A TRIBUTE TO JOE BRADFORD OF SUTTON.

I was very saddened when I received an email today from Janice Harley, too let me know that her father, Joe Bradford, had passed away on Saturday 25th May. 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. Our sincere condolences from Betty and me, at this very sad time to the Janice and the Bradford family.

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. Joe Bradford RIP.

KEITH MOTT (MAY 2019).