“ON THE ROAD” WITH KEITH MOTT.

UP NORTH COMBINE LOFT VISITS (PART 6.)

Neil Laidlaw of Shildon.

Although this article is part of the Up North Combine series, this week we are going to include a look at some premier lofts in the West Durham Amalgamation. My good friend Neil Laidlaw of Shildon in Co. Durham arranged the West Durham Amalgamation ‘Many Miles with Mott’ video loft tour for me in the mid-1990’s. He is a great lad and brilliant pigeon racer.

Neil raced in partnership with Dennis Merryweather and their 40ft x 8ft loft was sited in Dennis' garden. The loft had put up many premier performances through the years including 1^st, 2^nd and 3^rd West Durham Amalgamation Abbeville (344 miles) with 4,900 birds competing. This was the only time any loft had done this in Classic racing since the WDA was formed in 1950. The partners had been racing a standard widowhood system for only five years when they recorded this brilliant performance. Neil and Dennis separated their 20 pairs of racers on their second round of eggs, having reared a pair of babies. Then the cocks got six training tosses no further than 15 miles, before the first Federation race. Cocks were never broken down, as their main aim was to win the Channel races. Hens were only shown on a Friday night for the first two races and never after, but they were always there for the cocks on arrival from the race. If the weather was right, they paired up in February and raced only the south route with New Shildon WCHS.

Busschaerts were raced and were down from Neil's old family, when he raced with Wilf Stott as Stott & Laidlaw and four additions direct from Georges Busschaert. In 1991 they also introduced some Busschaerts from their good friend Bernard Curley and these crossed with their old Busschaerts had produced a family that won from 60 to 500 miles.

Dent & Linsley of Cockfield Fell.

Eric Dent entered the sport of pigeon racing in 1955. His team of Busschaerts were from introductions in the late 1960s out of the original lines of A. Wilkinson, Parker & Wilkinson and E. Rawle blended in with Fountainhead and Louella birds to create a family. The Dent and Linsley pigeons were outstanding from 60 to 400 miles and at the time of my visit, Robert Linsley maintained the Busschaerts were the best strain of pigeons in the UK over the last 30 years. Eric and Robert raced their team of pigeons to the Cockfield Fell, a tract of common land populated with sheep and wildlife. The view around the loft was staggering; with the rolling hills of County Durham stretching as far as the eye can see.

The partners had won the West Durham Amalgamation twice in recent seasons including 1^st NEHU Queen's Cup, 1^st open WDA Bourges (17,478 birds) 400 miles in 1995, also recording 3^rd and 4^th open WDA in the same race. A fantastic performance! Their Queen's Cup winner was a handsome Busschaert dark pied cock, raced on the widowhood system and this champion was of the Louella/Busschaert lines, a grandson of  ‘Starview Pegasus’, and an outstanding young bird, scoring several times. In the Bourges race the partners clocked their second pigeon six minutes after the Queen's Cup winner to win 3^rd open WDA and this bird was also a game widowhood Busschaert cock with an excellent racing record, winning twice 1^st as a young bird.

The main racing team was 34 widowhood cocks and this system was started eight years previous, with the hens never being raced. The cocks were broken down over the race weekend and peanuts were added to the widowhood mixture for the long distance races. The hens were shown to the cocks on marking night and were left with the returning birds for about one hour. The cocks flew out twice a day and got three 20 mile training tosses per week right through the racing season.

The smart loft had glass windows and open door trapping. The partners raced 50 youngsters each season and the cocks were stopped after three races, but the hens flew the full programme. If young birds wanted to pair up they were given a nest bowl and were trained three times a week from 20 miles in the racing season. Eric and Robert kept ten pairs of stock birds which were paired up in late January. When selecting stock birds the partners looked for good 400 mile performances. The most consistent racer was a blue Busschaert cock; winner of five times 1^st club and twice 1^st open Federation in races from 60 through to 370 miles and that was a grandson of Champion ‘Twirler’.

Tray, Sons & Lynas of Co. Durham.

Since starting up in the sport in 1946 John Tray had been a leading flyer in the West Durham Amalgamation, winning every position in the first 50 open, including 1^st open twice, 2^nd open twice and 3^rd open four times. A fantastic record! John liked Channel races best but enjoyed all racing and kept three main families of pigeons, including Busschaert, Janssen and Wildemeersch. He raced cocks and hens on the roundabout system and one of the top racers was a blue chequer pied Busschaert hen, winner of 1^st club Bourges 555 miles and 1^st club Orleans 500 miles. John raced a standard roundabout system with the birds being paired up on 21^st January. He fed a first-class widowhood mixture. The birds were broken down from Saturday until Tuesday morning and cocks and hens raced on alternate weeks. The old birds got two 12-mile training tosses every week and were never paired up, not even for the long distance events. The birds were not fed depurative for the long distance races. Another top racer we looked at on our visit to John's loft was a blue cock, a Busschaert and the winner of: twice 1^st open Federation, including 1^st club, 1^st open Federation, 9^th open WDA Brands Hatch Inland National.

John's very smart lofts were sited on allotments with 20 other lofts and his club sent about 700 pigeons every week. His racing loft was painted white so the birds could pick it out when the mobs of pigeons hit the allotments on race day and was 56ft long, ‘L’ shaped with open door trapping. The loft housed 40 young birds each season and these race the programme through to 240 miles. The babies got three 12 mile training tosses every week and usually race to the perch, but John let a few pair up for the young bird races. The day before our visit, John was 2^nd open Federation Wakefield with a young blue chequer pied Busschaert cock calling his hen to nest. John was not a believer in pairing up young birds, but said he let a few go to nest bowls to give them a bit of edge for the young bird events.

The partnership had a large stock loft, which was light and clean, with plenty of room for the inmates, which housed ten pairs that were paired up in January. The main stock birds were Busschaerts from Tommy Newton and direct from Georges Busschaert, Janssens from Louella and Wildemeersch from Charlie Wooff. John told me on our visit to his loft that he always paired his best to the best to produce his champion racers.

Knighton, Shoulder, Rhine & Roe of Co. Durham.

The name Knighton, Shoulder, Rhine & Roe sounds like a firm of solicitors, but in fact they were one of the top pigeon partnerships racing in the mighty West Durham Amalgamation. On our visit to the allotment lofts we were met by loft man, Ted Williams, who had been in the sport for over 40 years. Ted told me there were 20 lofts on the same allotments, including the loft of John Tray, and with the club sending over 700 birds, if your bird flew half a turn too much on trapping, the race was lost. Because there were so many pigeons on the allotments, the partners let their young birds out at 4.15am, so they were back in the loft before the crowds were in the sky over the allotment site.

The partners liked to race their pigeons from 200 miles through to 450 miles and had won countless premier positions in the West Durham Amalgamation including 1^st open and five times 2^nd open. One of the top pigeons in the North East of England loft was a blue chequer Busschaert cock raced on the natural system, winner of 1^st club twice and 2^nd club four times. In one race it sat out for three minutes and finished 2^nd club, 2^nd open Federation. Because of his bad trapping, this cock was at stock and has bred five winners.

Knighton, Shoulder, Rhine and Roe raced only the natural system with cocks and hens being raced purely to eggs and youngsters. Ted said the birds trapped well as a rule because they were taught as young birds. They were never allowed to sit out on the lofts. The old bird team was paired up in late January and Ted liked the hens sitting eggs for the longer races. Another top pigeon in the loft was a blue chequer Staf Van Reet cock that had won many top prizes in races of about 250 miles including 1^st club, 1^st open Federation and 2^nd club, 2^nd open Federation. This cock liked to race to 12 day old eggs and was also at stock breeding well, including a yearling to win 2^nd club in a 400 mile race.

The main loft was 40ft long with open door trapping, which was a must with the local competition in races. The loft housed 50 young birds, which raced through to Brands Hatch (240 miles) and were paired up for the long National Young Bird races. The partners kept eleven pairs of stock birds that were paired up on 14^th February, with the main families being Busschaert and Staf Van Reet. Ted told me stock birds were selected on handling and racing performances.

That’s it for this week! Over the years I have made many journeys up to the ‘Pigeon Mecca’ in the north east of England to do pigeon show judging, shoot films and articles, and these recent articles were a look back at some of the many great winning lofts I visited. I hope my readers have enjoyed this look at these champions of Up North Combine pigeon racing fraternity of yester year and today. 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: 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)