“ON THE ROAD” WITH KEITH MOTT.

Three Borders Federation (Meet the officers 2025).

It was very sad, when at our recent Federation AGM  our secretary of nearly 40 years in office, Bryan Poulton, decided to stand down and spend his time enjoying his pigeons. He has done a brilliant job for the Federation over the many years and I would like to say a mighty thank you to Bryan for all his good work.

The new Federation secretary for the 2025 season is Stuart Emans of Sutton and he has good experience in the job, previously being secretary of his local club. Stuart enjoyed a brilliant 2024 season racing in the Three Borders Federation. He recorded many premier positions; including four times 1^st Federation and finished up winning the ‘Individual Points Trophy’ and is the 2024 Federation champion. Stuart is a fireman by profession and has a very busy family life and has only a very limited time for his pigeon racing. He is smashing man and with his very limited time for his sport, to win this trophy is a great and deserving achievement! Although Stuart has won the Federation four times this year, he said his wonderful Gerald Delaney blue hen, ‘Jade 821’, has been so brilliant in the 2024 season and given him a lot of pleasure, winning 2^nd Federation Okehampton, 3^rd Federation Wincanton, 5^th Federation Wincanton and 15^th Federation Honiton. A strong contender for Federation ‘pigeon of the year’, I think! This is Stuart’s  2024 performance in the Federation: (Old Birds) 3^rd, 18^th, 19^th, 20^th Federation Wincanton, 5^th, 6^th Federation Wincanton, 1^st, 2^nd Federation Okehampton, 15^th Federation Honiton, 10^th Federation Wincanton, 13^th, 22^nd Federation Honiton, 13^th, 23^rd Federation Wadebridge, 1^st Federation Honiton, 12^th, 13^th, 15^th Federation Truro, (Young Birds) 1^st, 2^nd, 3^rd, 4^th, 12^th, 13^th, 14^th, 15^th, 16^th, 17^th Federation Wincanton, 14^th, 18^th, 21^st, 22^nd, 23^rd Federation Wincanton, 1^st, 2^nd. 3^rd, 4^th, 5^th, 6^th, 7^th, 8^th, 25^th Federation Blandford, 2^nd, 3^rd, 4^th, 5^th, 7^th Federation Honiton. Brilliant pigeon racing!

Stuart Emans started up in the pigeon racing sport in 2008 and has won the Federation several time through the years, the highlight was winning 1^st Three Borders Federation, 2^nd Combine Bergerac and winning the Federation ‘Channel Averages’. He tells me, his recent four Federation wins were his first ever inland Federation win, with all the others being from France. Because of family and work commitments he had to pack up his pigeons for five year and restarted up in 2023 with young birds from his good friends Gary Young and Gerald Delaney. The 2024 season has seen Stuart race those yearlings with outstanding success. He pairs up in in February and races his fourteen cocks and seven hens on the roundabout system. His smart 24ft loft is set up for ETS trapping and is made up of a section for the old cocks, another for the young birds and the roundabout hens are housed in an aviary. He is not interested in fancy pedigrees or eye sign when selecting breeding pigeons and maintains the basket is the only way to find out if a pigeon is any good or not. Stuart gives his birds about ten training tosses up to 27 miles before the first race and then they get two exercise sessions every day around the loft once racing starts. All the races are fed on Stuart’s own widowhood mixture, which he makes up himself and the racers are never broke down.

I was very sad when I had to inform the fancy that one of the legends of the Surrey pigeon racing fraternity, John Keywood, passed away on the 28^th March 2023 after suffering a heart attack several days earlier. Since entering the sport in 1947 he had been a constant worker and winner at club, Federation and Combine level. He was nearly 90 years old and had previously suffered his fourth stroke, which had left him un-well. I was also very sad when he told me he can’t cope with his wonderful loft of winning pigeons and has to pack them up. Johnny Keywood was a great worker for the sport and was the Secretary of the Hersham Club for about fifteen years and President of the Three Borders Federation for over twenty seasons. John did a lot of great work for the Three Border Federation!

John had been in the sport on and off for over 70 years and it all started when his dad, who was a head gardener in Walton, took him to work to see the fantail which lived in the gardens. The lady who owned the gardens presented the young Johnny with a pair whites and he housed them in an old Rabbit hutch. What can you say about Johnny that hasn't been said many times before through the years? He has been a brilliant fancier and worker for the sport over many years and has won everything in the Federation and Combine. John was highest prize winner in the Three Borders Federation in seasons 2000 and 2001. One of John’s best season was in 2005 winning the Three Borders Federation four times and was premier prize winner in the Hersham club, recording eight firsts. His Federation wins were from Messac (1,071 birds), Fougeres (1,034 birds), Kingsdown (1,985 birds) and Lulworth (1,553 birds), and recorded 1^st S.M.T. Combine from Messac (3,287 birds) and 3^rd S.M.T. Combine Fougeres (2,988 birds). A fantastic loft performance!

Mick Honeyball of the Richmond club is the new president of the Three Borders Federation. He is a smashing man and our association goes back to the 1970’s when my brother, Phil and I raced in the very strong Richmond club with him. He has been a great worker for the Federation for many years and is the sponsor of the Federation’s annual diploma book. Thanks for that Mick! As I previously mentioned he became the Federation president in 2024 and is the secretary of his local club, having been the chairman for several years. On the racing side Mick has won it all over the years, including winning the club record out of Weymouth with a velocity of over 2300 ypm and then winning the longest race from Bergerac, on the day and 12 hours on the wing, with same hen. One of Mick’s best cocks won from Niort (380 miles) then went on to be the only bird clocked in race time from Dax (550 miles). His system of the good birds fed the right way, produced countless winners through the years from the shortest to the longest races including the very strong Inverness 2 bird club from Guernsey.

Mick has always raced on the natural system, with a bit of messing about and paired his 24 pairs of bird in mid-February. After rearing their first round of youngsters they got several training tosses up to 40 miles and after the first race got as many 20 mile tosses as possible. Mick fed the bird as much as they wanted on a good mixture at the same time every day if possible and says he had no favourite racing condition for his birds. Mick told me his main families were Grondelaer and Busscheart; with gift birds from club members, C. Harrison Brothers, winners of 1^st SMT Combine Bergerac back in the day, also Michael Spencer of Barnoldswick. Mick was very fortunate under very sad circumstances to obtain a daughter of K. Harrison’s wonderful, ‘Combine Girl’. The Honeyball loft housed 24 young birds to race to the perch every season. They were never put on the darkness system, raced only natural and were fed on a good young bird mixture, but with no maize to start with.

Mick has been the sport for 67 years and now being retired from work has packed up racing his bird, but keeps a few of his OAP birds for an interest and to stay active in the sport. He has always been interested in wildlife, especially birds, so pigeons were a natural. When he was a ten year old lad a stray racing pigeon entered his garden and he picked it up and put it in the house bath, and fed it on garden peas until it was ready to go home. His first club was the Barnes & Mortlake Flying Club and raced to a self-built 6ft loft, which faced south and got plenty of sunshine. Mick’s starter loft was made of T&G timber and had a felt roof and upper hinged trap door. His first birds were mostly gifts from local club members, including Bob Tidman & son, who had outstanding birds and was an ‘ace’ at dealing with injured pigeons. It was one of Bob’s pigeons, a red chequer hen that won Mick’s first race from Wadebridge. Bob’s son, Barry is still a member of the club and is well known for setting up and supplying many clubs in the country in the early years with the Calculator Result Systems, which he is very proud of. Mick has been very interest in most sports in his life, but no competitive, apart from pigeon racing. Mick told me the fanciers who first drew him to their performances in the early days were; C. H. Besant & sons of New Malden, then later George Peddle of the Beer & Peddle partnership of Acton and John Soderlund of the Soderlund & Bradley partnership of South Shields. Mick said, ‘I remember I made a few mistakes in the early days, one was being too eager to listen to advice, some good and some bad! I remember sitting on my bike with my clock outside the pub pigeon headquarters as member walked past me going to the rear of the pub, not telling me they were going for a strike off. Nuff said’.

Mick’s present day loft is much the same as his first one he built 67 years ago, but bigger. It now has a doweled front instead of wire and maintains it must be well ventilated and dry. He is not against deep litter, but prefers to put a little bit of sand on the lift floor to keep their feet clean. Mick’s racing families were Tubby Tate, Bricoux Sion and Vandies, all versatile winning from the shortest to the longest race points and Jan Grondelaers, Busschaerts all bring good rewards. He told me his most thrilling experience in the sport was back in the day, when winning in his very first Bergerac (450 mile) race and getting three birds on the day, with only six birds home in the club! Mick likes showing his birds and has had some good results through the years and was especially interested in the matched pairs classes. He said we should be grateful to anyone in high office in our sport that is keeping the sport going, because some clubs are having trouble finding a secretary these days. When advising new starters in the sport, Mick tells them to read as much as they can on the sport and give the birds as much time as possible. Mick said, ‘I can’t help but be amazed at the performances of our pigeons today winning Internationals and getting birds from extreme distances often on the day’.

Remembering it had been a busy winter for the officer of the Federation in 2014 and one of the main things to come from all their good efforts, was they had purchased a transporter for the 2015 season. The membership owed a debt of gratitude to several of our Federation officers who had put in a lot of time and effort over an eight week period, to ensure that we had first class transport for our pigeons in the 2015 racing season. In some cases it was at personal sacrifice, uses family time to get the vehicle ready for the first race! What can I say about the then hard working Federation secretary, Bryan Poulton, and the then transport manager, Dom McCoy, that hasn’t been said before, except they have put in double overtime on the new transporter? A vote of thanks are in order to the Federation chairman, David Lebby, who had given the Federation a £12,000 interest free loan to purchase the new vehicle and to late Alan Tullett of the Guildford club, who took the lads up to Hull to pick up the transporter. I personally did several young bird auctions to raise money to cover some of the diet. David Lebby has done so much good work for the Three Borders Federation over the years and is the secretary, as well as being successful at racing his pigeons in the Mitcham club. The new convoyer / driver at that time was our own, Dom McCoy, who had been a premier pigeon fancier for over fifty years and he had previously convoyed very successfully for the North Road Federation. Dom McCoy told me he had sacrificing his own racing over the seasons, after taking on the convoyer’s job and can see where he is coming from, as I was a chief convoyer for the London & South East Classic Club for nine years and did the same.

It was really great to hear the news that Dom McCoy has taken on the job of Federation convoyer again this season, after doing such an outstanding job in previous seasons. Recent seasons saw Dominic continue convoying for the Three Borders Federation and the National Flying Club, so he has been busy boy! Dom & Claire McCoy’s ‘Gladiator Lofts’ at Ashford have great results every year with 2010 being one of their best! As the 2010 season progressed their performances got even better and better. Dom’s young birds finished the season in fantastic style by winning 1^st, 2^nd, 3^rd, 4^th Three Borders Federation (1,422 birds) Wincanton, 1^st Three Borders Federation (836 birds) Exeter. Brilliant pigeon racing in one of the strongest Federations in the South of England! Dom and Claire had yet another great year racing in 2011 and won eleven firsts in the very strong Shepperton club, including Falaise, Messac and Bergerac, and 4^th Federation Messac (857 birds), 2^nd Federation, 4^th SMT Combine Bergerac (450 miles), 7^th, 18^th Federation Taunton (1525 birds), 9^th Federation Newton Abbot (885 birds). There is a bit of a story behind Dom and Claire’s Bergerac win, in the fact that they had never sent to this 450 mile race point before and they only sent one pigeon to record this brilliant performance.

The McCoy’s have a wonderful loft set up at their home in Ashford and in recent years have dedicated most of their lives racing their Van Loon, Jan Huybregts and Karel Boeckx pigeons, with outstanding success. On my visit to ‘Gladiator Lofts’ I was particularly impressed with Dom’s five compartment 40ft stock loft, which had big roomy sections and 10ft aviary attached. The breeding sections and the nest boxes were very big and well ventilated, and the inmates looked in ‘mint’ condition. The section housing the Van Loon pigeons, which were nearly all blue pigeons, was a sight to behold! I handled several of Dom’s top breeders including his champion mealy cock, ‘Gladiator Del Pierro’, which is the sire and grand sire of countless winner, and winner of 17 firsts racing himself. A fantastic pigeon! He keeps a big team of stock birds, which are paired up the week after the BHW Blackpool show weather permitting and the main part of the stock birds are his fantastic Tom Roden and Bolton & Williamson / Van Loons. The race birds are not bred from, with all the young bird race team coming from the stock loft and he mixes his own corn for the stock birds. When bringing in a new stock bird, Dom looks for a pedigree of winning bloodlines, with a good line of outstanding winning pigeons. The stock loft is cleaned regularly and a deep litter is used on the floor. All Dom’s birds are parted at the end of September to get on with their mould and are given regular baths in the aviaries.

The race birds are housed in very smart 44ft loft, which runs down the side of the garden and Dom told me he races the old birds on the Roundabout system because it suits his life style, and the Widowhood is a terrible waste of good hens. Hen trains the old birds together, releasing the hens first followed by their mates, and by the time the cocks arrive home the hens are already locked up in their section. The sexes are kept separated mostly from Sunday until Thursday and are allowed to run together in the nest box section on Friday before going in to marking. Dom says, ‘the name of the game is keep them motivated’. The old birds are trained every day from Monday to Thursday, depending on the weather and the whole loft management is geared to sprint racing. The racers are fed on a ‘Garvo’ corn mixture and are given as much as the can eat, except on Friday when they get one early morning feed. Dom told me on my visit to Ashford, that he is mostly interested in the sprint Federation racing, but has some older pigeons in the race team, and would like to have a bash at some 500 mile racing in the future.

Dominic says his late father, Tom McCoy, was an outstanding pigeon racer in the London area for many years and his motto was no medication, plenty of training, good feeding and the best will survive and win. He says pigeon racing is a different game today and thinks the modern day sport is all about feeding, fitness, motivation and of course good pigeons. The young birds race to a 10ft loft, with ETS trapping. He never sends his young birds racing if they are on their last two flights, although these days he feels to be competitive in young bird racing they should be on the ‘darkness’ system. As soon as racing is finished he keeps the birds in the loft and feeds plenty of small seeds and butter milk in the drinkers. He never pulls flights to complete the moult and as yearlings his birds are treated with great respect and are mostly kept under 300 miles. He likes to be easy on the yearlings so they have a good moult and bring them out again as two year olds.

Dominic’s late father, Tom McCoy, was a good friend of the previous Three Borders Federation convoyer, Garry Essex and they raced in the ‘City Arms’ club. When I asked Dom how he started up in the sport, he told me, ‘My life with pigeons began in 1965 when my father, Tommy, was racing at the time in partnership with my uncle flying as, G. Olive & T. McCoy and they were very successful flying both north and south road. I began by cleaning out the lofts and waiting for birds to come back from training. I won my first race at the grand age of 13 years old from Dorchester (110 miles), flying at our local club the ‘City Arms’ in Hammersmith, which was a member club of the West Middlesex Federation. Later on when I was in my teenage years pigeons took second place too me going out and having holidays and I never raced or kept pigeons myself after 1970, until my restart in 2005. My family, including my brothers and uncles have all raced pigeons all through the years and the McCoy family are all very heavy in to pigeons. In 2005 my wife, Claire, decided that I needed a hobby and my brother, Billy, who flies in the Richmond Flying Club as T. McCoy & Son, suggested I should get restarted with the pigeons. So there it was settled, pigeons from that day have become my resurrected love’.

The Three Borders Federation race programme 2025: (Old Bird) 12^th April Wincanton: 19^th April Wincanton: 26^th April Honiton: 3^rd May Okehampton: 10^th May Yeovil: 17^th May Bodmin: 24^th May Honiton: 31^st May Wincanton: 2^nd June Honiton: 14^th  June Wadebridge: 21^st June Honiton: 28^th June Sennen Cove: (Young Bird) 19^th July Wincanton: 26^th July Wincanton: 2^nd August Yeovil: 9^th August Yeovil: 16^th August Honiton: 23^rd August Newton Abbot: 30^th August Okehampton. Basketing and clock setting for all Federation races will be on Friday.

That’s it for this week! This is my 53^rd year as a Pigeon Fancy scribe and will be the Three Borders Federation press officer again in the 2025 season. Good luck to the Three Borders Federation member for the 2025 racing season! I can be contacted with any pigeon comments on telephone number: 07535 484584 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)