A TRIBUTE TO FRANK BRISTOW OF HORBLING.

I was very saddened to hear of the passing of Frank Bristow on 27^th August after a short illness. Frank was a legend in the sport of pigeon racing and with his passing the sport of pigeon racing has lost one of its greatest champions. Over his 60 odd years in the sport, Frank won ever thing there was to win at the very top level on the North and South roads. I first visited Frank Bristow’s home in Lincolnshire in the mid-1990’s and he was a fantastic pigeon racer then, but in recent years he has taken his performances to the very top level, and must be rated as one of the premier fanciers in the UK ever. I visited his home in Horbling several times through the years and Frank and his lovely wife, Sue always made me so welcome, and spite of me visited thousands of premier lofts throughout Europe over the years, going to see Frank’s pigeons was always very special for me. Frank was a lovely, kind man and would do anything he could to help people! Our sincere condolences to Frank’s lovely wife, Sue and the Bristow family. Frank Bristow RIP.

Frank had been in the sport for over 60 years and when it came to breeding winners he never relied on so-called individual strains. He paired the best to the best

regardless of origin! I think Frank's loft set-up was probably one of the best I've ever seen. The lofts were not only excellent, but were full of pigeons of the highest quality. Frank's L-shaped, brick double-storey loft was built in 1976 and was not only very pleasing to look at, but was very practical, with a lot of thought put into the design. One half of the top floor was for the widowhood cocks, which were housed in four sections and the other half was taken up with young birds and widowhood hens. The 55 pairs of stock birds were kept on the ground floor. The racing sections had grating floors with the widowhood racers being trapped through open doors and the young birds through sputniks. The stock birds had very spacious living quarters and could get out in a big wire flight in the summer months. This wonderful loft housed thousands of premier winners over the years!

December 2011 saw my late friend Brian Goodwin and me make the 150 mile drive up to Frank Bristow’s home in Horbling, Lincolnshire to see his fantastic loft and pigeons. After that winter visit, Frank had a brilliant racing year and produced one of the best loft performances in the UK of the 2012 seasons. Frank and Sue’s garden is a great spectacle, featuring a big ‘monkey puzzle’ tree and the loft is magnificent. Frank liked to race at all distances, sprint, middle and long distance, and told me at that time, winning the North Road Championship Club  ‘The King’s Cup’ from Lerwick was his best performance to date. The best performances at that time were his North Road Championship Club Lerwick win with a velocity of 1100ypm and winning 1^st open MNFC from Lessay doing 2260ypm, the fastest ever Midland National Flying Club winner, at that time. Frank has won countless 1^st Federations through the years on both the North and South Road and is one of very few fanciers who have won National races on both the North and South routes. Frank Bristow, the pigeon racing ‘legend’ RIP.

KEITH MOTT (AUGUST 2024)