DAVE ZERK

of Cardiff

Welsh North Road Federation & Pigeon Chat Novice of the Year trophy winner 2012

by Tom Harris

With the long overdue break in the weather and taking the opportunity of a bright Sunday afternoon, I was able to achieve a promise of and long overdue visit to the home and loft of Dave Zerk of St Mellons near Cardiff. On arrival the priorities were in place with the kettle on as we sat to take a few notes on the performances achieved by this fancier in 2012 before heading to the rear garden to the view the lofts.

Dave explained that he originally flew with his father John in his younger days flying both north and south routes into Wales, and although John is still there in support when needed, the day-to-day loft management racing and training are now carried out by Dave himself. He has however respectfully kept his father’s name on the partnership as he knows he can always fall back on his assistance and advice when needed.

John admits he no longer has anything to do with the birds in general, however he still enjoys a Saturday morning knowing the birds are in the skies and waiting for their arrival. Whilst taking my notes I was able to take the opportunity of asking him in what way over the years has the sport of pigeon racing grown or deteriorated, and like most would agree, he highlighted that the hobby and sporting side of pigeon racing has gone downhill rapidly in recent years. He like us all can remember when there were 20,000 plus birds coming from the north route into South Wales and you knew if you were in amongst the prize cards within your local club yet alone the federation you had achieved something. However, in today’s game with the bird of prey problem increasing and the price of everything rising it’s almost impossible for the younger generation to get started in the sport.  Added to this, over the years pigeon racing has become more political, which is why he decided that enough was enough and stood back to allow Dave the opportunity to take the reins.

The small compact set-up

Dave flies in the St Albans club in Cardiff which consists of seven members and which is affiliated to the Welsh North Road Federation. In 2012 he achieved the honour of not only winning the novice trophy within the federation, but had the additional honour of winning the novice trophy and £50 cash prize donated by the well known pigeon internet website Pigeon Chat. This is a one off award which is awarded annually to one fancier nationally and is presented for the best performances by a novice in the current year.

The Pigeon Chat novice trophy

The rear garden is a compact set-up consisting of three individual lofts placed ideally within the boundaries to gain maximum use of the restricted room available. The main racing loft which runs along the bottom of the garden measures 15ft x 4ft with an additional 2ft corridor. The loft is split into two sections and this is where the eighteen or so widowhood cocks are raced and housed. Leading off from the right-hand side of there is a young bird loft which measures 13ft x 6ft with an additional five foot aviary. It’s here that approx sixty young birds are housed and raced on the darkness. In the final compartment adjoining here the widowhood hens are individually boxed throughout the week in preparation for the forthcoming weekend’s races.

The widowhood hens

The stock loft which houses approx sixteen pairs is positioned opposite the young bird loft. It is another 15ft x 4ft and once again this also has the added bonus of an aviary to allow the prisoner stock the opportunity of taking advantage of the open air.

Upon my visit the stock birds were sitting their final round of eggs and the youngsters which weren’t that far off being separated into the young bird section. To indicate the room restrictions this fancier has to confront, the front of both lofts are face to face and barely 4ft apart, which shows the implications of trapping pigeons come race days.

The stock pigeons themselves and the foundations of the family of pigeons housed originate from several outlets. The main lines come down through the Van Dyke pigeons from Premier Stud plus pigeons obtained from local fanciers such as Anthony Buttigieg of Newport and Dai Smith of Cardiff with a few additional individual pigeons from here and there blended in to form his own base of pigeons.

The race programme within the federation consisted of 25 races in 2012 and the following achievements were gained within the season: old birds 2x1st, 2x2nd, 5x3rd; young birds 7x1st, 8x2nd, 4x3rd. Added to this is two federation cards 13th and 14th in the south section and open result from Newbury an approx distance of 80 miles.

Dave with awards won in St Albans club 2012 along with the Pigeon Chat novice cup

On finishing Dave would like to thank the following fanciers for their help and support in the past year which has encouraged him to achieve these awards: A. Buttigieg of Newport. P. Hares from Aber Bargoed, D. Smith of Cardiff, Paul Newbold at PJ Lofts. Added to this list are his fellow clubmates for their support.

May I finish on thanking Dave & John for their hospitality and wish them a successful 2013.

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