On our latest trip to Belgium early August (2018) we looked in on one of the longest winning fanciers I know, he, being Maurice Mattheeuws and his wife Astrid. This is not the first time that we have been to these lofts and have always been pleased with the reception what we have received. As is the case with every time we have been to this home there next to no changes in the lofts showing that both Maurice and the pigeons are content with their surroundings. The trip was made easier on this occasion because we were accompanied by Guillaume Vanneste who is fluent English, mind you Maurice is doing a good job with the language barrier, plus he has had many years of visitors. Guillaume has learnt a great deal about the sport in such a short time, but this was his first time at these lofts so had the opportunity to handle some real good pigeons was quickly accepted.

Mr & Maurice Mattheeuws with Les & Elizabeth

As I said to Maurice over the years this has probably been one of the most consistent lofts on the continent for something like 50yrs in this hot bed of pigeon fanciers. Maurice still wins more than his share of prizes per season, not as many as he used too but still a premier winner which is seldom seen by the Belgium lofts, they usually come along win for a few years become famous sell loads of pigeons for big money and disappear as fast as they came. This is probably because the majority of every day winning fanciers on the continent are not well publicised to the British fancy press until they have a big sale. Mind you it took some time to get the information out of this top-notch fancier who is without doubt one of the best-known Belgium fanciers in the world.

As we sat there on a sunny afternoon Maurice was saying how many fanciers from around the world had sat around the table in his garden discussing racing pigeons. The number of fanciers who have visited these lofts are countless because no matter who visits the continent for pigeon purposes they will at some point look in on the Mattheews loft in Brugge. Maurice and his charming wife Astrid have been in contact with the British scene for that long, Maurice is now fully conversant with the English language which made it quite an easy visit and we were able to get in to a good conversation. This occasion was different from the previous visits because we got to see the best of the birds to find out what good quality they are with Guillaume also being impressed with what he saw at these lofts. What was noticeable was the fact that these birds are far from tame and that is how Maurice likes it. The garden was not in the best of condition due to the lengthy hot dry weather spell, but it was still a pleasure to walk down to the bottom of the garden where the widowhood hens’ loft is. Having a garden this side must be a good benefit to any pigeon fancier because pigeons can be housed away from other’s if necessary.

What about the man himself who was born in Knesselare East Flanders in 1936 a place that is situated some 20km from the wonderful city of Brugge. Like so many of the modern-day thinkers in the sport Maurice did not come from a total family of pigeon fanciers so had no top reputations to keep up with, even so his oldest brother did race a team of birds, how successful I never found out. It was not until 1964 that Maurice got to grips with a team of pigeons of his own after he tied the knot and took his good lady Astrid under his wings and now some 55yrs later is one of the quiet masters of the continent. In his younger day Maurice loved to see pigeons flying around but the problem was always the time and the place, but the marriage soon sorted that one out and a loft was set up.

The first birds were from his uncle R Mattheeuws who raced the Coby Verstrate and Marcel Desmet pigeons and with his future in the sport to consider his future Maurice built a new pen and started to breed the birds himself. Also brought in to strengthen the team are the Pierre Ameye of Deerlijk, Placide Buysse from Brugge. There are also the famous Desmet-Matthys of Nokere the Janssens of Arendonk and Verbrugghen of Leuven. Over the years 2/3 additions have come into the loft each year and tested before they go into the main team, they have to be right to maintain the high standard that Maurice has set for his pigeons. This system has been successful for so many years so why change a winning system. Over the years so many fanciers have seen a new line come on the scene winning all before them and introduced them in numbers only to find they are not as good as what they have already in the loft. Not Maurice, they are limited and tested before they can have too much affect on his own team and then they can be outed if they are not good enough.  

In the early days Maurice had one benefit from many fanciers which is that he did not house the stock birds at his home address where he houses the race team but nowadays they are housed at Maurice’s home. Maurice does have a good strong team of birds but when he makes new introductions he brings them from the strong teams that are winning exceptionally well. If they don't work, they are soon removed from the loft and Maurice has found it hard to introduce birds that have performed better than his own family. To get full use of any such introductions there is a separate loft which has enabled Maurice to have the proper facilities to find what he is looking for. From Maurice’s point of view there are only a few lofts that have raced consistently for many years to stay at the top, these are the good fanciers with the good birds.

On the basis that Maurice did not really have any one in the pigeon world to relate to with winning ways his own physical education studies have seen him through to the top were of great value. It was certainly noticeable in the early days especially to his fellow competitors that this new fancier to the fold was one to keep an eye on because even with those first birds from his uncle, Maurice was on a winning trail. Even as the new starter racing on the natural system these pigeons still performed well but as Maurice admits he did not treat them for any of the regular ailments of pigeons and his results did suffer. As most fanciers will recognise that is the common problem with the new starter who does not recognise when all is not well, but it certainly doesn't take the future winners long to sort out their problems and more importantly remedy them.

The widowhood hens loft

At this early stage there was another problem, he had not got the lofts that were required to race both old and young birds, so the racing did suffer but only to a lesser degree. Also, there was no aviary for a good team of stock, in fact no real loft space for anything that was of benefit to the race team, not enough room for the pigeons can very often be a killer to a racing team in this game no matter what continent you live on. As with all fanciers this type of problem is soon overcome with new lofts being erected or the old one being modernised to suit the needs of the individual fancier. The year was 1970 when Maurice went big time and made the decision to erect a new loft so that he could go into racing at the highest level and know that he could compete against and be in the position to beat the best. The new loft was built with the bird’s health in mind to allow adequate flow of fresh air, also very important for the widowhood fancier the sunlight to keep the loft temperature at a more realistic level for the system. A great deal of thought went into the loft so that there would be no need for continual change which would only upset the pigeons which is why the end product has lasted so long and still working well today. The size of the loft was made to accommodate the widowhood cocks and the hens that were necessary to keep them in the right frame of mind. The team for the sprint to middle distance events were also considered and what many do not consider a team for the very early races in March and April which is one for the everyday fancier to think about. There are not many lofts that have a section to accommodate the early races a few may be but not many, todays fanciers expect them to cover them all. It is those beginning of the season races when the winds are in the east that many of the prospects for the future in the loft are ruined which l can tell you from experience. The stock loft is now on the opposite side of the garden bit further down and has a 30 x 6ft aviary, so they have plenty of room.

Kim on our first trip to Belgium

At this stage let's take a few tips from Maurice on what we should be doing with the birds all the year round because you have to do everything in the sport to fight time and never be late about the most important rules. For the moult they need, tea seeds and vitamins to maintain quality feathering as it breaks through. They need a proper rest at which time they need a depurative mixture. Every fancier must keep an eye on the health of the pigeons because if they are not healthy then they are not going to win. In the breeding season they need plenty of vitamins which is very important for both stock and widowhood pigeons. The widowhood cocks need rest at the beginning of the week as part of their preparation for the weekends racing. For the widowhood cock’s, re-pair them at the beginning of April. Training before the hens lay their eggs with tosses at ten twenty and forty miles. They should only be sitting on the eggs for a few days and then on to the widowhood system. Simple rules for every-one to follow setting the dates to suit your racing needs, and no matter how we race them they all have needs at some point during the season.

Maurice was a schoolteacher teaching for physical education that always kept him in touch with what was required to get the pigeons fit to race. Because of his interest in fitness, he took interest in the horses, athletics etc and therefore new just what it took to get into competitive fitness for any kind of sport, a point that has helped him to the top of pigeon racing. Because of his own knowledge on fitness he was at an advantage as a pigeon fancier because he could go his own way on his experience as fitness teacher. When he first started he really did not have anyone to help him in the sport this can always be a benefit because you were never brought up on the old past methods that are not up to the modern-day methods of pigeon racing techniques. Another reason for Maurice being fit was their interest in dancing, so again a reason to keep fit.

All birds are paired by the beginning of December because Maurice predominantly race’s the pigeons on the widowhood system but does admit that if the time has been right to dabble in the few on the natural system as he also does with the youngsters. Here are a few pet theories are. Never be late with anything whether it is racing, paring, resting, and breeding training. Keep your birds in your own hands do not allow anyone else to look after them. Keep your birds in good health Motivate your birds and never feed your birds too much or too less and not too strong. These little bits have paid great dividends flying in his two middle distance clubs where over the years he has been elected champion many times and also r/u which is why he always tries to look for better pigeons and try to improve his own.

Maurice is a fancier who tries hard every year to breed a stronger type of pigeon by crossing the families and training them hard which is probably why he has stayed at the top for so long. I read a small piece on Maurice that went something like this "Maurice Mattheeuws possesses one of the strongest speed-middle distance pigeon lofts in the world. Throughout the years he has developed his own breed of pigeons that have proven themselves as winners all over the world. The Mattheeuws pigeons gain first prizes easily and have an exceptional breeding quality. The Mattheeuws pigeons are a combination of several famous families” and they are.

As mentioned above Champion pigeon fanciers come and go, what happened to Maurice who is still here and still a Champion all these years later and judging by his present-day performances who is going to argue. The Mattheeuws family are well known in the UK and have many friends and it was on this visit that I found out they have some very good friends over here.

We have been to Brugge many times because it is such a nice place to go and have visited Maurice & Astrid 4 or 5 times and hopefully when we are in Brugge again we will pay another visit. Some may ask why visit any Belgium loft so often when there are so many opportunities to visit continental fanciers. The answer is simple, they are both down to earth nice people who are a pleasure to sit and talk too. Thank you to Maurice and Astrid for their hospitality and next time we are in Belgium we shall call in again to see these most popular pigeon fanciers.

Photos; I have included one of Kim with the favourite dog that Maurice and Astrid had at the time, this was taken on our first visit to the lofts when Kim was about 14 and she is now ??.