TOP RACING PIGEONS
CULMER GOLD
BRED & RACED BY MR & MRS ERIC CANNON
I was working through some old photographs recently and came across a picture of Eric’s old champion ‘Culmer Gold’. On viewing this handsome blue cock’s photograph, it made me reflect on his wonderful racing record and I wondered to myself how you measure to find the best when it comes to racing pigeons. Performance, I suppose. The great ‘Culmer Gold’ never won the Combine or National race, some might say. Ah, but he was super consistent in the fierce competition of our supreme English specialist organisation, the National Flying Club.
My ol’ mate Eric had countless champions in his lifetime in pigeon racing, including 1st open N.F.C. but ‘Culmer Gold’ was his favourite and I think probably his greatest champion of them all. A once in a lifetime pigeon winning 21st, 70th, 83rd, 103rd and 111th open N.F.C. Pau (540 miles), winning the N.F.C. Pau Merit Award and in one season recorded 163rd open N.F.C. Nantes to win the best Average from Nantes and Pau, plus two premier Combine positions. A brilliant performance!
Champion ‘Culmer Gold’ was sired by blue cock, ’40799’, one of Eric’s premier stock cocks in the 1980s and a full brother to the champion blue cock ‘Culmer Lad’, who flew Pau 10 times and was in the N.F.C. result 8 times, to record 22nd, 37th, 227th, 346th, 373rd, 467th, 614th and 761st open. ‘Culmer Lad’ also scored in two other N.C.C. races, putting 10 National positions to his name and he was also an outstanding breeding pigeon being the sire of several premier N.F.C. pigeons, and was grandsire of ‘Culmer Belle’, winner of 4th, 76th, 131st and 428th open N.F.C. Pau.
‘Culmer Lad’ and ‘40799’ were both sons of the first of Eric’s four N.F.C. Pau Merit Award winners, Champion ‘Culmer Lady’. The grandsire of ‘Culmer Gold’ on his dam’s side was the blue chequer cock ‘26792’ who was rated by some as Eric’s principal breeding pigeon. He was half-brother to Champion ‘Culmer Lass’. The stock cock ‘26792’ and ‘Culmer Lass’ were both sired by the blue cock ‘13953’, the sire of three 1st section and a 2nd section winners from the Pau National. The dam of ‘26792’ was the famous blue chequer hen, ‘The Challen Hen’, who bred 10 pigeons to appear in the Pau National results, including 2nd open. The nest mate of ‘26792’ was blue chequer hen ‘26791’ and she won 2nd section N.F.C. Pau and was also the dam of the champion red cock ‘Culmer Sam’, who I think was Eric Cannon’s key breeding pigeon from the early 1980s.
‘Culmer Gold’ is typical of Eric’s old blue family being medium, long cast in the hand, with good, silky feather and a nice head. The old timer loved Eric and was always up on his shoulder or hand looking for a bit of maize. He won a great deal of money in National racing and bred a dynasty of outstanding long distance racing pigeons for the Cannon loft and others.
Text & photos by Keith Mott
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Elimar - March 2014