“ON THE ROAD”

WITH KEITH MOTT

The winter shows

Although I’m a keen pigeon racer, I also love showing my birds and I can’t turn off in

September, as soon as we finish racing, I switch into show mode! If I had a big garden and not the postage stamp we have now, I would defiantly have a second loft for Show Racers as well as my long distance racing team. I have won hundreds of prizes and trophies through the years showing his birds, and have won at all the National Shows. I’m well sort after ever winter as a judge, which is something I enjoy very much and travels hundreds of miles carrying out the duty, and have judged at most of the big Show Racer Society Open Shows countless times, four times at the BHW Blackpool Show, twice at the RP Old Comrades Show at the NEC Birmingham and three times at the NEHU Peterlee / South Shields Show in Newcastle. I’m very proud to say I’ve been associated with the RPRA Southern Region Show for many years and derived great pleasure judging at this great annual show through the years. This great event was one of my favorite one day shows and has attended the show most years, since it started at Ascot Racecourse over 30 years ago and in recent seasons have booked the judges for my good friend and show secretary, Ron Lacey. Years ago I used to show and won many firsts with my racing pigeons, which I always considered a good achievement, with the ‘red hot’ competition at the Region show.

I defiantly think there is a massive decline in ‘bread and butter’ showing at local club level and to see this in recent years is very upsetting. For me true exhibiting of Racing Pigeons and Show Racers is when they are handled and in our Surrey area, most of the club and open shows are through the wires. Fanciers these days seem to like to grab their birds out of the loft, with no preparation, and put them in the pen to be judged through the wires. They almost seem to be frightened to have them handled and at our local show they seem to prefer fancy colours classes. When I’m showing a lot of time is spent in preparing my pigeons for the pen and we have won the local ‘Open Show Points’ cups about 18 times, but I don’t show at local events anymore, because of the lack of quality competition. I think the whole thing comes down to ‘pounds, shillings and pence’ and the people who run the club shows are looking to make money for the club, which can’t be wrong, but they are not really interested in quality pigeon showing, the like of which we enjoyed years ago. I think it is a bigger achievement to win a handled class competing against 25 birds, than it is winning a through the wire class against 50 entries! The National show scene is still brilliant and getting better every year, and that’s where you have to exhibit to get the quality competition these days. Look at the great old RPRA Southern Region Show, still going after all these years and even bigger and better this year! I think the fancy should be very proud of our mother show, the British Homing World Blackpool ‘Show of the Year’, a wonderful spectacle and raising thousands of pounds for charity every January. I get my buzz at the Nationals events these days and very rarely attend the local club shows, only on the odd occasion to judge handling classes.

Back in October 2013 I received a letter from the RPRA, inviting me to judge at the British Homing World ‘Show of the Year’, Blackpool  in January 2014 and it goes without saying I was delighted to accept, as I have always loved do the job and consider it a great honour to be asked. This was my third time judging at the premier show in the UK and the last time I judged was in 2007 when the BBC sent a film crew to the Winter Gardens to film me and Peter Taylor for the ‘Inside Out’ programme. I then received a phone call in December from the Blackpool Show committee inviting me to take on the premier judging job in the show world, to judge the specials and Blackpool Show ‘Best in Show’. I have been judging at top National and Show Society shows for 45 years and to judge ‘Best in Show’ at Blackpool was the crowning glory of all those years doing the job. I was highly delighted and accepted the invitation immediately. My ol’ mate, Peter Taylor, has traveled all over the UK as my steward for many years, but in recent times has not traveled because of his ‘dodgy’ leg, but I managed to get him to Blackpool to steward for me, on this great occasion. We knew the Friday of the show was going to be a hard day, with the 250 mile drive up to the Hilton Hotel in Blackpool, then attend the RPRA dinner that evening and after that the late night judging in the Winter Gardens, so we left Claygate early that morning. After a good run up to the North West, we arrived at the Hilton Hotel on the North Promenade that afternoon in fine weather  and managed to get a couple of hours rest in our rooms before we attend the RPRA ‘do’ in the evening. The dinner was a very grand event held in the hotel and was attended by several premier pigeon parties from Europe and Mr. & Mrs. Eddie Collett, the Lord Mayor of Blackpool. It was nice to meet up with some ol’ friends at the dinner, including Steve Richards and Helen Edwards of the BHW, John and Pamela Robilliard and former RPRA General Manager, Peter Bryant, there with his wife Glenys. John Robilliard introduced me to David Trippett, the Blackpool Show committee chairman and David was to take Peter and I to the Winter Gardens in a taxicab after the main judging had finished, doing our final judging job.

It was late when we arrived at the Winter Gardens, just before 23.00hrs I think, and we were greeted by chief steward, Dora Pounder, and what a nice lady she was! Dora has been doing the job at the Blackpool Show for many years and was so efficient, directing us to all the pen numbers to sort out the show specials. I spent quite some time judging the 29 class winner and needless to say I went through them with a fine tooth comb! From the outset of judging there was only one winner of Best in Show, a wonderful Show Racer red hen and she was medium apple bodied, with good balance and brilliant feather quality. I loved the hen as soon as I picked her out of Pen 4 and from then on she was the one the others had to beat! A beautiful mealy was her runner up, but I found a major fault in her on her second handling and Reserve Best in Show went to a stunning looking Show Racer blue chequer hen. I gave Best Racer to a handsome pencil blue pied cock and although it wasn’t confirmed, I was told it might have won at the Blackpool Show in 2013. It was a great judging session to remember and we finished just before 01.00hrs, after which we jump in a taxi and went back to the Hilton Hotel. It was a very long day and I finally got to bed just after 02.00hrs! We got up on Saturday morning and after breakfast I was keen to get down to the Winter Gardens to see who owned the red hen and it was finally confirmed that John Robilliard owned that wonderful Show Racer and had won his second Best in Show at the BHW Blackpool Show. I was so delighted to hear that great news as John has given a life time’s work to our sport and deserve every success he has with his wonderful Show Racers. Talking to John after the event, he said, the hen is now called ‘Rocquaine Queen’ and she won as a young bird, and won a first at the Duchy Show in November 2013. She was bred from a pair of stock birds that John obtained at the Ken Jeffery of St Ives dispersal sale. That Blackpool Show in 2014 and judging ‘Best in Show’ was my greatest judging experience!

A little walk down ‘Memory Lane’ this week! This weekend will see us all drive up the M6 Motorway to the Winter Gardens, Blackpool to enjoy the BHW ‘Show of the Year’ 2016. Have a safe journey and I will see you there. I can be contacted 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)