“ON THE ROAD” WITH KEITH MOTT.

Brian Batchelor of Wormley.

Prior to starting up with pigeons at Elstead in 2004 Brian had racing pigeon in New Zealand where he had lived most of his life before returning to England permanently, the country of his birth. In New Zealand he had pigeons off and on since he was eleven years old and tells me he had some good success at times. Two memorable races in New Zealand were in 1994 when he was 2^nd, 3^rd Young Birds National and 1^st Section, 2^nd overall Auckland Federation Timaru (560 miles), with the same pigeon recording 5^th Section, 5^th overall in the same race the following year, which was flown on the day in 13 hours 26 minutes. He also still holds the record in one club he belonged to, when his pigeon flew 453 miles in 8hours 27 minutes. In the later years of his New Zealand pigeon racing he flew in partnership with Digby Riemann, under the flying name of Royal Oak Lofts and scored numerous positions including 3^rd, 4^th, 6^th Auckland Futurity, 3^rd Young Bird National on a hard day and 2^nd section, 2^nd Federation overall Timaru (560 miles).

In New Zealand, the old birds are raced in the spring and the young birds in the autumn, so the weather conditions are often windy, with some rain. The numbers in the races down under are less than in Britain, reflecting the small population; never the less competition is fierce between the premier flyers. Members belong to a single club which is part of a regional Federation and that is; there is not the fragmentation of the sport into a proliferation of specialist clubs like we have here in Britain. Long distance racing is flown between the North and South Islands crossing the stretch of water between known as, ‘Cooks Straight’, named after the famous explorer Captain James Cook. Like channel racing in England, this water crossing can be treacherous when the weather turns bad, but generally the crossing is made in mid-afternoon, rather than in the evening, like we sometimes do racing in the south of England. One major difference racing in New Zealand is that the Hawks are few and far between and clashing is the exception, consequently losses are low and they always end the season with surplus pigeons. Brian said, ‘on a controversial subject in the U.K. the vast majority of pigeon racers in New Zealand use ETS clocking and clubs have made it available to all members on a normal rent to buy basis, so all can afford it’. Between 1950 and 1993 there were no pigeons imported in to New Zealand, so strains of pigeons were developed locally from the original imports prior to 1950, the most successful of these were developed from the Logans, Gooters, Stassarts, Van Cutsem and Vandeveldes, with the latter being the most prominent strain. However over the years these strains tended to become ‘stayers’ and when the Janssen, Busschaerts and De Vriends were introduced in the early 1990’s via Australia, these new sprint families left the local pigeons in their wake up to 300 miles and none of the New Zealand strains could touch them. Eventually everyone had to introduce the new imports in to their lofts to compete and some of those crosses with the old strains performed well at the long distance.

The 2022 racing season has been very good for my good friend Brian Batchelor, putting up some outstanding performances racing to his little loft on the allotments in Godalming. The Godalming club sent 148 birds to the first young bird race from Upper Heyford and Brian clocked his handsome blue cock, ‘Flash’, to win 1^st club, 1^st Solent Federation (1,808 birds). This latest performance was very pleasing for Brian and his friends, because he has had some health problems in recent times, which has caused a lot of problems with his pigeon racing hobby. I spoke to Brian after his latest Federation win and he told me, ‘in 2014 on doctors’ advice due to suspected Pigeon Fanciers Lung I sold up my successful family of long distance pigeons. However when my condition didn’t improve after parting with the pigeons I had a series of hospital visits and tests over several months and was finally diagnosed with chronic asthma and emphysema, so the pigeons were not responsible for my health condition after all. In the meantime I had moved house and no longer had a garden in which to build a loft and restart with pigeons. However at the end of 2016 my good friend, Mick Tuck, managed to secure me an allotment plot in Witley which gave me the opportunity to make a comeback in the sport. Incidentally, this started a trend at the allotments with two other fanciers joining me by moving their lofts onto the allotments. Godalming members, Bill Young and Trevor Rose, both who have enjoyed success this past old bird season racing to the allotments.

Making a new start from scratch was no easy matter. From the outset I decided to go for middle to one day long distance up to Bergerac, distance of 480 miles pigeons rather than the marathon  long distance 500-700 milers Which I had previously gone for. With this in mind I chose to try the Gaby Vandenabeele lines, plus a few various strain gift pigeons. The original Vandenabeele were from Louella, but I was also gifted some Vandenabeele birds from Terry Sails of Southampton and Keith and Betty Mott of Claygate. I had some success with those pigeons including 29^th and 88^th open BICC Cholet, with over 2,800 pigeons competing on a testing day and 96^th open BICC Agen International, with over 1,000 pigeons competing. However when the Coronavirus Pandemic struck and racing was uncertain I removed most of my old birds and kept only one of the originals that had gained me the most prizes and was also proving to be a proponent breeder.

The real breakthrough came in 2019 when I got back a Axleholm / Supercrack Mealy cock that I had given our club secretary, Alan Austin, when I packed up in 2014. Towards the end of 2019 I spotted an advert in the BHW from the Axleholm stud that they had sold their farm and were closing their stud. I immediately contact Nigel Axe and was able to purchase three of their remaining ‘Supercrack’ stock birds, one cock and two hens. Previously I had also purchased four ‘Supercrack’ pigeons from Chris Lester of Marlborough, who was retiring from the sport and retained one hen that flown well and had produced a couple of good youngsters crossed with the Vandenabeele cock I had kept. These ‘Supercrack’ birds immediately made an impact on my loft’s performances and now form the base of the loft. Later I was gifted some late breds from my good friend Mick Tuck and one in particular a Blue WF cock has produced some good ones paired to a Red ‘Supercrack’ hen. The Tuck cock is a son of one of Mick’s two sisters that were 1^st and 7^th Amalgamation Bergerac on a tough day when only ten were timed on the day from over 2,000 pigeons. I also crossed in a Blue Chequer hen gifted to me by the late Wally Cable, this was bred by Bill Carr from his Mark Gilbert International distance pigeons. My best two hens this recent old bird seasons are from my best ‘Supercrack’ cock and this Carr / Gilbert hen. I was also gifted a late bred cock by the late Ray Hammond which proved to be a successful cross with the ‘Supercrack’ bloodlines. My recent Solent Fed winner blue cock, ‘Flash’, is 3/4 Supercrack 1/4 Vandenabeele. However the majority of my pigeons now go back to the original Old Mealy cock I got back from Alan.

I breed around 30 youngsters which have to fly the programme and if possible a National race. Selection is very strict and only those that make the grade are carried through the winter. A ‘Performance Rating Index’ designed by my old friend Alister Cooper in New Zealand is used for the final selections. The same applies to old birds only about ten pairs are kept for racing and they race most of the programme including two or three National races.

My loft is a Blake’s loft 20ft x 6ft that I have modified to suit my needs. I use a mixture of plastic floor grills and deep litter using wood pellets as the base for the litter. The perches and nest boxes are cleaned two or three times a week and the floor when necessary. Four pairs of stock birds are kept in a separate compartment and selection of stock birds is very strict using Alister’s ‘Breeding Performance Index’. The old birds are raced on a semi Widowhood system and all the cocks and hens are raced on this system. Young birds stay together and are allowed to pair up and race every week except any hen that is due to lay. The pigeons are fed on a ‘Widowhood’ type feeding regime, also developed by Alister Cooper. I also corresponded with the late Basil Gossman from South Africa and others abroad and find they use very similar feed mixes and regimes.

I use very few medications or supplements; I think the pigeon fraternity has done great harm to modern pigeons by over medicating especially abuse of antibiotics. Instead of preventing diseases they have weakened the birds natural immunity with the result we get more diseases. I think this has been aggravated by the worldwide trade in pigeons. Instead of getting professional Veterinarian advice and treating accordingly many just blind treat with all manner of multi drug treatments. It makes me shudder when I see what some Fanciers are pouring down their pigeons throats. I do use regular droppings and crop swab tests done by girls at the Pigeon Testing Centre and treat if something shows up in the tests. In the past I have tried many different supplements but found most were a waste of time and money. Nowadays I use mostly natural substances, cider vinegar and garlic. Also probiotics and Brewer’s yeast with Gemthepax or flax oil as the mixing agent is given once a week. Grit and minerals are given fresh three or four times a week, there are very good mineral and grit mixes available on the market these days.

Regarding the current state of pigeon racing and the future of the sport in UK I have a few concerns. Firstly the growth of the birds of prey population around the country prompted by the RSPB and other misguided individuals. In particularly their introduction into urban areas, these species have their place in the wild but not in towns and cities, this has got to be stopped. The RPRA and other pigeon organisations need to be advertising the detrimental effects of this policy not only on pigeon racing but also the small song bird populations. The other hot topic at the moment is the regulations now required for channel racing involving DEFRA and Veterinarian loft visits. Also the higher costs involved complying with these regulations. Many Fanciers I know have said they will not be registering and our Federation has decided to race inland from the north in future. Last old bird season the BICC and BBC provided a north and south road programme, the north option was appreciated by those of us who opted not to go through the registration process for channel racing. Unfortunately, the BBC has announced this option will not be available in future as far as I’m aware the BICC haven’t made a decision on this subject. If they also decide to drop the north road that will leave a lot of members that have not registered with DEFRA with no National racing opportunities. Personally, I’m sitting on the fence to see what develops over the closed season. I can see an opportunity for new Classic type club in the south east, that could work with the CSCFC, that has already decided to race north road in future.  Sharing transport with joint liberations should be cost effective providing semi National type races including some long distance races’.

Brian Batchelor was a ‘hardcore’ long distance enthusiast and in recent seasons has been very successful in the National and Classic races from 550 miles. He races in the very strong Godalming club and the 2012 season saw him win the longest old bird race from Bergerac (450 miles), and record 3^rd SMT Combine. At that time when I asked Brian about his family of pigeons he told me, ‘my main family of long distance racers are the late Eric Cannon of Wormley bloodlines, with the sire of the loft being ‘The Old Cannon Cock’, which must be described as a champion breeder having produced a long list of premier racers from 550 miles. This handsome blue cock was bred by Keith and Betty Mott in 2004 from their Number Three Eric Cannon stock pair and he is a grand son of Champion ‘Culmer Sam’ and Champion ‘Culmer Bess’, the NFC Pau Merit Award winner. ‘The Old Cannon Cock’ is a full brother to the Eric Cannon stock cock, ‘Foxwarren Fred’, who is the sire of many premier long distance champions including: 1^st Federation Bourges (581 miles), 2^nd Federation Bourges, 2^nd Federation Bourges, 2^nd Federation Bourges, 3^rd Federation Bourges, 5^th Federation Bourges, 8^th Federation Bourges and is grand sire of 1^st and 4^th Federation Bourges (581 miles) in the 2012 season. He is the sire of the champion cock, ‘The Five Times Bourges Cock’, winner of 3^rd, 5^th, 8^th Federation Bourges and sire of 1^st, 3^rd, 4^th Federation Bourges. Sire of ‘The Old Cannon Cock’ is ‘Culmer Sam’s Lad’ bred by Eric Cannon, the last son of Eric’s Number One stock cock ‘Culmer Sam’, who was the product of Eric’s Fear Brothers cross. Champion ‘Culmer Sam’ was the ultimate stock cock and was the sire of Eric Cannon’s highly successful 550 mile family. Dam of ‘The Old Cannon Cock’ is ‘Culmer Fantasy’ bred by Eric Cannon and she is a daughter of Champion ‘Culmer Bess’, winner of 6^th, 26^th and 170^th open N.F.C. Pau (540 miles), 47^th open N.F.C. Pau / Saintes, winning the NFC Pau merit award. This brilliant hen was top priced pigeon at Eric Cannon’s dispersal sales, sold for £2,300. ‘Culmer Fantasy’ is a full sister to the dam of Champion ‘Night Flight’, winner of 1^st open Saintes / Pau Grand National in 2003, for Mark Gilbert. The Eric Cannon blue chequer hen, ‘Grunty’, has had a big influence on my loft in recent years and she was also bred by Keith and Betty Mott in 2004, with her sire being a full brother to ‘The Old Cannon Cock’ and ‘Foxwarren Fred’. Her dam was the blue hen, ‘Foxwarren Eventually’, winner of several premier positions from Pau for the Mott loft and was killed by a Sparrowhawk. ‘Eventually’ was a daughter of Keith and Betty’s famous Number Two Eric Cannon stock pair and was the grand daughter of Champion ‘Culmer Marion’, winner of 1^st open NFC Sartilly, and Champion ‘Culmer Channel Queen’, winner of the NFC Pau Merit Award. Two main foundation stock birds of my present team are ‘The Old Cannon Cock’ and ‘Grunty’.  In recent seasons I have had the second families of Jim Biss and Van Breemens, which have produced a few prize winners, but these have been phased out in 2012. The other long distance families in my loft are Brian Denney and the newly introduced ‘Supercrack’ pigeons, which have been successful straight away, having produced my 3^rd SMT Combine Bergerac winner in the 2012 season’.

Brian owned the Post Office in the village of Elstead in Surrey and his very smart little loft was site in the garden of the premises. He was only a small team man, about 50 pigeons in all, including old bird racers, young birds and his stock team. The old birds were raced on a celibate system and the racers only saw their mates on race day or returning home from training tosses. Brian said at that time his system was very similar to widowhood, but he raced both the hens and cocks. Working where his pigeon were he could keep to a tight routine, with the cocks getting an open hole for 3 hours in the morning, the hens getting the same in the afternoon and young bird team had their fly in the evening. They were fed on Buckton’s Economy protein mixture and standard widowhood mixes. They also got Old Hand Golden Boost, Versalaga Pellets, minerals and only GSE purifier was added to the drinking water once a week. Brian told me no medication were used in the off season, but during the racing season he had a small medication regime. In the week between races the birds got one or two training tosses from about 30 miles, if possible in to the wind regardless of direction. His young birds received ten tosses and then three or four races, before being stopped to finish their very import moult.

I was the Chief Convoyer for the London & South East Classic Club in 2009 and I was very happy to report that our Tarbes Classic that season was one of the best of all time, with a good number of my charges being clocked on the day of liberation. Brian Batchelor had one of the best pigeon weekends of his life, recording two birds on the day from the Tarbes Classic and timing his sole entry in the Pau International event. The first bird on the clock from Tarbes, to record 5^th open, was a two year old blue chequer hen named ‘Dani’, after Brian’s little granddaughter. He told me she had always been a consistent racer and showed her potential as a young bird in 2006, when she won 2^nd Portland in the very strong Godalming club. In the 2009 season she came from the BICC Falaise race with most of her secondary flights on one wing ripped out by a hawk, but bounced back and was the first bird on the clock from the BICC Alencon event. Brian’s second bird from Tarbes, to record 10^th open, was his good pied hen, ‘Baby’, and she was the tamest bird in the loft, being his pet, and flying to him outside the loft. She was his second bird clocked on the day from the successful 2007 L&SECC Pau race, when she won 56^th open and was found in the loft after returning from getting his clock checked at Godalming. Brian says he had the ETS on training mode and it showed she had been home for 49 minuets before he clocked her. A very good hen! ‘Dani’ and ‘Baby’ were both Van Bremen hens. In the 2009 Pau International race Brian recorded his four year old blue white flight hen ‘Patience’ and she won 9^th open BICC. She was a gift youngster from Darryl Luxford of Crawley and Brian said she had been late from every race she had been entered in, short or long, and was retained after she finally recorded 4^th club Exeter on a dirty day. That year she was flying spare, after her mate was lost, and flew a ‘blinder’ from the Pau International.

The London & South East Classic Club enjoyed one of its best Pau Classics in 2007 when over 100 birds were clocked on the day of liberation, from the convoy I liberated that day in the South of France. Two of those day pigeons were recorded at the loft of Brian Batchelor, in his Elstead Post Office garden. To say Brian was chuffed at getting two day pigeons from Pau (540 miles) on his first attempt at this race point would be an under statement! The first bird on the clock from Pau was a two year old Eric Cannon blue hen named ‘Jeanie’, and she was bred from two gift latebreds from my stock loft. Brian told me he has named his wonderful hen ‘Jeanie’ in honour of his good wife, who puts up with the exorbitant amount of time Brian spends with the pigeons without complaint. This game hen was 12 hours 7 minutes on the wing from Pau and recorded 19^th SW section, 35^th open. Her dam was a blue hen from my Number Two Eric Cannon stock pair, was killed in Brian’s garden by a Sparrowhawk, but has left some real quality racers behind her. I consider my Number Two Eric Cannon stock pair to be the best breeders I have ever owned, producing an ever growing list of premier long distance racers. The pairing is blue cock, “Culmer Prince”, bred by Eric & Pat Cannon of Wormley. Sire of winners and a son of Ch. “Culmer Marion”, winner of 1^st open NFC Sartilly, when mated to a daughter of “Culmer Expected”, winner of 22^nd, 27^th, 103^rd, 231^st open NFC Pau. The dam is blue hen, “Culmer Rocket Queen”, bred by Eric & Pat Cannon. One of the best hens I’ve ever owned! Dam of winners and a daughter of “Culmer White Flight”, winner of many positions in the NFC, including 1^st sect, 14^th open Pau when mated to Champion “Culmer Channel Queen”, winner of 23^rd, 29^th, 98^th, 183^rd open NFC Pau and winning the NFC Pau Merit Award. The sire of ‘Jeanie’ is the champion blue stock cock ‘The Old Cannon Cock’! ‘Jeanie’ flew the very hard Bergerac (440 miles) as a yearling in 2006 and showed some great potential by being second bird to the loft. In the 2007 season she was mated in mid-February and after rearing two youngsters was separated, after leaving her second round of eggs at the end of term. Her pre-race training was three tosses of the south coast, near Portsmouth, then into the L& SECC Alencon (193 miles) race, then was sent to Poitiers (321 miles) with the SMT Combine, which turned out to be a very hard event. She appeared in the club and Combine result from Poitiers and the 9 hour 35 minutes on the wing set her up nicely for the Pau Classic. The second pigeon Brian clocked to record 30^th SW section, 56^th open from the Pau Classic was his good pied hen, ‘Baby’.

That’s our article for this week. Well done to Brian Batchelor for his latest Federation win! If you win and want an article in this space, please contact me 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)