A Dip into Pigeon History - ‘Miss Mercury’ 2x1st Sect NFC Pau

for Carson Brothers of Winster 

by

John Clements  of Stockport

Why people are not inspired  by great pigeons  always amazes me. The same is true when it comes to great works of art or great anything be it athletes - footballers or snooker players, some people are simply not touched by anything unless it is their own or belongs to them or they have done it or taken part. Generally it is in our youth when inspiration comes. As we get into old age we lose our youthful enthusiasm and lose our ‘Lust for life’.  

This negative attitude is subjectivity in the extreme.  It is also dangerous and destructive. Unfortunately it is all too prevalent in old age  that is why the sport is slowly but gradually destroying it's self not from any outside threat  but from self destruction from within. No Longer being youthful.

As counter to this mood once again I highlight some great  pigeons. These pigeons are from 25 odd years ago  so they are remembered only by a few who happened to be involved with them or were in the same races at the same time.  The sport is generally uninterested in its own history. Certainly not in the history of its great pigeons once owned by others.

 1979 a Special Year

The year in question was 1979 when  outstanding  events  took place. You can see by the low velocities the wind in 1979 must have been against them or from the East but to reinforce this conjecture I am reliably informed by someone who also had birds in the same race that the wind was in fact  from the North East during  the two days of the race. The race was from Pau. The distance was 677 miles and the fanciers involved were  Carson Brothers of Winster in Derbyshire.

Connecting Dots

When investigating pigeon history you have to connect the dots. The dots in this case are that in the year 1979 the Pau National was won by another  of the UK’s outstanding fanciers - Fear Brothers of Clandown.  They won the Pau National that year with a winning velocity of 933 ypm.  1979 was also the year the NFC Certificate of Merit began. The winner of the first C of M award was Fear Brothers of Clandown. It is purely conjecture on my part but perhaps the 1979 NFC Pau National winner was the same pigeon that  won the first Certificate of Merit?   I ask the question would appreciate it if someone involved at the time could confirm this as a fact. This makes 1979 as an outstandingly eventful year not only for the Carson Brothers but also for the Fear Brothers.

‘Miss Mercury’

The Carson pigeon was called ‘Sunnybank Miss Mercury’. Miss Mercury was 1st section ‘I’  and 5th open NFC Pau  and doing a velocity of 833 ypm. The breeding  of Miss Mercury was derived from original E Fox and son of Bakewell breed who also ireside in Derbyshire. Barry Carson regularly visited Fox of Bakewell to obtain late breds, In fact the whole of the Carson loft at the time was bred down from original  Fox bred pigeons.  As  a historical  aside my own Certificate of Merit winner of 2016 also contains the same Carson blood and can be directly related to blood down from both  ‘Miss Mercury and ‘Elinor’. ‘Elinor’ was Carsons second pigeon and was 3rd section and 20th Open in the 1979 NFC Pau race.

Sunny Bank Miss Mercury

Twice 1st section Pau in two hard races - both velocities in the 800 ypm range bed and raced by

Carson Brothers of Winster in Derbyshire

Sunnybank Elinor

1st section 20th Open Pau

Bred and raced by Carson Brothers Winster

The Second Time

The story does not end there. When ‘Miss Mercury’ was nine years of age three years later in 1982 she again  won the section from Pau velocity 800. . She was then 1st section and 83rd open timed at 21.50 pm just before dark in yet another hard race. That was the year A H Bennet of Church Stretton won the race with a velocity of 973 ypm. The birdage that year was a record for the race that has never been surpassed. The 1982 entry was 6,928 birds. Incidentally the Fox loft of Bakewell with the same breed of pigeons was 1st section 7th open timed at 18,00 hrs  and 2nd section timed just before 05.30pm velocity 785 ypm.  The second section  red hen was 106th  open.

In Conclusion

To conclude this short history tale of remarkable pigeons from yesteryear  - Here we have a pigeon that won its section twice in very hard races of less than 1000 ypm. This pigeon (Miss Mercury) not only achieved this remarkable feat but completed it  when she was nine years of age. I would postulate this is the oldest pigeon in NFC History  to record a section win in the NFC’s longest race. 

To conclude - ‘Miss Mercury twice won her  section from Pau -  both times with a velocity just above 800 ypm. This makes her a real solid hard race champion with undoubted staying power and unimaginable guts to go with it and finally to to it for the second time when 9 years of age only adds to her unique reputation.

The Bigger Picture

The Nature of Pigeon Racing in the UK  is that it is a sport split into local federations - local clubs and local areas and many specialist clubs where individual fanciers know intimately their local champions  but hardly know anything of a wider National context. This not only hides the bigger picture but makes the bigger historical picture appear to be unacceptable information because it is more than local results.  Many undoubted  pigeon champions in the UK have been buried deep in the catacombs of history never to be spoken of - never to be acknowledged and never to be officially recognised as historical events that should  make pigeon racing what it really is or should be.  A creative sporting enterprise that gradually improves the sport year by year.

History

If the sport is to endure  we as a sport have to begin to create our own history - our own heroes - our own examples of what are ‘truly great’ as other sports do. ‘Miss Mercury’ is certainly a pigeon that should on merit find a place in any pigeon ‘Hall of Fame’  if ever such a Hall of fame is ever to be created.