“ON THE ROAD” WITH KEITH MOTT.

Looking back at London & South East Classic Club winners (Part 9.)

Alan & Gary Young of Croydon. 

The father and son partnership of the late Alan Young and his son, Gary, have set the Surrey pigeon fancy alight in recent season with their fantastic young bird performances, which include 1^st open National Flying Club, 1^st open London & South East Classic Club and 1^st Combine.

Alan and Gary had three pigeon come together from the second London & South East Classic Club young bird Guernsey Classic race (2,000 birds) and produced a fantastic result by recording 1^st, 2^nd and 3^rd open. The first pigeon too hand and to win the Classic was the blue chequer cock, ‘Anto’, and he had previously won 4^th open Federation (1,495 birds) Portland. His sire was bred from the T.B.O. Partnership’s champion racer, ‘Mack-One’, winner of four times 1^st Federation, when mated to, ‘Shore Bet’, also winner of four times 1^st Federation. The dam of ‘Anto’ is a M. & D. Evans hen bred down from their champion ‘Hillcroft Fantasy’. This game cock was a ‘darkness’ youngster, flying his fourth race when he won the Guernsey Classic and was sent sitting seven day old eggs. In fact he was mated to the 3^rd open Guernsey Classic winner, ‘Amelia’, which had previously won 3^rd Federation (1,495 birds) Portland, 13^th Federation (1,667 birds) Blandford. When Gary came around to my home in Claygate after the event to have his birds photographed, we had a good chat about the race and he said, the three birds were in the loft together and it was just a matter of which one came to hand first would be the Classic winner. The 2^nd open blue chequer cock, ‘Danny Boy’, was bred from a Geoff Kirkland pigeon, the same one that bred the Young’s 2006 NFC Chale winner, Champion ‘Louisa’, making then half brother, half sister. Gary says, it was a shame he didn’t clock ‘Danny Boy’ first from Guernsey, as it would have meant the Kirkland pigeon would have bred a National winner in 2006 and a Classic winner in 2007. Mind boggling! ‘Danny Boy’ was the Young’s first bird clocked from the first Guernsey Classic two weeks previous, to record 33^rd open and I think he must be a good contender to win the ‘Wally Dann Memorial Cup’ for best young bird of the year. This young racing machine was sent to Guernsey sitting eggs and had previously won 5^th Federation (1,696 birds) Blandford.

The weekend before the Guernsey Classic, Alan and Gary sent a team of 17 youngsters to the NFC Guernsey National (5,408 birds) and recorded 5^th, 7^th, 11^th, 23^rd, 99^th, 176^th open, lifting 2^nd Gold Ring National. The partners got two pigeons together from the National and first one on the clock to record 5^th open was the Belgium rung blue chequer cock ‘Willy’, and he was obtained from a fancier up country named Steve Hole. This cock was raced to the perch and previously recorded 3^rd Federation (1,692 birds) Blandford.

The 2007 young bird team were set up for the London & South East Classic Club and National Flying Club races and were trained off the south coast, from Bognor and Portsmouth. Gary told me that they were trained on the Winchester line for a while with the ‘foot and mouth’ ban, but once this was lifted he turned them back to the coast. They also got additional ‘four up’ tosses from 10 miles in the evenings and came home from the Federation races in batches. The youngsters were fed on ‘Gerry Plus’ and were given regular exercise around the loft. The young birds were split in to two teams because of the ‘bird flu’ seven day rule and both performed brilliantly. The youngsters were put on the ‘darkness’ system on weaning and taken off  two week earlier than usual, in early June, because Alan went on holiday. They were darkened from 5pm until 8am and the sexes were kept separated for the first three races, then they were allowed to run together for the rest of the racing season, with fantastic success. In the 2007 season training started about six weeks before the first race, with short tosses then went in big jumps down to the south coast. My good friend, Bobby Besant, had been given the partners one or two pointers with their pigeon management that season and great results came about.

The old sporting saying of, ‘when it’s your day, it really is your day’, applied very strongly to Alan and Gary Young when they sent to the 2006 N.F.C. Chale young bird race and didn’t just have one pigeon come to win 1^st open, but had two come together. The first pigeon on the clock to win 1^st open National was the partners little blue pied hen, Champion ‘Louisa’, and she was bred from Geoff Kirkland and Dave Hunt bloodlines. She had four club races on her build up to her National win and the L&SECC race from Yelverton, when she recorded 35^th open. In my opinion, ‘Louisa’, is a perfect pigeon, small, apple bodied, wonderful feathering and eye, with a brilliant racing record to finish it off! My type of racing pigeon! The second pigeon on the clock from the Chale National was the blue chequer cock, ‘The Huntsman’, and he was a bit slow on the trap but still recorded 5^th open National. This game pigeon had previously won 54^th open L&SECC Exeter, a couple of weekends before.

Alan flew pigeons in the 1960’s, with his son, Gary, became a pigeon partner about ten years ago and they race in the Surrey Valley Club (Surrey Federation). Alan and Gary have been racing from the present Croydon address for fourteen years and their two section 24ft x 6ft racing loft has sputnik trapping. The partners race 20 cocks on the widowhood system and these are paired up on their return from the Blackpool Show in late January. The racers are fed on light mixtures and Gary told me the partners like National and Classic channel racing best. The racers rear a pair of youngsters, with the hens being taken away with the young ones at about 17 days old and the cocks are given about six 30 mile training tosses when they are repaired just before the racing season starts. Gary says his racers are a bit fat at the start of the season, but the first few inland races knock them into shape. Although firsts have been recorded in the Saturday club, Gary says, most of their best positions have been won in the National and Classic clubs, including 8^th open L&SECC Bergerac (450 miles). One of the premier racers at the Croydon loft is ‘The Mosaic Hen’ and she has an outstanding racing record, including 1^st open Federation (1,328 birds) from Lyndhurst.

The Young’s keep ten pairs of stock birds, which are housed in a 7ft x 5ft loft, with aviary and are mated the same time as the racers so the eggs can be floated. During the breeding season a wood shavings and sand litter is used on the stock loft floor These birds are fed a first class ‘breeding’ mixture and a lot of the stock birds have come from Gary’s good friend, Dave Hunt of Dagenham, in the east end of London. The partners told me, Dave has been a very good friend, giving them some first class stock birds and excellent advice. One of the main stock birds is the blue pied cock, Champion ‘Mack One’, which was bred and raced by the T.B.O. Partnership and he has sired several good winners, but Gary says his grand children are outstanding. This wonderful cock was champion young bird of Europe in 1999 and won 1^st open Bosmolen Gold Ring Classic, 1^st open Amalgamation (by 30 ypm), four times 1^st Federation and was undefeated at Federation level. What pigeon to have in your stock loft! Other bloodlines at the Croydon loft are Geoff Kirkland and M. & D. Evans. The Young’s breed 70 young birds for racing each season and Gary says he likes to go training with them at 4am, and sometimes they go down the road twice a day. Alan and Gary really enjoy young bird racing and start training about five weeks before the first race, working them up to Petersfield (45 miles). During the racing season the babies get a couple of 12 mile tosses each week and the hens race the programme, with a few cock being stopped after a few races and saved for the widowhood system. The young cocks and hens are kept in separate sections during the racing season and run together on the marking day. When picking out new stock birds, Gary says he is only interested in good winning bloodlines and not type. He maintains that if a fancier lives in a club radius and is of good character, he should not be refused entry in a club, regardless if he is a good racer or not. The partners like to show their birds in the winter months, but only at club level and not at National events.

Ian West of Kingston.

Ian West won the L&SECC Guernsey (1) old hens classic in the 2007 season, when I liberated the 421 birds at 09.25 hrs in to a light East wind. The old hens were released with the 1,715 classic young birds and Ian’s game blue hen put the best overall velocity that day. The latest West classic winner is named, ‘Princess Taia’, and was bred from the very best of the old K. & R. Besant of Kingston bloodlines, being obtained from Ian’s good friend, the late great Ken Besant. She is bred down from several of the Besant’s best racers, including Champion ‘Besant’s Bishop’s Pride’ winner of 1^st open NFC Bordeaux, 1^st Federation Weymouth, ‘Showman’, winner of 13^th open NFC Pau, 1^st Federation Weymouth and ‘Versatile Lady’ the outstanding widowhood hen and winner of 1^st Federation inland, plus 11^th open NFC Pau. On her build up to her classic win, ‘Princess Taia’, had two club races from 118 miles and  one from 230 miles, then had nothing for six weeks only a short training toss from Guildford on the Monday before the Guernsey classic race. The training toss almost turn out to be a disaster, as the sky turned black and it started to rain after Ian liberated them, but the birds got through and turned up at the loft in just over the hour. She was sent paired to another hen and sitting four eggs, previously being celibate all the season, and was specially mated up for the old hens classic, three weeks before. Ian told me at the time, his hens exercise brilliantly around the loft and being kept celibate stay in excellent condition all season. Ian’s second hen on the clock was his good Staf Van Reet mealy named, ‘Natalie’s Pride’, and she has won several premier prizes including 2004: 57^th open L&SECC Guernsey (old hens), 2007: 50^th open L&SECC Guernsey (1) (old hens), 11^th open L&SECC Guernsey (2) (old hens).

Ian West is from a good pigeon racing family, with his father, Dave, being an outstanding winning fancier, in the Kingston club about 40 years ago. Ian is carrying on the West winning ways and has won the Three Borders Federation twice and L&SECC twice in recent seasons. Ian first London & South East Classic Club winner was in the 2004 young bird season, when members sent 2,142 youngsters and 564 old hens to Guernsey. The convoy was liberated on the Saturday morning at 10.00hrs in a north-west wind, in what seemed to be perfect racing conditions. The race turned out to be a very hard event and some members returned their clocks empty. Ian won the Old Hens Classic, clocking at 13.30hrs with his two year old blue chequer pied hen, sent paired to another hen and sitting four eggs. Ian told me this game pigeon had been only lightly raced and was bred from two gift stock birds from John Keywood of Hersham. She is of course his champion hen, ‘Ladies Girl’ and is bred down from the very best Jan Huybregts bloodlines.

Ian started up in the sport only in 2000 and tells me his friend, the late Ken Besant of New Malden, was a great help in getting him started. In the 2003 season the West loft won the Inland Average in the very strong Hersham Club and his biggest thrill was winning ‘The Ken Besant Memorial Trophy’ with a pigeon that Ken had bred for Ian to start him up. The West loft’s Three Borders Federation winner at that time was the two year old blue chequer Van Loon widowhood cock ‘Wayne's Boy’ and he was bred from pigeons obtained from Steve Clackston and Frank Butler. Ian's father is the good old Kingston fancier Dave West, who flew a brilliant Channel pigeon in the 1970s and I can remember him winning the Bergerac race in the very strong Kingston Club the season after we won it. The good ol’ days! Dave won the longest old bird race with his good blue chequer hen ‘Charter Flight’, which recorded 5^th open SMT Combine. Looks like Ian is following in his father's footsteps!

The Three Borders Federation held a Taunton race in mid-June 2012 and was good to see the birdage pick up a bit after the weather problems in the first half of the season. It was also good to see the wind turnaround from the east to south west and give the 1,100 birds entered an easier fly over the 125 mile coarse home. The first half of the season saw us have strong east winds, with rain, rain and more rain, which took its toll of bad losses, with the consequence of plummeting birdage. Ian West of the Esher club won the Federation by a ‘country mile’ with his good two year old blue chequer widowhood cock, ‘Deon’ and Ian tells me is son of two of the best racers in his loft. The Taunton Federation winner is a son of ‘Ladies’ Girl’, winner of 1^st open L&SECC Guernsey (OH) in 2004 and the champion sprinting cock, ‘Wayne’s Boy’, the winner of: 1^st club, 1^st Federation Lulworth (2384 birds), 2^nd club, 5^th Federation Lulworth (1269 birds), 1^st club, 6^th Federation Exeter (1108 birds), 2^nd club, 7^th Federation West Bay (1737 birds), 4^th club, 17^th Federation West Bay (1748 birds), 1^st club, 20^th Federation Lulworth (1629 birds). ‘Deon’ went on to win 2^nd Federation Taunton (1,237 birds) in the following 2013 racing season. What brilliant line of winners!

Although Ian flies in the Esher Club, he lives several miles away in Kingston and is a small team man with big success. He races only 11 cocks on the widowhood system and says he would like to race hens, but his job as a postman limits his time with the pigeons, so he keeps it small and simple. He used to keep small birds and finches, and his loft is his old aviaries, which are well ventilated, converted for the pigeons. Ian pairs up his racers in February and the racers never rear a youngster, being put on the widowhood two weeks before the first race, when the hens and their eggs are taken away. The cocks get very little training and he says they had only eight 15 mile tosses in the last two seasons, being trained while sitting their eggs, prior to going on the widowhood system. Ian says he uses the first Federation races, to get the racers fit and races the old birds inland only, not being interested in long-distance Channel racing. The cocks are not broken down, being fed on a good widowhood mixture, and are exercised around the loft for an hour twice a day. Ian has 12 pairs of stock birds, which are Janssen Van Loon and Staf Van Reet, and a team of 15 young birds are bred for racing each season. They are not put on the darkness system and are raced only lightly to the perch.

Garry Inkley of Hillingdon.

During the week building up to the 2012 Tours Classic everyone was worried about the strong Easterly winds forecast for that weekend, including myself, but full credit to our Saturday team, we had a hard, but very good race. The weather for the whole weekend was wall to wall blue sky and sun shine, but the sting in the tail was the strong easterly wind right from the liberation site through to the home lofts in the UK. The lads got the birds up nice and early and gave the birds a good start, producing an excellent race, with the winner doing over 1300 ypm. A fantastic velocity in that wind!

Garry Inkley of Hillingdon won the Tours Classic and recorded his fourth L&SECC winner, being a previous winner from Dax in 2003, Alencon in 2008 and Falaise in 2010. Garry was fast becoming one of the premier Classic and National racers in the South of England, putting up outstanding performances every season. I marked all the ETS birds at the Leatherhead marking station and on the day I commented what wonderful condition Garry Inkley’s birds were in and they proved to be well on top of the hard fly. The latest Inkley classic winner was a game yearling blue hen raced on the widowhood system. Her sire was a grandson of ‘Golden Lady’ from Premier Stud and her dam was a Janssen from Moore x Odgen and Goden. Garry told me at that time that three of his L&SECC winners went back to Premier Stud stock.

Garry first became interested in pigeons as a nine year old when on a summer’s day in 1967 he rescued a stray pigeon whilst playing football on the local green. With some help from his pigeon fancier grandfather, he converted an 8ft.x 6ft. garden shed into a pigeon loft and a team of Logans were set up for him, by his grandfather. Garry says, after a year of breeding his own birds and training them from 3 miles on his bike, with heavy losses, his parents had noticed that he had become obsessed with pigeons. Consequently, his father encouraged him further and applied to join the Hayes N.R.F.C. in 1968 as J. Inkley & son, in order to fly the 1969 season. Garry maintains that members of the Hayes club were a great bunch of characters, amongst who was the late, great Ken Hine, who lived opposite the Inkleys. As the Logans were lost by the seventh old bird race from 300 miles, Garry looked forward to young bird racing, where he won his first prize cards. It was at the end of 1974 that Garry was invited to become Ken Hines partner and Gary says it was then that his pigeon education began. Together with Ken and George Burgess he visited some of the best lofts in the country, including Peter Titmuss, Ron Mitchieson, Eric Cannon and Tubby Tate. As the insignificant 17 year old boy in the group, the young Garry always kept his mouth shut, but his eyes and ears open to learn anything he could from the greats of the sport.

Garry’s pigeon education took a massive leap forward when on a trip to the Blackpool Show he met Bob McDonald of Fraserburgh, who was on his stand, displaying his Ko Nipius family. Garry was astounded at the quality of Bob’s pigeons and immediately ordered six youngsters for the following year. In 1980 he met his wife, Val, and pigeons started to become a close second and consequently the partnership of Hine & Inkley went its separate ways. In 1984 Garry and Val were married and moved to their present address in Hillingdon. A very close friendship had developed between Garry and Bob McDonald and the Inkley loft raced the Ko Nipius pigeons hard up to 560 miles, with much success, including 1^st Bergerac (only bird on the day), 1^st Marmande (only bird on the day) and twice 1^st Dax (545 miles), with the same pigeon. Garry considers Bob to be a master at conditioning pigeons and developing a family. The other great influence on Garry was Eddie Newcombe, now in Malta and they became good friends, consequently many Festival eggs were brought home in a loaf of bread and reared at the Huntingdon loft. During the 1990s Garry progressed winning a car, the Federation countless times and won his second R.P.R.A. Award in 1999 in the form of the Victory Trophy. This trophy was for the best three longest races and Garry maintains it’s a proud moment when your name is on the same trophy as Alf Baker and Jim Biss. Through the years Garry has gone on and won everything in front of him at Combine, Classic and National level, with the climax being his wonderful victory in the 2012 Tours Classic.

Tony and Dol Fletcher of Old Woking.

The late Tony Fetcher and his wife, Dol, of Old Woking flew in the Pyrford Social R.P.C. and two nicer people you couldn't find! They won the Nantes Yearling Derby and were the first L&SECC winners of the ‘Brooker Gold Cup’ in 1998. Their record in the L&SECC was outstanding since joining the club in 1994, winning countless positions including: 1998 – 1^st open Nantes (Yearling Derby), 6^th open Guernsey; 1997 – 2^nd open Alencon; 1995 – 4^th open Angers, 7^th open Poitiers, 7^th open Vire; 1994 – 9^th open Corancez. A brilliant loft performance! Tony and Dol's Nantes Yearling Derby winner was their Janssen blue cock called ‘Blue Fly’, bred down from Ponderosa bloodlines with his dam, a wonderful blue hen, winning 1^st club, 1^st Federation as a young bird. He was a widowhood cock, paired up two days before he was sent to the Nantes Classic and had previously won 43^rd open L&SECC Alencon in 1998. This game cock is medium apple-bodied in the hand and had a full wing when he won the 1998 Nantes Classic, which was a wonderful performance. Tony had been in pigeon racing for over 20 years at that time, having previously been a budgie breeder and to say that he was thrilled to win the Classic would be an understatement.

The main racing loft was 18ft x 6ft with open-door trapping, grilled floors and was made up of three sections. The loft had a lucky horseshoe, which I noticed was fixed upside down and when I asked Tony why it was fixed this way, he said that in Belgium they practise this 'to pour the bad luck out’. Since he turned the lucky horseshoe over in 1994, he had had fantastic success! He raced 12 cocks on the widowhood system and they competed up to 400 miles, being normally re-paired for the long-distance races at the end of the season. The cocks raced every two weeks, being broken down after the race, at which time their com was beefed up with peanuts for the long-distance events. They were paired up on 7^th January and were trained hard for ten days before the first Federation race, with the odd toss in the season. They were flown out around the loft for one hour morning and evening and were fed at the same time every day. The cocks were shown the hens on marking night and got their female on their return from the race. Their stock loft was full of successful Classic pigeons including ‘Flash’, winner of 2^nd open Alencon L&SECC, 7^th open Poitiers L&SECC and ‘Young Stretch’, winner of 1^st club, 1^st Three Borders Federation Weymouth, 6^th open Guernsey L&SECC. A brilliant family of pigeons!

Paul Stowell of Basingstoke.

I had a sad message from my good friend, Paul Stowell, after the recent sad passing of his long-time partner, Ann Josephine Mann. Paul writes, ‘On the 31^st August I lost my lovely partner, Ann Josephine Mann. Ann has 4 Ovarian Cancer, being diagnosed two and a half years ago and in that time never moaned about her illness, just said ‘it is what it is’. This time last year we managed to get a holiday in Naples and Sorrento and she met some of my mother’s family. In February we managed a few days in Bournemouth for her birthday. Then a month later after a spell in Frimley Park Hospital and on leaving hospital could not walk unaided, and for the last five months was bedridden. For the last five weeks of her life we spent in the Phylis Tuckwell Hospital in Farnham. I stayed every night and most of the day with her, as I promised her and was holding her hand up until the last moments of her life.

It was a great eye opener in the Hospice to lean it was a Charity and needs £25,000 a day to run to run, with only a 25% government contribution. The attention to detail and care is truly outstanding, and then you think with only 18 beds where do other people go who need this end of life support. The Hospice have had to find alternative accommodation for the next two and a half years whilst Hospice is completely rebuilt at the cost of £16,000,000, of which they have only raised £10,000,000 so far. Before Ann passed away I told her I wanted to give something back for all they had done for her and others. I am going to hold an online pigeon auction from some of the UK top fancies which will be advertised in the British Homing World, with all proceeds going to the Hospice. This will be held in October any pigeon or money donations will be gratefully received and go in full to the Phylis Tuckwell Hospice in memory of such a special lady’s memory.

Well there you have it for this week, some great Surrey lofts and winners of Federation, Combine, Classic and National. I can be contacted with any pigeon ‘banter’ 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)