“ON THE ROAD” WITH KEITH MOTT”

Tom Williams of Orpington

Tom Williams is very much a small team man, with his main aim every season being the NFC Tarbes Grand National and 2016 has seen him win 1st, 15th, 37thsection P, 3rd, 116th, 251st open (2,182 birds). Tom and I have been good friends for a number years and I would like to start this article by congratulating him, on behalf of Betty and myself, on his fantastic performance. There was only six birds clocked on the day of liberation from Tarbes (562 miles) and at the close of the race on the first day, Tom was winning the National by over ten ypm. We all lost sleep that night, but next day two gallant pigeons flying to the north of England beat him and he finished up 1st section P, 3rd open. Brilliant pigeon racing!

When I asked Tom about the Tarbes race he told me, ‘firstly Keith, I would like to thank the workers at the Chichester marking for all their good care of the birds and also to Tommy Firmanger and his helpers at the Bromley clock station. This race has given a great thrill and my first bird on the clock from Tarbes (562 miles), after fourteen and a half hours on the wing was my two year old chequer pied widowhood cock, ‘Son of Seagull’. He is a son of my premier stock cock, ‘Seagull’, who was presented to me by Dave McSween of Sunderland and he is a double grandson of Champion ‘ Wearside Lass’, winner of 1st, 24th, 40th and 78th Up North Combine Bourges. ‘Seasgull’s’ grandsire on his dam’s side is ‘Lionheart’, the winner of 2nd, 47th, 73rd and 142nd Up North Combine Bourges. The dam of ‘Son of Seagull’ is my light chequer hen, ‘Don’s Choice’, presented to me by Don Pickard, who races with great success in the Barnsley Federation and she was bred down from the champion racer, ‘Finley’, the winner of 1st and 2nd open Northern Classic Saintes (544 miles). Thanks to these lads for letting me have their fantastic pigeons! ‘Son of Seagull’ didn’t race as a young bird, just well-trained into head winds about a dozen times and then had four channel races as a yearling. He was very consistent and won a club race as a yearling, and also flew the NFC Saintes National (390 miles). In the 2016 season my 12 widowhood cocks had two 84 mile mid-week club races and then in to Falaise (177 miles) with the BICC and ‘Son of Seagull’ was first bird home, flying 4 hours 45 minutes. The team had two Alencon races (203 miles) and then into Saintes with the NFC, when ‘Son of Seagull’ flew10 hours 52 minutes to be third bird to the loft.  I then had three weeks to get them ready for the Tarbes Grand National and gave them several training tosses, including two from the ‘Devil’s Dyke’ near Brighton (45 miles) and in the end were beating me home. I sent nine birds to Tarbes and clocked ‘Son of Seagull’ on the day of liberation to record 1st section P, 3rd open NFC and two more game cocks next day. My second pigeon from Tarbes, recording 116th open, was my good blue chequer cock ‘Tarbes Expected’ and he won 129th open NFC Saintes (3,740 birds) in the 2015 season. I think Mark Gilbert of Winkfield is the best National pigeon racer in the UK and I never dreamt I could beat him! What will stay in my mind is the fact that overnight I was winning the NFC Tarbes Grand National and then was beaten in to 3rd open by two gallant, deserving pigeon flying into the north. Congratulations to Mick Locke and M. Hope on their wonderful Tarbes performances’.

Tom’s widowhood cocks raced with great success in the 2015 old bird season and saw him win a list of prizes in his local club and the National Flying Club. As usual the whole seasons racing was a build up to the NFC Tarbes Grand National and this time he sent four really fit widowhood cocks, clocking one the winning day, on what turned out to be a very hard race. Tom’s first bird from Tarbes, to record 85th open, was his good cock, ‘Bob’s 99’ and he previously won 4th club, 18th Surrey Federation (1,311 birds) Blandford on a training race earlier in the season. This game blue cock is bred for the long distance, with his sire being a gift from the premier Up North Combine racer, Dave McSween and his dam was bred from Champion ‘Wearside Lass’, when mated to her sire. He has a lot of Bob Donaldson of Chevington Drift bloodlines in him, including 1st open UNC Bourges and 2nd open WDA Clermont. Tom has had a brilliant racing season in both the Combine and National in 2015, winning: 1st, 2nd,4th, 6th club, 16th, 20th Surrey Federation, 45th SMT Combine (1,355 birds) Vire (180 miles), 1st, 3rd, 4th, 5th club Fougeres (217 miles), 1st, 2nd, 4th, 5th, 6th club, 24th, 25th Surrey Federation,  38th, 40th SMT Combine (1164 birds) Messac (259 miles). After Messac he had just two more races from Saints and Tarbes with the NFC. Tom entered his eight yearlings in the Saintes race (390 miles) and timed seven of them in just under one hour to gain 129th, 175th, 187th and 227th open from 3,740 birds. His first bird clocked from Saintes was bred from his champion cock, ‘Mr. Reliable’, when mated to a daughter of Daryll Luxford’s ‘Fred’, the L&SECC ‘Merit Award’ winner. He then entered four birds into the main event, the NFC Tarbes Grand National (562 miles) and got all four home, to record  85th open (2,500 birds) with his good blue cock, ‘Bob’s 99’.

Tom only races a small of 12 widowhood cocks each season and these are housed in an 8ft x 8ft loft with open door trapping. He clocks his birds on rubbers and tells me he has on need for ETS with the type of racing he is interested in. Tom says he is very grateful to Ron Green who taught him his sprint racing methods and Bob Donaldson, Jimmy Gibbon, and Ron Strong who gave him sound advice when he turned his interest to long distance pigeon racing. The widowhood cocks are paired up just after the BHW Blackpool Show in January and some years they rear a baby and some year they don’t before going on the system. In the 2016 season Tom just let them sit eggs to about 18 days and then took the hens away, and they are never repaired, not even for the long distance events. Once the birds are paired up in January they are not let out of the loft, but are given lots of 5 mile training tosses while on their first drive to nest, and then are raced inland with the Federation get them race fit for Continental racing. The birds are given ‘diet’ mixture on their return from the races, apart from this they are not broken down and are fed on ‘Gerry Plus’ mixture. The widowhood cocks are not always shown their hens on marking night, but stay with then all afternoon on their return from the race.

The eight pairs of stock birds are kept in the own spacious loft and these are mostly Bourges (580 mile) winning bloodlines, obtained from Tom’s friends in the North East of England. The breeders are mated at the same time in January as the widowhood cocks and sometimes the eggs are under laid in the race loft. In the summer months the stock loft is cleaned out twice a day and only two rounds are bred off the stock team each year. They are mostly ‘Wearside Lass’, ‘Lionheart’ and ‘Moonlight Express’ bloodlines. Tom has been given top stock birds by his good friends, Dave McSween and Bob Donaldson, who both race very successfully in the Up North Combine and says a big thank you to them both, they are top draw! He owns grandchildren off all the star birds, including: ‘Wearside Lass’ 1st, 24th, 40th, 78th UNC Bourges (565 miles), ‘Lionheart’ 2nd, 47th, 73rd, 156th UNC Bourges (565 miles) and ‘Moonlight Express’ 1st UNC Bourges (595 miles) 2,419 birds, 1st NEHU (3,283 birds). Tom’s 30 young birds are raced on the natural system and are never put on the ‘darkness’, as he is only interested in educating his pigeons as young birds. The young bird loft is 7ft x 6ft, with open door trapping and is cleaned out twice a day. The babies are given 14 days of good training, then one race in the Federation and then closed down to have a good moult. He is not interested in young bird racing and maintains that sometimes the youngster who keeps come home later, more often than not, make the best old bird.

As I previously stated Tom’s whole seasons racing is a build up to the NFC Tarbes Grand National and in 2014 he sent three really fit widowhood cocks, clocking one the winning day, which was another very hard race. Tom’s star bird in the 2014 season was the three year old blue pied cock, ‘Tarbes Pathfinder’, and that season he won several top positions including 23rd section E, 76th open NFC Tarbes (2,769 birds), plus 2nd club Messac, being beaten by a loft mate, doing 835 ypm on a very hard day. This great cock likes it long or short on easy or hard days! When he was a two year old he flew the NFC Tarbes Grand National (565 miles) and as a yearling won 1st club Poole, doing the 100 mile race on 1975 ypm, and that same season won 20th open L&SECC Bergerac, flying 451 miles on the day of liberation. The Classic only had 25 birds home on the day from Bergerac and ‘Tarbes Pathfinder’ was doing 1007 ypm. A great all round racing cock! When I ask Tom how his great cock was bred he told me, ‘again his sire is the stock cock I call ‘Seagull’ and was given to me from Dave McSween, the great Up North Combine racer.  Dave is a real gentleman and a credit to the sport of pigeon racing. ‘Seagull’ is the sire of several other top winners for me, including ‘Son of Seagull’, the 3rd open NFC Tarbes 2016 winner, ‘Tarbes Pathfinder’ and a cock that won 1st club, 5th Federation, 11th Combine Poitiers. The dam of ‘Tarbes Pathfinder’ is a hen I brought from John Searle from Cambridge and she is the Brian Denney bloodlines, right through to Brian Denney’s Champion ‘Tuff Nut’.

I first met Tom when he joined the London & South East Classic Club a few years ago and he enjoyed some brilliant success racing his small team of 12 widowhood cocks in the Classic for several seasons. The star pigeon of the Orpington loft was Tom’s great blue cock, ‘Mr. Reliable’, and he recorded 2011: 2nd section, 18th open L&SECC Bergerac (854 birds) being clocked at 451 miles on the day of liberation, 2012: 21st open L&SECC Alencon (1380 birds), 2nd section, 70th open L&SECC Tours (850 birds), 2nd section, 16th open L&SECC Tarbes, being clocked at 562 miles on the day of liberation. A fantastic performance!

Tom came to my home in Claygate at that time to have his champion ‘Mr. Reliable’ photographed and I asked him about his wonderful success racing in the L&SECC, and he told me, ‘the 2012 racing season started with about four inland races for training and then in to France with the L&SECC from Alencon (203 miles). I always start each season with just 12 widowhood cocks and empty the loft for the race in hand, as I believe every bird must earn its perch. The member of the Classic sent 1380 birds to Alencon and they were liberated at 09.00hrs in an east / north east, so it turned out to be a very hard race. My good blue cock, ‘Mr. Reliable’, landed on his nest box front at 14.48hrs to win 29th open and my second bird followed in to take 29th open. I spoke to you, Keith, then you were the L&SECC President, after timing in and you told me too clock two more arrivals I had and regretfully I didn’t record them, and being a very testing event, they would have figured in the first hundred open on the result sheet. Next race was Tours (277 miles) with the L&SECC, which were liberated at 05.30hrs in another east wind and as always I emptied the loft. The member of the Classic sent 850 birds to this race and the ‘ace’ pigeon man, Gary Inkley of Hillingdon, won the race and I recorded 1st, 2nd section, 45th, 70th open, with ‘Mr. Reliable’ being second bird on 2nd section, 70th open. An interesting fact was the pigeon that won 1st section, 45th open had had a night out at Alencon! The L&SECC Tarbes (562 miles) race on 22nd June was the event I was waiting all season for. This was the race that all my two year old pigeons that had survived the yearling stage must face to earn their nest box. Did I have the right pigeon and have prepared them correctly, these were the thought going through my mind when taking them for marking? Race day came and the convoy were liberated at 06.55hrs in no wind. ‘Mr. Reliable’ was sent pooled to the hilt and I was waiting in my garden with my hospital friend Andrew Marney, when he flew in to his nest box at 20.43hrs to record 2nd section, 16th open. My great blue cock had flown 562 miles in just under 14 hours and I can’t tell you what a great thrill it gave Andrew and me. It was fantastic! I clocked my second bird next day to win 50th open. The last race was from Bergerac (451 miles) and this was a chance for my yearlings to earn their nest boxes. The loft was emptied apart from ‘Mr. Reliable’ and he will never race again, as he has nothing more to prove to me. He has been to France eight times, never had a night out and recorded 2nd section three times in the L&SECC, as well as flying Tarbes and Bergerac on the day of liberation. The 500 plus birds were tossed at Bergerac (451 miles) at 06.45hrs in to a west wind and at 19.52, after 13 hour 10 minutes on the wing my yearling cock ‘73’ was clocked to record 18th open L&SECC. Job done!’

When I asked Tom how long he had been in the sport he told me, ‘I’ve kept pigeons off and on since I was ten years of age and back in the 1970’s and 1980’s I raced in the Coulsdon & Caterham RPC, which was affiliated to the Surrey Federation. In those days I was only interested in sprint racing and was very successful with my 12 widowhood cocks. I was top prize winner for many years and in the 1983 season when we were banned from racing from France because of the ‘foot and mouth’, I won 12 of the 14 races in my club and was second in the other two. I won the Surrey, Croydon and Sussex Federation, and shortly after that gave up my pigeons due to the back biting, that spoiled pigeon racing for me. In 2007 I was very ill with bowel cancer and while in hospital I met Andrew Marney, who was in the bed opposite me on the ward. Andrew is just crazy about pigeon racing and on talking to him; it transpires that I flew against his father all those years ago. At the time, I said to Andrew, I wasn’t too bad at racing pigeons and if I get over my health problem, I will teach him the widowhood racing system, just as Ron Green of ‘Breakaway’ fame had taught me. After 30 weeks of chemotherapy and a couple of months rest, we got together and now after learning the system, and a lot of dedication, Andrew can hold his own in any pigeon racing club. It is with regret that my marriage broke up after my illness and then I decided to get some birds and spend the rest of my days racing pigeons on the long distance. I got a loft together with a few pigeons and when about learning the game for long distance racing. Boy, did I struggle at the start? First lesson I learnt, get the right pigeons to do the job! I brought in the Bourges (550 mile) winning bloodlines and the good results started to come in. In 2010 I joint our local club at Orpington / Foots Cray, under the very able leadership of John Haynes and won all five races from France. The 2011 season saw me join the London & South East Classic Club too try and test my pigeons even more. In my local club I sent six birds to Poitiers (331 miles) and was the only member to clock in, taking all six positions, and winning 1st club, 5th Federation, 11th Kent Invicta Combine (1413 birds). I then sent the same six widowhood cocks to the L&SECC Bergerac (451 miles) Classic and clocked two on the day of liberation. First bird clocked was my good blue cock, ‘Mr. Reliable’, and he recorded 2nd section, 18th open (854 birds). What of the future? I’m 78 years young in 2017 and hope to race my pigeons as long as he above allows me to and will enjoy every minute of it.’

There you have it, the Tom Williams story! What a great fancier and I must say a very nice man. 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)