“ON THE ROAD” WITH KEITH MOTT.

LOOKING BACK OVER THE YEARS (PART 9.)

Gerry Byrne of Kingston.

Gerry Byrne was a good friend of mine from the 1970’s, until his untimely death in late 2000. The sport of pigeon racing lost one of its best long-distance enthusiasts and characters, when Gerry passed away. He was a founder member of the London & South East Classic Club and a great worker for his beloved British Barcelona Club. Gerry shot from the hip and always called a spade, a spade, which was one of his great qualities, and he would help anyone in need. Gerry and his wife, May, were totally devoted to their wonderful family, sharing five children and several young grandchildren, who he always involved in his pigeon activities. I worked, on and off, with Gerry for many years and he was a first-class bricklayer, running his own successful building firm for many years.

One of Gerry’s best seasons with the pigeons was in 1980 when he won several premier positions, including 1st club, 1st Surrey Federation, 1st open S.M.T. Combine Bergerac, 11th section E, 19th open N.F.C. Pau, 9th open B.I.C.C. Lourdes and 8th open B.I.C.C. Marseilles. After a break from the pigeon racing for two years owing to pressure of work, he decided in 1987 to have a go with his team of long-distance birds and he came back with a bang. Two small, but select teams were sent to the B.B.C. Palamos and B.I.C.C. Pau races, which fell on the same weekend. Gerry clocked his good Black Magic cock, ‘Magic Grande’, from Palamos to win 1st open, over £1,000 and a colour T.V. This fine cock had his first race from Palamos in 1985 when he returned 12 days later with a hawk hole in his back, over one inch in diameter. Gerry said he knew then that ‘Magic Grande’ would be a pigeon of the future, as the ordeal had not broken his spirit. In 1986 he was sent again to Palamos and recorded 4th section, 56th open, velocity 434 ypm, winning a trophy for the first bird into Surrey. Gerry said he was in first class condition when sent for the 1987 Palamos race and was sent on chipping eggs, when basketed. From the B.I.C.C. Pau race Gerry clocked ‘Magic Grande’s’ nest mate, ‘Mystic Lady’ and she rated high in the B.I.C.C. open result with very few birds being clocked that day. She was sent to Pau feeding a three-day old youngster and was pooled to £25 in the open International. This fine nest pair were bred from the Black Magic long distance bloodlines.

Gerry began keeping pigeons at the age of 12 with the usual assortment from here, there and everywhere, although his parents were not in favour, as the birds were supposed to be harbingers of bad luck. He kept them in an old storage shed, but after complaints from neighbours his father disposed of them all. After a while he worked them back in and housed them in his father’s old Ferret box and from then on it was pigeons all the way for Gerry. He said in those days he was a fairly fast sprinter and was the runner for McComiskey Brothers. He started racing in 1951 in the Gilford & District R.P.C. and two of his best birds were a mealy pied cock and a red chequer hen. He purchased some pigeons for 5 shillings each and could only feed them on crusts of bread. The mealy pied cock recorded many outstanding performances inland, including many first prizes. The red hen, NU 52 EE 9848, was Gerry’s first Federation winner, recording 1st club, 1st Ulster Federation (6,400 birds) Milford Haven in 1954.

The Byrnes immigrated to Australia but returned to Ireland in 1961, when Gerry re-started in the sport. With stock obtained from McComiskey Brothers and Thompson Brothers, both of whom raced in the Gilford Club. The great fanciers’ bloodlines were still in Gerry’s loft to the present day. Gerry obtained his Fabry stock from Stan Bloomfield and said his Fabry and Cattrysse pigeons were adaptable and easiest to handle for club and open racing. The Fabry and Cattrysse families raced well in Northern Ireland and recorded some good results flying in the N.I.P.A. up to 1973 when the Byrnes decided to move to London in July 1974. Gerry built his present set up in Kingston and the offspring from his imported Irish birds formed his wonderful long-distance team. Some of Gerry’s performances racing in the Gilford & District R.P.C., with N.I.P.A. from 1969 to 1973 were: 1st club, 4th section, 4th open Wexford (17,000 birds), 1st club, 4th section, 19th open Wexford (16,500 birds), 78th open Skibbereen National (2,313 birds), 1st club, 1st section, 3rd open Dungarvan (20,000 birds), 1st club, 4th section, 10th open Arklow (21,377 birds), 1st club, 4th section, 4th open Dublin (19,287 birds), 1st club, 2nd section Wexford (7,706 birds), 1st club, 1st section, 2nd open Dungarvan (20,055 birds) and these outstanding performances go on and on. Two of Gerry’s best racers at that time were mealy cock, NU 69 T 83585, winner of 1st club, 1st section, 3rd open Dungarvan and 1st Bann Valley two bird Club and the black hen, ‘99’, winner of many outstanding positions in the mighty N.I.P.A.

Gerry’s Kingston loft set up was very neat and was furnished with open door trapping and a sharp sand litter. He liked the wind to rush through the loft and thought that type of ventilation made the birds harder. He also maintained that dryness was another important aspect of good loft management. Gerry used to hopper feed beans and the birds were never kept short, as he was only interested in long distance racing. They were fed old grain when racing and the cheapest mixture that Gerry could get his hands on in the winter months. He paired up his racers in March and wasn’t a hard trainer, with tosses being few and far between. He always said to me, his pigeons were his hobby and to keep dashing down the A3 to Guildford training every night after work would make it less attractive. The Byrne pigeons were raced on the natural system and Gerry maintained that each bird is an individual and can respond to different treatment on the natural for long distance races. He found the hens more reliable, especially at the long distance, and under bad conditions. Two main families housed at the Kingston lofts in recent years were, the ‘Black Magic’ and the late, Fred Meale pigeons for the long distance. The pigeons of the late Fred Meale of Hounslow were introduced in 1976 and Gerry rated Fred as one of the top fanciers. The two premier Meale racers at the Kingston loft were ‘Magic Lady’, winner of 19th open N.F.C. Pau and the brilliant ‘Southdown Lad’, winner of several premier positions in the Combine from France. All Gerry’s family were very interested in his pigeons, and his wife, May, clocked in many winners for him, when he had to work.

Gerry was eyesign minded and was a well-respected authority on the subject. He learned a lot from the late Jack Humphrey of Tottenham. Gerry said, Jack was one of the greatest fanciers in London and his knowledge of eyesign was second to none. Jack put his theory in to practice and his wins from 500 to 600 miles were out of turn and he was always willing to teach anyone who was interested. Gerry was a man to be feared at the eyesign shows, lifting most of the cards where he showed, and he was constantly being asked to judge major eyesign classes. Gerry Byrne was a real gentleman and a brilliant fancier!

Joe Bradford of Sutton.

I was very saddened when I received an email from Janice Harley, too let me know that her father, Joe Bradford, had passed away on Saturday 25th May 2019. Joe was a true gentleman and a premier pigeon racer of the highest order. He was a quiet family man, who loved long distance pigeon racing and I first met Joe in 1977 when he won 1st open British Barcelona Club Palamos. Joe had been around pigeons for many years, serving his apprenticeship under his father, Joe senior, who was a great fancier in his own right. His father was an ‘ace’ at the long distance although he also won inland, so young Joe had a burning love for  the 500 mile plus pigeons, which he found were few and far between. Young Joe did most of the loft chores in the early days and in 1952 he went into partnership with his father. In 1954 the partners won 1st club, 4th Federation, 6th London S.R. Combine Libourne and won the longest old bird race five times in six years, from 1954 to 1959, totting up a 3rd and 4th the other year. Joe did his National Service from 1957 and on his demob in 1959 he had a chance to race partly on his own, as his father was working away from home, only getting home once every three weeks. Joe won 1st club Poitiers and 1st, 3rd and 4th club Bordeaux, with some positions in the Federation and Combine. In 1962 Joe married Vera, and in 1966 he started racing on his own at the present address in Sutton.

Joe’s main family was Joe Shore of Northwich with crosses from birds obtained from the late Frank Cheetham of Pontefract. He purchased eight birds direct from Joe Shore and two of these originals were in the Bradford stock loft for many years, one was considered to be the sire of the loft. It was a handsome blue with a wonderful violet eye, which handled medium with a long cast. His sire and dam flew Pau for Joe Shore; the violet eyed cock bred most of Joe Bradford’s best birds and was the sire of ‘Lucky Lad’ and grandsire of Champion ‘Jubilee Lady’, the 1977 British Barcelona Club Palamos winner. This great stock cock was paired to a Shore dark chequer when he bred ‘Lucky Lad’ and his brother, which was the sire of Champion ‘Jubilee Lady’. ‘Lucky Lad’ spent 1977 in the stock loft and did not go to Palamos. Joe told me at that time, that the cock had flown Palamos four times, recording: 1973: 169th open (arrived home with his back ripped open), 1974: 41st open, 1975: 33rd open, 1976: 3rd open and after that he didn’t have to prove anything to Joe. In fact, he rated his champion blue cock the best bird he has ever owned, with ‘Jubilee Lady’ a close second. Unlike his sire and dam, ‘Lucky Lad’ was a very nice handling pigeon, being medium in size. Joe told me his pigeons were not a nice type, but what they lacked in looks they make up for in courage.

Racers and stock birds were paired up about 12th March and one week after the first round of young birds were taken away the racers started training. The Palamos candidates only reared one baby and racing started at the third event from Exeter, then into Rennes and onto the big one, Palamos with the British Barcelona Club. The main target each year was the Palamos race and work on the birds for this event began more or less after the moult in the year previous to the race. Joe’s loft was in a small wire compound to keep out our four-legged friends and give the birds some peace and quiet. The loft was self-built; ‘L’ shaped and was over 40ft long, including a corn store. The floor was concrete, and the loft was nice and light with laminated windows in the roof. There were 21 big nest boxes in the racing section, although no more than 15 pairs of racers were kept, and between 35 and 40 youngsters were bred each year. The loft was cleaned out twice a day and the water could be changed as often as seven times a day in the breeding season. Joe said most diseases start through the drinking water. The birds were fed on beans all the year around with linseed. Trapping was through drop holes and the young birds were given a small aviary on the top of the loft until they were strong on the wing. The youngsters only got exercise in the evening, until they started to run, then they were let out in the mornings. He trained the youngsters later than normal and started them at the third young bird event from Seaton. Their first toss was at about 20 miles, then in stages down to the coast, then at many points along the coast, through the season. He thought that this was an ideal start in life for a young pigeon and the best were sent to the N.F.C. Young Bird event and the B.B.C. Rennes race.

Joe’s champion blue hen ‘Jubilee Lady’ was a small, nice type pigeon and she sat in the hand like a tennis ball. This great hen was bred in 1972 and her full performances were, 1972: 7th club Avranches, with only nine birds home on the day, she came home very battered, 1974: 4th club Seaton and into the N.F.C. Pau open result, 1975: 1st club, 2nd Croydon Federation (2,064 birds) Exmouth, 143rd open B.B.C. Palamos, 1976: 21st open B.B.C. Palamos, 1977: 1st section, 1st open B.B.C. Palamos. A true champion! Over 1,000 birds were liberated at 07.30hrs in a light variable wind at Palamos on Friday, June 24th, 1977 and Joe said his hen came like an inland pigeon, timed at 13.40hrs on the Saturday. She was sent sitting 24-day old eggs, having a chipping egg placed under her the night before basketing, and in fact, the egg hatched only minutes before Joe basketed for the journey to Winchester for marking. She was bred from a full brother to ‘Lucky Lad’ and a Frank Cheetham hen, which Joe said she takes after for type. Her grandma flew Pau four times for the Cheetham loft, being in the section result three times. The most birds that Joe sent to the Palamos event were six and in 1977 he sent four and got three. He was opposed to mid-day liberations in the long-distance races and said the birds were not on the wing long enough on the day of liberation. He thought Palamos was the ‘Number One’ race, as the birds’ fly all day of toss, then they have to get up and come again the next day.

The Bradford loft was 2nd open B.B.C. Palamos in 1970, with a 1964 bred Gits red chequer cock which hatched from a gift egg from Joe’s good friend, Ernie Parker. This cock’s full performance was outstanding, recording 1st club Exmouth, 2nd club, 30th open Combine Le Mans, 2nd open B.B.C. Palamos (found on the loft) and had flown most channel race points, including Bergerac. The Parker red cock was of medium size and apple bodied, with a nice strong back and looked well for an old pigeon.

Joe liked a small to medium pigeon and said, ‘you don’t see big marathon runners. He rated the Fear Brothers partnership of Clandown the best long-distance fanciers of the 1970’s. He told novices to go to a good consistent fancier for their first stock and said Joe Shore was clocking 12 pigeons in race time every year from Pau. Frank Cheetham’s record was second to none, when he was looking around for a start with long distance pigeon racing. Joe maintained that there is too much money in the sport with the money side fast overriding the performance side of racing. He said performance first and the money is the bonus. Joe’s late wife, Vera, was a great help with the birds and she timed in a lot of the Palamos pigeons. She, in fact, clocked Champion ‘Jubilee Lady’ for her 1st open Palamos win. Joe said she was a good, reliable stand in for clocking their when he was at his work. I hope you have enjoyed the Joe Bradford story.

The late, great Ken Hine of Hayes. 

I was marking for the last London & South East Classic Club race of the 2011 season from Carentan on Friday 9th September and was told that the great long-distance racer, Ken Hine of Hayes, has passed away the day before. Gary Inkley was one of Ken’s best friends and while marking his birds, Gary gave me the bad news. I must say I was a bit shocked, as Ken aways looked so fit, but Gary said he had been suffering from bad health for some time. Ken was made a life vice president of the National Flying Club a few years ago, after giving many years of hard work for the club, serving for Section E on the committee. Through his many years in the sport, Ken has recorded countless premier performances in long distance races, including 1st open L&SECC Pau, 1st open BBC Palamos (twice) and 1st section E. 3rd Open Pau Grand National (565 miles) in the 2002 season. The sport of pigeon racing had lost another of its great long-distance champions!

Ken was born in Acton, West London, and was introduced to pigeon racing at a very early age, as both his father and grandfather were both fanciers. He had his first pigeons at the age of 16 and these were obtained from top fanciers including, Alf Baker, Tubby Tate and my late, great friend, Alex Fleming of Esher. Ken told me, that the one person he owed a big debt of gratitude to was, George Burgess of Wraysbury, as his help and advice through many years had been beyond measure. It was the performances of Alf Baker and Tubby Tate which really enthused Ken, as a young man and he had always liked long distance racing. When he started up in the sport he lived in a flat and his small two section loft had to be sited in a borrowed garden. Those early days saw Ken race in the Chiswick North Road Club and was very successful at that time with Alex Fleming pigeons, bred on the ‘Derick’ and ‘Bubbles’ lines. Ken once told me, every fancier makes mistakes when they first start up pigeon racing, but the secret is to learn from them. Ken said, he often thought back to the early days and the pigeons he had owned, with one of the best being a chequer pied cock, bred in 1964 and named ‘Garth’.

Ken’s loft set up in Hayes was large, which he said was a matter of personal choice, but maintained, he had seen a pigeon win flying to a rabbit hutch and so have I. His wonderful set up must be described as a ‘pigeon paradise’, with three very smart lofts, set in green fields, with horses and stables. Whilst he cleaned his lofts out on a regular basis, he said, he knew fanciers who keep their bird on deep litter and were also very successful. In the main he had raced his pigeons on the natural system but had tried the widowhood for a few seasons and both have brought him good success. The families of pigeons raced at the Hayes loft were the very best of long distance, in the form of the late Peter Titmuss of Wheat Hampstead, the late Jim Biss of Norwich and the late Fear Brothers of Clandown. Ken maintained that any new introductions always come from lofts with outstanding long-distance records. Ken was retired from his haulage firm and said he is fortunate that his family were interested in his pigeons, and they helped him out around the lofts.

Ken told me his most thrilling experience in pigeons was when he won 1st open BBC Palamos, 1st open L&SECC Pau and 1st and 2nd club Nantes all on the same weekend. Brilliant pigeon racing! The lofts performances at the long distance through the years has been fantastic winning: flying Thurso 20 consecutive years and winning 16 times: Lerwick (600 miles) four times, 2nd combine three consecutive years and timing in on the day from Lerwick. Turning south road in 1985 and winning: 1985: 69th open NFC Pau, 1986: 15th open NFC Pau, 1987: 52nd open NFC Pau, 1988: 52nd , 58th and 154th open NFC Pau, 1989: 15th and 48th open NFC Pau, 1990: 33rd and 99th open NFC Pau, 33rd and 71st open NFC Sartilly, 1991: 16th open N FC Bordeaux, 1992: 99th open NFC Pau, 1993: 27th open NFC Pau, 15th open NFC Saintes, plus many other premier NFC positions through the years. Ken told me he had enjoyed many memorable moments in his time in the sport, but the weekend he won Palamos and Pau, was the best.

He has served on the committee of the National Flying Club many years and was a life vice president but said until recent years it has given him great pleasure. He told me, ‘I certainly do not agree that committee members and officials of other specialist clubs should serve on the committee of the National Flying Club. It is my personal opinion that this could create a conflict of interest’. Ken was not happy with the NFC going with the Entente Belge to Dax a few years ago and said, those that wish to compete in International races, can do so with the BICC. He told me, he thought that Gary Inkley of Hillingdon was the best fancier in his area. On the subject of breeding, Ken practiced some inbreeding and line breeding to maintain his family of long-distance pigeons. This was something he had learned a long time ago from his great friend, the late, great Peter Titmuss. He thought the moult period was a very important time of the year for pigeons and said, get the moult right and success will follow. There you have it, the late great Ken Hine of Hayes, long distance ‘ace’ and great worker for the National Flying Club!

Well, I hope you have enjoyed this look back at three Palamos winning champions of yester year! We will be looking at some more very soon. To view some old video footage of some of these fanciers and their birds go on to my YouTube channel and look at Video: 180. I can be contacted with any pigeon matters on telephone number: 01372 463480 or email me on: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

TEXT & PHOTOS BY KEITH MOTT (www.keithmott.com)