JOHN PUDDEPHATT

talks to Cameron Stansfield

John outside his 20ft x 6ft loft. John 'feeds to the garden', as he puts it.

On the eve of the Nantes National, which heralds the start of a new National campaign, who better to focus on than John Puddephatt of West Ferring, last season's winner of the much coveted National Flying Club Trophy, awarded to the fancier with the best average from Nantes, Pau, Dax, Saintes and Fougeres Young Birds. You'd think that to win such a trophy you'd need a large team of pigeons, but John has shown otherwise, and this should give hope to all fanciers with limited resources. John is a master craftsman when it comes to pigeons and this is what he has to say.

NATIONAL RACING

I won't ever change from my belief that the Pau Grand National is the main race. It is supported across the country and simply the best race there is. That said, I also think the Internationals are a great thing with a lot of prestige. I'm not keen on competing from Barcelona, Perpignan and Marseilles because I feel it's all over on the continent by the time the UK fanciers' birds are in but I will be having another go at the Dax International this year, and I'll also send to the Pau International for the first time. Basically I like to keep only 40 pigeons in total, including late-breds, and at the moment I'm a dozen over that figure, which means I have the depth to tackle more long races. I used to be a bit of a die hard. To me the National was always Nantes, Pau and the young bird race, and I didn't care for Saintes when they introduced it, but I've now changed my opinion. You've got to aim for the top and want to progress and at the end of the day the National is the National.

LOSING IT

If I go above 40 I 'lose it', by which I mean I lose sight of what I need to be doing. I still do the same and I might think I'm still doing everything right - but it isn't the same! Everything in my loft is raced at some stage as I don't keep stock birds as such, and as my loft is only 20ft by 6ft I can't really afford to keep favourites for ever more so when I retire some of my better races I'm happy to let decent friends have them. When I moved to West Ferring six years ago I brought 16 pairs with me from my loft in Crawley. I arrived on March 15 th , paired up and bred a first round. I took some second rounders too and then thought to myself, where am I going to house them all? As I didn't want to try and break these 16 pairs of old birds and risk losing them, I gave them all to Jimmy Sheppard of Chichester. One of these pairs are now the grandparents of my top racer Highdown Prince. I sometimes think, what if I had a bigger loft and could breed more pigeons, effectively condensing three years' breeding into one? I often look at a good bird and think I'm missing the boat with it. By the time I have a good three or four year old cock I might only have bred 3 or 4 youngsters from him.

A RACING LOFT

That second round I mentioned was an exception because I only breed one round off any of my pairs, apart from half a dozen late-breds which I might have been asked for. All my pigeons are for racing and the Pau National dictates my breeding plans. I pair up around St Patrick's Day (mid-March) and gear everything up for the Pau race. I can't rear two youngsters from every pair, as I wouldn't have the room to house them so I float the eggs around and rear 30 youngsters at most for my own use.

I like to get the babies away before I start to think about training and racing the old birds then they have a few short tosses - not many because they keep very fit around home as they are on the go all the time - then I pop them into one of the early Channel races at the start of May. It wouldn't worry me if it was a 300-miler. I haven't sent a bird to an inland race for yonks. I find that my system of very little training soon loses the birds without the intelligence to adapt so that I am left with birds which I know will respond to my way of doing things. My system was evolved when I was a working man and away from the loft during the day and so it favours the cocks more. Consequently I don't bother with the hens too much.

Highdown Perry John. This fine blue cock was one of John's three birds on the day of toss in the 2004 Pau National. He was clocked at 9.15 p.m. to win 7 th Section, 47th Open.

EARLY SEASON CONDITION

At the start of May, the Pau candidates are probably not in even 70% of the condition I will want them to be in when Pau comes around, but to be honest with you, I can't remember a time when I wasn't happy with my pigeons as the Pau race approached. I think it's down to they way I keep them. They are raced very little and they don't pump many youngsters so when the time comes to face the music they are able to, and I find if they are sent in good order at all times, then they will recuperate quickly. Perhaps their consistently high level of well-being has been built into them over the years.

UPPING THE TEMPO

After their initial Channel race they go to either the Nantes National or a race of similar distance (250 miles) with another organisation, perhaps the London & South East Classic. My top distance pigeons don't do very well in this prep race and that's because you can't cultivate pigeons for one thing (Pau) and expect them do another thing (win at Nantes). I don't mind if they come from the Nantes National the next day, in fact is does some pigeons a lot of good to have a night out.

John with his daughter at the 2004 NFC Dinner

THE MONTH BEFORE PAU

They desert their nest after Nantes and then they go down to nest again ready for Pau. They have no races in between Nantes and Pau. They just have an open loft and are worked around home, and they also get a 70 mile toss from due north once a week (on a Friday). In the last 10 days before basketing for Pau I don't do anything different. In fact, once the season starts, my feeding doesn't change at all. They have no extra maize for example. I want them to be buoyant and carrying their natural body weight at basketing for Pau, and this is achieved through a combination of work and feeding. I would sooner have them slightly underweight than over. Some pigeons will not put weight on no matter, so it might be detrimental to them to try and force it. Basically what really matters is that the pigeon has a good head, a good heart and a good pair of wings. If I was sending to Palamos (I've only sent once and was 9 th Open), I would still aim to send them carrying their natural body weight. When they come home from Pau their weight is not much different to when they were sent and the next day they are nearly back to normal. They seldom show signs of fatigue, which makes me confident they could have gone on and flown further if they'd needed to. Some Pau races are very nasty. One year, my first pigeon was a very lean velvet cock. He'd flown all day the first day and three parts of the second day and yet when he arrived he was clapping! On my system the birds nearly always have around two and a half new flights on basketing for Pau but if they had caste four, providing the fourth was being re-grown it would be okay with me.

MAINTAINING FOCUS

You need to be disciplined. If my Pau candidates were doing somersaults the week of a Combine race I still wouldn't send them. A lot of fanciers wouldn't be able to resist the temptation and that may be part of the reason why they don't get to be one of the big guns - even though they may have pigeons of the right quality. It goes to show that being successful is a combination of the man and the pigeon. I don't agree with those who say success at the distance is nearly all down to the bird. I think the man comes into it a lot because it is he who cultivates his loft of pigeons.

365 DAYS A YEAR

My pigeons are nearly always in top condition. I don't worry about so-called winter form, I just try and stick to nature and keep the food and the routine the same at all times, the only difference being that when they have completed the moult I feed them just once a day and change their feed to half depurative and half normal mix, then two or three weeks before pairing they are back on a strong mix at all times. I hand feed on the garden. The first thing they get every day is linseed. I let them out and they exercise whilst I clean the loft, then I throw a handful of linseed on the garden and they spend their time searching it out. Then I give them a light feed of the general mix, also on the garden, and during the course of the day, whenever I go to the pigeons I throw some more food on the lawn. I couldn't tell you how much as I have no set routine. What and how much to give is all down to experience. They seem to respond to my way of doing things.

A RECIPE FOR SUCCESS

I feed a few groats as a tit-bit, using a recipe handed down to me by Harry Branch of Mitcham, who was known as 'The Daddy of the South'. He was the loft boy to the loft manager for E. H. Lulham. (He was asked by Lulham to leave following the improbable colour of some of the youngsters emerging out of some of the eggs!) I bake 7lb of groats in the oven, turning them with a spoon so they are golden brown all over. Apparently groats contain a water bubble and by baking them you remove it. Then into half a pint of boiling water I add a teaspoon each of cod liver oil, malt and Bovril (adding the Bovril last). I put the 7lb of groats in a very hot tin, add the water mix and shake the tin so that the groats become impregnated. When it's dried I crumble it with my hand and this will do me for about a week. It really gets your pigeons turning somersaults!

OTHER ADDITIVES

I'm not regular with anything I put in the drinking water apart from Naturaline by De Scheemaeker which I give twice a week throughout the year. It contains 16 plant extracts, which saves me having to cut up vegetables as I used to do years ago. As I said, I'm not regular with anything else. Put it like this, if I add anything I always have to go back to read the label to see how much to give - that's how infrequently I use other things.

MEDICATION

In the six years I have been here, each spring after the youngsters have been weaned I have sent off droppings from the youngsters and the old birds to a Vet in Crawley, and each year he has rung up to give me the all clear, except for once when I had some worms in the youngsters. That is the only occasion that I have treated for anything in the last six years. If they haven't got anything they don't need treating and to me, as long as they are bouncing, they must be okay. I have never had young bird sickness and can only think that this is because of my management and the fact that they get the best of everything at all times. I would say, though, that my pigeons don't mix very often with other pigeons. I put nothing in the water when they come back from a race to counter infections.

WIDOWHOOD

The Puddephatt pigeons have a record up there with the best in National racing over many years, flying natural, but I do concede that on really 'good' days widowers can murder us. I want to win the Pau National and it may be that widowhood will give me that little bit extra to make it possible. But if I was to win the Pau National with a widower I would then go back to natural. I don't like widowhood because it is a form of cheating the cock. In my opinion, a 14 year old boy could get some pigeons and read a book on widowhood and he could beat me - so all the experience one has goes out of the window. A friend said to me you've got the pigeon knowledge so why not race widowhood and give yourself that edge, but I wonder, would it be fair on my 4 and 5 year old pigeons who have done so well on natural? Will I be being unkind to them?

I tried five pigeons on widowhood last year but although I say it was widowhood, if a widowhood man had come to my garden he would have laughed his head off, as the pigeons didn't do what they were meant to do. There was none of this clapping off are tearing across the skies, no, they just sat on the house. I was getting quite worried because time was pressing on and I said to Freddy Hall, aren't they meant to strike off and things? Anyway, they still flew quite well when the time came. I will have 9 cocks on widowhood this year including three yearlings.

KEEPING THINGS THE SAME

Basically over the years I haven't tried anything different. I'm not one of those who goes for incentives all the time. I concentrate on happiness and environment. If you want to win the pigeons have got to be happy with their home and with the man. I'm sure in some of the successful Mr & Mrs partnerships it's the placid nature of the lady that helps to create the right environment. From year to year, I keep things more or less the same at all times. I know, for example, that some people put gallipots of beans in the nestboxes after the Nantes National but I lean towards maize rather than beans. For 30 years I have used De Scheemaeker breeding mix (which has a lot of maize in it) and the pigeons rear and race on this, however last year I bought a bag of Sport, which must have 50%-60% maize in it, and raced on that.

STOCK SENSE

I can look at a pigeon and tell you if it's one I would want but I can't tell you the reason until I get it in my hands. I've never done any office-type jobs in pigeon racing but I have always been on basketing committees. My general impression is that the average fancier has only got one or two pigeons that are any good and not very many fanciers' birds are in good racing condition. I've been able to pick a fancier's first bird home time after time. I can shut my eyes and feel what I want. It's not to do with vitality; it's about first impressions. I'm talking now about racing condition, as I wouldn't say you could handle a pigeon and have any idea about its potential as a breeder - for that you can only go on background breeding. I can tell immediately if a pigeon hasn't got the necessary strength but in a good loft it's difficult to find any that are so obviously lacking because they are more or less all on a par. But with lesser fanciers they'll give you their pigeons to handle and you can say to them straight away, 'You won't miss this one'. As for my own pigeons, I could go out to the loft now and bring six birds into the house and the rest could go. A lot of the time you can pick the best pigeons just by looking but not always so first and foremost comes breeding and performance.

THE BASKET TEST

Nine out of ten fanciers will say the basket is the only judge, but I can't agree because in my experience it will lose you some of the best breeders. A number of my best producers couldn't fly around the corner. I once paired my 2 nd Open Pau pigeon to my 4 th Open Young Bird National performer and they bred lovely-looking pigeons - which couldn't fly around the corner. The last one that was left, I removed, and the following year it was the ones out of him that were my best racers!

BUILDING AND MAINTAINING THE PUDDEPHATT FAMILY

The one and only Fred Marriott used to say that those who can't master breeding will go to the wall and that the racing side is only testing out your breeding. In the winter I sit in my front room and write out the breeding of all my birds - and I can go back nearly four decades. My birds have improved over the last few years and I think my success is down to my intuition when putting a cock with a hen. When you are established you don't have to concern yourself compensating in your pairings - pairing a big pigeon to a small one for example (this is something I take no notice of) - it's all about performance. I line breed all the time and, let's be honest, in a small loft like mine there's no other way of doing it. Even if you had access to the best pigeons in the world you couldn't just cross them and expect to stay at the top in a loft my size. I've no preference for, say, grandsire to granddaughter or uncle to niece pairings - I find the winners can come out of anywhere and I'm lucky that each year I breed a number of top-class pigeons. Over the last 40 years I could count on two hands, comfortably, the number of pigeons which have been brought to the garden that have made a lasting impression. For breeding I lean towards yearlings and like to have yearlings on one side of a pair wherever I can. There is no guarantee that a good racer will breed better than its sister or its aunt. I seem to breed a few each year that are still with me at four and five and this has a lot to do with the fact that my pigeons are never abused. I would have to last year was my best ever. My birds have improved since I have lived here, but whether it's down to the environment, the loft or introductions, who can say?

THE KEY LINES

My first birds back in the 1960s were a mixture. I had Westcotts from a friend who in turn had them from Wally Grantham, and I had Ned Rees Hansennes from a fancier named Payne. About that time I also brought in birds from Arthur Hill but unlike the Westcotts and the Hansennes, none of these lasted. In the early 1970s, the main introductions were the Challen pigeons, these being through Section Leader, twice 1 st Section NFC Nantes. Then in came some Sion/Delbars and these, too, made a real impact. At the same time we bought the number one hen belonging to the late Fred Seaman of Cranleigh. She was seven at the time and that year had won 57 th Open Palamos, having earlier been 1 st Section, 11 th Open NFC Pau. Her blood ran into our team and picked them up. We also bought two hens from Eric Cannon, one being a daughter of Culmer Lass, and she was to become the granddam of our 2 nd Open NFC Pau. Time went on without other pigeons making much impression, then in the mid 1980s Jimmy Sheppard came on the scene. Jimmy's birds didn't do much to begin with but then came a daughter of his Maradonna, the only bird into England from Barcelona on the winning day. She has been one of the most influential introductions I've had: she bred two cocks who flew Pau ten times between them, and my number one pigeon now is her grandson. Jim also bred me one or two which I raced, one being Gentleman Jim, who won 2 nd Section, 28 th Open NFC Pau and also 4 th Single Bird San Sebastian on the day. I also have a direct daughter of Lady Di, Jimmy's Marseilles winner, which has left its mark. If I'm an honest man - and I am - I would have to say that his pigeons have had a big influence on mine. Basically I think Jimmy's pigeons suit me. He has family bloodlines whereas a lot of lofts keep 200 pigeons of all sorts. Put it this way, if I was re-starting tomorrow I would go to Jimmy for pigeons. I also bought two hens from Tony Cotterill and the blood of one of these is now thick in my pigeons. She was out of Overlord, who flew Pau on the day with the BICC, winning 18 th Open International. Overlord was from a 9 year old cock, part Janssen, when paired to Blue Vinnie, who traced back to Bainton & Son of Wimborne and Reg Venner of Street.

GOING THE EXTRA MILE

In the last 20 years there have been quite a lot of Barcelona-type pigeons in the background of the birds which I've introduced successfully so I'm confident my birds would handle further if asked. One year I was decorating for Jimmy Sheppard and he had bought Murray Newman's Barcelona winner and there were a pair of youngsters out of it. Jimmy said pick one so, always preferring a hen out of a top racing cock, I went for the snipey-headed one. It turned out to be a cock and in his first year's breeding he bred me three of my best pigeons for a long time, including the one who won 1 st Section Dax. I think there is a bit of Spangle blood in him but when I get pigeons off friend I never bother them for pedigrees.

THE IDEAL DAY

I like them to have to fly it, from wherever. Twelve hours from Pau is not a fly; it lets in lots of lesser pigeons that would not make it if it was a more typical Pau of 15 hours. If Pau was a blow home (and we've have them over the years), I wouldn't expect mine to be near the front.

DIFFERENCES

Nowadays my loft isn't as open as it was, when the trend was for everyone to have a dowel-fronted loft. My present loft has louvers on each section two to three feet above ground level, and on the sides there are louvers in the apex, plus there is two-inch gap at the back at the top. I would say the condition on the pigeons is more consistent with the loft being less open to the elements and the temperature is more consistent too. When I moved here I bought myself a new loft and my pigeons wouldn't stop eating - I couldn't believe it - and ever since they have eaten more than when I was in Crawley. The food's the same as it's always been, the only differences are the loft and the sea air. The other thing I've noticed, and I'm not boasting, is that since living here I've not had a pigeon go off colour and when my cocks drop from exercise they all start cooing straight away, which goes to show how well they are. I use white powder on the loft floor and scrape out daily, but whether you do as I do, or never clean out, after a time your pigeons adjust and handle your methods. I don't agree that a dry loft is a must. In the old days the snow used to get in many lofts because they were open to the elements and this was of no harm to the birds. Really and truly there are all sorts of ways that work. Nor do I believe that you need lots of ventilation.

LINE OF FLIGHT

The sea is one mile due south of my loft but in races very seldom do I get pigeons homing from the south straight off the Channel. In fact from Pau, the only occasions were firstly the year John Ayling timed the only bird on the day of toss when my velvet cock came straight out of the south the next day, then last year when I timed Highdown Prince from Pau at 8.45 p.m. The previous year when Highdown Prince was 2 nd Section when they brought the Pau birds back to Saintes, he came out of the south-west, as do most of my birds. Last year my second and third birds on the night from Pau came together at 9.15 p.m. - from out of the east! I clocked another one at 4.30 the next morning so it, too, must have crossed on the day but just slightly wide. When I was in Crawley, I trained from Selsey Bill, or from Devil's Dyke, 23 miles due south. This wasn't to muscle them up but to try and get them to come straight from across the Channel and they mostly did. I know that because as Puddephatt Bros we won the East of England Continental Club seven times and we couldn't have beaten the Kent men if our birds hadn't come over Devil's Dyke. I would train on the line of flight now if I could, but of course it's not possible. To go west in a west wind is as good as nothing so sometimes I will train east, but as I've said, I've a friend who takes them 70 miles north for me once a week. And this works out to be ideal as they will usually be home inside an hour and a half.

ACHIEVING THE ULTIMATE

I think I will one day win the Pau National. When I send pigeons I expect to do well and, without being big headed, I don't expect anyone to beat me. When Eric Cannon was alive we always wanted to know his time but, by the same token, I know that Puddephatt Bros was the first name he always looked for. I sleep well the night before liberation and I really enjoy the banter once the birds are up - it's a lovely part of the hobby.

EXPERIENCE

Old birds are treated as old birds. It doesn't matter that they may not have been in a basket as youngsters, once I wean my team in April, the yearlings are treated just like the old birds and expected to tag along. I never even think about giving them time to get going. It doesn't dawn on me that they are inexperienced. I used to think experience was everything but not any more - breeding and condition is the most important thing. When my pigeons go to Pau for the first time they will only have had 6 to 8 races in their life. My birds are never pushed too early in life but I expect to get them when they are pushed. They don't spend too much time racing or pumping and that's probably why they last a lot longer than most. Every pigeon with a bit of age on it knows the way home so you can't teach them by training.

LEARNING THE ROPES

As youngsters and yearlings I forgive mistakes because they are learning, in fact if they come next morning I don't treat it as a mistake. You've got to remember that even the best pigeons can go astray. If a pigeon comes home late and tired I give it two or three days locked in the loft. I don't do what some do, which is think, 'Right, I'll teach you,' and send it straight back to a race. I tend to ignore their first go at Pau if they don't do very well. Last year I won 1 st Section NFC Dax with a pigeon that took three days to come from Pau just three weeks earlier. I do like pigeons that are going for the first time but I have had pigeons do better on their second attempt so there are no hard and fast rules. I've also had pigeons fly Pau five times and always be thereabouts. I do with new pigeons what I won't do with my own, by which I mean I ask bigger questions of them, and if they are worth their salt they will respond. If they do, then afterwards I do things 'properly' with them.

THE EARLY BIRD.

One thing I really do believe in is, if you fly natural, getting your birds out at first light. When we raced as Puddephatt Brothers it was not unusual for all three of us to be at the lofts at 3.30 a.m. so that we could get the pigeons flying at first light, in fact we used to have them out on the lawn in the half-light. When I was younger I read Dr Barker's book and followed completely what he wrote, and one of his contentions was that if you were willing to get up at an unearthly hour and see to your pigeons before going to work, you would always have the edge over your retired neighbour who only got up when it suited him.

TYPE

Most of my pigeons look like they are from the same family being medium to small and silky feathered. I like a bit of length but I'm not bothered about width at the front. I just like conformity and a good pair of wings. I've had some very good lean pigeons. You can stick peanuts in them and still they'll have no weight. I've never been an eye man but I would not decry eye-sign. How could I when a really good pigeon man like Alf Baker was such a big believer? I don't even need to see depth of colour, in fact some of my best producers have had white eyes; my little hen from Jimmy Sheppard's Maradonna was white-eyed. I never match eyes when pairing up nor do I try and compensate, for example, by pairing a big pigeon to a little one. The thing is, with having a family I do not get many extremes anyway. I like a broad skull with the eye set at the back and towards the top, but I've had ugly beggars that have gone and won! I like the vents to be pronounced and as tight together as possible, and the wings to very nearly touch the tip of the tail. Also I like the last three flights to be narrow, with rounded ends (though not necessarily as much with hens) and to be of similar length, and for there to be a good step from the secondaries to the primaries. As a matter of interest, my 2 nd Open Pau winner had a split tail!

APPLE PIE ORDER

My birds are on their toes at all times and exercise with the same relish in June as in April. They generally tell you when they are right but because they all look very well near basketing time, I go by their actions, particularly so with cocks. All the ones that have done well for me have been roaring and calling. I like the eye to have a liquid look all over it and the 5 th circle to be more prominent than normal. With hens, I like to see the tail come up when they walk around. Mostly though, I trust my handling of a pigeon and I usually know the order they will return in.

MISTAKES

My biggest mistake with pigeons is sending them to a race when they shouldn't have gone back.

ADVICE

My advice would be the same as you read so often and that is, decide what distance you want to compete at and go to an honest man who's winning consistently and put yourself in his hands - the whole caboodle. But remember, no man can guarantee his pigeons. I know that each year I'm going to breed some good pigeons, but I could not give someone 6 youngsters to order and guarantee any of those six will win because at the end of day the man has go to do his part too. In the long races I would lean towards the pigeon, perhaps 75% to 25% but, and it is a big but, the man comes into it because no matter the competition your pigeons have to be absolutely spot on if they are to win, and it is the man who gets them into this condition. If I had to re-start completely tomorrow with fresh pigeons I would be very confident of getting back to my current level within five years. I have the management right and I have won with pigeons from other people under my system, such as 14 th Open NFC Pau with one bred by Len Painter of Southampton.

TO SUM UP

I love so many aspects of pigeons, such as the banter on race days, but I particularly love it when I've just weaned my youngsters because at that point they all look like champions! I'm still as keen as when I started. Tell me another sport where you can start as a boy and being do as good at or even better when you are getting on.

ONE FINAL THOUGHT

Unless you can master or control your breeding you will go down the swanny.

Copyright© Cameron Stansfield 2005. Photos courtesy of Keith Mott and Bryan Siggers..