“ON THE ROAD” WITH KEITH MOTT.

UP NORTH COMBINE LOFT VISITS (PART 5.)

Terry Callan of Brotton.

The next fancier we are going to feature was one of the sport's workers and was a major cog in the workings of the NEHU Peterlee Show each year. Not only was Terry Callan a good worker but he was also an outstanding pigeon fancier, winning many premier prizes, including: 1996: 6^th open UNC Folkestone; 1997: 1^st and 12^th open UNC Folkestone. Terry's UNC winner was his champion yearling blue pied Busschaert / Van Loon hen, ‘Nikki Louise’, which was named after his young granddaughter. This game hen was racing against 13,980 birds from Folkestone and won the North of England Championship Club, lifting the Gold Medal. ‘Nikki Louise’ was produced from a gift egg from the Washington partnership of Mr. & Mrs. Hindhaugh & Donaldson and was raced on the roundabout system.

Terry's father was also an outstanding fancier and he really started up in the sport in 1954, when he helped out at his dad's loft. Terry liked to race from any distance but his loft was arranged each season for what he really enjoyed, Channel racing. He races two systems; natural for the Channel races and roundabout for sprint and all the old birds were paired up on 14^th February. The roundabout pigeons were raced natural to the nest for the first old bird races, before being split to go on roundabout and both cocks and hens went to the same races. The roundabout racers were broken down only on the day of the race and were never let out of the loft the day after, as they had to rest. In the north east of England they checked the clocks directly after the birds return so Terry always split the roundabout pigeons when he returns home from the club after race checking. The natural race team was fed twice a day on a heavy mixture, which was beefed up for the Channel races, and they were only trained if they were not exercising well around the loft. Normally they would fly for 50 minutes.

I must say that Terry's natural racers looked in brilliant condition when I visited and these were housed in a one section 12ft loft with open-door trapping. The main, very smart, racing loft had four sections and a nice big wire flight for the stock birds. On my visit, Terry showed me his good red grizzle black-splash cock, whose best nest condition for the Channel was sitting 14-day eggs. This handsome cock was a cross between Terry's old Channel family and Alf Rothwell's De Baere bloodlines and had won in 1997: 1^st club, 6^th Federation Bourges (Terry's sole entry); 1996: 2^nd club, 2^nd Federation, 94^th open UNC Bourges. When Terry and his wife, Jean, moved to their present address in 1968, he obtained pigeons from J. & W. Douglass, who had won the Combine from Corneilles in 1965 with a widowhood cock and at that time, no one had heard of widowhood. The Holy Island lofts of J. & W. Douglass had a wonderful family of Bourges blues and in 1974 Terry won the Up North Channel Average with their pigeons. Terry introduced the Busschaert pigeons from Taylor Bros, Tom Larkins, Alan Hindhaugh and Alf Rothwell and won the UNC Average again in 1977. The Van Loons were brought into the family from Planet Bros in 1985 and these had been highly successful, right up to the present day. He kept 20 pairs of stock birds and when a new breeder was obtained it must have be from a long line of outstanding winners. Another top racer at the Brotton loft was the Busschaert chequer pied hen off the very best Tom Larkins and Alf Rothwell bloodlines. At that time, this wonderful hen had only flown Folkestone three times and had recorded: 1996: 6^th open UNC (22,168birds): 1997: 12^th open UNC (13,980 birds), being beaten to the loft by ‘Nikki Louise’ when she won 1^st open Combine. Terry raced his 60 young birds on the natural system and although he had tried the darkness, said that if you are interested in Channel racing, this system doesn't let the young birds mature properly for long distance racing in later life.

John Stott & son of Redcar.

Another Up North Combine winning loft that I've visited in the mid-1990’s was that of John Stott who had been in the fancy for 60 years and raced Busschaerts with outstanding success. He raced on the natural system because he liked to see them nest and his family of Busschaerts raced well up to the longest races. The partners' smart loft was sited on an allotment and only housed 14 natural pairs and bred about 24 young birds. The birds were paired up in February and the Stott’s raced only south road with the local Grangetown St Mary's Flying Club. The loft had won many top prizes Channel racing through the years including 1^st open Up North Combine (11,500 birds) Beauvais. The old birds got a light feed at daybreak and a heavy one in the evening and all the old birds raced through to 500 miles. Old and young birds got regular training tosses throughout the season from Thirsk, a 30 mile fly from the loft, and John liked birds sitting 12 day old eggs for the 500-mile races.

A top pigeon at the Redcar Loft was the blue cock, ‘The Wanderer’, and this was the champion that won 1^st club, 1^st section, 1^st Up North Combine (11,500 birds) Beauvais, 2^nd open Queen's Cup (17,000 birds) Beauvais, 1^st club, 11^th Federation, 219^th open UNC (13,000 birds) Beauvais, 3^rd club, 21^st Federation Lillers, 4^th club, 18^th Federation Folkestone, 4^th club, 19^th Federation Provins. A fantastic pigeon.

John & Janet Marsay of Staithes.

I also visited the wonderful Staithes set-up of John Marsay in the mid-1990’s who had twice won the mighty Up North Combine. The partners started up in the sport with young birds in 1987 and in 14 short years had put up some fantastic performances. They raced cocks and hens on the roundabout system and had won 1^st open (twice), 2^nd open, 5^th open (twice) on the Saturday in the Up North Combine and twice 2^nd open Up North Combine on the Wednesday racing. A fantastic loft performance!

The Marsays kept 60 pairs of racers which were paired up on 22^nd January and they liked racing from 50 miles through to 600 miles. The hens seemed to do best on the roundabout system and the racers were fed on a good widowhood mixture, but were never broken down. The corn was never beefed up for the long-distance events and the old birds were trained from 15 miles four times a week. The main racing loft was ‘L’ shaped with open door trapping and the whole pigeon set-up was very smart and clean.

The partners won 1^st open Up North Combine Maidstone Young Bird National (23,600 birds) with a nice blue chequer Busschaert hen and John told me every youngster bred from her parents had won for him. John's wife, Janet, was a great help around the loft, cleaning out and feeding, and she liked the long-distance events best. The Marsays bred 70 youngsters each year and kept a lot of fantails which John said were a must for trapping the race birds. The partners' other Up North Combine winner was a blue chequer cock, raced on roundabout, which won 1^st open from Folkestone (24,600 birds). The 45 pairs of stock birds were paired up in January and were housed in a nice, roomy loft with a wire flight. John kept several strains including Busschaerts and Hermans and went regularly to Belgium to obtain stock birds.

Geoff & Carolyn Brundle of Skinningrove.

Many years ago there was a programme on the TV called ‘The Fancy’ and it was about the mighty Up North Combine and featured the little fishing village of Skinningrove. This sleepy little village, set on the coast, halfway between Redcar and Whitby has a long and successful connection with pigeon racing with many UNC winners being recorded there. The little village is sited in a valley overlooking the North Sea and the valley sides are littered with pigeon lofts on both sides. It is a great place to visit. One of the most recent UNC winning lofts at Skinningrove is that of Geoff & Carolyn Brundle, who won 1^st open Folkestone (20,200 birds). Fifteen years earlier, Geoff took over his stepfather's birds when he passed away and has had outstanding success, including 1^st, 8^th, 21^st and 54^th open in the mighty UNC. He likes sprint racing and says Skinningrove is a very hard valley in which to compete. On a Saturday, the birds drop in the valley and he says you know the race winner, as most of the members in the club have their lofts on the sides of the valley at Skinningrove. The Brundles won the combine with a Busschaert / Janssen dark chequer pied hen, which was a widowhood hen and then was transferred to the racing section to make up the pairs. This game little hen won the Folkestone Combine on ten day-old eggs and previously won a 2^nd and 6^th club as a yearling.

The partners race mainly widowhood, with 18 cocks on the system and a few pairs on the natural for the longer races. Geoff pairs up his racers and stock birds on 26^th December and his cocks rear a youngster before going on the widowhood system. They are lightly trained while on their second round of eggs and are broken down during the racing season. The hens are shown on marking night and the cocks have their mates for about an hour on their return from the race. The 16ft widowhood section is very light and airy and has a grille floor for easy cleaning. The loft set up is L-shaped and all trapping is through open doors. The main family kept is Janssen with a few Busschaerts and the stock team is 18 birds strong. All the first round of eggs from the stock birds are floated under the racers. At that time the Brundles had raced their 40 young birds on the darkness for the last eight years and had won the Young Bird Average. The youngsters are put on the darkness system when they are weaned from their parents and taken off on the old bird Bourges weekend, being darkened down from 4pm to 9am. The young birds are allowed to pair up and are trained every day throughout the season, if the weather is right.

Kevin Locker of Loftus.

For our next loft visit we are coming just inland from Skinningrove to Loftus, to the Up North Combine winning loft of Kevin Locker. His 1^st open Combine (26,158 birds) Folkestone, 253 miles, was the highlight of 20 successful years in the sport, where he had been an outstanding force in the sprint racing. Kevin's combine winner was a yearling latebred Soontjens blue cock raced on the widowhood system and was still carrying a nest flight when he won the Up North Combine. The handsome cock had every race up to the combine win, scoring several times, including 2^nd club Epping and had one race as a young bird, recording 3^rd club. A brilliant pigeon! Kevin raced cocks only on the widowhood system and trained every day, including through the racing season. He broke down on a Saturday and Sunday when racing and for races over 200 miles he put a hopper of peas in the loft from the Monday until the Friday. His smart widowhood loft was 16ft long, had a corridor with open door trapping and housed 14 widowhood cocks. The main family raced were Soontjens and his nine pairs of stock birds were paired up at the same time as the racers, so the eggs could be floated. Kevin's 14ft x 10ft young bird loft was designed for the darkness system, which had been very successful. His 40 youngsters were put on the darkness for eight hours a day from weaning and the young birds race through to Maidstone (250 miles) with outstanding success.

Wright & Lowe (Twice 1^st open Combine).

Twice 1^st open Up North Combine in one week! That's what Wright & Lowe recorded in the 1998 season. A fantastic performance! The Wright & Lowe partnership was formed in 1990, but Dave had been a fancier all his life, formerly racing with his late father, who was his tutor. Wright & Lowe won 1^st open UNC Beauvais on the Saturday and 1^st open UNC Folkestone on the Wednesday. The partners liked to race from the shortest through to the longest race and had previously won 3^rd open UNC Folkestone with their Champion ‘Cutthroat’, who in turn, bred a pigeon to win 2^nd open UNC Folkestone for Wright & Lowe.

The partners' Beauvais combine winner was a Herman / Busschaert blue chequer cock raced on the roundabout system. On his build up to his Combine win, he had every inland race, one Channel race from Lilies, one week's rest, then into Beauvais (377 miles). This game pigeon was an outstanding young bird being raced on the natural system and was ‘Bird of the Year’ in the club. Dave & Ray raced on the roundabout system and send both cocks and hens to the same race. The 30 pairs of racers were paired up in February and were only lightly trained, as they flew out around the loft, for an hour twice a day. The racers were never broken down and had mixture in front of them all the time. Ray told me on my visit, the partners had always been on the natural, winning 60 times 1^st in four years on the system and changed over to roundabout in 1998 to win twice 1^st open Up North Combine. The main families raced were Billy Parkes Busschaerts and Hermans from Ward Brothers of Yorkshire. The partners had ten pairs of stock birds and when selecting breeders, liked good feather and eyesign. The lads won the Folkestone Wednesday Combine race with a Herman x Busschaert blue hen on the roundabout system and she had every race on her build-up to the Combine win. This game hen was a granddaughter of the champion blue pied Herman cock ‘Cutthroat’ who won eight times 1^st and 3^rd open UNC Folkestone. A fantastic family of pigeons!

Well, that’s it for this week! I hope my readers have enjoyed this look at these great Up North Combine champions of yester year. We will be looking at some more very soon. To view some old video footage of some of these fanciers and their birds go on to my YouTube channel. I can be contacted with any pigeon matters 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)