A TRIBUTE TO JOHN KEYWOOD OF HERSHAM.
I’m very sad to inform the fancy that one of the legends of the Surrey pigeon racing fraternity, John Keywood, passed away on the 28th March after suffering a heart attack several days earlier. Since entering the sport in 1947 he has been a constant worker and winner at club, Federation and Combine level. He was nearly 90 years old and recently suffered his fourth stroke, which had left him un-well. I was very sad when he recently told me he can’t cope with his wonderful loft of winning pigeons and has to pack them up. He certainly couldn’t cope with pigeon sales and at that time asked me to inform the fancy that he is retiring from the racing side of the sport.
John had been in the sport on and off for over 70 years and it all started when his dad, who was a head gardener in Walton, took him to work to see the fantail which lived in the gardens. The lady who owned the gardens presented the young Johnny with a pair whites and he housed them in an old Rabbit hutch. On visiting the loft of local fancier, Bill Ridger, at the age of 14, he was presented with six young racing pigeons and he joins the Walton Homing Society, which at that time had a star studded membership, including Freddie Ranaboldo and Mark Finestone. Success soon came John’s way, when a Ridger youngster won the first young bird race and recorded 1st club, 6th Federation. In later years Johnny became good friends with the late great Ayton Marshall of Seaton Sluice in the North East of England and obtained some brilliant Vandeveldes from him, which produced a lot of winners for the Keywood loft over many years. Two great, big winning pigeons in the 1970’s was the blue pied cock ‘The Marshall’ and his nest mate, ‘Barren Hen’, winner of 2nd SMT Combine Niort (3,500 birds).
John liked sprint racing and one day continental racing and maintained anything past Tarbes (550 miles) is too far. He maintained the way forward, especially in Federation racing, is for the advisor to anticipate the weather conditions for the weekend on the Friday and if there is little chance of a race on the Saturday, then to mark on the Saturday evening and race on the Sunday. He was still using a pigeon clock for timing his birds, but said he was not against the ETS as long as fanciers use their common sense and don’t create night mares for the club secretary by recording 20 or 30 birds. Johnny Keywood was a great worker for the sport and was the Secretary of the Hersham Club for about fifteen years and President of the Three Borders Federation for over twenty seasons. John did a lot of great work for the Three Border Federation!
What can you say about Johnny that hasn't been said many times before through the years? He has been a brilliant fancier and worker for the sport over many years and has won everything in the Federation and Combine. John was highest prize winner in the Three Borders Federation in seasons 2000 and 2001. One of John’s best season was in 2005 winning the Three Borders Federation four times and was premier prize winner in the Hersham club, recording eight firsts. His Federation wins were from Messac (1,071 birds), Fougeres (1,034 birds), Kingsdown (1,985 birds) and Lulworth (1,553 birds), and recorded 1st S.M.T. Combine from Messac (3,287 birds) and 3rd S.M.T. Combine Fougeres (2,988 birds). A fantastic loft performance! John’s 2005 Combine winner was his good blue chequer widowhood cock, ‘Young Jupiter’, and he has won the Three Borders Federation twice. He was bred from stock obtained from ‘Oak Villa’ lofts and ‘Galaxy’ lofts, and down from the ‘Jupiter’ line. The Keywood loft won ‘the pigeon of the year’ in the Three Borders Federation in the 2005 season with the blue chequer cock, ‘Harry’s Choice’, and he had won four times 1st club and twice 1st Federation. He was a gift pigeon from ‘Oak Villa’ lofts and won 1st Federation Kingsdown (1985 birds), plus 5th and 7th Federation in 2005. John won the Federation from Messac in the 2004 season and the winner, ‘The Diamond Cock’, a yearling blue chequer cock bred by his good friend, John Diamond, and was one of a batch of six gift youngsters sent to the Hersham loft. The Federation winner had every inland race on his build-up and took a week to come home from the first Combine race from Fougeres. However, he learnt by his mistake, winning the Federation from Messac the following weekend. ‘The Diamond Cock’ won 1st Three Borders Federation again in 2005 from Fougeres. Johnny paired up late in the 2004 season, as he had a stay in hospital early in the year and only raced nine cocks on the widowhood system. When Johnny won the Federation from Messac in 2004 he also recorded 3rd Open with a four year old blue chequer white flight cock recording his fifth race win. This game cock is son of John's ‘Oak Villa Champion’, winner of 18 x 1st club and 7 x 1st Federation. Johnny Keywood of then the Spelthorne Club, enjoyed a brilliant 2011 racing season and finished it great style by winning 1st open SMT Combine (1594 birds) from the last and longest young birds race, flown from Yelverton (172 miles) in September. John’s latest Combine winner was a natural blue pies hen raced to the perch and both her parents were bred by John’s good friend, Jack Cornes of Walsall. What a great loft of pigeons!
He had raced cocks on the widowhood system for many years and in recent seasons has only had a very small team of 12 cocks, which were housed in two sections in his very smart 40ft loft. The loft had open door trapping and consisted of a big section for the stock birds, two sections for the young birds, and two sections with six widowhood cocks in each. The racers were generally paired up the last week in January, with the racing cocks single rearing a baby and were normally on the widowhood system by the second Federation race. John told me his cocks were sent to the first Federation race feeding a big youngster and on their return the hen and baby were taken away, and then they were on the system. The week before the first race the cocks got about five training tosses up to Bentley (25 miles), which is the furthest the old birds ever went and once racing commences they were only exercised around the loft for an hour twice a day. In recent seasons John had been feeding Garvo ‘Super Sprint’ mixture and said he never broke the birds down. The hens were shown to the widowhood cocks from dinner time on the day of marking for Channel races and on their return from the race stayed with their mate overnight on all races. Most of his young birds were bred from his 16 pairs of stock birds which are housed in a very big, spacious section in the loft. Johnny’s 30 young birds were put on the darkness system and race the whole programme. He held nothing back, by saving young cocks for the widowhood, they all had go and he liked to work them hard.
With the passing of John Keywood the sport of pigeon racing has lost another of its great champions. RIP John Keywood.
KEITH MOTT (30/03/2023)