always been a case that the pigeons that have reared have flown the best because some years Dave has raced with success birds that have not reared at all which is a line that some fanciers do follow for their widowhood cocks on a yearly basis. There is only one system that Dave now looks to and that is the widowhood right through to the last race where he has never really found any problems. Dave finds that widowhood cocks are easier to manage and trap well at any time, where as in days of natural racing bad traps were the norm, especially with hens which was a regular occurrence. Preparation is that the cocks are broken down after each race and then built up on a good widowhood mix from Tuesday night onwards. A little training is done before the commencement of racing and then use the land races for preparing them for the Channel events which are the ones that Dave goes for even though he has been known to top the Federation in between. The cocks only receive their bowls before basketing and have their hens on arrival of half to one & half hours; obviously depending on the type of race that they have had to contend with. The Channel team race every 2 weeks and usually go to all 4 Channel races. Over the years Dave has tried various tonics etc. but now they are wormed before the season starts and he uses his own Salts Tonic once a week with Garlic in the water for a couple of days.

This is not a fancier who likes a lot of the scraper because he much prefers to clean out twice a week. Straw is used on the floor of all compartments except the widowhood hens and the Y.B. They are also given a mix of Canary Seed, Rape, Linseed and Hemp as a tit bit and use a few peanuts when Channel racing starts, these are just thrown to the cocks in their boxes after the evening feed. All the birds are fed in Troughs on the floor but having straw in most compartments the water is on a platform, a couple of feet above floor level. Water is changed daily, but not straight from the tap, what Dave prefers to do is fill his water containers last thing each night ready for use next day. Several mixtures of corn are purchased from Sherfin Mill, Accrington, and he try's to get enough to last until the end of season. Dave takes note of what the birds eat and he always likes the birds to have a good appetite and enjoy their corn. When rearing Y.B. they are fed 4 or 5 times a day but there is never any corn left lying about except when the Y.B. are a couple of weeks old and there is a handful of corn in a galley pot in each nest box. The Y.B's. are reared on a good breeding mix with 5% pellets and an extra 10% peas added.

A few points on how Dave sees pigeon racing going forward with a point that I am a firm believer in, which is : that racing should commence on the first Saturday in May. Like Dave I see this as a way forward for the sport because there are far too many pigeons ruined before the season starts with fanciers training when the weather is not right. The younger members in the sport follow the present day winners who also start early but more often than not, they do not tell you that there are a few pigeons set aside for the early races which do not see a great deal more racing during the season. Also the first 4 y.b races should be for y.b's and yearlings which would help the youngsters get on a good line in the early part of their racing careers. This could quite easily be achieved because there are always a few yearlings knocking about that would benefit with a few races towards the end of July.

Dave is not a member of lots of clubs because he is quite content to race with the local Crewe Premier I.F.C which is a very good club indeed and also the N.F.C. Both of course on the South route and race through to Saintes. Going back to the present day team which Dave calls his Kirkland family. Strains include Desmet Mathys, Aljons Bauwens and Santens Bros. and race well up to 500 miles. Here is a mention for a few of these top rated pigeons. Dave did put the ring numbers to the following pigeons but I have chosen to take them out.

Blue Cheq W/F cock Desmet Mathys X Dordin 6th Club Saintes 515 miles 3rd Club 12th Fed Niort 477 miles 17th Cheshire Combine 2nd Club 5th Fed Niort 477 miles 5th Cheshire Combine 8th Club Nantes 406 miles 1st Club 5th Fed Niort 477 miles 7th Cheshire Combine.

Blue Cheq Cock Alfons Bauwens x Santens Half brother of Terry Sherett's National winner "DABBER" and to Dave's own Rennes Combine winner 4th Club 14th Fed 30th Cheshire Combine Rennes 346 miles 45th Three Counties Combine 4th Club 17th Fed Niort 477 miles 23rd Cheshire Combine 1st Club 6th Fed Sartilly 304 miles 11th Cheshire Combine 19th Three Counties Combine 1st Club 1st Fed 1st Championship Niort 477 miles 2nd Cheshire Combine 2nd Three Counties Combine 2nd Club 12th Fed 48th Three Counties Combine Nantes 406 miles.

Blue Cheq Cock Desmet Mathys x Aljons Bauwens 1st Club 1st Fed Nantes 407 miles 1st Cheshire Combine.

Dark Cheq Cock Aljons Bauwens x Santens Bros 2nd Club Wincanton 141 Miles 4th Club Swainswick 116 Miles 3rd Club Bath 116 Miles 3rd Club Sartilly 304 Miles 10th Club Nantes 406 Miles 1st Club 1st Fed Rennes 346 Miles 1st Cheshire combine 1st Three Counties Combine. Full brother to "DABBER" 1st Midland National for Terry Sherratt. 1st Three Counties Combine Niort.

Blue W/F Cock Desmet Mathys x Aljons Bauwens Flown 14 Channel Races 1st Club 11th Fed Sartilly 304 Miles 24th Combine 1st Club 2nd Fed Rennes 346 Miles 5th Combine 3rd Club Nantes 406 Miles 13th Fed 1st Club Gloucester 85 Miles. 1st Fed 2nd Club Wincanton 141 Miles 18th Fed 1st Club 1st Fed 1st Cheshire Combine Niort 477 Miles 1st Three Counties Combine.

Blue W/F Hen. Dordin 1st 405 mile hen Class Best 450 Mile pigeon Blackpool Show Western Region Trophy. 1st Combine Nantes 1st Combine Rennes 1st Combine Niort 2nd Combine Niort 3rd Combine Niort 5th Combine Rennes 5th Combine Niort 7th Combine Niort 7th Combine Niort.

Blue Cheq Cock Desmet Mathys x Alfons Bauwens 2nd club 2nd Fed 3rd Cheshire Combine 4th Three Counties Combine Niort 477mls 4th Club 13th fed Nantes 406mls 1st club 1st Fed 2nd Cheshire Combine 3rd Three Counties Combine TV nom winner 477mls.

Over the years Dave has done many jobs including run the marking station for the Northern Regions Charity Races. Along with his wife they have been Stewards for 20 years at the Show of the Year. Penned Crewe area notes for the B.H.W. for several years under "Guernsey Cock". N.F.C. Crewe clock station & N.F.C. marking station at Crewe cattle market. At present, Secretary of Crewe Premier I.F.C. Which goes to show that you can win with pigeons as well as take a keen interest in the sport. To conclude Dave would like to give a great big thank you to his wife June, who has put up with him and the pigeons for 38 years. June takes no part in the management of the birds but does like to see Dave do well and does help out a little on the clerical side of things and accepts that holidays have to be taken outside the racing season. What more could a pigeon man want from his wife? A good side to pigeon racing is that they have made many good friends all over the country with the Special one's being his mate Terry Sherratt and his wife Bez, from over at Shavington. Another being the late Cyril Lowe & Cecil (ONIONS.) De Carteret on the many visits to Guernsey. Then there's the top National flyer himself, Geoff Kirkland. I must not forget Jack.L.Roberts of Marple who always invited Dave to steward for him when he is requested to judge at the big shows. The late Captain Bill Mather & his wife Margaret. It was on Bill's recommendation that June & Dave became stewards at the Blackpool show of the year and every Saturday night of the show since Bill had entertained them at his home. Dave has always rated Bill as one of the most knowledgeable fancier he have ever met and they always had some very interesting talks.

That's it for another report and from what I have seen at these lofts they shall be winning for many years to come. Both Dave and June are always very pleasant and we shall no doubt meet again many times in the future.