Chris Gibson reports on
PAT HELLIWELL
of Wadsley Bridge, Sheffield
Herbal Essence
On the morning of Wednesday 15th January I made the short trip over to the Grenoside area of Sheffield which is in north-west Sheffield to meet Pat Helliwell. Despite reading the results of the Stocksbridge Federation in the weekly press where the name Helliwell is an ever present racing in Wadsley Bridge Flying Club, I had never actually met the man. This may be somewhat due to the fact that Sheffield seems to have a very strong east-west divide where pigeon racing is concerned. And coming from the east side of the city I haven’t really had much contact with fanciers in the west and have never raced within the Stocksbridge Federation.
Pat Helliwell
Upon arriving at Pat’s beautiful home I was instantly struck by the set-up that he has built for himself, not just the lovely large garden with its fish pond and loft looking down on it from the top but being a joiner/builder by trade he has spent years renovating the large farm house that he and his family moved into some 10 years ago and what a beautiful place it is. His conservatory alone is actually bigger than my whole garden where I race too. Pat has clearly been as successful in business as he has with his pigeons.
Like most of us Pat began with pigeons as a young boy at the age of 10 and since then has been hooked, and he says that the older he gets the more obsessed he is becoming, or so his wife Mandy says. And now that he is semi-retired from his property business he really does enjoy the relaxing lifestyle he has that enables him to spend time around his pigeons without having to rush around the loft before and after work like some of us have to, although he still dominated the competition when he was doing that as well. Despite having plenty of time on his hands these days, Pat has an old friend that helps out a little around the lofts, 65 year old Tony Houschild who used to compete against Pat in the old Walkley Flying Club before Tony finished from the sport in 1992. The pair bumped into each other a couple of years ago and a visit was arranged to Pat’s loft. Since then Tony has always been on hand if Pat has needed any assistance. I asked Tony what he thought to the game now to how it was then and his reply was that he was amazed at how different it all is compared to how he raced on just on corn and water. However, this kind of gave me a false impression of how Pat races his birds. With Tony saying that, I was expecting all kinds of feed mixtures, supplements and medication, much the same as I have seen at other top lofts. How wrong I was!
Accommodation
Gazing out from Pat’s conservatory you look up the large garden to the main racing loft and what a lovely sight it is. A spacious 50ft long pantiled roof loft with 5 sections and a corridor that runs the full length. There are also two large aviaries at the back of the loft that the young birds and the hens have access to all the time. The hens’ aviary is attached to a small loft that is directly behind the two widowhood cock sections. This is where the hens are housed with access to the cocks being via a small hatch underneath the nest boxes meaning there is no catching the hens on a Friday night.
There are two cock sections each with 12 standard widowhood boxes in and two young bird sections each with box perches in. To the far right of the loft is a spare section that also contains 12 widowhood boxes. This year Pat aims to have a few hens in this section to have a go over the channel with as he rarely sends over the water but he understands that the future of the sport is in national racing and if all goes well then he will be looking to join the MNFC next year. The widowhood hens spend their days in the aviary behind the cocks and sit on V-perches in the little loft in the evening. Ventilation in the loft is via a small gap under the eaves of the bottom row of tiles both at the front and back of the loft. In each section of the race loft there is a lattes section of the ceiling for the air to exit the loft into the roof space. A thin lair of brick sand is sprinkled on the floor of each section and this is down all year round. The environment inside the loft was lovely with no drafts whatsoever and no smell of pigeons. Rarely have I visited a winning loft that is cold, dark, damp and drafty, although I’m sure there are some like that that win, as there is always the exception to the rule. Each loft I have visited and written about in my articles and loft reports has had a similar environment. The breeding loft isn’t quite as pleasing on the eye as the race loft is but Pat is planning on building a new stock loft soon as he is not happy with the old one, mainly due to how it looks really as obviously the birds breed very well in it. Maybe Mandy will give in and let you have them above the garage Pat? I have to say it would be ideal.
Main racing loft
Pigeons
Back in the 70s Pat’s family of birds were mainly Busschaerts and these kept him at the top for many years; there is still the odd one or two in the breeding loft today. Pat has bought and raced pigeons from WLG and from his good friend John Whitaker of Bramley Lofts, who has built up a fabulous team of stock pigeons over the years. Pat has had success with the birds from both WLG and John and described them as decent birds. However, the main bulk of today’s family are from the truly outstanding lofts of GWP Macaloney, Lanarkshire. Pat said these pigeons had a massive impact at his loft right from the word go. Back in 2003 he read an advertisement in the weekly press that the Macaloneys had placed selling some of their birds. Pat couldn’t believe the results that were in the magazine and it played on his mind all that evening. So later that night he rang and enquired about purchasing some. However, he was too late. But the year after in 2004 he managed to obtain 6 latebreds. Due to their age they were not paired up in 2005 but in 2006 all 6 Macaloneys were bred from. And get this, by the end of the 2007 season all the 6 had bred federation winners. That is quite astonishing, so needless to say in 2008 Pat went back up to see George, Willy and Paul and acquired 12 young birds that were all placed directly into the stock loft and these along with 4 from the original 6 are all producing winners. Since obtaining the 6 latebreds in 2004 Pat has remained very good friends with the Macaloney family and often speaks with George and Willy over the phone on a weekly basis. He rates them as the best racing loft in the country and if you click on the links below you’ll see just why:
http://www.pipa.be/en/newsandarticles/news/g-w-p-macaloney-coatbridge-uk-have-always-performed-high-level and http://www.syndicatelofts.com/georgewillie-and-paul-macaloney-real-top-class-fanciers/ and http://www.elimarpigeons.com/GWPMac.htm
I think you’ll agree the Macaloney results are incredible. They’re not just good pigeons, they are proper pigeons and in the hands of men who know how to get the best out of them. How can you get 16 drop together to take the first 12 from nearly 10,000 pigeons 35 yards clear of the next fancier? Add to this that due to being on the T3 they had the other four rubbers in their hands and couldn’t clock them as obviously the clock was full - amazing!!!
Pat has 24 pairs of breeders and states that his aim is to have 24 pairs that have bred federation winners. He then said “I am nearly there”. Now that is some breeding loft with nearly all pairs breeding winners and almost all breeding fed winners. Whenever birds are brought into Pat’s loft they are given two years to produce the goods, and if they fail then they are gone it’s as simple as that. I handled quite a few pigeons whilst in the lofts and I have to say that they were all different shapes and sizes but they had all either bred federation winners or had won 1st fed, or both. So who cares what shape or size they are when they are as good as that? I know I don’t.
A few examples of the quality pigeons at the Helliwell loft: “001 Hen” (see photo). This hen has won several 1st outright but on no less than 7 occasions she has arrived with the federation winner only to be timed in behind them. This in my book means that this super hen is as good as winner of 7x1st federation!!! Not many lofts in the UK have that calibre of pigeon. “Mrs 12” (see photo). Another fantastic hen. From only 4 young birds raced from her all 4 have won 1st federation, yes all 4. One of the main breeding hens is “Black Bird” and she has bred many winners and is g/dam to even more. She is dam to 6x1st fed winners. That’s some breeding hen. “The Twins”. These are two bothers that are the backbone of the loft being sire, g/sire and g/g/sire to club and federation winners. These are, of course, Macaloney pigeons as is the top stock hen “Black Bird”. “003 Cock” (see photo). Multiple winner and 1st federation. “46 Cock” (see photo). Multiple winner and 1st Federation. “97 Hen” (see photo). Another multiple winner and 1st federation. Those are just a few examples of the quality pigeons housed.
Mrs 12
003 Cock
46 Cock
97 Hen
66 Hen
Old bird racing system
Pat used to only race widowhood cocks but over the last few seasons has put his hens on the road and now says that the hens outperform the cocks most weeks. He starts the year with between 24 to 30 pairs. Obviously there are only 24 boxes in the two sections so some pigeons won’t have a box or be paired. This adds a little bit extra motivation into the loft on Friday and Saturdays particularly for the spare birds or celibate birds as I’d guess you could call them. He has had some top performers from the few celibate birds in recent years including 1st federations winners. All the pigeons including the stock birds are paired over the Christmas period with the babies from the youngsters being parted with the hens for the last week or so. After this the birds are re-paired and allowed to sit for a few days only before being placed on widowhood. It is during this re-pairing stage that Pat starts to exercise and train the birds, particularly the cocks when they are driving to nest, and both cocks and hens receive 8 to 10 tosses prior to the first race up to just 18 miles and no further. The system works out that they are placed on widowhood around one week before the first race. The birds are them exercised twice a day for 1 hour and really do work around home. Although when racing begins no exercise is given on a Sunday or Friday with a bath being given to the birds on Thursday morning in the hens’ aviary as are the young birds in their aviary although again this is not a set rule and the birds will receive their weekly bath as and when it suits Pat.
As already mentioned, the cocks are housed in their sections with the nest boxes and the hens spend their time in the aviary and little loft directly behind them. The nest bowls are left in the boxes and turned upside down until Fridays before basketing when they are turned over. Although Pat states that often on a Friday he doesn’t even let them in to the boxes where the bowl is, he just lets the hens run in and leaves them for around 20 minutes before basketing them. All the birds are left to run together including the celibate birds who may or may not find a new mate during the season. Pat thinks that making things over complicated on a Friday night can have a detrimental effect on the birds and that it’s all down to good pigeons in good health, then they will motivate themselves.
Basic widowhood section
Young bird racing system
As I only now race young birds this section is what I was keen to talk to Pat about as he is somewhat of a young bird specialist, dominating the club and often the federation with his babies even more than he does with his old birds. However, just like the whole of Pat’s management with his birds, it is as simple as you can imagine. Pat weans around 90 youngsters for himself and darkens them from the beginning of March to around the second week in June with the times being around 5:30pm till 7:30am; he doesn’t work to the exact time’s but they are a rough guide. Like I say, everything is simple and laid back at this loft. The birds have to fit in around Pat not the other way round. Although there are two sections for the young birds no widowhood is practised and they are all left together and raced to the perch or to eggs if they choose to pair. The first and second round of babies are kept separate until they are both flying well around home then the hatch in the dividing wall is opened. Once flying well training will begin. This is normally around 5 weeks before the first race. This starts off at just 400 yards from the loft and gradually builds up to the same 18 mile spot that the old birds go too. They may get the odd 30 mile toss before the first race but only one or two. As soon as the training starts no exercising around home is done and they go training twice a day but once they are comfortable at the 18 mile spot they only go once a day everyday and when racing starts they go Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday early in the morning and that’s it no more exercise at all.
The workload placed on the youngsters is not heavy at all and as the race distance increases to around 150 the training from the 18 mile spot might only be done on a Tuesday and Thursday morning, again with no flying around the loft on the days in between. So that’s just two 18 tosses in a week and nothing more. Plenty of rest is the key for young birds Pat says and it certainly works for him. One thing that Pat feels is important is when training young birds is to only release them a basket at a time or in small bunches of 5 or 6 as by doing this you have far fewer birds come home wired and it also creates leaders not followers.
To make it easy to basket all the young birds Pat has a hatch at the bottom of one of the doors in the corridor and several wooden crates that can be opened at each end so they can be placed in a long line against each other and the youngsters then driven through the hatch until all the crates are full. A 2 minute job and no catching them every day.
I quizzed Pat more about the training method as I couldn’t quite believe that he only trained the youngsters twice a week with no flying around the loft. He then produced a book and put on his glasses on and began to look through his little book using his finger as a guide. I felt a little like a naughty school boy who was about to be proven wrong by the master on a subject matter that I thought I knew just a little bit about. Looking over his glasses straight at me he reeled off extracts from his notes within the book. Saying “2009 Amptil, bad weather all week only trained Tuesday Wednesday 18 mile, took the first 9 in club and Fed”. Example after example was given to me where the young birds were only trained twice or on some occasions just once in the week but they still took the first 7 in the club and fed etc etc. Maybe I will save a bit of money this year by not visiting the petrol pumps so much...!!
Rear of the racing loft
Feed, supplements and medication
This section is much smaller than you may think, simply because Pat has not used any medicine/antibiotic or fancy supplement since 2005, barring the odd Flagyl tablet and only on instruction from friend Gary Spavin. Before this time he used to use all the treatments and supplements that you see advertised in the weekly press and won doing so. But that was before he paid a visit to the afor mentioned and very well respected Gary Spavin of Lancaster who is famous for his herbal teas and tinctures for racing pigeons. From that first visit Pat and Gary have become good friends and Gary is always on hand to help and assist Pat whenever he requires. Pat has his birds tested by Gary at the usual times of year i.e. before pairing and racing (old and young) and always drives over the Pennines with a few birds in the basket. Pat explained that a few years ago he lost several young birds from a short training toss and that they just weren’t clearing and heading for home like arrows as they normally do. So, the following day the trip over the Pennines was made to Gary. The birds were swabbed and Gary gave Pat his answer - the young birds had a high canker count. After a week’s rest and a ¼ Flagyl the young bird team were soon back on form and clearing like bullets on exiting the training baskets and from the racing panniers on Saturdays as they went on to win the club every week and topped the federation several times too.
So as well as the lack of exercise and training Pat’s young birds receive he was now trying to tell me that they race like they do on just pure corn and water with the odd spoonful of dried up leaves and shrivelled up herb type stuff. I must admit, I was thinking, how can this be? No medication, no preventative treatments, no build up supplement etc...!! It was time for another lesson on how to save my money. Pat assured me that by buying medication and supplements, all fanciers are doing was throwing their money down the drain and that it’s all about good pigeons. He feels that fancy products are just like ETS, despite what people think they will not make your pigeons fly faster, you must have good pigeons to begin with.
He trusts Gary and believes in him so much so that he will never buy another product again, only the teas and tinctures from Gary as he rates him to be the very best in the business and he can’t half race a pigeon too, which has got to give people confidence when using his services.
The products from Gary are used in the water the following days for both old and young birds: Saturday, Anti-Microbial Tonic and Rehydration. Sunday, Depurative Tea., Tuesday, Tonic Tea and Thursday Relaxant Tea and that is it. The rest of the time the water is fresh and the corn is always clean corn with nothing on it. On the rear of Gary’s booklet there is a paragraph that reads “It has been proven in many lofts in the UK and Ireland that by continuous use of this herbal system the fancier’s patience has been rewarded in such a way that the immune system in each loft of pigeons has become stronger”. This really must be true, as since using the herbs Pat has created a team of pigeons that have a superb constitution and strong immunity that don’t need to be propped up by the use of antibiotics on a regular basis and that produce outstanding results week in week out. Since speaking with Pat about Gary Spavin’s herbs I’ve been having a good look on his website. Here is the link. I’m sure you’ll find it as interesting as I did.
http://www.garyspavinherbs.harrisonhullracingpigeons.co.uk/3.html#
Now on to the feed. During the moulting period Pat has a big thing about fresh wheat with a large percentage of the feed being made up of this as well as a good well balanced mixture. The feed during racing is again the same for both old and young birds: Saturday is Diet mix and all the rest of the time it’s a good racing mixture fed as much as they want twice a day. Different brands are used it’s just whatever takes his eye when he visits the corn shop.
Now that has got to be one of the simplest most uncomplicated racing systems I have ever seen but boy does it work for him, as you can see below. Many roads lead to Rome as they say. This one certainly does, of that there is no doubt.
Ventilation with in each section
Results of recent years
Below are just some of the results achieved in the last few years. Needless to say he has been top prize winner each year for many years: 2009 Club Ampthill 416 birds, 1st 2nd 3rd 6th 7th 8th 9th 12th. Maidstone 262 birds, 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th. Federation Ampthill 1,262 birds, 1st 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th. Amptill 963 birds, 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 7th 8th 9th 10th. Maidstone 1,226 birds, 1st 2nd 5th. Ampthill 1,458 birds, 1st 2nd 5th 9th 10th 11th 13th 18th 21st 22nd. Eastbourne 892 birds, 1st 3rd 6th 7th 9th 11th 12th 15th. Maidstone 1,104 birds, 2nd 3rd 4th 6th 7th 8th. 2011 Club Amptil 308 birds, 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th 11th 1th. St Albans 373 birds, 1st 2nd 3rd 5th 6th 7th 8th. Amptil 734 birds, 1st 4th 5th 10th 11th Federation St Albans 1,405 birds, 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th. St Albans 1,221 birds, 1st 2nd 3rd 5th 6th 10th. Amptil 1,829 birds, 1st 4th 5th 11th 12th. Amptil 1,019 birds, 6th 7th 8th 15th 17th 20th 22nd 23rd 25th 27th 28th. Eastbourne 906 birds, 7th 12th 13th 14th 15th 16th. 2013 Club Bovingdon 174 birds, 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th. Biggleswade 145 birds, 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 8th 9th. Bovingdon 212 birds, 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th. Bovingdon 450 birds, 3rd 5th 7th 8th 9th. Kettering 397 birds, 2nd 5th 7th 8th. Biggleswade 306 birds, 1st 2nd 3rd 8th. Eastbourne 302 birds, 1st 4th 7th 9th. Biggleswade 450 birds, 2nd 3rd 8th. Bovingdon 167 birds, 1st 2nd 3rd 6th 10th. Biggleswade 205 birds, 1st 2nd 8th 10th. Maidstone 110 birds, 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 9th. Bovingdon 349 birds, 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 9th. Biggleswade 326 birds, 1st 2nd 3rd 4th. Federation Bovingdon 1,264 birds, 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 6th. Biggleswade 1,321 birds, 1st 2nd 3rd 4th. Biggleswade 1,263 birds, 1st 2nd 3rd 24th 30th. Biggleswade 703 birds, 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 17th. Kettering 1,718 birds, 2nd 5th 7th 8th. Bovingdon 697 birds, 1st 9th 12th 19th. Maidstone 725 birds, 1st 20th. Bovingdon 846 birds, 3rd 4th 6th 8th 9th 14th. Biggleswade 1,436 birds, 3rd 4th 5th 24th. Eastbourne 1,428 birds, 2nd 9th 21st 24th. Biggleswade 1,896 birds, 2nd 3rd. Bovingdon 1,768 birds, 3rd 5th 8th 9th 10th. Bovingdon 790 birds, 4th 9th 12th 13th 14th 15th 16th 19th 20th 23rd. And the list goes on and on...!!!
Future of the sport and natural progression
At this moment in time Pat only races in Wadsley Bridge HS within the Stocksbridge Federation but does see the future in national racing, so may think of changing his game a little in order to compete over the water as you can see from the above he is somewhat of a sprint man. If he does make that step then it will be with either the MNFC or the NFC as he doesn’t want to mess around corridor flying over the water and says that the nationals are the real water races to test yourself and your birds; this is something we both agreed on. Believe it or not Pat’s first year using the ETS was last year (2013) as he said he was really dead set against it and didn’t want to use it. But having bought the Unikon system last year he absolutely loves it now and says it’s the best thing he’s ever bought for the birds and makes Saturdays so much more enjoyable, just being able to sit back and enjoy the birds arriving without rushing around catching and spooking them. He says he’s ruined some top pigeons by pulling the rubbers off every week. Not to mention all the writing down it saves, not only for the fancier but the club officials as well on Fridays and Saturdays. Things like ETS are progress within the sport and let’s be honest, looking at his results over the years the use of ETS hasn’t changed anything has it? The best will always be the best, regardless of how the birds are timed.
View from the loft looking down at the beautiful house
Pat and Mandy, I would like to sincerely thank you for a very enjoyable morning at your beautiful home and lofts and I wish you every success in the future and I hope to see you in the MNFC very soon.
Thanks for reading
Chris Gibson
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Elimar - January 2014