JOHN & ROSE WILLS

by Cameron Stansfield

Britannia

1st BICC Perpignan, 620 miles

A few years back I took a look at the National Flying Club Pau results to find out for myself which were the most consistent Pau lofts in the country. Over the four-year period from 1992 to 1995, I discovered that 60 fanciers had managed to clock at least one bird on the result in each season. Another four years have elapsed since that initial research, so I thought I would update the list, asking the question, 'who has managed to get on the Pau National result in each of the last eight years?' Or to put it another way, 'how many of those initial sixty are left now?' Well, the answer is just nineteen. For the record, one of those lofts flies over 700 miles (Bush of Amcotts), two fly over 600 miles (Jones of Dymock and Biss of Brundall), and the other sixteen fly over 500 miles. It was one of the latter which I visited one Sunday at the tail-end of September - J. and R. Wills and Family of Frimley in Surrey. To my mind, they are worthy of a write-up just for their N.F.C. Pau performances, but when you add the fact that, with this year's British International Championship Club Pau victory, they have now taken their total of outright British International Championship Club wins to five, they are doubly so.

From the brief telephone call made to fix up the visit, two things became immediately clear. First, John is a bean-feeding inbreeder who flies natural on the open hole. Second, I was going to enjoy myself. After all, what greater pleasure is there to be had in this sport than in handling crack distance pigeons, and all the more so if they are a family? Suitably sitting in John and Rose's summer house looking out onto the lofts, John gave me his thoughts. But first, let's begin with the pigeons and their origin.

The key foundation pigeon behind today's inbred family was a 1978-bred red chequer cock by the name of 'Rollercoaster'. This cock won the British International Championship Club from Pau, flying 565 miles, and took five other Channel positions including 1st Dax (only bird in race time). With John's help I've produced a family tree which amply demonstrates this pigeon's influence. As you will see from the top of the tree, 'Rollercoaster' was bred by John from a red cock out of the 'Galabank Hen', a Kirkpatrick which won 47th Open National Flying Club Pau for R. Tyler of Swindon and U72D26449. This 1972 cock's grandparents were bought by Ian Benstead at A. E. Sheppard's dispersal sale. As a point of interest, several of Ian's pigeons came from Sheppard. He used to train racehorses for him and, in return, was gifted birds.

Just to give you a bit of background, between 1930 and 1937, Sheppard won the London North Road Combine on six occasions ? four times from Lerwick, 600 miles, and twice from Thurso, 500 miles. One of those winners was named 'True Blue' and he proved influential in the post-war Sheppard family. The Sheppard strain was founded in 1899 and dispersed by auction at the Central Club, Clerkenwell Road, London, on January 28th 1961, the auctioneer being F. W. S. Hall. At this point I will quote from the sale list which comprised 81 birds: "Ref A, dark cheq hen, NU47L5863. The noted 'Sheppard Hen'. Probably one of the greatest hens ever. Not seriously raced in view of her value at stock, but won 1st Fed at Berwick and Pinchbeck. Lifted into Berwick from the loft, won 2nd prize Kingsland Open Berwick. Bred 1 st prizewinners with 20 different cocks. Bert Bacon (the loft manager) claims that at five years old she was the dam and grandam of 100 x 1 st prizewinners. Sire, '700', son of 'True Blue' x '324', Lerwick and 3 times Thurso, winner of two 1st prizes. From a brother of 'True Blue' x '225', 1st North Road Flying Club. Dam, the 'Baird Hen' (a Soffle), purchased at J.  J. Baird's dispersal sale. Champion 'True Blue', twice Northern Homing Union Gold Medal winner from Lerwick, was by a Savage Barker Gits, bred at Stanmore by the late W. Savage, with a touch of Jurion through the influence of the Clutterbucks (also used by the Westcotts and Keeble in '969', the Clutterbuck 'Jurion Cock') out of a hen bred by the late A. E. Sheppard from a son of Ben Westcott's '774', 1st King's Cup Lerwick and a Soffle hen of A. E. Sheppard's old pre 1914-18 War loft."

The sale list continued: 'Originally founded in 1899, the Sheppards are responsible for the Ipswich strain (see Creation Of A Strain by W/C W. D. Lea-Rayner, pages 208 and 358)'. It was from Sheppard stock that a number of the Westcotts' best birds came, and it was from the Westcotts that the 'Berlin Hen', 'Fen King', 'Presentation' (sire of W. Locke's famous 'Blue Orchid'), and 'Fen Queen' were so successfully evolved by the late Arthur Keeble into a nationally successful family; and the famous 'Light Hen', of Ipswich, which dominates the Ipswich strain, was bred from the 'Sheppard Cock' and the 'Freeman Hen', both taken to Ipswich by the late A. E. Sheppard. 'No Fuss' (1st L.N.R.C. Lerwick 1937), another Sheppard, was bred by W. Westcott from a pair of Sheppard pigeons."

That's the Sheppard angle. On the other side of 'Rollercoaster's' pedigree you will see his dam was the first cross between a cock from a German family called Backs (of which little is known) and a Burgher hen bred from a pair bought at Burgher's first London auction. If you now look at the left-hand side of the family tree you will see reference to the 'old family'. These John raced successfully with his father back in the 1960s. The base pigeons of the old family were a red hen called 'Priory Pride', who won 1st London North Road Combine Thurso in 1947, and her half-sister who won Lerwick and Thurso within ten days. Both were bred by Bob Wood of Acton Green. Mixed with these were two cocks from George Lovell of Hatfield (a line-bred family based on Osman, Caldwell, Logan and T. Andrews blood), four birds from Arthur White of Brentford, a cock from Tubby Tate of Acton Green, and some Slabbinck Cattrysse from S. Smith and Son of Loudwater, Bucks. From Sheedy and Bridges of Isleworth came a grandson of Butler's 'Hill Queen', 1 st National Flying Club San Sebastian, and this pigeon also left its mark. The 'old family', when crossed with 'Rollercoaster', produced, within two generations, the 'Old Campaigner,' John's winner of 1st British International Championship Club Tarbes, 550 miles. The dam of the 'Old Campaigner' was an outstanding stock hen called 'Amethyst'. You will see from her photograph that she was a real beauty with a fabulously rich eye. One of 'Amethyst's' grandsires was NU72D26449, who was also a grandsire of 'Rollercoaster'. NU72D26449, his brother NU74D16826 and 'Rollercoaster' appear all over this family tree. Indeed, all three are great-grandparents to 'Saucy Sarah,' one of the best birds in the Wills' loft at the present time. She has won both Saintes and Dax, plus 8 th British International Championship Club Pau and 12th British International Championship Club Perpignan.

That distance racing is a game of patience is perfectly illustrated in this family tree. None of 'Rollercoaster's' actual children, with one exception, were particularly successful on the road. It is his grandchildren and great-grandchildren which have made the impact. It begs the question just how many top-class racers in lofts all over the country have been given up on before their true breeding potential could be understood.

The Wills' pigeons also contain the blood of Sheedy and Bridges of Isleworth's 'Butler's Hill Queen', which won the National from San Sebastian and was subsequently bought by Louis Massarella. Indeed, John's 4th Open Pau hen, 'Violet Lady', whom I will mention later and who is also photographed, is, on her dam's side, just six generations removed from 'Butler's Hill Queen'.

With the foundation blood taken care of, here, are John's thoughts on various aspects of the sport:

INSPIRATION
'I was brought up in an era when a good fancier was classed as someone with his own family which kept winning, and that, to my mind's eye, is still the definition of a good fancier ? not someone who brings in fresh stock every year. Mind you, with sprinters you don't need to maintain a family. You can just go out and buy some more that will do the job. It's not like that with distance pigeons. Time and again, novices come into the sport, fly well for a year or two and then disappear simply because they don't know how to breed winners. When I was ten, I used to sit in smoke-filled rooms and listen to the old-timers talking. My eyes would be streaming, but I wouldn't have missed it for the world. Their stories of pigeons were magical to me. I think to this day that if you put a group of natural men in a corner they will talk all night, but get a group of widowhood men together an they either won't, or can't, tell each other anything. It's all systems to them, gleaned from books and videos.

A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM
'I prefer to be left alone when I'm waiting for distance pigeons to come, but people get excited if they clock one and react in different ways. I've got to show I don't mind being rung because the last thing you want to do when someone is experiencing the thrill is bring them down. I can wait for hours and hours when I've birds away, and I always believe I'm going to get them, although I keep it to myself because everything has still got to go right. When I'm really confident, I have trouble sleeping. In the 1970s, I sent to a Combine race on the Thursday and didn't sleep until they were in the clock on the Saturday. I was 4th, 6th and 9th Combine and would have done even better, but I was so tired I couldn't time in properly. Some people say they haven't the patience to wait for distance pigeons, but that's because they've never been lucky enough to experience the thrill of getting one. If they had, they'd wait, all right. I'll wait till there's no more light in the sky, even though I've got to be up for work at two in the morning. It's worth it because the high is so high. I've been pretty lucky to have experienced the thrill quite a few times. Perhaps the biggest buzz was when 'Rollercoaster' won me the British International Championship Club for the first time, but what a thrill it was when Britannia arrived from
Perpignan and flew around like a cock. I knew I'd done my job properly then.'

Rose on John's mood when waiting for birds: "He's very edgy and we usually end up arguing about what time they'll arrive. When he gets one, he's over the moon. When 'Gail Supreme' won the British International Championship Club he was on cloud nine for quite a long time. We didn't believe she could come in such torrential rain and when she landed at 7 in the morning, she looked as if she'd just been dunked in a bucket of water. When he doesn't get one, he takes it quite well, although it used to be worse when we were British International Championship Club secretaries and people verified before we had one. He's pretty philosophical about it now, taking the view that the best ones win."

Back to John:

INBREEDING
'I got my methods from Sheppard's final sale list. I kept reading it and thought 'there's something in this inbreeding'. One of the things Sheppard wrote was: "My favourite mating is mother and son. It will produce winners at all distances when well crossed". I've learned by experience, however, that you can't inbreed just for the sake of it. For example, if you pair mother and son, it has to be a class hen paired to its best-ever son. When I tried it with less good pigeons I found that, although the looks were there, they never did any good. I've never paired brother to sister. I'm not against it, in fact I now wish I'd done it with 'Rollercoaster'. It's having the right pigeons to do it with. The young pigeons I stop are those which are the image of their best parent or grandparent. The 'Red Cock', for example, sire of 'Gail Supreme', was never raced because he is the image of 'Rollercoaster'.

LIKE BEGETS LIKE
'Most of my winners leave their mark as breeders ? eventually. The thing is, with distance pigeons it can take years for them to show up in the breeding of a good one. Again and again my best birds come from those which have proved themselves on hard days.

LOOKING FOR A CROSS
'When you want to bring in good distance blood, where do you go? I wouldn't dream of buying from what I term 'pigeon dealers'. When I introduce something into the loft, firstly I've got to like it. I won't keep those I don't because I've got to look at them ? and pay for them. In the past I gave birds a chance which weren't my cup of tea and it never worked for me. A friend of mine had some good Imbrechts which were winning for him from Niort and Bergerac ? good pigeons. I tried one, crossing it with my own. The offspring were too big for my liking and I ended up giving him the sire back and all the youngsters it had bred. From now on I will look towards 700-mile blood for a cross, not 500 milers. I certainly wouldn't bring in sprinters. I'm sure there are certain ones from sprint families which could score at the real distance, but you'd have to breed hundreds to find them, and then it would depend on how hard the day was.

USING A CROSS
'I pair the introduction to my best pigeon, then keep the best one out of the pairing as far as looks and conformation are concerned and mate it with another one of mine. Therefore, the offspring I race are one-quarter new blood and three-quarters mine.

THE EYE
'I think if you pair a good eye wrongly you're scuppered. You've got to study the eyes within your own family. Character and intelligence are the most important things. If I can't see that in the eye, I forget it.
You don't need to have hold of the pigeon to see it either: you spot it in them when they're walking around the garden. The best way I can describe how I match the eyes is to say I clash lights and darks. I rarely pair two full eyes together anymore. I've tried it over the years and the results have been disappointing, except for once ? 'Britannia' was out of two full-eyed pigeons. Really, I like to pair two extremes ? a pigeon which has a full iris to one which hasn't. It's the classic way and I've seen it in too many base pairs which have founded lofts for there not to be something in it. I wouldn't necessarily steer clear of introducing a bird from a family where the make-up of the eye was different from my own, but I'd have to say I'd feel a bit uncomfortable about it.

THE PUPIL
'I have one or two friends whose opinion on the eye I respect and who like to see small pupils, but it's not something I really look at. There may be something in it, though I once race marked one of the best hens in England when she was in her prime and she had the biggest pupil I've ever seen. It almost felt as if you could put your head inside it. It completely dominated the iris and I couldn't get over it. One thing I do like is for the heart line to be thick and unbroken because I've never had a good pigeon which didn't have that.

YOUTH
'I put a lot of emphasis on youth in my matings. Many of my top performers are out of maiden yearlings, so I always breed from the best yearlings out of my best older pigeons. My 4th Open Pau hen was from the first nest of a yearling cock with a two-year-old hen; my British International Championship Club Pau winner of this year was bred in the first nest of a pair of yearlings, and 'Rollercoaster', my foundation cock, was also out of a pair of yearlings. I lost his dam in her first race and kept her sire for another ten years, but he never bred another good pigeon. I knew 'Rollercoaster' wasn't a freak, though, because all four of his grandparents were proven.

THE LOFT
'My loft faces north for the simple reason that when I moved to Frimley I wanted to be able to sit in my house and watch the birds. It's a loft in which I wouldn't want to have to get them into form early on in the year because the left half in particular doesn't get enough sunshine. There again, perhaps its aspect helps in the long run by holding back the form of the pigeons until midsummer.

THE PIGEON OR THE FANCIER?
Good pigeons make you look good ? that's one of my favourite sayings. But having said that, both the fancier and the birds have to be one hundred per cent if you want to win consistently.

SALMONELLA
'Three years ago, after a holdover, my birds arrived back from a distance race unable to fly properly. I took the bull by the horns and had a full post mortem carried out on my first pigeon home, which was 40th Open, with the vet informing me that, although it wasn't suffering from salmonella, it had an affliction similar to it. He advised that, even if kept just for breeding, my birds would be better left for a season unmated. It affected a few of my returnees, exactly what number I can't remember, and then spread to the youngsters. Hard as I found it, I ended up culling half my young bird team and all those old birds which showed symptoms. As soon as one dropped its wing, it was gone. Not surprisingly, I think salmonella is quite a big issue. It frightened me to death and I now give them a product to protect them, perhaps every twelve months. The same product also treats e.coli and mycoplasmosis.

OTHER TREATMENTS
'As far as other potential health problems are concerned, I treat for canker before pairing and thereafter with a Harkanker tablet (perhaps even two in one go) if I think they are not quite right in the lead-up to a big race. I haven't wormed for ten years. I bought some Ivermectin this season but ended up giving it away before using it. I never treat old birds for cocci, but I did my young ones recently because I felt they weren't quite right, and it transformed them overnight. If a pigeon gets a respiratory problem I would rather it cured itself. I attack the cause, by giving them more air. I don't have a microscope and don't have my birds tested either. One thing I've found is that if you have wet droppings around the nestbowl and suppress the smaller squab, quite often the next year the one you'd left will produce the same problem in its nest. If so,  remove it and its youngsters. I've never had young bird sickness.

USEFUL PRODUCTS
'Like most people, I've tried many things in the past, such as molasses and garlic, but the only additives to the drinking water which I regularly use now are Johnson's Tonic, Metatone and bicarbonate of soda.
For lice, I use a Van Hee product and, to the bath water, I add potassium permanganate. I flick olbas oil around the nest bowl, but as much for my own benefit as for the pigeons'.

BEANS
'My dad reckons I must have eaten a ton of beans in my time and, as for peanuts, well, I, my son, Billy and the dog must get through even more than the pigeons. All my birds, young and old alike, are hopper-fed yearling beans 365 days a year. I won't race on old beans. As soon as I get the new crop in, I get rid of the old ones. They come straight from the farm, unpolished, and I generally pull out all the black ones. I don't know if they would upset the pigeons, but it would upset me to give them. I also love horse beans. The only other thing my birds get is seed (presently canary and hemp) thrown on the lawn during the moult and, whilst racing, a pot of peanuts in their nestbox during the lead up to a big race. The only time they get maize is when in the race-basket. For the British International Championship Club races, I believe they are on 100% maize whilst in transit. I quite like groats for rearing and have used them on and off over the years; the same with clipped oats, which seem to give the birds lovely body. But I haven't used either for some time and if I did so again it would only be on a whim. I use nothing on the corn and have never ever fed barley.

OPEN HOLE
'My birds fly out all year long from about 8am to nightfall. When pigeons are on open hole and hopper-fed they will stop flying because they've no need to. Everything they want is in the garden and the loft.
I don't have to flag them, however, because they are always being chased by crows (which just this year killed the sire of 'Saucy Sarah'), which ensures they have plenty of good exercise. Before I moved to Frimley, I flagged pigeons and never felt it put them off their home.

TAMENESS
'The crows aside, my birds are very contented. The dog can run through the middle of them when they're relaxing on the lawn after a bath and they won't take a blind bit of notice. I handle them a fair bit, but not as much as I used to. At one time I had them eating out of my mouth, but I now think distance pigeons want to be just one step away from you. Mine will have my hand off if I go near their nestbox. 'Saucy Sarah', my 8th Open British International Championship Club Pau hen, seems to hate
me. When she's just laid and I go into the loft she will leave her eggs and get as far away from me as she can, but by the time she is due to hatch she won't let me anywhere near her bowl. That's the condition, of course, in which I've raced her.

A FLEXIBLE APPROACH
'People ask me when I'm going to pair up and when I'm going to start training, but I can't tell them. I just know when it feels right. One day I wake up and think 'now's the right time'. Whenever, I pair later
than most. To give you some idea, last season my first youngsters were weaned the weekend of the Nantes National (early June).

EARLY SEASON FITNESS
'I'm not in any rush to get them going and I never race them inland. I start working them at the end of May and try to train just enough for them to cope okay with their first Channel crossing, but they are not fit. After that they may have one or two more short overseas races before the big one. My Pau National birds last season went to Vire for their final prep race and it turned out to be a 1600ypm day, which messed me up and meant I had to give them extra tosses. I'd have liked to have got another race into them really, but it's tricky when they're in the nesting cycle.

THE FINISHING TOUCHES
'I use peanuts when I start working them properly for the big one. For a fortnight, or at least eight or nine days before their intended big race of the year, they have a pot of peanuts in their box, topped up at all times, and I should say during that period they eat more peanuts than beans. I think you can always tell a peanut-fed pigeon: they seem to have more body in the feather. They don't get fat. The week before basketing, ideally on the Sunday, Wednesday and the following Sunday, even if it's raining or misty, they have 50-mile tosses, either singled up or in twos and threes. When they come into condition their eyes sparkle and their feathers tighten. My red chequers start going darker in colour the fitter they get. I couldn't race widowhood because I want to know when I clock a good one that it's down to the pigeon in a big way and not down to false motivation and conditioning. If it is, you don't know where you stand when it comes to breeding off it.

NEST CONDITION
'For the Pau National I send some dry and some feeding youngsters, but when I'm concentrating on older pigeons for the British International Championship Club races they go feeding a youngster. My British International Championship Club Pau winner this year was sent on a big youngsters ? her first of the year ? and sitting her third pair of eggs. I find my cocks do just as well in this condition and I don't know why some people can't win when racing to youngsters in the nest. It's nonsense to say the soft food upsets their system. My British International Championship Club Tarbes-winning cock was also on a youngster. He was one of only five pigeons into England on the winning day, flying into a north wind in hot conditions. Incidentally, I broke him from my previous loft when I moved to Frimley. When race-fit he used to go off for a fly on his own, and he still does that now. 'Britannia' was racing to 12-day eggs for Pau and feeding a great big youngster for Perpignan. She hadn't laid again but it didn't worry me because she is a slow layer. She came home and finished the youngster off.

CELIBACY
'The last time I flew pigeons celibate was 1990. It has a lot to recommend it. Indeed, I won the East of England Championship Club five times using the system and the hen which was 4th Pau National didn't lay any eggs at all before her performance. I found that unpaired pigeons can cope with twice as much work as paired pigeons and also that yearlings are better for being paired and then raced celibate at two.

THE WING
'My British International Championship Club Pau winner this year cast both her second and third primaries just before basketing and I sent her with confidence. I don't worry about the wing, so long as they haven't gone past their third primary. If they have I won't send them because there's always next season. I had a Cattrysse hen who failed to grow her end flight one year. Whether or not it was because she'd bumped it I don't know. There was just a white lump where the flight should have sprouted. Anyway, she won two of her three races that season, including Nantes by an hour in a north-east wind.

POST-RACE CARE
'When my pigeons come home they get a hopper full of beans and usually nothing in the water. I've had people moan at me for not giving them electrolytes, so occasionally, if I feel like it, I might put a bit of sugar in the drinker. At this point I must pay tribute to the British International Championship Club. The pigeons are basketed on Tuesday and up on either Friday or Saturday, and when they come back it's as if they've been nowhere.

A NUMBERS GAME
'My stock birds are paired at the same time as the racers and have three nests at most. You've got to resist the temptation to keep breeding out of them. For one thing, as I don't race youngsters, I wouldn't have the space to keep them all. I like to start training between 24 and 28 youngsters. That number is easy to basket up and train properly. Once I start to get over 30 it becomes more of an effort, so even if I had double the space I wouldn't keep any extra. I don't think anyone can handle more than 20 pairs if he wants to look after them properly and do justice to each pigeon. Of those youngsters, I'll be doing well if just one or two, or three at the outside, go on to win at 500 miles. The majority of successful lofts only have, at most, five or six good pigeons. I look at someone who breeds 100 young birds and think 'that's the same as four seasons' breeding for me'.

EARLY EDUCATION
'For their first toss I take my youngsters 20 to 30 miles and single them up, even if it takes me all day. Then, if I have the time and the patience, I do that twice more. I'm not trying to lose them. In fact, in the last ten years of doing it, I've rarely lost a youngster either of my own breeding or of blood I'm trying. I single them up because I think they never ever forget the experience of having to think on their own. A friend of mine was losing half his youngsters ever year, letting them all up in one go. So I told him to take them 20 miles and single them up two or three times and he's not had the same losses since. I don't mind if it takes mine a week ? they'll have learnt a lot; what do pigeons learn if they go from A to B as quickly as possible as youngsters? I then give them as many tosses as possible down to Portsmouth, 40 miles, through to early October. Nowadays I never let youngsters go for their first few spins from Portsmouth in a west wind, as I used to find they'd quite often go into Kent and I wouldn't see some of them again. I've raced the odd youngster in recent seasons, but now I'd never ever race one if I thought anything of it. It's a lottery.

LOSSES
'I cull more than I lose. I can't keep everything and the first to go are pigeons which people have given me to try. It may not seem very fair but I'm not going to cull my own birds to make way for introductions. Nowadays, I tend to refuse offers of young ones. I've found no difference between trained and untrained youngsters when it comes to their success as mature birds, neither are the untrained ones clueless when I first put them in a basket, you've just got to wait that bit longer for them to come good. Put it this way, those that have been trained as youngsters can be raced earlier in their yearling season than the untrained ones. And when you do get the untrained ones going, they only want to have one race as yearlings. Some may even win their first race, and then naturally you think they've got it sussed, but I've found it pays not to send them again as they seem to come unstuck. Better to leave them alone and then, when they get to two, treat them the same as all the other two year olds.

YEARLINGS
'Four years ago, I sent 16 yearlings, all having the first race of their lives, to Saintes (380 miles) on the same weekend as the National Flying Club Pau and had the first five in the club. That was a bonus and I wouldn't have minded if they'd made a mess of it instead. 'Violet Lady' was out for ten days from her first yearling race. I don't send yearlings to Pau at present. As two year olds they have two or three short overseas races and then go into the National Flying Club Pau. I don't believe a pigeon knows how far it has to fly when let go. My friend, Ian Benstead, enters his pigeons in the British International Championship Club Dax for the first race of their lives and it wouldn't take much for me to go that way too. Ian also tends not to send a pigeon to any shorter racepoint once it's been out to Pau. They just go straight back to Pau the following year, having been trained only. I don't think it would matter if they hit a really tough day ? your best bloodlines would show their class and come through. 'Gail Supreme', this year's British International Championship Club Pau winner, was having only the fifth race of her life. Nor do I believe there is such a thing as north and south roaders ? only good pigeons and bad pigeons. After all, the base of my family, the Sheppards, were raced on the north road.

COCKS VERSUS HENS
'I think I race cocks and hens equally well, although I would have to say I'm a better judge of a hen. I think most natural fanciers are. There's just something about the look of good hens ? the way they carry themselves ? which is easier to spot. A friend of mine, a good distance fancier, once said, 'you know, even some of these top-producing sprinty hens you see in the books have that look about them' and I agree.

CLUB RACING
'I packed in club inland racing in 1985 to concentrate on the long-distance Nationals. Once you've timed a good pigeon in the Nationals it's like a drug and you can't go back to club racing. You just want that feeling again and again.

N.F.C. PAU
'I send two-year-old and three-year-old latebreds to the Pau National. I reason that if they are ever going to win it, then it will more than likely be at that age. Thereafter, they go to British International Championship Club races. My first six pigeons in the 1998 Pau National didn't go back this year. In fact, in 1999 I sent ten to the National Flying Club Pau and all were going there for the first time.

PAU LOSSES
'How many I lose depends on how hard it is. I've timed over half my team on the winning day quite often. My old loft was only 18ft x 4ft 6in, with sixteen nestboxes. Then, if they were up at midday, I only kept those that came on the winning day. Everything else had to go, simply to make room. Now I look at different pigeons in different ways. I consider their previous form and experience. Some, for example, will only be having their second-ever race when sent to Pau, whilst others will be having their fourth or fifth. Whichever, the pigeon has got to have shown something somewhere along the line. If it has and then makes a mistake, I will persevere with it.

BRITISH INTERNATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP CLUB RACING
'There are only four true Internationals and I can't cover them all because I haven't the volume of good pigeons. There's no point just sending for the sake of it. Better to have faith in one good one and prepare it for the task than send a team of hopefuls. In the years ahead I'm going to build a slightly bigger team so I can have a good go at Barcelona as well. With that in mind, this year I've bred more latebreds than ever before. To be honest, I've probably too many now for the amount of room available. They've got away from me a bit and aren't as calm as they should be. Whereas I train my older youngsters through to early October, these latebreds will be left to mature. The other British International Championship Club events I regard as training races.

BARCELONA OR BUST
'Do I think my pigeons will get the extra distance? Well, all I can say it, I would still believe in them, yes.

DEGREES OF DIFFICULTY
'The Pau National is easier than the British International Championship Club Pau, so much so that if for any reason I was to stop flying with the National Flying Club I wouldn't send my two year olds to the British International Championship Club Pau. It's not a race for young pigeons. I'd put them in the British International Championship Club Dax instead. It's an easy racepoint compared to British International Championship Club Pau, Marseilles and Perpignan. I base that view on the fact that you always get established fanciers coming to the fore in the former events, whereas Dax sees names you're less familiar with. Though just inside the radius, I'm not a member of the London and South East Classic Club as I don't like the idea of rushing pigeons to races. I'm just outside the radius for the Central Southern Classic Flying Club, which is a pity because I would like to fly Pau with them. I'd be in the best position with a west wind.

COMPETING ON TWO FRONTS
'Invariably, the British International Championship Club Pau is flown on the same weekend as the National Flying Club Pau and it's very hard to get two good pigeons bang on form so that you can send one to each race. When we were waiting for 'Britannia' from British International Championship Club Pau, Rose looked in the loft book and kept telling me I had her in the wrong race because she hadn't enough experience. She was still saying that when I'd clocked.

EARLY OR MIDDAY LIBS?
'From the pigeons' point of view, I don't care what time of the day they liberate from Pau. You only have to look at the results to see that the people who get them from a midday lib, such as Painter, Cannon and Burgess, are the same people who get them from an early lib. The only reason I prefer a midday lib is because it's fairer to everyone in the country. I would quibble with the hours of darkness ruling, however. A fit and motivated pigeon will be up and on its way at 4am ? I often see birds working through at that time of the day ? and basically, with the hours of darkness only closing at 5am, the further flying fanciers nick an hour off us shorter fliers.

THE IDEAL DAY
'I always want a hard race. Pau on the day, which invariably means a velocity of over 1200ypm, is too easy for a true distance man. I like north winds as that's when my birds seem to come through. Three of my five British International Championship Club wins have been in north or north-east winds. When there's west in the wind it's too easy for the mainland Europeans. I believe our pigeons then come up through Dover so we've not going to get on the International result. Having said all that, even tail winds are hard when you're flying into this country in the Internationals.

SOME LIKE IT HOT
There's heat and heat. Heat in a north-east wind is a different proposition to heat when the wind's behind them. One thing I have found is that the lighter pigeons come through better on the hotter days. When 'Chant' won the National at Luton, I sent about ten and they were all on the heavy side bar one, and it was that one which came through first. I send them with body therefore, but not too much body, if you can understand what I mean. Generally speaking, I think too much fuss is made of heat, and in particular I'm fed up with people citing it as a reason for young bird losses. Frankly, if a youngster can't fly for a few hours on even the hottest day, then it's never going to be any good to my mind.

GET TO THE WELL ONCE TOO OFTEN
'You can't keep sending and sending your best birds. You've got to be prepared to stop them to keep a family. I retired each of my five British International Championship Club winners immediately, and have Itaken some jibes for it. But the way I look at it, I will have years of breeding from those pigeons, and years and years of pleasure looking at them walking around the lawn. What's more, people want to come and see the pigeons because of their performances. It would be no good if fanciers turned up only to find my best ones had been lost. They would be looking at inferior stock and my family of birds wouldn't impress them so much.

PRISONERS
'I keep a few prisoners at the moment, such as the 4th Open Pau hen whom I've never broken in, but it's something I'm moving away from. Not because I believe it's detrimental to a pigeon's breeding capabilities, after all, 'Britannia' was bred from an eight-year-old cock who had always been locked up, but because pigeons seem happier flying out and that makes me happier.

OBSERVATIONS
'I've noticed that my best young hens don't eat as much as the others. Jut a bit and then straight up on the perch. I can't say the same for young cocks, however. I've also noticed that my best performers fly with the end of their wings, like butterflies. It's as if the rest of the wing is held straight out and doing nothing.

SELLING PIGEONS
'I don't like doing it. I prefer to give one or two away to people of a like mind who I know will do them justice. I don't let many go because I'm frightened to death of parting with one in case it turns out to be the next 'Rollercoaster'.'

THE AUTHOR'S IMPRESSIONS
I didn't handle many, just the best. John summed it up when he said, 'you can handle more if you want but I can't show you any better than these'. I will try to convey a little of what they are like, beginning with 'Britannia'. She is medium sized, flat from the shoulder down to the tip of her tail and of good length, with a beautiful head and an abundance of eye cere. As you will see from her photograph, her chequering is sooty and thus she is different from the typical Wills' chequering. John feels that if I were to return in five years' time I would see more sooty chequering in his family because he has a gut feeling 'Britannia' will be his key breeding pigeon in due course. 'Gail Supreme' is also of medium size, but is slightly more rounded in the back than 'Britannia'. She is a handsome hen with silky feathering and real presence. When watching the birds on the move in the garden afterwards, my eye kept falling on her. A novice would pick her out.
'Violet Lady' is smaller than the aforementioned and in excellent nick for her age, especially considering she has never flown out in Frimley. Though not as lengthy as 'Britannia', she too is flat across the back and down to the end of her tail. She lies quietly in the hand and is a hen with an intelligent, 'I've seen it all', look.

The 'Red Cock', sire of 'Gail Supreme', is built differently. On the small side of medium, he gives the impression of being short cast, though not cobby. Silky-feathered and rich-eyed, he radiates vitality.
The 'Old Campaigner' is of medium size and powerful build. He has well-defined chequering and a lovely rich pearl eye set in a head with an honest expression. He carries his ten years very well and is another who catches the eye when on the move in the garden. 'Actonian Queen' was the smallest of those I handled and is probably the smallest bird in the loft, but as John said when he handed me her, 'It's all there'. She was the only one with a marked dip to her tail, with the base of her tail hugging my forefinger. She doesn't move in the hand and, being quite short-faced with plenty of wattle, looks a real tough nut. You'd want her on your side in slog. A winner of 43 rd and 73 rd National Flying Club Pau, John has real affection for her and there's no doubt she is one of his favourites. She is a great-granddaughter of 'Rollercoaster', with her sire being a full brother to the sire of both 'Amethyst' and GB87V60450, the sire of 'Saucy Sarah'. 'Saucy Sarah' is a tremendous hen. If you glance at her photograph you will see she is similar in the head to 'Amethyst', which is not surprising given that her sire is a full brother to 'Amethyst'. With her sire having been killed by a hawk, she has been retired. Deservedly so if you look at her workload. As a yearling she won Saintes, 380 miles, at two she won Dax, 525 miles and at three she was in the clock from the National Flying Club Pau event. At four she made her only mistake, 'mucking up' in John's words from San Sebastian. She bounced back, however, as a five year old to win 8th Open British International Championship Club Pau and 13th Open British International Championship Club Pau race as a six year old. I also handled half a dozen youngsters to get a feel and they are as you would expect in a family, just younger unfurnished versions of the finished article, as opposed to being gawky, or 'all arms and legs'.

CONCLUSION
John showed me a copy of an article written by A. E. Sheppard for the 1939 Homing World Diary. In it Sheppard wrote, "I give my birds as much individual training as possible. It sorts them out early in life". In that same article he wrote, "the best way to train experienced three-year-old racers is by plenty of forty- to fifty-mile tosses, individual training, then one race of about 250 miles". It's not hard to see where John's methods come from and what applied sixty years ago obviously still works today. There's a natural tendency to look at John's methods with young birds and think they go on to win in spite of the fact they get so little racing experience. There is another way of looking at it, which is that they deliver from 500 miles as old birds precisely because they haven't been overtaxed, and so, when the big day comes, they keep on going, full of enthusiasm. And then there's a third way of looking at it, of course, which is that, whether raced or unraced, it makes no difference. It's all in the breeding and they either have it or they don't. All food for thought.
John is always on the look-out for his next outstanding racer, and I would say he is preoccupied with discovering a breeding pigeon as influential as 'Rollercoaster'. As he so honestly asks, 'where would I be without him?' The winners mentioned are either grandchildren or great-grandchildren of 'Rollercoaster', so they are still only the second or third generation away from a pigeon born in 1978. In the hands of an undiscerning fancier the blood would have long since gone. John's dilemma is that faced by all distance fanciers in that it takes years to assess the true merits of a pigeon as a breeder. All he can do is trust in the instincts which have stood him in good stead and keep breeding from the best, out of the best.
He looks to have the balance about right in that the majority of his birds race. He is not overloaded with stock pigeons and his best racers are retired in their prime as a matter of policy. As most of his best turn out something good sooner or later, he looks set to continue his success. He's not in a rush to bring in new blood because at the moment he doesn't see any deterioration in his family. Perhaps his Achilles' heel may one day be that his pride in the family he has created prejudices him against introductions which, given a chance, might even improve his team. He knows, though, that the odds are heavily against his finding the right pigeons which will do just that. The other potential danger is that a cross may prove so successfully initially, with the progeny beating his own hands down, that he concentrates on it, only to discover five years down the line that he can't time in when the going gets touch, but I think he's too canny to put all his eggs in one basket and fall for that one. Anyway, who's to say he can't go on inbreeding for the next twenty-five years with the same measure of success!